21Heroes2021 honors the people who achieved transport success, despite the historic challenges that they faced, and laid the groundwork for even more successful and sustainable mobility initiatives.

It is a small, yet powerful selection of many that are actively contributing to making mobility future-oriented, safe, inclusive and sustainable, according to TUMI.

Erion Veliaj: We put our energy and money where our mouth was

As the people of Tirana sheltered in their homes during a lockdown, Erion Veliaj, mayor of Tirana, looked to a new urban age of sustainability and resilience, setting a clear mission to spur green projects that would alter vehicular dominance in favor of pedestrians and cyclists. He thus oversaw the replacement of side parking spaces with wider sidewalks and an additional 11 km of pop-up bike lanes, the publication reads.

Veliaj was elected Mayor of Tirana , leading the vibrant city towards a vision of sustainable urban transport and green city planning. Almost immediately, the Municipality of Tirana and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) agreed to work together to upgrade the municipal infrastructure and make Albania’s capital more environment-friendly.

Tirana adopted the Green City Action Plan and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

The result came when the Green City Action Plan of Tirana was adopted.

“Over the past two years, Tirana has undergone a remarkable transformation. We put our energy and money where our mouth was and began work on a series of projects, policies, and measures that have built the foundations of a very different model of development for the city, one that has sustainability and respect for the environment as its guiding principles,” he said.

One of the most important projects in the plan, called the Metropolitan Forest, envisages the planting of 2 million trees.

Tirana is also participating in the European Mobility Week, an annual initiative of the European Commission for sustainable urban mobility.