Model of an ‘archipelago city’

The ‘archipelago city’ model creates cities within a city. Berlin is one of many European capitals built and organised on this model. Photo: AFP

Tirana is in the process of transforming its urban landscape in accordance with a “vision of an archipelago city”, in the words of Stefano Boeri, an Italian architect renowned for his Bosco Verticale in Milan, who is in charge of the major project designed to revitalise the Albanian capital. So what does this city model – which many other international capitals are pursuing – look like?

The archipelago city is the fact of considering the city’s districts as centres in their own right, self-sufficient islands separated by “natural”, green spaces. This urban vision proposes “new centralities to meet the needs of the inhabitants... Proximity between city and countryside is an asset for this form of urbanisation, while the question of travel to the city centre is a major issue,” says Rennes, France-based urban planning agency Audiar in a report.