Integrated and Multilevel Knowledge. Digital Approaches for Sustainable Planning and Heritage Conservation

The city of Tirana is facing significant challenges related to urban expansion and traffic congestion, which undermine the quality of life for both residents and visitors of the Albanian capital. Rapid urbanisation has exerted increasing pressure on urban infrastructure and the historic centre, highlighting the need for innovative solutions for sustainable mobility and decentralized planning.

The International PhD Workshop-Project (December 10–20, 2024), conducted within the framework of the joint international doctoral program IDAUP (POLIS University and Ferrara University), provided an opportunity to develop reflections and propose potential solutions to these challenges. The outcomes, stemming from an interdisciplinary and multi-scalar approach, emphasized the importance of data and contextual information as an essential foundation for accurate and informed planning.

Both tangible and intangible data play a crucial role in understanding and managing complex urban territories. Beyond demo-sociological information, the combination of morphometric, cultural, and historical data allows for the construction of a detailed framework of territorial dynamics. Technologies such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems), laser scanning, photogrammetry, and HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modeling) enable the development of semantically enriched three-dimensional digital models, integrating the physical characteristics of the territory with its intangible values. These tools provide a knowledge base that supports sustainable planning, heritage conservation, and improved accessibility. This contribution aims to explore how data, represented and organized through advanced models, can support urban development strategies for Tirana, transforming the built environment into a strategic resource for inclusive and sustainable development. Cultural heritage, understood as a generative element of identity and cohesion, is analysed not only as an asset to preserve but as a dynamic factor capable of stimulating urban regeneration processes. The proposed methodological approach aspires to offer a replicable framework for other cities facing similar challenges.