Built in the 1940s–1950s, during the communist regime, the city took shape thanks to its underground wealth. For decades, Memaliaj's coal was one of the country's main sources of energy and the beating heart of the local economy.
The city was built as a typical model of socialist urbanization: with low-rise buildings, workers' neighborhoods, kindergartens, schools, and health centers – all planned to serve the lives of miners and their families. It was an industrial center that never slept.
