Environmental Concerns in Porto Romano: Impact of Industrial to Suburban Shift

Aim: This research aims to analyze the impact of air quality on community health and develop a strategy for proper waste management. Proper waste management is a significant challenge for the community, academic staff, and students.

Place and Duration of Study: The area of Port Romano, situated 7 km north of Durres city and facing the Adriatic Sea, holds great significance for the Durres municipality. In the past, it was known as a chemical enterprise that produced pesticides for agriculture and sodium dichromate for leather tanning in the country’s western cities. However, after the fall of communism, the area transformed, and its population grew due to internal migration, mainly from northern Albania.

Many families settled in this highly contaminated area. 2009, an energetic park was implemented, which impacted air quality due to the thermal power plant and oil and gas installations.

In the vicinity of Porto Romano lies Aleksander Moise University, a topic of dispute amongst civil society and academic staff since 2012 due to its controversial location.

Methodology: For this study, the data were provided by respondents from the Porto-Romano area. A total of 102 questionnaires divided into three sessions were analyzed using factor analysis, data reliability analysis, and multiple regression analysis. All analyses were performed using SPSS version 23.0 for Windows. The results show that special attention should be paid to these factors: (a) Environmental problems in the well-being of residents and (b) the need for support from government bodies in terms of infrastructure to increase the economic well-being of residents.

Conclusion: This paper's implications relate only to certain variables studied and only to Porto-Romano. In case of future analysis by different researchers, other variables can be analyzed for different problems by making comparisons with the presented data. The government should provide more facilities and interventions to protect the environment, ensuring that stakeholders observe the rules and adapt residents’ destinations to ensure viability.