In most countries, municipalities own or control a considerable amount of real estate, including but
not limited to public buildings, schools, primary health clinics, roads, and public spaces. Although
many local governments make an effort to manage their real estate, very few consider their real estate assets as a “portfolio,” the collection of tangible property used in the provision of social
services, or as productive assets. Nor does the typical municipality routinely review the current use
of individual real properties from the perspective of opportunity cost, mode of management and
finance, or consistency with long-term civic needs.

This fact is very apparent in Albania, which began to move away from a centralized government
system in the 1990s. Legislative reform, particularly changes to the Albanian Constitution in 1998 and the adoption of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of Local Government in 2000, transformed the role of local government from merely being a user of public property to being the owner of real estate assets necessary to exercise local public functions. Despite the legislative
reforms in the late 1990s, local government units (LGUs) are only now completing the property
transfer process from the central government; LGUs are beginning to utilize opportunities to increase their finances or to improve the quantitative and qualitative services to the community through the use of municipal property.