Early elements for a Lëngarica River Greenway

The essay is part of a book about a research carried out by the Department of Architecture (DIDA) of the University of Florence within the framework of the “Develop Community Resources through the Valorisation of the Natural and Cultural Heritage” programme. This programme, founded by the Italian Government and promoted and managed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in the Western Balkans in Tiranë, contributes to the effective implementation of the Strategic Plan for Development and Integration 2015-2020 – NSDI of the Albanian Government, Albania’s most important strategic document in view of joining the European Union. In particular, the research aims to initiate a process of sustainable and socially inclusive development in the Albanian village of Bënjë, in the municipality of Përmet, Gijrokastër County. The objectives of the research are as follows: (1) identify within this set of interventions the most effective and feasible one to achieve the given objective with the available resources, and (2) prepare the narrative master plan and preliminary design of the selected intervention. Of the various options available it was decided, in consultation with the client, to focus on the rehabilitation of the road leading from the thermal area near the Kadiu Bridge over the Lëngarica River to the village. The essay explores the theme of greenways through the case study of the lower Lëngarica River Valley, illustrating a methodological and operational proposal that could form the basic core of subsequent interventions to be implemented in the Vjosa River Valley.