As part of the 25th edition of the international conference Walk21, the Albanian capital is hosting experts and leaders from 54 countries around the world, who are examining the best ways to develop and implement policies that make walking the everyday choice of urban life. The focus is on creating streets and public spaces that offer communities the opportunity to enjoy their time in safe and convenient conditions.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Thank you so much,

It’s a true pleasure to count 54 countries in this small theater and to welcome you all to this city that 54 years ago was a totally different place where no private cars were allowed, where the total amount of cars circulating was around 5,000 in the whole country, where the number of tourists visiting the country was average 2,000 per year and this year we are going to exceed 12 million.

What we got as the result of around 50 years, living in that huge free space where walking was the first and the most reliable way to connect with others, where bicycles were the second most important way to relate with others.

What we got in the 90s was the total fight back of the frustrated individual desires that blossomed through occupying public spaces, through building illegally everywhere that was possible, through practically eliminating every green space you see today. Literally. Apart from the lake that was there and apart from most of the trees around the lake that were there, what you see today was not. Every meter square of green was covered and buried under thousands and thousands of illegal buildings.

The river that crossed the city was not visible anymore because on both sides of it the riverbanks were occupied by two long trains of buildings and ninety percent, literally not metaphorically, ninety percent of the trees that you see today in the streets of the city were not there. So, when I became mayor in 2000, we had to take the city back by demolishing more than 10,000 buildings. Only from the riverbanks did we remove 132,000 tons of concrete as rubble from demolition, and during those years we planted 55,000 trees that today are everywhere.

Although we did a lot to bring back space for people to enjoy their feet, walking in the city became increasingly difficult. As far as we are still aware of the challenges and aware of what’s going on, we need to fight, and that’s why we have opened a new chapter lately to fight back. We don’t have any more the problem of illegal buildings that literally are about concrete and about few stores in the city or in public space. But we must fight back every day as we speak to remove the so-called temporary structures that, as a matter of fact, have occupied sidewalks, have occupied public spaces to put tables and tables and tables, chairs and chairs and chairs, and to offer espresso and espresso and espresso. I know we have the best espresso out of Rome, but it’s not a fully good excuse to occupy and occupy public space to offer espresso.

So, we are taking back everyday spaces. We want to bring a lot more trees and greenery into the city, for which now we have a new regulation that everyone that gets a building permission must contribute to our green fund with several trees through a formula related to the meter squares he will build or she.

I am super happy to also share with you the very good news for us that we got some space for ourselves in the very busy agenda of a genius guy, I don’t know how familiar you are with his name, Salvador Rueda, who is the guy of the super blocks in Barcelona that have brought and are bringing an incredible change in the city by creating much more space for the people that walk and by imposing a very, very low speed for the cars that cross the super blocks. And it’s an incredible, beautiful formula that has so many positive sides also in terms of health care from old people because of the heat and because of being exposed too long to the sun in circumstances where circulation is unbearable to asthma and many other things.

So, to not then go to the very positive impact in terms of community life. Amazing. So, we are going to try, and we are going to introduce more of that also in our city, in our capital city, and I very much hope that on one hand building amazing buildings thanks to great architects, working much more with landscaping and bringing more trees and more nature into the city.

So, thank you very much and I hope that you will enjoy this conference in this very dark room, but you’ll not forget to go out and to enjoy the city which is waiting for you with its best espressos and with its incredible food and with its unique hospitality.

Thank you very much.