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The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, was present today in Vlora, at the International Conference “Towards the Future: My City, My Home”, a platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas with a focus on involving communities in decision-making and shaping the future. In his speech, he posed some questions that today face even the most developed cities and capitals in the world.
“The question we have today about cities is: What is the future of cities? The Deputy Prime Minister submitted that by 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in the city and there is no need for labor in agriculture. Many of the work processes are mechanized. Then, what will happen? How will we respond to those who say “not in my backyard” (not in my garden) ?! As long as the beginning of cities is growth, we must admit that it is impossible for us to return to Roman, or Greek, cities, where the city walls divided the city. This is something we will have to reflect on and how we will face the hysteria of those who, after becoming successful in one of our cities, raise their voices and say “enough is enough, the city is full!”, Veliaj said.
Another big question today is the value of the neighborhood, said Veliaj, whose answer is better than anyone, given by Ukrainian citizens. “The next question is: are the neighbors worth it? Is their value merely symbolic, or is it perhaps time to appreciate how important neighborliness is? Imagine having a neighbor today who is wondering how he is going to invade you? Just ask the mayors of Ukraine to find the answer to this question. We are lucky with our neighbors. We are lucky with the neighborhood of Italy and Greece. Therefore, I would very much like this to be a moment of reflection to see how we will advance in our cities, “underlined the mayor Veliaj, in the Conference where many mayors of the region are present, but also Europeans.
Making a summary of his 7 years at the helm of the Municipality of Tirana, where in each year he has faced strong challenges, for which Veliaj humorously assesses that it was always said “once in 100 years it happens”, the last question is , he said, can these challenges be turned into opportunities?
“The question is, are these challenges – which all of a sudden from the challenges that occur once a century are packed into most of the mandates of a mayor, a prime minister, a government – there to see our strength, or our weakness? So cities are measured by how fast they fall, or how quickly they rise after they fall, even when it is not their fault? I believe that the latest provocation is how we can turn challenges into opportunities, how we can turn the challenge of drought into what we did in Tirana, to have perhaps the most revolutionary water project in Tirana, especially in the great Tirana we inherited.
On the issue of floods, we turned it into an opportunity on how, together with the government, all rivers can be rehabilitated and to have today a city that has not seen floods in the last 6 years. As we return to the challenge of fires to understand that cities need to provide services even in the suburbs, when it comes to protecting the lives of citizens. “How to turn the earthquake challenge into a fantastic opportunity, the pandemic challenge of how we can better control public health, how we can communicate better, how we can test the population and especially with the current challenge of the war,” he concluded.
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