Territorial dimension for the regional development in Albania

AuthorAlbana Dhimitri
Pages228-242
ISSN 2410-759X
Acces online at www.iipccl.org
Balkan Journal of Interdisciplinary Research
IIPCCL Publishing, Tirana-Albania Vol. 2 No. 1
May, 2016
228
Territorial dimension for the regional development in Albania
Albana Dhimitri
Abstract
The 2009 World Development Report “Reshaping Economic Geography” of the World
Bank Group (WBG) highlights that Density, Distance, and Division (the 3Ds), are key building
blocks, which matter for development. More specifically, first, growth in most countries is
driven by a few dynamic centers with high economic density, i.e., a high concentration of
economic activity. Second, lagging regions benefit when distance to places with high
economic density is reduced. Third, the country as a whole is better off in the long run if
divisions with surrounding countries, e.g., “thick borders” and respective trade policies
are reduced or eliminated. Overall, a country’s economic development is understood as
the product of two key factors: the economic mass of cities and the closeness to centers
with large economic mass, both within national borders and abroad.
Regarding Density, it shows that people are leaving rural regions and moved to urban
regions, by increasing the concentration of populations in such urban environment. The
region of Tirana is estimated to have a density of 480 inhabitants per km2, the highest
nationwide and has experienced the highest population increase by 27 percent, followed
by Durres by 21 percent. These two regions altogether account for more than one third
of the country’s total population. Additionally, several major and secondary cities in
Albania received population from the surrounding rural areas. On the other hand, in all
other regions/qarks there is a declining trend, with the highest magnitude in the regions
of Kukes, Diber, and Berat. Rapid urbanization in Albania had many consequences, which
affected all parts of the country.
Regarding Distance, Albania has experienced a high internal divergence among regions/
qarks, and a much higher external divergence relative to the EU member states. There
are three qarks below 75% of the country average, and only one qark is above 125%. The
best performing qarks in terms of GDP per capita in EUR (in PPP, 2012) are: Tirana with
a GDP per capita of EUR 4,641, Fier EUR 3,720 and Durres EUR 3,436. The worst performing
qarks are: Diber with a GDP per capita of EUR 2,212, and Kukes EUR 2,285. When
compared with the average GDP per capita of EU 28 of EUR 26,500, the increase in
disparities is significant, even for Tirana the best performing region. The twelve regions
in Albania have been classified into leading and lagging regions in accordance to GDP
per capita and other important economic and social indicators performance.
Regarding Division, Albania should shorten the distance to European and neighboring
markets by improving infrastructure and encouraging cross-border flows of people,
capital and ideas. Given that 65.4 percent of Albanian exports go to European Union and
14 percent to neighboring countries, it is critical to improve links to the West and
neighboring countries. Although, Albania has focused to date massively on investments
in major road projects, the country still has one of the least developed road networks in
Europe. It is recommended to advance further the analysis and determine which
infrastructure links are most needed to strengthen synergies between different cities
and shorten the distance to European and neighboring markets.
This paper aims at positioning Albania against the 3Ds and highlights the importance of
these components.
Keywords: Density, Distance, Division, regional development.

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