Outdoor Thermal Comfort Assessment of Lana River Re-Qualification in Tirana, Albania

Albania is a country that had a strong transition from communism to fragile democracy. In the 30 years of this transition abusive construction happened all over the country. However, one of the most particular cases is the Lana River in the capital of Tirana. Abusive construction of commercial buildings varying from one to 5 took place along the river that crosses the capital. Several years after this invasion of public space was done, the major of the city cleared all construction along the river and returned the previously ween space to the citizens. This study aims to show the improvement of OTC in 3 different scenarios, through the use of ENVI met of one section of the river located near the area called “Blloku”. The main steps of the methodology are: • Climate Analysis of Tirana; • Case Study Analysis; • Modelling of the 3 scenarios with Rhino/GH; • Simulation of the 3 scenarios with Rhino/GH; • Results. The steps of this research follow a chronological order of the changes that occurred in the capital during different regimes linked to construction along the river. The social political development of the country is connected to the public space definition in Tirana. The study analyzes 3 scenarios: the base case which is the current situation with existing trees; scenario 2 with the previous abusive construction along the river; scenario 3: with no trees and no abusive construction. The results of this research are relevant to local decision making, but also it is a proof of how decision-making can improve the life of the citizens of Tirana.