State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on the medium term budget plans (PBA) of the Municipality of Vorë for 2024 - 2026 and 2025, council decision no. 58 of 24 December 2024, the 2026 budget revision and INSTAT's 2023 Population and Housing Census; the municipality did not reply to Artivista's request for information on culture, and a complaint was filed with the Commissioner for the Right to Information. Amounts are in Albanian lek.
At a glance
| Region (qark) | Tiranë |
| Administrative units | 3: Vorë, Prezë, Bërxullë |
| Area | 82.86 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 21,621 (about 261 residents per km²); 15.2% fewer than in 2011 |
| Population, civil registry | About 36,230 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 14.5% (national average 19.7%) |
| Culture budget programme (08220) | None among the municipality's 18 budget programmes |
| Sport and Recreation (08130) | 36.0 million lek planned for 2024; 56.0 million lek in the 2025 budget |
| Responsible office | Sector of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport |
| Heritage | Prezë Castle; no municipal works found in the budget documents |
Summary
Vorë lies between Tirana and Durrës. Its population fell by 15.2% between the 2011 and 2023 censuses, while its civil registry counts about 36,230 residents. The municipality spreads its budget across 18 programmes, and none of them is the culture programme (08220) used by most municipalities.
The nearest programme, Sport and Recreation (08130), had 36.0 million lek planned for 2024 and 56.0 million lek in the 2025 budget, but its description covers sport only. Culture appears in the budget documents as an aim, protecting cultural, historic and natural heritage, without a budget line, an institution or a target.
A Sector of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport is named in the council decisions, and Prezë Castle stands in the Prezë unit. The budget documents also show the weight of rebuilding after the 2019 earthquake: 225.4 million lek of reconstruction funds were carried over from 2025 into 2026.
1. Governance and institutions
The budget documents name no museum, library or cultural centre run by the municipality. The council decisions approving the budgets for 2023 - 2025 and 2025 - 2027 name a Sector of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport among the offices that carry out the budget, so culture sits in a combined sector.
2. Funding
The budget plans for 2024 - 2026 and 2025 list the same 18 programmes, from administration and civil registry to water supply, education and social services, without a culture programme. Sport and Recreation (08130) had 36,000,000 lek planned for 2024, 37,500,000 lek for 2025 and 39,075,000 lek for 2026: 30.0 to 33.1 million lek for operating costs and 6.0 million lek a year for investment. This was about 3.5% of the 2024 budget. The 2025 budget raised it to 56,000,000 lek (30,000,000 operating, 26,000,000 investment), and the 2026 budget revision added 10,000,000 lek.
The programme description covers sports grounds, pools, gyms, local teams, parks and beaches; it does not mention culture or heritage.
3. Culture in the plans
Each budget plan opens with the vision of the municipality's territorial strategy: a place where economic and urban growth goes together with the protection of cultural, historic and natural heritage. Its priorities include preserving the cultural heritage of the different areas of Vorë, and preserving local cultural and historic values and running the relevant institutions. No budget, institution or target is attached to these aims, and no cultural activities are listed.
4. Heritage
Prezë Castle stands in the Prezë administrative unit; the budget documents show no municipal spending or activities there. Prezë should not be confused with Pezë, an administrative unit of Tiranë.
5. Population and reconstruction
The budget plan for 2024 - 2026 gives a density of 438 residents per km² under the civil registry, which points to about 36,230 registered residents, well above the 21,621 counted in the 2023 Census. It also refers to state-funded housing for residents left homeless by the earthquake of 26 November 2019. The 2026 budget revision (council decision no. 9, 27 February 2026) carries over 225,406,514 lek of reconstruction funds from 2025, including about 146 million lek in grants to rebuild individual homes.
Conclusions
- Vorë has no culture budget programme among its 18 programmes.
- Sport and Recreation had 36.0 million lek planned for 2024 and 56.0 million lek in the 2025 budget, for sport only.
- Heritage protection is a stated aim, but it has no budget line, institution or target.
- A combined Sector of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport exists in the administration.
- Post-earthquake reconstruction is a large part of the recent budgets.
Recommendations
A culture budget line
A separate line for culture, or a costed culture item within an existing programme, would let the municipality track its heritage aims.
A plan for Prezë Castle
A small plan for the castle could be a first step towards a local culture and heritage strategy.
Consult residents on culture
A public consultation on culture would show what residents want from the sector.
Reply to requests
Answering requests for information on culture would make the municipality's work easier to follow.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2011 and 2023 censuses. Budget figures and other details come from the municipality's budget plans for 2024 - 2026 and 2025, council decision no. 58 of 24 December 2024 and the 2026 budget revision.
Every effort has been made to base this analysis on the data provided by the municipality, complemented with data from its Medium Term Budget Programmes (PBA) published online. For comments or questions, please contact artivista@arti-vista.org.
This article was prepared within the CulturAL project, with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the National Centre for Community Services and Artivista Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
