2017/11/22 by Dorina Pojani · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Balkans: History, Politics, Society #Contemporary and Historical Greek Studies #Urban Planning and Governance #Authoritarianism #Redevelopment #Political science #Politics #Capital (architecture) #Narrative #Political economy #Democracy #Sociology #Economy #Law #History #Archaeology #Art #Economics
paper · doi:10.1080/07352166.2017.1360737
openalex publication_date 2017/11/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24
In the past decade, so-called hybrid regimes—authoritarian regimes in the guise of democracy—have emerged in Europe. Similar to the authoritarian or totalitarian regimes of 20th-century Europe, the association between urban design and politics is evident in the capital cities of hybrid regimes. This article recounts the stories of the recently proposed and/or completed redevelopment projects in the centers of Istanbul (Turkey), Skopje (Macedonia), and Tirana (Albania). In all 3 capitals, the interventions have been rather contentious, and have produced violent protests in the case of Turkey and Macedonia. The author has collected and presented the stories of the users of these three city centers and their reactions to these spaces before and after redevelopment. Users’ narratives bring to light elements of the situations and the characters involved that have so far been implicit. Conceptualizing urban planning through storytelling is meant to bring an element of Balkan magic realism into this field, which historically has been dominated by theories produced in the Anglosphere.