Environment-population relations in Albania and their impact on the management of socio-geographical space
Abstract
There is a very interesting relationship between population on one hand and environment on the other, which can offer useful contributions to broaden the understanding of this subject. It is an interdisciplinary field of study, due to the broad-spectrum that it displays. A specific territory, a region anywhere on the globe, makes sense, existence and development, at the same time it evolves only as a result of interaction between it and human activity. Constantly, nature, the environment, territories and different regions around the world, have been the arena of conflict clashes, which have emerged for various reasons and factors. Relations between population and geographical environment in Albania are presented with some particular features. There are effects and important reciprocal relationships between the natural factors such as the landscape, climate, hydrography and lands on one side, intertwined with social and economic activity on the other. Cooperation between these factors is expressed also in the presence of many environmental phenomena, which are quite problematic for the population of Albania in its socio-geographical space. In certain socio-geographical areas we find the presence of water pollution, land degradation, erosion and desertification of different territories. At the same time, such environmental situations are increasingly being present, dealing with the pollution of the atmosphere as a result of the use or production of different assortments, which are transmitted into the air by the burning of harmful substances to human health, causing in many cities a thick smoke screen and pollution; there are loggings and damages are observed in the flora of the forests and the various areas, and many tourist and social economic constructions damage in many cases many territories, with indiscriminate exploitation in terms of the tourism of many coastal and alpine areas etc. At the same time, due to overcrowding in many territories, mainly in urban areas, in many of them from year to year, numerous problems arise, which have many concerns related to the use of water, mineral resources and their economic use, such as the case of oil, the need for construction and land in their disposal, the power supply of hydrosupplier relations, thermal, renewable energy, etc. Likewise, many tourist places are losing their importance because of the sewage spills in them or due to the discharge of industrial waste, where there are no more specific areas for spilling or their concentration. The complexity of these issues mentioned above is analyzed in this paper. Besides, dealing with the relations between people and the environment, attempts are made by the author to highlight the role of social planning and social policy in the management of the socio-geographical space of Albania.
Keywords
environment-population relations; so-cio-geographical space; Albania; environmental issues; human impact; management
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Department of Geography University of Tirana Albania Kutia Postare 183, 1001 Tirana Albania Albania
