About Co-PLAN
> The ’90s – A city made by people!
The ‘90s constitute a big question mark for the Albanian society, concerning its identity and the intense socio-political changes it was undergoing. The vast unmonitored demographic moves clearly reflected the need for new urban planning approach to address rapid urbanisation problems. ‘A city made by people’, constitutes a Co-PLAN philosophy and model promoted in the informal suburban areas.
> 2000-2005 – Making cities work!
The spatial crisis grows more critical as a result of unplanned and unmonitored growth and sprawl of the residential areas. The planning and monitoring instances of the time were made obsolete in the wake of such demographic outpours towards central part of Albania. The concept of the ‘City’ changed at chaotic paces, mainly unplanned. At the heart of this crisis, Co-PLAN developed its development strategic planning expertise at a city and municipal level. EGUG constitutes an important step in the Albanian urban planning scene, beyond the traditional model applied at the time.
> 2005 – Towards Impacting Policies!
This period marks a consolidation phase for Albania; development and the integration into the European and Atlantic political structures. As a result, there is a notable decrease in programs funded by the international organisations, as well as increasing contradictions as aspirations grew greater than the infrastructure could accommodate.
This period of reflection for Co-PLAN, highlighted the need for qualified human resources with the right knowledge and expertise in planning and architecture, as well as the need to impact at policy-making level. 2006 marked the establishment of Polis University.
> The Challenge!
Pressure, judgment, and debates have been an inseparable part of our journey. Co-PLAN has chosen to stand by the interest of the general public and the community. Today we aim at promoting a new national spatial planning system and governance in line with the EU guidance and directives.
Co-PLAN has proposed new platforms to the political actors in the country, stimulating a debate. Some suggestions have already been materialized in a series of legislative initiatives, others are at the foundation of a political debate to hopefully transform these simple ideas into applicable policies.