Is Malta more beautiful?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is certainly not an absolute and measureable quality. But when it comes to occupying certain positions one should be forgiven for believing that these posts should be filled by those instilled with an informed aesthetic sense or, at the very least, with an ability to recognise a lack of it. 

In January we learned that the former Planning Authority CEO Johann Buttigieg was slated to return to his former post after having served as a consultant to a number of private developers.

For many, this was not a wise or welcome move by the government on many counts, some of which are blatantly obvious.

A most disheartening feature of this appointment came to light more recently when the appointed PA CEO said, during a radio programme, that Malta had become more beautiful in recent years.

No surprise that this statement echoed what the president of Malta Developers Association, Michael Stivala, a former client of Buttigieg, had said a couple of years earlier. Stivala had gone on to say that the anti-development sentiment expressed by the public was spurred by commercial interests and political bias.

Surely the sprouting of numerous residents’ associations all around the island, leaving aside for a moment the eNGOs, is not commercially or politically motivated.

Their interest is simply their own well-being, quality of life and just sheer civic pride. Of course we all wish that our islands were becoming more beautiful.

When estate agents coined the phrase ‘house of character’around 25 years ago, as a self-respecting architect I was rather taken aback; contemporary houses can also have plenty of character.

If you Google the first two words of the expression, “house of”, you will be prompted with numerous possibilities: house of cards... dragons... lords. But once you key in “cha” you will be bombarded with only Maltese websites displaying old town or village houses, farmhouses and similar traditional buildings. 

It was already evident back then that estate agents were aware of the lack of visual integrity and poor architectural design characterising our built environment. Aware enough to coin a phrase unwittingly admitting that most new builds were failing to attract any praise or clients for their character.

Another pencil development

In the interview, Buttigieg said this degradation all started in the late 1980s when development permissions were granted to demolish two storey dwellings in Sliema and to replace them with eight-storey blocks of apartments. True. But the uglification did not stop there. Malta and Gozo have certainly not become more beautiful in recent years despite the very noble efforts of some architectural firms.

The introduction of a lower internal floor to ceiling height for a habitable space, compounded by a misguided interpretation of planning policies by the PA, has led to a widespread disfigurement of established residential areas and urban conservation areas.

Tourists are not coming to Malta to visit any building constructed over the last few decades- Patrick Calleja

Whole streetscapes in low density, two-storey neighbourhoods have been completely ruined by pencil block developments.

Iconic village skylines with proud parish churches marking their territory from afar have been obliterated by nondescript apartment blocks and blank party walls ironically denying the villages, in the process, of their very character.

Development permissions for massively overbearing blocks have been granted on the borders of UCAs, disrupting the views and panoramas from within the UCAs and negating the tranquil and private use of the same UCA gardens.

For those of us that seek to live in UCAs this is extremely discouraging. Yes, as Buttigieg said, the Sliema and St Julian’s seafront has been disfigured.

But many of the appalling development permissions issued most recently have not been limited to any particular area.

They have had a widespread and detrimental effect in practically every other neighbourhood in both Malta and Gozo.

Buttigieg hinted that Malta must be getting more beautiful because so many tourists are visiting our islands. I am convinced that tourists are not coming to Malta to visit any building constructed over the last few decades, other than, perhaps, the Renzo Piano Building Workshop masterpiece in Valletta.

Despite the size of our islands we are fortunate to have an extremely rich cultural heritage with numerous UNESCO World Heritage sites and more on the tentative list for inclusion; certainly a more likely reason to visit Malta and Gozo.

Apart from its mission to protect and preserve our cultural heritage, Din l-Art Ħelwa has remained painstakingly at the forefront of efforts to curb and object to distasteful proposed developments in Malta and Gozo.

It is an ongoing uphill struggle that has, however, garnered much support from the public at large and for this we are most grateful.

Our efforts have also been vindicated with some important court of appeal sentences in our favour.

This is where, perhaps, the PA CEO can now show some goodwill and gumption instead of blurting out pleasantries. Will the PA CEO uphold the rule of law and have the illegalities of revoked development permissions removed? Will case officers be directed to recommend proposals according to and in line with these judgements? 

Not that these moves will make our islands more beautiful; but at least they will not make Malta and Gozo any uglier. It’s the least the PA can do.

Patrick Calleja

Patrick Calleja is executive president of Din l-Art Ħelwa.