Fractured Justice, Contested Space: Tirana’s Post-Socialist Transition.

This paper examines the spatiotemporal dimensions of justice in Tirana, Albania, a city emblematic of the volatile urban transitions shaping the post-socialist Balkans. Three decades after the collapse of state socialism, Tirana’s urban landscape is a palimpsest of competing ideologies—from chaotic, informal growth to ambitious, globally oriented master plans promoting sustainability and densification. While these new plans espouse ideals of greening and public benefit, their implementation often deepens existing inequalities and creates new forms of exclusion. This paper argues that understanding these contradictory dynamics requires a methodological approach capable of capturing both the structural patterns of injustice and their lived, temporal experience. We present a mixed-methods framework integrating (1) critical analysis of planning documents, (2) spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map environmental and developmental inequalities, and (3) qualitative interviews with residents and key stakeholders. Our initial findings reveal three key contours of injustice: the inequitable distribution of environmental amenities and hazards, the temporal displacement of communities and memories through rapid, top-down development, and the persistent gap between the rhetoric and reality of public participation. By layering GIS data with narrative accounts, we demonstrate how spatio-temporal justice is not a static outcome but a continuous process of contestation. The case of Tirana thus offers critical insights into the challenges of forging just and sustainable urban futures in a landscape marked by profound historical ruptures and the encroaching pressures of neoliberal urbanism.