Yesterday Prime Minister Edi Rama and Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj placed the first two stones of the new boulevard, an extension of the King Zog Boulevard toward the river Tirana in the north of the city. During the ceremony Prime Minister Rama declared:
Tirana could have had the boulevard today, it could have had [Skënderbeg] square today. But because of the elections, things didn’t go as they should have gone and because of the elections Tirana lost years, writhed around in a meaningless trap and was actually crawling on the floor.
He further mentioned that the English architects of the extension, Grimshaw Architects, would soon provide details drawings for the entire area.
Apart from testifying to a lack of understanding democratic values, these statements are also factually untrue. Although the plan for the extension of the boulevard already existed since the first Italian masterplans from the 1930s, the actual planning and implementation work started only in 2012, under previous mayor Lulzim Basha.
In 2012, when former Mayor of Tirana Lulzim Basha opened an international architecture competition. There were seven finalists, of which Grimshaw Architects together with DAR Group were announced winner. This is part of description of the winning project:
The vision of this study indicates a possibility for a green Tirana. It proposes a green space that responds to every request of the city, even its concept of economic development. […] “We see this boulevard not only as a green area associated with lakes, but also as an active area of life while having all the services of a modern city,” said representatives of the studio.
The main element involved in the project of this studio is the intention to increase the wellbeing of the roads, turning Tirana in a new city, with more greenery. Secondary elements are public institutions, the main buildings, which are also places where people focus. […] “It will be shown how it will provide results and how it will affect the creation of commercial opportunities. An important point is what we need to make a connection between what is new and what is old, initially focusing on their problems,” said representatives of the studio.
In other words, the ideas of a “green Tirana” and the relocation of governmental building to the extension of the boulevard are not “new” ideas that only arrived in Tirana with Erion Veliaj and Stefano Boeri. They were in fact already part of a project actively blocked by Rama’s government from 2012 to 2015.
