What happened when Tirana became the capital? Housing crisis and higher rents than in Paris and London

The history of Tirana in the first years of Albania's independence is full of events that deeply influenced its development. Wars, invasions and natural and social disasters prevented this small town from taking the form of a modern center. The occupation of Albania by the Austro-Hungarian army at first seemed to bring relief from the suffering, but the Spanish flu (1918) brought a new wave of disaster, claiming the lives of about 4,000 inhabitants of Tirana.

As a symbol of this difficult period was the Vorfnore Asylum, founded in 1917, which provided care for children orphaned by the Spanish flu and famine. Until 1920, Tirana continued to remain a small city, without major changes.

However, everything changed when it was declared the provisional capital of Albania after the Congress of Lushnja. The national government led by Ahmet Zogu, then Minister of Internal Affairs, decided to relocate to Tirana, bringing with it a new beginning for the city.

The transformations that began after this period were great and often painful. To adapt to the new status of the capital, many buildings were demolished and replaced with new roads and projects. One of the first interventions was the removal of cemeteries near mosques, which hindered urban development.

In 1922, Durrës street was built, opening new spaces for construction and trade. It was in 1922 that the "Queen Mother" Women's Institute was built, while in the same year the National Council decided that the main institution that would take care of the smooth running and development of the city would be named the Municipality for the first time and no longer Perlimtari or Katundari as the institutions were called at that time local government.

In 1923, the engineer Eshref Frashëri compiled the regulatory plan of the city, leading the urban development in a more studied direction. During this year, the popular flower garden with an area of ??2700 square meters was built, while several new roads were widened.

But the real challenge was the accommodation of new arrivals, in a city that was facing a demographic influx as a result of the concentration of state institutions; a problem that Vlora and Durrësi had previously experienced.

Rents in Tirana are higher than in Paris and London

The placement of state officials in the new capital had brought strong demographic movements, to which the construction sector had not responded, but only the rental sector, which had increased significantly. The ministers and deputies of Albania themselves lived in the hotels of the capital, which had taken the role of missing state buildings.

As a result of the relocation of the state administration and increased needs for trade and services, Tirana began to attract a large number of residents from other parts of Albania. In 1922, the number of inhabitants of Tirana had reached 34 thousand inhabitants.

This sudden population growth brought about the need for new infrastructure and urban development plans but also brought about a sharp rise in residential rents.

In the session of April 19, 1923, deputies debated a draft law on rents and housing taxes in Tirana, which provided for the establishment of a reference price for the rent of old adobe dwellings and those with bricks or stones that were built later. At reference prices, the rent of new houses is estimated to be 20% higher than that of adobe houses. This meant that the higher the reference price, the higher the tax.

Ali Këlcyra, MP:   The Ministry had sent us a project in which it told us that the law made by the Parliament will be applied only to those houses that are made of bricks and that for the others a rent will be paid 20% more than what that law provides.

The justice committee understands that there is an injustice here, because the law that the Parliament has made means that the fixed rent is for stone and brick houses, and decided that for houses made of brick and brick, the rent is taken 20% less.

I wonder why the Government favors the owners of houses in Tirana to tell us that the rents that are paid here in Tirana are not even paid in Paris and London.

Ahmet Resuli: I believe that if you set the price of the weekly house rents, we will cause that the house will not be hit after the sod. There are times when the house is not hit, and I am afraid that even with this law we will stop hitting them. Therefore, I am of the mind that this law should not include the houses that will be hit after the sod.

Qazim Koculi: The goal of the Government has been to hit good houses and for this reason it has set a difference. Given that the Justice Commission also bans this difference, the goal was then finished. Therefore, I am of the mind to accept the law as presented by the Commission.

One of the biggest discussions that arises in this period is the development of the new capital, which even though 5 years had passed, was not recognizing the required development.

And in this context, the first initiative for the urban development of the new capital, reconfirmed after 5 years, as the permanent Capital of Albania is undertaken.

The municipality of Tirana proposes that for the development of the capital, the government should grant it a financial aid in the form of a loan, with a value of 1 million gold francs.

Tirana 12/11/1925

Municipality of Tirana addressed to the sub-prefecture

Our city was lucky enough to be designated the capital of Albania. You know that a city in order to be called the capital and to attract foreign visitors, must have all the necessary means from a hygienic point of view to ensure health, and it is necessary to begin its prosperity in order to become a example of progress, citizenship of citizens, etc.

In order to reach this goal, this municipality does not save at all, but the realization of this goal rather needs money, for which this municipality is in dire straits.

Therefore, to meet the expenses that can be spent for the progress of this city, we foresee the sum of 1 million gold francs.

Indeed, the progress and prosperity of a city belongs to the municipality, that is, to the people, but the people of this city are not in a position to face such a lot. The history of the world teaches us that many governments in their budgets have set loans for the capital, so this leadership has ensured that its principle has been realized, please mediate where it should be given to us the amount in question. The idea we are promoting is probably public and not only the interest of Tirana, but we believe that it has found approval.

Commissioner of the City Council of the Capital City

Fuad Toptani.

Despite the fact that the request was for 1 million francs, the government of the time decided to grant an amount of 400 thousand gold francs to the municipality of Tirana, guaranteed by the banknotes that would be issued by the National Bank of Albania; legally newly created but not yet active. This amount would be used only for public works, under the monitoring of the central government. The municipality of Tirana, for the payment of this 16-year loan with 4% interest, would place its real estate as a guarantee.

The discussions held in the session of June 15, 1925 for the approval of this loan for the Municipality of Tirana shed more light on the first problems faced by the capital of Albania.

Kristo Floqi, MP: Gentlemen! As the honorable Deputy of Gjinokastra ZH Delvina said, we have no objection to giving this amount to the Municipality and for this we do not spare our vote because we all want the improvement of the Capital; but let's say the truth that since the day Tirana was declared as the capital and that six months have passed until now, we have not seen either an improvement or a correction that has been made for the construction of the city, that is. The people of Tiran have not shown even a little activity, but everything continues as it was before.

The only work they have done is taking the initiative to build a palace, for which as you can see they have only brought a pile of stones enough to lay the foundation, and some names of the deputies who took care of it were written on a plaque, and then they left as the grass covered them. The road, the lines are a hundred as they were before, not wiped and not drained, and the quiet cows go to the center of the city, for which we have criticized many times in the newspaper, but in vain.

It seems to me that the state of the capital in this position as a village does not come close to its goal, that the capital should become an example for other cities as well. As it is known, Tirana should not be improved only for the locals, but for all Albanians, as their capital, which it is, will gather people from all over Albania.

So, on the occasion that the Minister of Internal Affairs is also here, we ask him to give us some explanations about the actions of the Municipality.

Ceno Kryeziu, Minister of the Interior:  Sir! As you all know, the Municipality of Tirana has very few incomes, so it is not possible to hit the capital properly and how do you manage it with these incomes that it has.

As far as I know, Tirana was a sub-prefecture and was not designated as the capital, so no one could build a building, that is, once it was said that Vlona would be accepted as the capital, and now Shkodra was definitely designated as As I said before, the Municipality's income is not enough, but these 400,000 gold francs are begged to be given to the Municipality of Tirana as a loan from the banknotes that will be issued by the National Bank, which, as mentioned in the Decree Law, will be spent only on improvement of the city ie. communication, sewerage and others.

As for the critics of Tirana who go around the streets of the city like cows, for now we cannot stop them and fix them all once and for all. I happen to be in the Capital of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, and I bring this Capital as an example because there are many MPs who may have seen her like me, and they go there to see her through the streets.

The current plan was to gather all the Ministers in one building together, but in order to beautify Tirana better, this plan was changed according to the proposal made by the Ministry of P. Botore, that is. so that each Ministry has a separate building and this plan is in the hands of the President of the Republic and the engineers.

This money will be loaned to the Municipality, but there is no law on how it will be spent, we are preparing a new law, and you want to know how this money will be spent. Sometimes you can appoint 4-5 people so that they can see where they need to go....

The year 1925 is undoubtedly one of the most defining years for the development of the capital.

The National Bank's concession related to the SVEA investment project would determine the infrastructural future of the capital. More and more, Tirana was seen as the capital of the country and as the new political and administrative center, but the biggest challenge that presented itself in terms of urban planning was that of transformation on the basis of a modern urban plan, based on a regulatory and development plan.

The agreement signed between Albania led by Ahmet Zogu and Italy would bring a whole plan for the regulation of the capital, in the framework of numerous economic projects that would be financed by Italy.

For the design of the new capital in Albania, the Italian architect Armando Brasini would come, who would design the new city on a typical oriental terrain. In 1925, Brasini drafted the first idea about the reorganization of the new center of the Albanian capital. This project envisioned a central boulevard flanked by ministry buildings. Brasini's idea would be to create a Roman island in the city, preserving the oriental bazaar and the buildings around it.

In this master plan he proposes a completely rational and geometric structure for the road networks and squares of the new city bringing for the first time the concept of a strong monumental boulevard extending in the north-south direction, which would be implemented in the 1930s. Brasini developed several detailed projects for the city center and the boulevard which were not implemented.

With the financing of SVEA, a number of important buildings were built in Albania, including the Ministries Block in Tirana and the royal villas in Tirana.

The Royal Villa of Tirana was realized by the Albanian company SiTA and the Italian company Staccioli. Its cost was 365 thousand francs.

The royal residence in Tirana underwent reconstruction and the works were carried out by the Albanian company SiTA and the company Staccioli. The reconstruction works cost 338 thousand gold francs.

The Ministry Palaces in Tirana were designed by the architect Florestano de Fausto and the works were carried out by the Albanian company SiTA and the Italian company Staccioli.

The cost of 6 buildings of the block of ministries reached 2.7 million gold francs. In the framework of this project, Tirana Prison, Technical School, Civil Hospital, Tirana-Elbasan and Tirana Durres roads were built.

It would be precisely Tirana that would receive the highest percentage of SVEAS investments for buildings. 70% of the funds intended for buildings were invested in Tirana, or in other words 7.65 million francs.

"New Tirana" and housing lottery for MPs and civil servants

In addition to the construction of state buildings, in the first years as the capital, Tirana was seething with a debate about housing for employees. For this purpose, the government's plan envisaged the expropriation of land in the capital and the construction of residential buildings that would then be used by civil servants who performed their functions in rented houses or even in hotels. mandated for the realization of this project was the well-known MP, Dr. Simon Simonidhi.

The details of this plan come from a discussion that took place in the parliament in the session of February 6, 1929, 4 years after Tirana was finally declared the capital of Albania.

The process for the construction of housing for employees had started in 1927, but nothing had been done yet.

Dr. Simonidhi: When I was assigned the task of installing the officials in the Capital with the exhibition that I did then in front of the Parliament, I showed the program that I had in mind to apply to achieve the goal.

As you know, I divided the work into two parts. The first part: the expropriation of lands and their distribution to employees, etc. and the second part: agreements with various companies for the erection and striking of houses.

On these bases, I started and before any other, I prepared a Draft Law which provided for everything that was necessary for the realization of this matter.

But this Draft Law, although it was approved by both houses, was not decreed by the President of the Republic, because it was called flawed in the part that belonged to the insurance that will be given by the Ministry of Finance for subcontractors. As you know, this Draft Law was the only one for which the President of the Republic used (vetoed). With all this, the law returned to the Parliament, was modified as needed and after it was decreed, I started with my friends to put it into law. implementation.

And first of all, the necessary plans were prepared.

On the one hand, the Italian topographic mission prepared the topographic map of the place where "New Tirana" will be built, and on the other hand, the architect of the Ministry of P. Botore prepared the plan of this law.

But the Ministerial Council does not approve this plan because it was flawed as far as the parks were concerned. Indeed, the parks provided little land; for this reason, it was decided by the Ministerial Council to form a commission of engineers under my chairman to study this issue in the country. The commission was formed by the technical director and the architect of the Ministry of P. Botore, the engineer of the Svea Society and the architect of the Presidency of the Republic, after studying the issue in the country, it gave its report and based on this, another plan was prepared, which after was approved by the Ministerial Council, the Capital Municipality was notified for implementation.

The plan provided for the organization of a lottery for the lands of the new Tirana where they would build the new apartments that would be used for them. It is precisely the organization of this lottery that creates dissatisfaction, which also leads to the termination of the project.

"When the plan was finished on a certain day, tears were thrown in the City Hall of the Capital before a Commission was formed as per the special law and thus which Deputy or employee was given a number as per the plan.

After the lotto, the Ministry of Finance began to withhold money for land, but at the time that this Ministry had begun to withhold money from subcontractors, etc. the money little by little resembled a small conflict in the heart of the commission, the conflict which would hinder the realization of the issue. While I was in Vlora, the members of the Commission, I don't know why, made an announcement in the Official Gazette, calling on all the subordinates not to deposit the money for the land in the Arka e Kendra before receiving the deed, and those who had deposited to take back.

In addition, by means of this announcement, they indirectly presented the President of the Commission as if he was acting against the law, asking for these funds. As soon as I became aware of this issue, I immediately left Vlora and came to Tirana, where with the help of the ZZ Minister of Finance and the World, who are entitled by law to have representatives in the Commission, I managed to get them dismissed and instead of others should be named, so for the disillusionment and desire that the sub-employees had caught after this announcement, I replaced them with the hopes of realization".

The project envisaged that in agreement with private companies, in what would be named New Tirana, 300-350 houses would be built within 2 years, which would be distributed to deputies and officials. The latter, upon receiving their apartment, had to pay them in monthly installments for a period of 15 to 20 years. But the session of February 6, 1929 was accompanied by many tensions and the objections of the project leader himself, Dr. Simonidhi.

This is due to the fact that the project that was being discussed in the Assembly provided that it would no longer be a technical commission that directed the process of construction and distribution of new housing, but would be a governmental commission composed of ministers.

In this way, apart from the state buildings such as the ministries and the boulevard, the hospital and other buildings, the houses of the state employees were also built, making Tirana already take on a new physiognomy in terms of urban planning.

The end of the housing crisis in Tirana

The housing crisis in Tirana was resolved in 1931. In this period, constructions had developed so much that they had met the need for housing. Buildings, apartments and hotels sufficient to accommodate every need were built in the capital. Until that time, the state authorities had acted with laws to curb the unreasonable increase in rents by setting ceiling prices. In 1931, the parliament was sent for a vote the legal act that abolished this restriction.

During these years, the population of the capital had increased by 4 times. Meanwhile, since 1927, the capital was supplied with electricity powered by the SiTA company through a power plant that produced electricity for lighting in homes and on the main road axes. Meanwhile, about 36,000 meters of roads were paved with bitumen from the Selenica mine.

Over the years, from initial projects to key decisions on ownership and public construction, Tirana became a symbol of Albanian urban development...