The Territorial Reform and its Impact to Demographic Profile of New Municipalities in Albania

Abstract

The territorial reform of 2014, according to which there is a new re -composition of municipalities does not imply changes in the population at the county level, but is accompanied by drastic changes of the population at the municipal level. Meanwhile the population at the national and regional level has declined, the population in the new administrative units has been increased and almost "doubled" in some cases due to the merger of the former municipalities with the rural areas. This situation unsurprisingly has brought the multiplication of problems related to the good management of natural, property and human resources of the new administrative local units. Demographic change is becoming a key challenges and affecting all countries and developing economies. Fertility rates are falling, the population is ageing, youth unemployment is a challenge and the complexity of urban-rural shrinkage is posing numerous challenges for industrial development, job creation and sustainable development agendas. Strategic solutions cannot be based on addressing one of these factors alone but need to take into account the interplay of these elements within a particular local area of development (urban or rural) (OECD, 2011a).Since demographic processes are complex in nature, the solutions to their problems naturally "affect" various aspects of economic and social life, such as the regional labor markets, spatial planning of the territory, the consumption model of goods and services, always in response to structural demographic changes of the population. The object of study of the article is the analysis of demographic changes of the population and their impact on the territory at the regional level as well as the evaluation of regional policies in response to these changes. Demographic statistics will be used as a source of information to analyze the demographic profile of the new municipalities and furthermore the differences between regions, raising the awareness of policymakers on the necessity of using demographic data in policy making of sustainable regional development.

Received: 22 September 2022 / Accepted: 24 November 2022 / Published: 20 December 2022