Impact of Urbanization and Economic Growth in Albania

Abstract

One of the goals of the study is to analyze how urbanization and economic growth are related, identify the elements that influence a nation's urbanization, and add to the body of theoretical and empirical research on urbanization. Over the past 32 years, Tirana has undergone a number of swift and challenging transformations in the economic, social, and political arenas. The sudden transformation of the natural and populated terrain serves as a stark example of an unforeseen and novel phenomenon for Albanian society. Various researchers have confirmed this statement but no previous study has used socio-economic data to study this relationship in the city of Tirana, as a city with a promising economic development. Urbanization is linked to problems including insufficient housing, poor waste management, and insufficient infrastructure, all of which are very difficult to eradicate and control. These problems are still a battle in developed nations. Tirana and other developing cities have a much higher rate of urbanization than did the wealthy nations of today when they were first developing (Dutt and Parai, 1994). Through an examination of the causal relationships between variables and their effects on the economy, this study looks at other aspects of population migration. This study is analytical and exploratory. The research findings can support attempts to discover acceptable solutions to urban problems, particularly in Tirana and beyond, by providing an up-to-date understanding of the elements that project urbanization. The study is based on contemporary urbanization theory, which is particularly relevant in the instance of Tirana. The following ways that this study will increase knowledge are as follows: it will pinpoint socioeconomic factors that attempt to forecast Tirana's urbanization; it will develop a method to measure urbanization and economic growth through a standardized measure. The basic methods according to which such an evaluative analysis will be made are related to the correlation between the variables as well as the regression analysis. The data have been obtained from INSTAT and the World Bank for the period 1998-2019.

Received: 5 September 2022 / Accepted: 28 October 2022 / Published: 5 November 2022