USAID/Albania Success Story: Integrity in Territorial Planning and Development in Albania

Territorial planning in Albania has undergone significant legislative and institutional reforms in the past two years, with the PLGP methodically improving transparency, responsibility, and efficiency in the design and implementation of territorial planning procedures and practices. This effort aims to reduce spaces for corruption. The Law on Territorial Planning and Development and related bylaws, adopted in 2014 and 2015, establish the standards for planning and construction. The PLGP provided guidance to the Government of Albania in formulating this legislation to ensure compliance with international norms for planning and development. The law includes basic principles, such as the principle of sustainable development and the principle of protecting public and private interests. Precise rules with clear responsibilities and a minimum of discretionary actions are applied without discrimination to all who engage in the same types of activities. The law also obliges the government to inform the public in a clear, timely, and comprehensive manner and to ensure meaningful public participation and consultation in the planning process. The PLGP is also building the capacities, knowledge, and experience of government staff at the national and local levels so they can implement the laws in a proper manner. Each local government in Albania must prepare a General Local Territorial Plan (GLTP) to set a clearly-defined direction for development within the municipality. The GLTPs specify what can be built in the municipality, where it can be built, and how it must be built. The PLGP is providing assistance to five municipalities in developing their GLTPs in compliance with Albanian law and has produced a Planning Toolkit for use by all 61 municipalities. The Toolkit is a how-to guide for drafting a GLTP and a common evidence base of best practices in making planning and development decisions in accordance with the law. The PLGP is also strengthening the legal framework, as well as the administrative, technical, and human capacities of the national and local governments, to prevent the misuse or waste of resources, including USAID-funded resources, in the planning and development process. This effort is expected to contribute to the growth of awareness and intolerance of corruption in Albania. A number of mayors and municipal planning directors have been indicted for the abuse of official position related to territorial planning and issuing building permits. The PLGP's work aims to prevent similar instances of corruption in the future.