This article focuses on the history of one specific area of the city of Tirana, the capital of Albania: the downtown area, or the so-called 'small ring'. The text analyzes the interventions put forward by different administrations (both right and left-wing parties) as one single project, aiming at the gentrification of central neighbors and the construction of an ideal image: to attract investments. By listing specific interventions, the articles give a microhistorical reading of this area of the city.