From Abandonment to Interpretation: The Industrial Heritage Tour as a Tool for Safeguarding Albania’s Industrial Past

Author
Erida CURRAJ

Affiliation
Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania

Abstract
This article proposes Tirana as a pioneering case for integrating industrial heritage into emerging museum networks in the Balkans and wider Europe. Although countries across Eastern Europe have, for several decades, developed systematic approaches to preserving and valorizing their industrial past, Albania despite possessing a rich portfolio of industrial-era infrastructures has not yet institutionalized such efforts. Tirana, with its emblematic sites such as the former “Kombinat and Porcelan” sites or Stalin Textile Combine and associated industrial-residential complexes, represents a unique urban laboratory where the material, social, and ideological dimensions of industrialization intersect. These sites witness not only technological and architectural histories but also the lived experiences of workers, the socio-economic transformations of the socialist period. Drawing from contemporary scholarship on industrial heritage, memory studies, and adaptive reuse, the article argues that Tirana’s industrial remains hold significant potential to be reinterpreted as cultural assets within a transnational framework. Developing an industrial heritage tour connected to European and Balkan networks would allow the city to reposition itself as part of a broader narrative of modernity, labour, and collective memory. Such an initiative would also fill a notable institutional gap in Albania, where engagement with industrial heritage has thus far been fragmented, sporadic, and primarily driven by academics or the media rather than public institutions. The proposed model emphasizes three pillars: (1) systematic identification and documentation of Tirana’s industrial sites; (2) reinterpretation of these sites through contemporary museological and participatory approaches; and (3) integration into existing European cultural routes, thereby enhancing visibility, educational value, and sustainable urban development. By situating Tirana within a regional and European heritage ecosystem, the article demonstrates how industrial heritage can shift from being overlooked or derelict to becoming an engine for cultural tourism, memory work, and community regeneration. Finally, the paper presents Tirana not merely as a repository of industrial remains but as a potential leader in shaping a new cultural geography of industrial heritage in the Balkans one that aligns preservation with innovation, and local narratives with transnational networks.