URBANIZATION LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATED WITH “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” CONCEPT FOR TIRANA TOWN, ALBANIA

This study was conducted focusing on Tirana town (Capital of Albania) which in the last 3 decades, has undergone a series of complex and immediate changes in economic, social and political terms. A clear demonstration of unpredictable and innovative phenomena for the Albanian society was the immediate change of the physical and human landscape. The interaction of many factors such as structural economic changes and freedom of movement led to a process of rapid urbanization, as one of the main processes of Albanian society after the '90s. The main purpose of this research is to make a correlation analysis between urbanization and economic growth, to determine the influential factors of urbanization of a country. We have tried to provide an in-depth analysis of the factors influencing urbanization and economic growth. This research examines additional elements related to population movement by analyzing causality between factors and their impact on the economy. The conclusions of this study can help to understand in time the factors that project urbanization and serve as a ground for efforts to find appropriate solutions to urban problems in Tirana city. This study will contribute to the identification of socio - economic variables that try to project urbanization in Tirana. Urbanization and sustainable economic development in Albania are the centre of this study which has a special focus on Tirana town. The data presented in this study conceives of urbanization as a dependent variable and the influencing factors are presented as independent variables. Based on the results obtained from the data analysis in this paper we have tried to give valuable conclusions and recommendations for researchers, regarding the urban sector, economic growth and their improvement.