Erwerbstätigkeit und Arbeitslosigkeit in Albanien Mitte der 90er Jahre

For Albania, political change in 1990/1991 did not just mean the collapse of the communist regime, it was also the end of an almost fifty year isolation from the "rest of the world". The transformation from planned to market economy is more difficult than in most of the other reform states. The collapse of many national companies has meant that high unemployment, the building up of democratic structures and caring for the population are the central problems of this young democracy. Low income, poverty, neediness and financial disaster after dubious capital investments not only have made life practically impossible for many Albanians -especially after the unrest in 1997- but have also deeply shaken the trust of the people in the government and the state order. Whereas official statistics say that unemployment in 1996 was running at no more than roughly 12%, the unofficial figures are considerably higher . Albania is an agricultural country. Almost 69% of the population in 1996 worked in farming. Therefore, the agricultural sector has hugely grown in importance since 1990 - a result of privatisation, the collapse of national industry, the poor supply situation and the rise in unemployment through emigration. The economic reform took place to the disadvantage of the completely obsolete industrial firms above all. 80% of the jobs have been lost as a result of this since 1990. However, economic reform has lead to an increase in jobs in the services sector. Women, job hunters between 21 and 34 and people with low qualifications are particularly hit by unemployment. The city regions are more severely hit by unemployment than the rural districts as a result of migration. The difficult economic situation of the country and the tense job market caused a massive domestic and outward migration which grew dramatically after the 1997 unrest in particular, and which caused considerable upheaval in the popul ation and massive population losses. As it is mainly young, initiative and well trained Albanians who emigrate, this means a severe loss in human capital. The 1997 unrest did not only lead to a destabilisation of law and order, it also had severe effects on the successful first stages of the transformation process. The economic situation in the country is now worse than it was in 1996. The political instability and the uncertainty have worried many foreign investors. It is, however, impossible to build up the country without outside help. In tourism particularly, however, which could become the motor of the economy, Albania has favourable perspectives

Industrie-Squatter in Tirana: informelles Wohnen in aufgelassenen Kombinaten der albanischen Hauptstadt

Marginalsiedlungen gelten gemeinhin als ein Kennzeichen von schnell wachsenden Städten in Drittweltländern. Informelles Wohnen ist, als post-sozialistische Transformationserscheinung, aber auch in den Großstädten Ost- und Südosteuropas keine Seltenheit. Dem Begriff informellen Wohnens selbst haftet zwar häufig der Beigeschmack von Armut und Marginalisierung an, doch in der albanischen Hauptstadt Tirana umfasst er die gesamte Bandbreite von sozialen Abstufungen in der Gesellschaft. Es gibt informelle Oberschichtviertel mit villenähnlichen Wohnformen, sehr ausgedehnte illegale mittelständische Wohngebiete -speziell im randstädtischen Bereich- und ärmliche Squatterviertel der Unterschicht. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird am Beispiel Tiranas eine spezielle Form aus dem in Albanien als Massenphänomen auftretenden informellen Wohnens sowie die damit verbundene Gruppierung der Industriesquatter vorgestellt. Dabei handelt es sich um Zuwanderer, die sich Wohnungen in leer stehenden, teilweise verfallenen Fabrikgebäuden errichten. Entsprechende Möglichkeiten bieten die Areale der ehemaligen Industriekombinate in der albanischen Hauptstadt, weil diese bisher nur teilweise privatisiert worden sind und eine industrielle Nachfolgenutzung meist nicht existiert. Jene Teile, die sich noch im Staatsbesitz befinden, stehen nach wie vor leer und befinden sich in einem ausgesprochen desolatem Zustand. Die Variationsbreite der baulichen Umgestaltung von ungenutzten Industriebauten ist groß; sie reicht vom vergleichsweise einfachen Umwidmen vormaliger Verwaltungstrakte bis hin zu spektakulär anmutenden, aufwendigen Einbauten in obere Geschosse ehemaliger Fabrikhallen. Fast ausnahmslos werden dafür gebrauchte Materialien verwandt, die zumeist durch illegalen Abbruch von Gebäuden in den einstigen Kombinaten stammen. Bei der Strom- und Wasserversorgung wird auf die noch vorhandenen Ressourcen des vormaligen Industriebetriebs zurückgegriffen. Obwohl die informelle Besitznahme der Gebäude oder Gebäudeteile staatliche Eigentumsrechte berührt, müssen ansiedlungswillige Squatter Zahlungen an nicht zu identifizierende Dritte leisten, damit die Wohnsitznahme geduldet wird. Die Mehrzahl der Industriesquatter ist in einer letzten Welle der Migration nach Tirana in der zweiten Hälfte der 90er Jahre aus Nordalbanien zugewandert, wobei Teile heimatlicher Sozial- und Familienverbände transferiert worden sind. Befragungen und Kartierungen in den Wohnarealen zeigten teilweise einen hohen Anteil von Nachbarschaften aus der Herkunftsregion. Innerhalb Tiranas leben die Industriesquatter stark isoliert; eine Integration in das Großstadtleben fand bisher kaum statt. (Autorenreferat)Marginal settlements are generally considered an indicator of fast-growth in Third World cities. However, informal living is not at all rare as a post-Socialist phenomenon of the transformation process and in the big cities of Eastern and South Eastern Europe. The connotation of poverty and marginalisation is often inherent in the idea of in formal living itself. But, in the Albanian capital of Tirana it encompasses the entire range of social gradations in society. There are informal quarters of the upper classes with mansion-like forms of living, extremely extended illegal middle-class residential areas (especially on the outskirts of the city) and poor squatters' quarters of the lower classes. This article will take th e example of Tirana to showcase a special form selected from the mass phenomenon of informal living witnessed in Albania and the industrial squatter groups associated with it. They are immigrants who set up homes in empty and somewhat dilapidated factory buildings. The areas of the former industrial combines in the Al banian capital feature similar things since they have only partially been privatised or have not found industrial reutilisation. The parts still owned by the government are still empty and are in a totally disastrous condition. There is also a wide variety of ways to rebuild unused industrial buildings ranging from simply rededicating previous administrative sections right down to complex installations with a spectacular appearance in upper floors of former factory halls. Almost all of the materials used for this come from illegal demolition of buildings in former industrial comb ines and still existing resources are used for the power and water supply of the prior industrial company. Although informally taking possession of these buildings or parts of buildings is tangent to government rights of ownership, squatters who want to be tolerated settling there have to make payment to third parties who cannot be identified. The majority of industrial squatters immigrated in the last wave of migration from North Albania to Tirana in the second half of the 90's where parts of home social and family groups were transferred. Some polls and mapping in these housing areas indicated a major proportion of neighbourhoods from the home region. These industrial squatters live extremely isolated in Tirana and have hardly been integrated into big city life. (author's abstract

Regionale und lokale Entwicklungen in Albanien - ausgewählte Beispiele

Dhimitër DokaLiteraturverz. S. 163 - 16