Redefining Energy Scapes in Elbasan, Albania

Abstract

Current energy transition towards a carbon neutral urban environment urgently calls for understanding how energy scapes should be redefined, while tmeeting energy demand and controlling the social-environmental impacts of this transition within a specific territorial context. The energy system in Albania is characterized by traces of the previous energy-space nexus, which manifest as abandoned remnants of the past, referred in this project as Patterns of Production, or as automated landscapes of the present. Amidst these spatial uncertainties, Albania faces the challenge of climate vulnerability of the current energy infrastructure, alongside with energy poverty and environmental degradation of communist industrial sites, all standing as three primary challenges in the country’s energy transition. Therefore, the following research question emerges: “How can the energy-space nexus in the Pattern of Production contribute to energy security for a socially and environmentally sensitive transition in Elbasan?”

This project aims to establish a new synergy between former communist industrial sites and residential areas within the Pattern of Production of Elbasan, while diversifying energy sources, and considering the social and environmental impacts of this synergy simultaneously. This endeavor addresses the spatial challenges and potentials of integrating communist industrial spaces into the energy transition, while acknowledging their local strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. Using the maximization method, three scenarios have been developed to enhance energy security, energy equity, and environmental qualities in Elbasan. These scenarios employ the Multi-Level framework to create a pattern language for the energy-space nexus under each maximization pillar. To visualize the implementation of the desired energy-space nexus in 2050, they are overlapped to define the vision in macro scale and strategic plan of Elbasan in meso scale, while considering the phased implementation of this strategy and stakeholder integration.

This project yields transferable insights applicable to other Patterns of Production in Albania with overarching recommendations such as: deep understanding of the specific context and aligning the energy-space nexus with local potentials and limitations, designing spaces of consumption and production according to the needs of local residents, defining community-based spaces, increasing accessibility to clean energy sources, and creating ecological synergies between energy production and consumption. Additionally, this project contributes to the existing literature on the spatial notion of a sustainable energy transition, specifically focusing on the Balkan countries, which have been underrepresented in current academic research.