@@amcghie7 Yes I live in Tirana and I surely suggest you visit! You will not regret it and it is truly one of a kind city, having many different sections of different architecture and the people are hospitable, and most importantly for a tourist, it is very affordable.
Yessssssss you did Albania my guy!!!! Also I'm quite happy that you went out and researched the history of the modern Albanian state and how it came to be. And fantastic video too.
Dude ! From an albanian architect, awesome content man ! Never thought the conjecture of the city was due to no auto transportation. Very interesting ! Although I would say that you were too lenient on the urban sprawl of the 90's. If it wasn't for some goverment measures the city could have been a total disaster. Check photos of Lana river in '97-'99 for reference.
@Mr. P. Enis No, he’s talking about the urban sprawl that occurred post 90s (after the fall of communism) where people just found empty land and built houses with no permits or ownership rights. This urban cannibalism went to the point that people stole the grass plots on the side of the Lana river and other parklands, to build shanty houses. The mayorship of Edi Rama’s period 1999-2011 intervened and destroyed all houses/business that had no permits. They reclaimed all public land.
Mike is the kinda guy who turns a classic Beatles tune into a song about socialist city planning in Albania, and then casually goes on with his day Guys, are we just gonna act like that didn’t happen? What a legend!
I haven't watched the video yet but I want to inform you that google street view in Albania hasn't been updated since around 2015-2016 and A LOT of stuff has changed since then.
Do Warsaw, it's interesting how it was destroyed in the 1940s, rebuilt in the 1950s-1980s, modernized in the 1990s-2010's, and what implications this has had for the local urban layout. It's center, the area around the Palace of Culture and Science is particularly controversial (because of all the unused space).
The author uses google earth in his films. In this application is the option to choose the year in which cities were photographed. It is interesting to compare Warsaw from 1935, 1945 and present photos. It makes a huge impression
Ok, being from Tirana, your enthusiastic tone when describing the wonder that is the market-regulated city planning is flattering but also misleading. The very dense way of building, basically filling every gap, came at a cost of: 1. one's own private space (suddenly you have neighbours at a very close distance) 2. the whole public space (as you mention yourself, virtually no parks or squares in the city, except the one in the city center). Not to mention the pedestrian pathways, which are always narrow as hell, either because of buildings being built very close to the street, or cafés and bars usurping the whole space. It's not fun to walk around with a baby stroller, and it's certanly impossible to move on you're own if you're in a wheelchair or have other kinds of handicaps.
Your point on pathways reminds me that some bus stops in older districts of Singapore aren't wheelchair accessible, as they're sometimes in front of shophouses, which are built pretty close to the road. Hence the pavement (where the bus stops are typically at) is pretty narrow, perhaps as it was intended that some pedestrians would instead walk via the shophouse's open-air corridors (officially called 5' ways) that're sandwiched behind the pavement, in front of the shophouses' ground level shops and beneath the upper floor units of the shophouses. Unfortunately the corridor is often not level with the pavement, so wheelchairs won't be able to take advantage of the space offered by both
I like the city Of Tirana and I like Albania. The city is unique and i like your analysis of the city. I think Tirana shows what an Influence cars have on city planning and city grow. In this case the abandunce of cars while the city grew.
@@The_Asset_Man most of stray dogs are sterilized and are very sleepy they don't usually attack. If u go to villages they aren't sleepy but if u don't have a dog or bug them they won't do anything to u. Trust me I lived there all my life.
You should definitely do some Chinese cities, with their soviet style housing blocks and mega-malls built into financial districts. My brother lives in Chengdu, and I visited him last summer, and I would looooove to see a video on Chengdu, Sichuan China. Despite the fact that you can't get those sweet, sweet 3D street views in China..
You got something very wrong at the beginning. Albanians werent fans of the Ottomans at all. They had more wars against them than some of their neighbouring countries. A few Albanian-Ottoman Uprisings: First Zenebishi Uprising 1385-86 Gjirokaster Invasion 1414 Second Zenebishi Uprising 1416 Second Gjirokaster Invasion 1418 Albanian Revolt of 1432-36 Muzaka Revolt 1437-38 Ottoman-Albanian wars of 1443-79 Albanian Uprisings 1481-84 Invasion of Zeta 1481 Albanian Uprising 1501 Seven-fold barjak Uprising 1658 Medun Uprising 1688 Hoti-Kuci Uprising 1694 Muhammad Ali Wars 1803-11 Destruction of Kardhiq 1812 Greek war of Independence 1821-32 Ottoman-Bushati War 1831 Albanian Revolt in Diber 1833 Albanian Revolt in Kolonje 1833 Albanian Revolt in Shkoder 1833 Albanian Revolt of the south 1833 Albanian Revolt of 1834 Albanian Revolt of the south 1835 Albanian Revolt in Myzeqe 1835 Albanian Revolt of the North 1835 Albanian Revolt of the south 1836 Albanian Revolt in Mat 1837 Albanian Revolt in Myzeqe 1837 Albanian Revolt in the north 1837 Albanian Revolt in Diber 1837 Albanian Revolt of the south 1839 Albanian Revolt in Prizren 1839 Uprising of Dervish Cara Albanian Revolt in Diber 1843-44 Albanian Revolt of 1845 Albanian Revolt of 1847 Albanian Revolt of 1862 League of Prizren War 1880-81 Albanian Revolt of 1910 Albanian Revolt of 1912 Albanian Independence Hauntingly, the ominous consequences Marin Barleti predicted in his work "The Siege of Shkodra" were reported more than 400 years later by C.Telford Erickson (honorary Albanian delegate to the Paris Peace Conference), who wrote of malaria, poverty, horrendous infant mortality rates, and "a strong feeling of resentment, of bitterness, and revolt against a regime (Ottoman) whose 450 years in the land has reduced the nation to the brink of disaster". He wrote that thousands of Albanian women and girls were carried off to stock harems of the Empire and that only one in one hundred young Albanian men had returned "from the plague spots of the East" to which they had been sent. Erickson reported the people were "united in feeling that Turkish rule in Albania had been an unspeakable curse" (Erickson 115-19). In 1924 Midhat Frashëri (respected Albanian diplomat and one of the fathers of modern Albanian nationalism) spoke of the Turkish occupation, saying, "May that administration be loathed for eternity. Cursed be the hour that brought the Asian conqueror to Albania, that left us five centuries behind our friends. Five centuries passed us by like a hovering dark cloud, a heavy burden upon our mind and conscience, a dark age that distorted every sense of humanity and every honorable human virtue"
First, you really make good videos and I love your analysis so please keep up the good work! Second, because I like them so much I wanted to ask for a video on Tirana, as I wanted an unbiased view on the city, but thought: there are millions of cities, why on earth would he do Tirana, he probably doesn't even know it exists. Boy was I mistaken... thank you very much my good sir, you made my day! As someone who was born and raised there, I used to hate it as a city due to its chaotic nature. After living in other cities in Europe and the huge transformation Tirana has had, and continues to have, I have started to love it. For the mos part you are right, it is a walkable, vibrant and lively city with almost every neighborhood having its own thing going on. However, the general feel of the population seems to be, to my understanding, not so great as it lacks parks, green and public spaces, its own identity (it is a melting pot of people and architecture) as well as proper infrastructure and structure (it can be quite difficult for firefighters and ambulances for example). In any case. it seems to be going in the right direction, its plan for 2030 will give it an identity, hopefully (the plan in this link: th-cam.com/video/A1LWd2CjAtc/w-d-xo.html). Its best part though are its people, who are quite resourceful. Sorry for the long post and thank you again! :)
Hey Shqipo. I personally think that Tirana is the most organised big Albanian city which has the most potential to expand and develop, when comparing to other big Albanian cities of which many were plagued with awful Yugoslav city master plans. I went once in 2015 and was pleasantly surprised with the walkable and friendly urban environment but also I liked the layout of the roads. The city centre also felt like a true city centre with the square and the big open areas surrounded by the government institutions. I'm planning on visiting Tirana in August and I can't wait to see how much it's changed. It's insane because I remember in the early 2000s hearing that Tirana was a awful mess with irregular private buildings everywhere. But seeing how much Tirana has changed gives me hope that other cities such as Prishtina, Skopje, Ulcinj and more have the potential to fully adapt this mindset and improve the city.
@Tesla-Effect I think he meant Albanian cities outside Albania. Like in Kosovo or Macedonia. Cities such as Prishtina etc that are majority Albanian during Yugoslav times.
My first trip to Albania was on 3/2/19,and we loved it. Their people were the warmest and most hospitable from any european countries I 've visited. If you are ever in Albania, you must visit Kruja,Pogradec,Shkondra,Berat,and Theth ,absolutely beautiful amazing places. We stayed at this amazing modern 4 story hotel in Tirana called 7 Hotel,at $35 euros a night,a baragain and then some. Didn't care for Tirana but the cities we visited for the 12 days we were there were beautiful,and sooooo peacful. Btw ,each place we visited,we would spend a night in a hotel. I can't stress enough how cozy and lovely their hotels were. Try $25 Euros a night. We're thinking to go back and visit their Islands.
We have no islands. Actually we kind have one or two but not available to the public. One is military base. However we have Albanian riviera which is almost a island and heaven with green blue waters like Himara and Saranda
@@ligametis Yeah, socialist design that is awfull, but this badly implemented socialist design, did work better while a mess, and when out of socialism it was a recueable thing not like the well implemented socialist design. Socialist design is ment to dehumanize and doesn't work at all, while badly implemented doesn't work either, can be helped if it doesn't fit the design at all.
@@alecity4877 personally, I do prefer realised socialist design. I really like those massive green spaces, with many trees and bird songs, open areas between buildings that allow you to have wide unlocked views through your windows, quiet and tidy environment without any stores on the first floor, safe interior courtyards. This city for me seems to be to dense and crowded with clear lack of space and parks.
@@ligametis I also like big parks sides and open areas, but not the repetitiveness and blocky aspect of the socialist design, neither the thing of super packed. This city has many parks by the way and green spaces, not enough maybe. If you want balance, Helsinki has a pretty good one.
Thanks Michael : ) I've been looking forward to your new content, I always enjoy and learn a lot from your channel. Big salute from Melbourne Australia
You almost showed the house I lived in as a toddler (which is now a bar)! By the way, Albania’s #1 religion is being Albanian. There’s no strict adherence to religion, only to our ethnic heritage. In recent decades religion has been politicized to contrast Albania from neighboring countries. But culturally, Albania doesn’t adhere to any one cult.
@Tesla-Effect very nationalistic and proud of it. There is such a thing as loving your identity, and still appreciating others’. Don’t you dare confusing pride in a worthy culture whose neighbors actively work to erase with the superiority complex of an oppressor.
Your average greek city is quite similar to this too, especially when comparing density and building styles from the 90s and onward.But the major difference is, in Greece it was the private sector that was trying (and still is) to fill every nook and cranny with high density housing instead of the state.
@@ligametis the problem with Athens was that it had a population crisis in the 1920s. After Greece lost the Greco-turkish war, 2mil Greeks that lived in Anatolia had to move to Greece. Many of them moved in Athens or created small refuge towns around Athens. Because of that Athens didn't have the time to develop properly. For example, Thessaloniki ( 2nd largest city of Greece) that didn't have the some problem is more nicely developed.
Your analysis of Tirana was a surprise. It showed how even an economically impoverished place could be quite a pleasant place to live if it were built without making cars the first consideration in the urban design. Could you do one on Alameda, California? It looks like it could be quite walkable.
I am a resident of this mess and I love this video. Haven't seen yet any Major of the City describe the situation better than you! (You fucked up the pronunciation of some street names tho)
Saúl Ponce de León most contemporary socialists are of the opinion that small businesses are pretty good and not really at odds with socialism - businesses with 2 or 3 employees don’t have many of the problems associated with capitalism like worker alienation etc.
@@joachimmacdonald2702 Contemporary socialism is more about wealth distribution and social mobility than anything else. What has odds with socialism is big, untaxed and speculative capital
Also, the 6-lane highway you talk about can be busy more in town near the central square, but towards Mother Teresa Square...it's practically empty. For the most part, because there are just so many pedestrians (and more bicyclists than America), personally, it never really felt like a hassle crossing the street in Tirana. That turn of pedestrianized road into George W Bush Street is more seamless in real life than you say. I love scanning on Google Earth and diving into streetview all the time...and while doing so can tell LOTS about a place, it's still not the same being there and interacting with the built environment and infrastructure in person. I'm a city infrastructuralist, so when I travel...this is what I pay attention to most - the user experience of a city.
Hey Mike! Loving your channel. If you take requests, it would be cool to hear about Lisbon and/or Porto. Maybe other smaller Portuguese cities like Aveiro or Braga. Lots of history, former world power, etc. I think you’d have fun with it. Cheers!
I must respect your way of thinking & shouting out the truth! Just to be honest my older brother is struggling for some tuorists company to arrive in this semi-urbanised jungle.
As always great video, you really fuel my curiosity for urbanism! I know it may sound bland and repeated, since many comments ask you to do this city or that one, but since there's no other way to get the word out, I''d like to insist you to do a video about Quito, you'll find this city rather interesting due to its unique geography. I gave a lot of insight back in the Medellin video, but I just hope you manage to make a video of Quito, thanks
That is a very interesting perspective! I was born in Tirana after the fall of communism and I have seen firsthand what lack of proper urban planning has resulted in (although by 2019 there is far better infrastructure). While I enjoyed the video (and subscribed), I would suggest you spoke more calmly, as sometimes your “accusatory” intonation gets irritating 😅. Thanks again for the upload :)
@@saiwantv A new highway from western Tirana to the town of Elbasan! A new stadium with around 20.000 capacity! A new and faster connection from eastern Tirana to Diber/Dibra! Etc. Etc.
@@dinohermann1887 Learn first what the word infrastructure means. Tirana-Elbasan finished more than five years ago and Tirana-Dibra road is being built and no one knows when it finishes.
SaiwanTV I meant that with the expansion of the city (especially after building the ‘highway’ that connects the outer parts of the city), there are new roads being built that help connectivity in both old and newly populated neighborhoods, hence not all is left to the narrow “ex pedestrian communist” roads built back then, - as mentioned in the video.
Can you please do Mexico City next, it is a fascinating place with tons of history, and is actually the largest city in North America. It would have to be a mammoth episode, but in my opinion the longer the better! You could also focus in on certain boroughs of the city; the centro histórico, juarez, xochimilco. It is in my opinion the most vibrant city in North America bar New York.
Yo Michael, I highly suggest doing a tour of Cincinnati Ohio. The city is sprinkled with massive highways junctions from the 1960's highway craze going right through the towns heart, crazy! Anyways love your video, as always! Cheers
Dude! Was just there a month ago. Loved Tirana. What you can't see on google earth and streetview, however, are the many bicycle cycletracks that they are constructing everywhere. We are talking about a bicycle and pedestrian pathway running in the middle of Kavaja Street (this you can see on streetview) and just many bicycle paths and other protected bike infrastructure being built on the wide sidewalks of many streets. It felt like Amsterdam a tiny bit. Locals told me the city gov is trying to promote bicycling again and really encouraging pedestrian spaces. In such a dense area, bicycling is definitely an advantage here. My friends and I were commenting that overall, Tirana with its windy narrow back alleyways and hodgepodge of midrises everywhere...kinda feels like Tokyo or some ex-urban Japan town...if Japan suddenly went full-on socialist in the 1950s. Incredible new glass skyscrapers with odd shaped architecture a la Dubai or Beijing are currently being constructed. Excited to see what Tirana will look like in 5 years from now!
@@rondined5697 une e kam per meme kurse ti po i lepihesh dikujt qe gjat gjithë videos ka mohu identitetin shqiptar dhe po favorizon sllavet. Nuk permendi as iliret as Skenderbeun apo Mehmet Ali-në.
Would love to see more USA videos from you!!!! 1.) San Antonio, TX 2.) Austin, TX 3.) Denver, CO 4.) Portland, OR 5.) Salt Lake, UT 6.) FL 7.) NH 8.) HI These would be really great to see!!!!
Wow here is the first real evidence of an actual (albeit accidental) contribution from America’s Architecture schools. I think you blew a neural circuit. Thank you, entertaining.
You should take a look at Quebec City! I'm sure you would have enough content for a video. The city was founded in 1608 so you can identify which part of the city developed when. Urban planning changed a lot since then.
this channel really hammers home the fun of spying the world with google earth as well as the impact a good or badly designed town can have. I wonder what you'd think of Amersfoort in the Netherlands, it has a lot of variation and green spaces.
Now imagine they implement a super metro system and the current mayor seems keen on Bikes this city could be bagging and our car loving friends might go back to day before personal cars were legal again. Great video my friend very well done.
The Tirana ring road will be finished by the end of this year relieving traffic even more within the city proper limits. With a decent metro system Tirana could honestly resemble Tokyo and be an insanely livable city. But there are no plans for a metro and we probably won't be seeing one until 2035.
Ale city you’re arguing with a Bolivian. Sucre is the official capital of Bolivia, but because of the historical significance and tactical location, la Paz is Bolivia’s centre of command.
@@alexisarteev-salazar9247 okay, didn't know you were bolivian. but wasn't the capital the center of command by definition? As I always understood (correct me if I'm wrong) Bolivia has Sucre as Legislative and Juridical powers capital, and La Paz as the Ejecutive power and military's capital. PD: puedes decírmelo en español si quieres, yo soy de Venezuela.
You should do Jacksonville Florida , it’s such a large city with no real downtown, second largest city land wise in America and it’s just bland, good river and it has a beach. Wasting potential
Requesting that you do Gothenburg, Swedens second largest city and most importantly the hometown of our youtube memelord Pewdiepie. If you do, check out the rivercity project where they plan to double the innercity center!!!!
Hi Michael, You say "Stalinist tropes" but then show a building that was quite clearly not built under Stalin. In fact, that building shown at 7:50 seems to have been built post-1991. But more importantly (and the reason why I am making this comment): apartments in "stalinka" buildings are actually highly sought after in today's Russia. They were made with solid materials and their appearance has stood the test of time. The "panelki" (monolithic concrete housing that people in the West associate with the Soviet Union) were really not built until after Stalin's death.
@@shaclo1512 stop lying to yourself, we loved them, and we still do for some reason. We are retards. The only good thing we have is that we like to hang out and build cafes.
@@vaiyaktikasolarbeam1906 He is lying bro, in Albania you can find Osman mosques over all, and a lot of the architecture is there as well. He belongs to a minority that supports Greece and Serbia. Just look at his username.
You should make a video about the West End in Boston and its destruction and use it as an example of urban renewal gone wrong. Love your vids on cities. Nothing else like it on youtube.
Please look Manizales is a average city in terms of size in Colombia but its the first in many things like quality of life, security, enviromental protection, air quality and water potability, its part of the Coffee region here in Colombia, but the most amazing thing its about the morfology of the city, it's placed Just in the tip of the Mountains and the city has grown with the form of it, by any meaning the city can't be called flat, i Will really appreciate it if you Just take a look at some photos, thanks.
I’m from the UK and I’ve never been to Seattle, but I just watched that “seattle is dying” documentary and it convinced me that this city I’ve never seen is a shithole. It’s probably completely overblown and deliberately misleading, but man that stuff is a PR nightmare.
I wouldn’t say Socialist but definitely a prominent design philosophy of the time, a minimalistic style with the intent of providing housing. One thing we can learn from Tirana is quite walkable, that seemed to be a positive.
So basically it's like a modern city but with medieval street planning...
I dig that.
Im from albania i live in tirana capital city its great but the goverment is shittt
@@kristicifci5389 Don't worry, I'm from the UK and the Government here is very very shit!
As a local, would you recommend it for a visit?
@@amcghie7 well uk is organized
@@amcghie7 Yes I live in Tirana and I surely suggest you visit! You will not regret it and it is truly one of a kind city, having many different sections of different architecture and the people are hospitable, and most importantly for a tourist, it is very affordable.
I never really thought about the design of cities before watching this channel, thanks for the great content
I did it all the time, but never thought other people did it as well, that's why I love this channel
As a architectural student this channel really helps me think of how one building affects the entire city or town
I miss playing Cities Skylines again, and way even more after watching his videos.
@@CB0408 You should check out skyscrapercity or skyscraperpage (more US centric) forums
Are you american perhaps?
It looks like a mix between a Greek, a Russian, and a Mexican city.
Spot on.
not really, i mean socialistic ye i study architecture
Fy dumbest
It's a mixture of old-fashioned and modern architecture, but Albanian are far older then that, do your own research!
@Vorraboms trust me is very mexican I live in mexico
Dude I really love this channel. Even the intro music is on point.
Let's not talk about the outer musical bit... ^^
The Gilmore girls theme song, great show too
Yessssssss you did Albania my guy!!!!
Also I'm quite happy that you went out and researched the history of the modern Albanian state and how it came to be.
And fantastic video too.
Dude ! From an albanian architect, awesome content man ! Never thought the conjecture of the city was due to no auto transportation. Very interesting ! Although I would say that you were too lenient on the urban sprawl of the 90's. If it wasn't for some goverment measures the city could have been a total disaster. Check photos of Lana river in '97-'99 for reference.
@Mr. P. Enis No, he’s talking about the urban sprawl that occurred post 90s (after the fall of communism) where people just found empty land and built houses with no permits or ownership rights. This urban cannibalism went to the point that people stole the grass plots on the side of the Lana river and other parklands, to build shanty houses. The mayorship of Edi Rama’s period 1999-2011 intervened and destroyed all houses/business that had no permits. They reclaimed all public land.
@@xhonkeri4066 so Edi Rama actually did something good?
Fun Fact: Albania has one of the highest bar/coffee shops per population
I believe it bro they loooove their espresso
Fuck yeah
Mike is the kinda guy who turns a classic Beatles tune into a song about socialist city planning in Albania, and then casually goes on with his day
Guys, are we just gonna act like that didn’t happen? What a legend!
Benj ahh I can’t fully comprehend what he’s saying in that part though :(
Hell, nobody can say "George W Bush street" with a straight face.
I bet it's a blast to drive down...a drone strike blast...
George Bush gave Albania millions of dollars enough to feed each person for a month
@@sirloinofice nah that's Obama rd.
So much in this video, I'll have to watch it again. 2nd video I've seen from your channel and am really happy I found it.
As a Toronto native, I learned a lot about my city today.
Toronto sucks. Frozen half a year. Polluted air and society. No culture.
I haven't watched the video yet but I want to inform you that google street view in Albania hasn't been updated since around 2015-2016 and A LOT of stuff has changed since then.
Not really...
Not really...
Not really....I'm not even an alabanian
well that’s definitely not true
@Anton Babani you know shit
As a Canadian I 100% thought you were saying Toronto (or as Ontariens say, “Torana”)
As a Canadian living in toronto and Albanian from tirana, they've almost merged at this point hahaha
Do Warsaw, it's interesting how it was destroyed in the 1940s, rebuilt in the 1950s-1980s, modernized in the 1990s-2010's, and what implications this has had for the local urban layout. It's center, the area around the Palace of Culture and Science is particularly controversial (because of all the unused space).
The author uses google earth in his films. In this application is the option to choose the year in which cities were photographed. It is interesting to compare Warsaw from 1935, 1945 and present photos. It makes a huge impression
Unused space? If polandball taught me anything, poland can't into space
@@soyderiverdeliverybeaver8941 that's why it's unused
The mess in Tirana happened after the fall of communism, in 90s they had no building restrictions, you could build anyware.
Ok, being from Tirana, your enthusiastic tone when describing the wonder that is the market-regulated city planning is flattering but also misleading. The very dense way of building, basically filling every gap, came at a cost of:
1. one's own private space (suddenly you have neighbours at a very close distance)
2. the whole public space (as you mention yourself, virtually no parks or squares in the city, except the one in the city center).
Not to mention the pedestrian pathways, which are always narrow as hell, either because of buildings being built very close to the street, or cafés and bars usurping the whole space.
It's not fun to walk around with a baby stroller, and it's certanly impossible to move on you're own if you're in a wheelchair or have other kinds of handicaps.
Also, generally speaking, a strip of grass along or inbetween streets is NOT a park.
Your point on pathways reminds me that some bus stops in older districts of Singapore aren't wheelchair accessible, as they're sometimes in front of shophouses, which are built pretty close to the road. Hence the pavement (where the bus stops are typically at) is pretty narrow, perhaps as it was intended that some pedestrians would instead walk via the shophouse's open-air corridors (officially called 5' ways) that're sandwiched behind the pavement, in front of the shophouses' ground level shops and beneath the upper floor units of the shophouses. Unfortunately the corridor is often not level with the pavement, so wheelchairs won't be able to take advantage of the space offered by both
I like the city Of Tirana and I like Albania. The city is unique and i like your analysis of the city. I think Tirana shows what an Influence cars have on city planning and city grow. In this case the abandunce of cars while the city grew.
Great video about my home country. Your at a whole other level compared to other youtubers. Keep up the good work!
Are there a lot of stray dogs??? I m afraid of them and think about going to Tirana
@@The_Asset_Man There are almost none, the ones that exist never bother people. Dog attacks are unheard of.
@@durimmiziraj4815 Thanks!!! Your answer is highly appreciated!!!
As someone who lived his whole life in Tirana, your different take on its seemingly chaotic layout is a mind opener.
I'm from Tirana and i have to say great video mate!
You nailed it on most things.
Are there a lot of stray dogs??? I m afraid of them and think about going to Tirana
@@The_Asset_Man most of stray dogs are sterilized and are very sleepy they don't usually attack. If u go to villages they aren't sleepy but if u don't have a dog or bug them they won't do anything to u. Trust me I lived there all my life.
You should definitely do some Chinese cities, with their soviet style housing blocks and mega-malls built into financial districts.
My brother lives in Chengdu, and I visited him last summer, and I would looooove to see a video on Chengdu, Sichuan China.
Despite the fact that you can't get those sweet, sweet 3D street views in China..
You got something very wrong at the beginning. Albanians werent fans of the Ottomans at all. They had more wars against them than some of their neighbouring countries.
A few Albanian-Ottoman Uprisings:
First Zenebishi Uprising 1385-86
Gjirokaster Invasion 1414
Second Zenebishi Uprising 1416
Second Gjirokaster Invasion 1418
Albanian Revolt of 1432-36
Muzaka Revolt 1437-38
Ottoman-Albanian wars of 1443-79
Albanian Uprisings 1481-84
Invasion of Zeta 1481
Albanian Uprising 1501
Seven-fold barjak Uprising 1658
Medun Uprising 1688
Hoti-Kuci Uprising 1694
Muhammad Ali Wars 1803-11
Destruction of Kardhiq 1812
Greek war of Independence 1821-32
Ottoman-Bushati War 1831
Albanian Revolt in Diber 1833
Albanian Revolt in Kolonje 1833
Albanian Revolt in Shkoder 1833
Albanian Revolt of the south 1833
Albanian Revolt of 1834
Albanian Revolt of the south 1835
Albanian Revolt in Myzeqe 1835
Albanian Revolt of the North 1835
Albanian Revolt of the south 1836
Albanian Revolt in Mat 1837
Albanian Revolt in Myzeqe 1837
Albanian Revolt in the north 1837
Albanian Revolt in Diber 1837
Albanian Revolt of the south 1839
Albanian Revolt in Prizren 1839
Uprising of Dervish Cara
Albanian Revolt in Diber 1843-44
Albanian Revolt of 1845
Albanian Revolt of 1847
Albanian Revolt of 1862
League of Prizren War 1880-81
Albanian Revolt of 1910
Albanian Revolt of 1912
Albanian Independence
Hauntingly, the ominous consequences Marin Barleti predicted in his work "The Siege of Shkodra" were reported more than 400 years later by C.Telford Erickson (honorary Albanian delegate to the Paris Peace Conference), who wrote of malaria, poverty, horrendous infant mortality rates, and "a strong feeling of resentment, of bitterness, and revolt against a regime (Ottoman) whose 450 years in the land has reduced the nation to the brink of disaster". He wrote that thousands of Albanian women and girls were carried off to stock harems of the Empire and that only one in one hundred young Albanian men had returned "from the plague spots of the East" to which they had been sent. Erickson reported the people were "united in feeling that Turkish rule in Albania had been an unspeakable curse" (Erickson 115-19). In 1924 Midhat Frashëri (respected Albanian diplomat and one of the fathers of modern Albanian nationalism) spoke of the Turkish occupation, saying, "May that administration be loathed for eternity. Cursed be the hour that brought the Asian conqueror to Albania, that left us five centuries behind our friends. Five centuries passed us by like a hovering dark cloud, a heavy burden upon our mind and conscience, a dark age that distorted every sense of humanity and every honorable human virtue"
Greek war of independence is Albanian? Lol
that was really a lot. Why so many uprisings? Was ottoman rule in Albania really bad?
You should make a video about Atlanta GA
Yes! That would be great.
He should do a video on Chengdu China.
Or Chongqing.
he ain't doing no videos 😭
YES! Atlanta!
First, you really make good videos and I love your analysis so please keep up the good work!
Second, because I like them so much I wanted to ask for a video on Tirana, as I wanted an unbiased view on the city, but thought: there are millions of cities, why on earth would he do Tirana, he probably doesn't even know it exists.
Boy was I mistaken... thank you very much my good sir, you made my day!
As someone who was born and raised there, I used to hate it as a city due to its chaotic nature. After living in other cities in Europe and the huge transformation Tirana has had, and continues to have, I have started to love it.
For the mos part you are right, it is a walkable, vibrant and lively city with almost every neighborhood having its own thing going on.
However, the general feel of the population seems to be, to my understanding, not so great as it lacks parks, green and public spaces, its own identity (it is a melting pot of people and architecture) as well as proper infrastructure and structure (it can be quite difficult for firefighters and ambulances for example).
In any case. it seems to be going in the right direction, its plan for 2030 will give it an identity, hopefully (the plan in this link: th-cam.com/video/A1LWd2CjAtc/w-d-xo.html). Its best part though are its people, who are quite resourceful.
Sorry for the long post and thank you again! :)
Hey Shqipo. I personally think that Tirana is the most organised big Albanian city which has the most potential to expand and develop, when comparing to other big Albanian cities of which many were plagued with awful Yugoslav city master plans. I went once in 2015 and was pleasantly surprised with the walkable and friendly urban environment but also I liked the layout of the roads. The city centre also felt like a true city centre with the square and the big open areas surrounded by the government institutions. I'm planning on visiting Tirana in August and I can't wait to see how much it's changed.
It's insane because I remember in the early 2000s hearing that Tirana was a awful mess with irregular private buildings everywhere. But seeing how much Tirana has changed gives me hope that other cities such as Prishtina, Skopje, Ulcinj and more have the potential to fully adapt this mindset and improve the city.
@Tesla-Effect I think he meant Albanian cities outside Albania. Like in Kosovo or Macedonia. Cities such as Prishtina etc that are majority Albanian during Yugoslav times.
One word usually describes the best city-scape: Organic.
I think it looks charming, all the different styles blending together.
My first trip to Albania was on 3/2/19,and we loved it. Their people were the warmest and most hospitable from any european countries I 've visited. If you are ever in Albania, you must visit Kruja,Pogradec,Shkondra,Berat,and Theth ,absolutely beautiful amazing places. We stayed at this amazing modern 4 story hotel in Tirana called 7 Hotel,at $35 euros a night,a baragain and then some. Didn't care for Tirana but the cities we visited for the 12 days we were there were beautiful,and sooooo peacful. Btw ,each place we visited,we would spend a night in a hotel. I can't stress enough how cozy and lovely their hotels were. Try $25 Euros a night. We're thinking to go back and visit their Islands.
We have no islands. Actually we kind have one or two but not available to the public. One is military base. However we have Albanian riviera which is almost a island and heaven with green blue waters like Himara and Saranda
@@NiKonomia nonetheless, it was a nice visit.
@@A358M Great to hear that. You are always welcome back 🙂
@@NiKonomia thanks! :)
From an Albanian,
I am really impressed how accurate your explanation was. It's so sad to see our capital have an ugly (very socialist) urban design.
It's like, the communists try to do their thing, fails as everytime but even worse, come the good guys and do something interesting out of it.
It is failed socialist design. Almost everyone managed to implement it better.
@@ligametis Yeah, socialist design that is awfull, but this badly implemented socialist design, did work better while a mess, and when out of socialism it was a recueable thing not like the well implemented socialist design. Socialist design is ment to dehumanize and doesn't work at all, while badly implemented doesn't work either, can be helped if it doesn't fit the design at all.
@@alecity4877 personally, I do prefer realised socialist design. I really like those massive green spaces, with many trees and bird songs, open areas between buildings that allow you to have wide unlocked views through your windows, quiet and tidy environment without any stores on the first floor, safe interior courtyards. This city for me seems to be to dense and crowded with clear lack of space and parks.
@@ligametis I also like big parks sides and open areas, but not the repetitiveness and blocky aspect of the socialist design, neither the thing of super packed.
This city has many parks by the way and green spaces, not enough maybe.
If you want balance, Helsinki has a pretty good one.
You should look at Bucharest next, a mix of French architecture and communist style apartment buildings
The music playing in the cut-away intro sections is a rendition of the Albanian national anthem. Nice touch!
Can you do a video on Skopje? It has a interesting history and fake old looking buildings. If needed, I will provide you with information!
I do not think he takes suggestions. All his videos are random cities.
@@ligametis I don't feel like they are random cities. He tries to portrait good and bad city design in different areas to improve our knowledge
@@darkodimzov7899 yes he shows good and bad in every city but the cities themselves seem to be randomly selected.
That would be nice cus I live there
Monkeydonia lool
Thanks Michael : ) I've been looking forward to your new content, I always enjoy and learn a lot from your channel.
Big salute from Melbourne Australia
You almost showed the house I lived in as a toddler (which is now a bar)!
By the way, Albania’s #1 religion is being Albanian. There’s no strict adherence to religion, only to our ethnic heritage. In recent decades religion has been politicized to contrast Albania from neighboring countries. But culturally, Albania doesn’t adhere to any one cult.
@Tesla-Effect very nationalistic and proud of it. There is such a thing as loving your identity, and still appreciating others’. Don’t you dare confusing pride in a worthy culture whose neighbors actively work to erase with the superiority complex of an oppressor.
Your average greek city is quite similar to this too, especially when comparing density and building styles from the 90s and onward.But the major difference is, in Greece it was the private sector that was trying (and still is) to fill every nook and cranny with high density housing instead of the state.
When I visited Greece it was hard to believe how ugly and not historical majority of Athens was. Greece less modern islands are a lot more beautiful.
@@ligametis the problem with Athens was that it had a population crisis in the 1920s. After Greece lost the Greco-turkish war, 2mil Greeks that lived in Anatolia had to move to Greece. Many of them moved in Athens or created small refuge towns around Athens. Because of that Athens didn't have the time to develop properly. For example, Thessaloniki ( 2nd largest city of Greece) that didn't have the some problem is more nicely developed.
Love your use of maps and extensive historical knowledge.
Your analysis of Tirana was a surprise. It showed how even an economically impoverished place could be quite a pleasant place to live if it were built without making cars the first consideration in the urban design.
Could you do one on Alameda, California? It looks like it could be quite walkable.
You got it, They never took the car serious ??
I am a resident of this mess and I love this video. Haven't seen yet any Major of the City describe the situation better than you! (You fucked up the pronunciation of some street names tho)
Great video! Cant wait for the next one! Well done
Capitalism and socialism have both good and bad things. Socialist countries needed to realise that commerce is very important for people.
Unfortunately, in socialism the good things only apply to the governing elite
Saúl Ponce de León most contemporary socialists are of the opinion that small businesses are pretty good and not really at odds with socialism - businesses with 2 or 3 employees don’t have many of the problems associated with capitalism like worker alienation etc.
@@joachimmacdonald2702 Contemporary socialism is more about wealth distribution and social mobility than anything else. What has odds with socialism is big, untaxed and speculative capital
Wow i just recently watched your dubai video and thought "haha how funny if he did albania"...
Dude same I was watching the dubai video before this
same
Also, the 6-lane highway you talk about can be busy more in town near the central square, but towards Mother Teresa Square...it's practically empty. For the most part, because there are just so many pedestrians (and more bicyclists than America), personally, it never really felt like a hassle crossing the street in Tirana.
That turn of pedestrianized road into George W Bush Street is more seamless in real life than you say. I love scanning on Google Earth and diving into streetview all the time...and while doing so can tell LOTS about a place, it's still not the same being there and interacting with the built environment and infrastructure in person. I'm a city infrastructuralist, so when I travel...this is what I pay attention to most - the user experience of a city.
Hey Mike! Loving your channel. If you take requests, it would be cool to hear about Lisbon and/or Porto. Maybe other smaller Portuguese cities like Aveiro or Braga.
Lots of history, former world power, etc. I think you’d have fun with it.
Cheers!
Amadora. Amadora would be epic
Maybe do a video of Portland, Oregon. Having unique zoning and anti-sprawl regulations and attempts to be more bike and pedestrian friendly.
Oslo, Rio, hamburg, Tallin, Belo Horizonte, Chicago, any city in japan, madrid, Porto, Santiago Chile, Montevideo, cape town, strassbourg, milan, Brisbane, Bergen, gdansk...
this channel is fascinating 🗺📍🧭❤
I must respect your way of thinking & shouting out the truth! Just to be honest my older brother is struggling for some tuorists company to arrive in this semi-urbanised jungle.
As always great video, you really fuel my curiosity for urbanism!
I know it may sound bland and repeated, since many comments ask you to do this city or that one, but since there's no other way to get the word out, I''d like to insist you to do a video about Quito, you'll find this city rather interesting due to its unique geography. I gave a lot of insight back in the Medellin video, but I just hope you manage to make a video of Quito, thanks
I like your city development analyses and overviews a lot. Thank for the insights! I think you have good understanding of city development.
Please do one about Chicago!
Btw, great vid.
this is quality content im not seeing anyone else do. keep it up
That is a very interesting perspective! I was born in Tirana after the fall of communism and I have seen firsthand what lack of proper urban planning has resulted in (although by 2019 there is far better infrastructure). While I enjoyed the video (and subscribed), I would suggest you spoke more calmly, as sometimes your “accusatory” intonation gets irritating 😅. Thanks again for the upload :)
what do you mean by getting better?
@@saiwantv A new highway from western Tirana to the town of Elbasan! A new stadium with around 20.000 capacity! A new and faster connection from eastern Tirana to Diber/Dibra! Etc. Etc.
@@dinohermann1887 Learn first what the word infrastructure means. Tirana-Elbasan finished more than five years ago and Tirana-Dibra road is being built and no one knows when it finishes.
@@saiwantv I think there are still a few construction areas on the highway Tirana-Elbasan. But everything else I agree with you.
SaiwanTV I meant that with the expansion of the city (especially after building the ‘highway’ that connects the outer parts of the city), there are new roads being built that help connectivity in both old and newly populated neighborhoods, hence not all is left to the narrow “ex pedestrian communist” roads built back then, - as mentioned in the video.
Your videos are fantastic! Thank you!
Can you please do Mexico City next, it is a fascinating place with tons of history, and is actually the largest city in North America. It would have to be a mammoth episode, but in my opinion the longer the better! You could also focus in on certain boroughs of the city; the centro histórico, juarez, xochimilco. It is in my opinion the most vibrant city in North America bar New York.
Yo Michael, I highly suggest doing a tour of Cincinnati Ohio. The city is sprinkled with massive highways junctions from the 1960's highway craze going right through the towns heart, crazy! Anyways love your video, as always! Cheers
Don't know if mentioned. But this city has trippled in its population in the last 30 years. Tirana before and after the 90's ,quite different
You came really close to my house in one of those shots lol.
Dude! Was just there a month ago. Loved Tirana. What you can't see on google earth and streetview, however, are the many bicycle cycletracks that they are constructing everywhere. We are talking about a bicycle and pedestrian pathway running in the middle of Kavaja Street (this you can see on streetview) and just many bicycle paths and other protected bike infrastructure being built on the wide sidewalks of many streets. It felt like Amsterdam a tiny bit. Locals told me the city gov is trying to promote bicycling again and really encouraging pedestrian spaces. In such a dense area, bicycling is definitely an advantage here. My friends and I were commenting that overall, Tirana with its windy narrow back alleyways and hodgepodge of midrises everywhere...kinda feels like Tokyo or some ex-urban Japan town...if Japan suddenly went full-on socialist in the 1950s. Incredible new glass skyscrapers with odd shaped architecture a la Dubai or Beijing are currently being constructed. Excited to see what Tirana will look like in 5 years from now!
Ive been waiting for an upload for a long time now.
Could you try an Indian City? Some I would suggest are Chandigarh, Bangalore and Mumbai. I love your videos, please never stop uploading.
Or Shimla!
Grazie per aver fatto il video su Albania...🇦🇱❤🇦🇱❤🇦🇱❤👍👍👍
@@dominusalbaniae7812 ti shih ca emri dhe foto ke njiher...
@@rondined5697 une e kam per meme kurse ti po i lepihesh dikujt qe gjat gjithë videos ka mohu identitetin shqiptar dhe po favorizon sllavet. Nuk permendi as iliret as Skenderbeun apo Mehmet Ali-në.
Love this channel
Would love to see more USA videos from you!!!!
1.) San Antonio, TX
2.) Austin, TX
3.) Denver, CO
4.) Portland, OR
5.) Salt Lake, UT
6.) FL
7.) NH
8.) HI
These would be really great to see!!!!
Wow, this place looks really cool. Ill have to go and visit.
Since you're in the neighbourhood, check out Sarajevo. Also beautifully chaotic city.
I just found your channel today and am binging your videos. You should do a video on Amsterdam. I’d love to see your thoughts.
love the channel so unique learn so much. never thought id be interested in city layouts before
Wow here is the first real evidence of an actual (albeit accidental) contribution from America’s Architecture schools. I think you blew a neural circuit. Thank you, entertaining.
You should take a look at Quebec City! I'm sure you would have enough content for a video. The city was founded in 1608 so you can identify which part of the city developed when. Urban planning changed a lot since then.
this channel really hammers home the fun of spying the world with google earth as well as the impact a good or badly designed town can have.
I wonder what you'd think of Amersfoort in the Netherlands, it has a lot of variation and green spaces.
You should do marathon of videos about all of ex Yugoslav countries. From Vardar to Triglav!
amazing video keep truckin man
Now imagine they implement a super metro system and the current mayor seems keen on Bikes this city could be bagging and our car loving friends might go back to day before personal cars were legal again.
Great video my friend very well done.
@Tesla-Effect we'll make it work
The Tirana ring road will be finished by the end of this year relieving traffic even more within the city proper limits. With a decent metro system Tirana could honestly resemble Tokyo and be an insanely livable city. But there are no plans for a metro and we probably won't be seeing one until 2035.
@@bletrick3352
Hey thats awesome I am happy to hear it and yeah a metro is a long shot
Do La Paz next. It’s the highest city in the world in the middle of nowhere.
Not the highest city, the highest capital,
Ale city la of isn’t the capital, sure is. La Paz is the highest city with a million people
@@alexisarteev-salazar9247 well, La Paz is Capital as well as Sucre, both are official capitals. And yes, it's the highest city with a million people.
Ale city you’re arguing with a Bolivian. Sucre is the official capital of Bolivia, but because of the historical significance and tactical location, la Paz is Bolivia’s centre of command.
@@alexisarteev-salazar9247 okay, didn't know you were bolivian.
but wasn't the capital the center of command by definition? As I always understood (correct me if I'm wrong) Bolivia has Sucre as Legislative and Juridical powers capital, and La Paz as the Ejecutive power and military's capital.
PD: puedes decírmelo en español si quieres, yo soy de Venezuela.
When are you going to make a video about İstanbul? Would love to see that
You mean Constantinople
@@gloriesnormaldude7513 No, he doesn't.
Walking dead you mean the current Fatih district?
@@remziakbulut3364 what do you mean
@@melvin6053 do you know what Constantinople is?
You should do Jacksonville Florida , it’s such a large city with no real downtown, second largest city land wise in America and it’s just bland, good river and it has a beach. Wasting potential
nice vid dude. great outtro song!
Love this channel man! Your passion for this is inspiring.
Maybe review my town someday?
Portland ,Or USA
Requesting that you do Gothenburg, Swedens second largest city and most importantly the hometown of our youtube memelord Pewdiepie. If you do, check out the rivercity project where they plan to double the innercity center!!!!
Lol your intros are so creative
I just found your channel a week ago, I really love you videos please make more
really interesting channel !
what a great video, really interesting
Fucking great video!
Love channel and I have to say Tirana: The Global Standard for Cities could u maybe do Benidorm Spain for a video next plz
Hi Michael,
You say "Stalinist tropes" but then show a building that was quite clearly not built under Stalin. In fact, that building shown at 7:50 seems to have been built post-1991.
But more importantly (and the reason why I am making this comment): apartments in "stalinka" buildings are actually highly sought after in today's Russia. They were made with solid materials and their appearance has stood the test of time. The "panelki" (monolithic concrete housing that people in the West associate with the Soviet Union) were really not built until after Stalin's death.
We didn’t like the Ottomans lmao
Ikr!
We still hate them, even we muslim Albanians hate Turkey
@@shaclo1512 stop lying to yourself, we loved them, and we still do for some reason. We are retards. The only good thing we have is that we like to hang out and build cafes.
@@shaclo1512 that was unexpected . i dont really know much about Albanians ...
@@vaiyaktikasolarbeam1906 He is lying bro, in Albania you can find Osman mosques over all, and a lot of the architecture is there as well. He belongs to a minority that supports Greece and Serbia. Just look at his username.
This is will how most US cities will look in the not too distant future if we're lucky.
Lol no, its impossible. You cant turn those HUGE city sprawls into anything remotely close.
Not really. US cities will grow more dense, as people move back in.
So one could say that Tirana is modern medieval city in its nature and vision
TIRANA HAS comunist style and ugly one
You should do quick analysis video on all your favorite cities in the North America
You should make a video about the West End in Boston and its destruction and use it as an example of urban renewal gone wrong. Love your vids on cities. Nothing else like it on youtube.
Love your channel and urban planning. Maybe you can talk about fixing Orlando area 🤯
GREAT Content 👍
Great choice to feature.
Please look Manizales is a average city in terms of size in Colombia but its the first in many things like quality of life, security, enviromental protection, air quality and water potability, its part of the Coffee region here in Colombia, but the most amazing thing its about the morfology of the city, it's placed Just in the tip of the Mountains and the city has grown with the form of it, by any meaning the city can't be called flat, i Will really appreciate it if you Just take a look at some photos, thanks.
Please do stockholm, i think you’ll like it ;)
Dude, try Celebration, a little town a well-known corporation attempted to start a city.
Love your videos! I'd love to see you cover Berlin. It's a unique mix between socialist and western city planning.
Berlin is a shit hole.
I would love to see a video about Seattle and maybe what you think it could do to become a truly world-class city.
I’m from the UK and I’ve never been to Seattle, but I just watched that “seattle is dying” documentary and it convinced me that this city I’ve never seen is a shithole. It’s probably completely overblown and deliberately misleading, but man that stuff is a PR nightmare.
Stop voting for Democrats.
I wouldn’t say Socialist but definitely a prominent design philosophy of the time, a minimalistic style with the intent of providing housing. One thing we can learn from Tirana is quite walkable, that seemed to be a positive.
great video