Sustainable development and territorial regeneration in archaeological areas The case of Apollonia in Albania

This paper examines how the revitalization of archaeological areas, might be a pivotal element to sustainable development. Following this objective, the paper explores the procedure of inserting a new function in the case of the archaeological park of Apollonia, in Albania and consists of a detailed analysis of the transformative changes brought by its spatial integration. For this reason, the paper presents the issues and challenges of the archaeological site and explores the implications of the transformation of this area towards a ‘learning environment’. The analysis shows that public participatory activities, because of the establishment of a Creativity Center, may lead to a transformative planning process and generate, therefore, the context for the ‘territorial management planning strategies’ index. Through this instance, the meaning and value of the area becomes apparent and offers valuable insights for its future redevelopment process. This article is the result of a research developed at the University of Guglielmo Marconi. The project involved researchers from different departments also with the involvement of postgraduate students from the International Masters in Interior Design of the same university. As such, it presents the elaboration of different themes: urban planning, territorial sustainability and socio-cultural development of the archaeological areas.