From planning to implementation: How finance impacts sustainable urban mobility. The case of Tirana municipality, Albania

The nexus between infrastructure and finance has gained particular importance in the current urban development discourse. Especially in developing countries, the underfunding gap and inefficient management processes hinder the implementation of local urban infrastructure projects, especially in sustainable urban mobility. The consolidation of finance for urban infrastructure also takes prevalence in the framework of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The city of Tirana has a long history of urban mobility planning documents, but these plans almost never come to light. The reasons behind this lack of implementation might be many, but financial resourcing and management is an important one. Coming from a recent decentralization experience, the municipality of Tirana reflects issues in access to urban borrowing, land finance instruments, and poor financial management. The main objective of this research is to shed light upon the nexus between finance and urban infrastructure in the city of Tirana, focusing on projects in sustainable urban mobility.