History makes decisions and assignations oftentimes in a rather messy, untidy, random and somewhat chaotic manner. Capital cities are usually assigned and subsequently designed gradually, oftentimes without the ability to urban plan them. Commercial, educational, culture, political and diplomatic centers usually overlap in the same metropolis, stressing and accentuating contemporary problems including high population density, lack of decent public transportation, traffic congestion or pollution.
Tirana has been Albania's capital city since 1920, only seven years after Albania declared independence in the aftermath of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, of which Albania was a constituent part for circa five centuries. For centuries Tirana remained small, a rather peasant city with no architectural interest compared with Roman and Byzantine cities such as Berat, Butrint or Durres. Tirana became the temporary capital of Albania in a decision taken during the Congress of Lushnjë.
Tirana took off its phenomenal urban development in the 1920s as self-appointed King Zog, previously President Ahmet Bej Zogu, founded the Kingdom of Albania as a protectorate of fascist Benito Mussolini's Italy. Architects of fascist Benito Mussolini, Florestano Di Fausto and Armando Brasini designed the impeccable boulevard which todays represents the major artery of the city, along with the Ministry buildings surrounding Skanderbeg square. There is no doubt among Albanians that this time shaped the city and provided the major urban planning around which Tirana would subsequently develop during the long and harsh dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.
To the tourist, to the bystander, there is no doubt that today's Tirana suffers from an acute lack of urban planning. The buoyant city has been taken over by traffic of the very worst kind, whereas the construction of new residential areas is poorly planned. Congestion and pollution have become usual in a city which only 25 years ago in the fall of communism had about a quarter of its population today.
Urban chaos and chaotic construction followed the transition to democracy in the 1990s, a decade characterized by the massive outflows of Albanians to Italy, the pyramid schemes of the mid 1990s which left thousands bankrupt, the civil revolt of 1997 and the Kosovo genocide and subsequent crisis of 1998.
Tirana is today the cultural, economic, business, educational, political, mediatic and diplomatic capital of a tiny republic which population barely exceeds the three million mark, although a quarter of its population lives in the diaspora according to the International Migration Organization based in Geneva.
How Premier Edi Rama changed it all
One person changed it all during its tenure as Mayor: the charismatic and visionary current Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. There is consensus among the Albanian elites that former Mayor of Tirana from 2000 to 2011 Edi Rama, through a blend of courage and audacity remodeled the city demolishing buildings and construction sites, opening up green spaces, and colorfully painting dozens of buildings throughout Tirana showing his condition of first painter, then mayor, finally premier. Edi Rama won the World's best mayor prize in 2004. It is no doubt easier to be mayor than to be premier.
Tirana is today a city designed for the elites, for the businessmen and women, the politicians, the diplomats, not for its citizens. Chaos, noise, pollution, lack of green areas in a majority of the suburbs, miserable public transportation, traffic, congestion, all make the everyday life of the hard-working Albanians who earn a meager Euro 157 (Lek 22.000) minimum wage, even more burdensome.
As former Deputy Minister of Economy Gjergj Bojaxhi points out in a recent interview, Albania suffers today from severe internal and external migration. On one hand thousands of Albanians migrate from rural areas predominantly to Tirana, while simultaneously thousands leave Albania, hopeless and frustrated, in the quest for a better life in the European Union or North America.
Tirana needs a radical turnaround in a country, perhaps Europe's most beautiful along with Montenegro, which today is not yet ready for the demanding European tourists from wealthier countries such as France, Germany or the United Kingdom.
Elbasan must become Albania's Diplomatic Capital
South of Tirana at about 50 kilometers by car lies the city of Elbasan, Albania's third largest after Tirana and Durres. Poorly connected to Tirana and the rest of the country, Elbasan has remained underdeveloped in comparison to the nearby Tirana which today stands not only overpopulated, but also polluted and congested.
In reality Elbasan was a much older and buoyant center than Tirana before Twentieth Century. It stands in the very center of the country closer to other important cities in the south such as Berat, Korca, Saranda and Vlora and barely a 40 minute car drive away, soon to become a half hour when the highway between Elbasan and Tirana is completed.
An example of incremental relocation towards Elbasan is brought about by the fact that Albania national football team presently playing the Euro 2016 in France, does not play its domestic games in Tirana, but in Elbasan Arena since it was renovated in 2014.
Recent meetings with the Chairman of the Regional Council of Elbasan Bukurosh Stafa and Vice Chairwoman Elena Xhina, and with the Rector of the University of Elbasan Prof. Dr. Skender Topi and former Dean Prof. Dr. Fatbardha Gjini, demonstrate how eager, ready and willing the Elbasani elites are to embrace the ambitious proposal.
Ambassador Hellmut Hoffman could become Chief Diplomatic Officer
A radical turnaround of diplomacy needs an extremely senior and seasoned diplomat as conductor. Amongst the best-known and respected diplomats, Germany's Ambassador Hellmut Hoffman whom I had the pleasure to meet this past October-2015, is the best pick for Chief Diplomatic Officer (CDO). Ambassador Hellmut Hoffman will be forced into early retirement later in 2016 and plans to return to Berlin unless he accepts the challenge to lead the move of diplomacy from Tirana to Elbasan.
The move will be beneficial for the two cities, creating an urban center much better connected, catapulting Elbasan to Twenty-first century from where it is today, fostering an urgence to complete highway and train links between Elbasan-Tirana-Rinas Airport-Durres. Elbasan must be connected via highway with the rest of the important urban centers in the south, for the sake of tourism which can become Albania's economic engine for the next 25 years.
Tirana has to become less congested
Many American states have smartly designed capital cities separating them from larger cultural, economic and educational centers. For instance the capital city of California is not Los Angeles or San Francisco but Sacramento, the capital city of New York is not New York City but Albany, the capital city of Illinois is not Chicago but Springfield.
The proposal to move the Embassies along with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence to Elbasan is a modest one. It leaves a majority of Ministries in Tirana, along with the Prime Minister and President's Offices, as well as the Parliament. It is only the beginning of what may become a necessary outsourcing. Tirana can focus its efforts on becoming the prosperous cultural, economic and educational city Albania needs to take off.
Albania, a country lost in transition observes how thousands migrate hopeless, frustrated. I talk to the elites who see no future, no future if the ongoing trends perpetuate. Albania as well as the other Balkan countries need to embrace a radical turnaround. Everything is possible if we leave past differences behind and we embrace the spirit of integration and creativity going forward.
I see opportunity everywhere in Europe's second poorest republic. Unfortunately thus far Albanians have forsaken and abandoned all hope for radical change, they, as well, can today say "why not". "Nunca es tarde cuando la dicha es buena" reads a popular Spanish refrain.
For the many Ambassadors and representatives of the Bretton Woods institutions who today populate Tirana dwelling Embassy buildings and Official Residences the move to Elbasan may prove exciting: the construction of a brand new diplomatic city may bring phenomenal spillover effects in the rather quiet and ample city of Elbasan in extreme appetite for radical positive change.