A MULTILAYERED ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT OF IN-BETWEEN PUBLIC SPACES OF SOCIALIST AND POST-SOCIALIST RESIDENTIAL COMPLEXES

Abstract

Over past several years, there is a massive growth in the movement of people toward major cities including Albania. During the socialism period the neighborhoods of Tirana were not very dense. Most of the building houses were standard, low flats and mostly prefabricated while the city had large public spaces. Moreover, from that period until today, Tirana has expanded a lot. The city has significantly grown, become much denser, more diverse in terms of building types, taller, and relatively lacking in public areas. This study addresses the in-between public spaces, by analyzing the theory and importance of spatial configuration relating to urban morphology and social interaction. It is focused on six different residential complexes in different neighborhoods in Tirana, Albania. The chosen complexes are similar in size and in morphology. The socialist and post-socialist urban blocks are chosen based on the buildings typology in order to find the differences in the two political approaches of urban design. The study uses a mixed-approach in order to comprehend the dynamic relationships and socio-spatial organization of the neighborhoods using the spatial-morphological analysis, site surveys and observations. The overlap of the pattern of activities, syntactic measurements and the sites’ survey allow to find out the urban morphology which facilitates the development of in-between public spaces. By comparing socialist and post-socialist building typologies, the study reveals that socialist designs, particularly the tower, promote higher activities and a nmore socially dynamic environment. However, the post-socialist slab and courtyard perform better in specific spaces, demonstrating potential for facilitating social interaction. The findings emphasize the importance of considering visibility, activity, and density in urban design for effective in-between spaces that foster social engagement.