Happold Consulting’s International Development group, as part of a consortium led by Landell Mills, has won a contract to provide strategic planning advice for the development of central Albania.
This integrated development project will result in a strategic development plan that should ensure managed development of housing, infrastructure and services in a region expected to see large scale population migration from villages to its urban centres.
Happold Consulting is the management consultancy arm of Buro Happold and was launched in January to provide strategic advice to the public sector. Buro Happold is a leading international consulting engineering practice.
The 18-month project is being carried out with leading international development consultants Landell Mills as well as local Albanian social and technical specialists. Buro Happold’s engineering staff on the project will be spending significant periods of time in the Albanian capital, Tirana.
The work is being funded by 957,000 euros from the European Commission’s EuropeAid scheme. This funds over seven billion euros-worth of development programmes in more than 150 developing countries and territories.
The work will focus on all environmental, physical, social, economic and institutional aspects of a 1,200km² area around Tirana, which is around 40km inland, and a broad corridor running westward towards the coast and the major port of Durres. The area is currently home to around a third of the population, approximately one million people, and has seen major growth in the last 15 years since the fall of communism.
Uncontrolled population growth, often characterised by unofficial housing and illegal connections to utilities, can create significant problems, such as power cuts, and will restrict economic development as well as improvement in the quality of life. This project is intended to avoid these issues by providing a strategic framework for more measured development and therefore avoid these hardships for people in the region.
“This contract represents a unique opportunity to help the Albanian government provide sound planning for their future,” says Marie Zanders, international development consultant.
“It is a great chance to help the Albanians avoid the pitfalls of unrestrained growth that have been seen in many developing countries over the years. A co-ordinated approach to planning and building roads, housing developments, utility supplies and certain landmark buildings should provide strong foundations for the country’s future economic growth.
“Our work should also, in time, contribute to a greatly improved standard of living for the Albanian people,” adds Zanders.
The contract is Buro Happold’s first in Albania and places Happold Consulting at the forefront of efforts to help manage international development. It also represents a move up the development chain for Buro Happold, away from providing engineering design of buildings and infrastructure, to giving strategic planning advice.
One area where Buro Happold’s skill in designing infrastructure projects in particular will come to the fore will be in advising on improved transport links for the region. Currently just two major roads link Tirana and Durres and they have very few junctions or links between them. Buro Happold infrastructure group director Alan Harbinson and Zanders visited Albania in January on an initial scoping study to assess what work will be required to improve transport in the region.
At the end of the project, Buro Happold and Landell Mills will present their plans to the Albanian government for appraisal, after which it is hoped the regional planning proposal will become a policy document and its planning and zoning guidelines will be adopted as legislation.
The two phases of the project (study and plan) are being implemented in close cooperation with the Ministries of public works, transport and telecommunication as well as relevant local institutions.
Buro Happold
Press office and practice information at www.burohappold.com
Contact:
Neil Wilks
Press officer
Tel: 01225 321764
Notes for editors:
The Tirana Durres Integrated Development Plan will begin its initial, four month long analytical phase in March, after which the year-long appraisal and proposal stage will begin. The project will see production of a housing and population survey; transport and infrastructure survey and a natural and environmental study as well as the final report and proposal. This will include a final environmental and sustainable development strategic plan. The project will also include training, public consultation and participation activities for which a methodology and training modules will be developed.
Albania is tipped to become the next “undiscovered” holiday destination, offering unspoilt countryside and beaches away from the bigger cities. This reputation is likely to grow once British Airways start flying direct to Tirana in March 2006.
Happold Consulting provides strategic advice to public sector organisations, offering services that includes business process re-engineering, change management and procurement options. Current Happold Consulting clients include public bodies, such as the Highways Agency and the Waste and Resources Action Programme, as well as many local authorities.
The International Development group carries out this work abroad and contributes to various development projects throughout the world. This is part of Buro Happold’s efforts to use engineering skills to improve the quality of life for people and to fulfil founder Ted Happold’s desire to provide services which are “not just about money, but about working for the public good.”
Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. It offers civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building services and environmental engineering, health and safety management, infrastructure and traffic engineering, ground engineering, façade engineering, fire engineering, computational fluid dynamics analysis, disability design consultancy, project management, urban design and a range of specialist CAD services.
