Regenerating our Renaissance capital

Transcription

1 A 10-YEAR MASTER PLAN FOR THE IMPROVEMENTS TO VALLETTA AND FLORIANA Regenerating our Renaissance capital I would like to congratulate the Planning Authority for its document, A Strategy for Valletta. This places an excellent context for the subject of this comprehensive document which I am hereby submitting to contribute to the important public debate that needs to be generated on how best to regenerate our Renaissance capital city, Valletta. I have been writing about the need for a holistic master plan for Valletta for over 25 years. In fact, in the first article I wrote, published in The Sunday Times on 29 October, 1989, I suggested a master plan for the capital city. Many of my suggestions have been implemented; others have not. Among the subjects that I raised were public transport, parking and pedestrianisation (this at a time when Republic Street was open to vehicular traffic). Buses operating on a circular route have not been implemented. The maritime link from Sliema to Valletta to Cottonera has been implemented. The park and ride in the Horn Works Ditch has been implemented; the underground link to the railway tunnel has not. But the tunnel is still there (more on this in this document). There were also suggestions to the traffic flow, restoration of Valletta s buildings, transportation within the city, tunnels, car parking and the area outside City Gate where shabby kiosks still proliferate, and taxis are allowed to park haphazardly. I also wrote about entertainment, tourist attractions, and presented a plan of the city. Over the years, I spoke on several occasions. I am a member of the Building Industry Consultative Council (BICC) and we have a committee that is focusing on the regeneration of Valletta. I feel now is the time not just to comment but, having studied the Valletta strategy report, I want to go into detail and present an actual improved master plan. If the government wants to tackle the issue of Valletta seriously, we need to have a workable time frame of 10 years on certain work that needs to be done. Although there are certain measures, like the circular transport system and the cleaning of façades, that 1

2 can be started immediately without a great capital outlay, there are other measures that require a lot of planning, creative thinking and co-ordination between the various entities involved, as outlined in the Valletta strategy report. Section 1 Transportation and Parking While the Valletta strategy report focuses on our capital city, such a master plan should also incorporate Floriana because, if cars are to be removed from Valletta, they need to be placed somewhere in the vicinity. One strategy is to encourage people to travel to Valletta through other means of transport, either through the maritime links within Marsamxett and Grand harbours, or through public transport. The other alternative is to continue to develop more car parks in the periphery of Valletta, as outlined below. We have to consider that a Renaissance Capital City will definitely create a higher demand on transportation and parking. 1.1 Circular bus routes around Valletta and its suburbs One of Valletta s challenges is the concentration of commercial activity in the top half of Republic Street, and the top half of Merchants Street. Old Bakery Street has a concentration of offices and there are also some shops in St Paul Street. Yet there is hardly any commercial activity in the lower part of Valletta. One way to generate this commercial activity all around Valletta is to create a free public shuttle circular bus system with low-floor buses. I insist that the service should be free since a similar service I had introduced around Naxxar, linking it to Għargħur, Magħtab, Salina and Baħar iċ-ċagħaq, when I was the mayor, was well liked. The area occupied by Valletta is much smaller. Naturally, Valletta/Floriana needs more frequent circular buses but, even if the service were to cost the government 250,000 a year, this amount is not huge relatively, when you are talking of breathing new life into a UNESCO world heritage site. Look how much more activity you are going to generate in Valletta and how many more taxes the Government will collect in return. One route will go around the internal part of Valletta, which will be pedestrianised (red route) and the other would go around the periphery (blue route) along the seafront past the Valletta Waterfront to the roundabout at Il-Menqa in Marsa, stopping near the Park & Ride and going round Floriana back to Valletta. At certain points these routes overlap so that you can stop at one point or another to change from one route to the other. 2

3 This can be done immediately and does not require a large investment. It is important that it should be a free service, not even one at a nominal fee. When I was in Naxxar the operator suggested that we charge 2c. It would waste too much time for the bus driver to give change and am I going to check the bus driver for how much he pocketed on every trip? This would then make it more expensive and time consuming. 1.2 Transportation nodes I have identified two transportation nodes to promote a more car-free Valletta: one is for the land transportation in Floriana and the other at the bottom of Ta Liesse Hill for maritime connections to Sliema, the Cottonera and Gozo (see Section 2). The Land Transportation Node next to Granaries would enable various ways to get into Valletta. From this node, one can catch the circular buses to the interior or periphery of Valletta, a taxi or electric cab, or a horse-drawn cab as well as a link to the underground electric tram that connects the Park & Ride in Floriana to City Gate. This will offer a choice in one place. 1.3 Car parks in and around Valletta There are already a number of car parks in and around Valletta but these are clearly inadequate if larger parts of Valletta are to be pedestrianised. The MCP car park is currently being enlarged and the Park & Ride car park is another option. A small tunnel can be excavated from Portes des Bombes so as to connect the Floriana Park & Ride with the existing underground tunnel that used to be used by the Malta railway. Then electric people-movers, like you find in many airports abroad linking one air terminal with another, can be used to get to the end of the tunnel at the proposed restored St Magdalen Ravelin near City Gate (see Section 1.4). These people movers are driverless and can operate 24x7. You would not need to queue to catch a bus and get caught in traffic passing through Floriana. Access from the existing tunnel to street level would be via escalators. There is the potential for two more very large underground car parks in the vicinity of Valletta. One with a capacity of around 3,000 cars can be excavated below the Floriana playing field (currently used as an open air car park). This can have two accesses, one from Sa Maison for the North traffic and another from Floriana for the South and Centre of Malta. The upper two levels of this car park can be devoted to a regional sports centre, with an open air football pitch, tennis courts and other outdoor sports facilities on top. The level of the roof could actually be lowered by one floor to create spectator stands without obscuring the view from the Mall gardens. 3

4 What I have also suggested for many years is that, once this car park is excavated, access from the north can be created by excavating a short tunnel from Haywharf so that cars would not even need to enter Floriana. Another potentially large area that can be transformed into a car park is the playing field in Floriana overlooking Grand Harbour. This can be excavated and can take approximately 600 cars, while the playing field can be re-built on its roof. There could be access to this car park both from the waterfront back road and from street level in Floriana. I am also proposing that there should be mini-underground car parking in Valletta which will be exclusively for either top management of companies with offices in Valletta or to service nearby four- and five-star hotels. If a company is capable of investing several million euros in office space, it can invest a further few hundred thousand euro to have its own underground car park for its senior executives. The ground level can accommodate a public garden I have identified at least seven locations around Valletta for these car parks. One of these is the Valletta primary school, situated behind Evans Building, which I have highlighted as a possible site for a five-star hotel (see Section 3). This can be demolished and a car park for the hotel built beneath it with the school being rebuilt on top of the car park. 1.4 Restore St Magdalene Ravelins One of my proposals that dates back to 2009 is to re-excavate or, even better, restore the two ravelins that lie below the Triton Fountain outside City Gate. When the first fountain was installed there after World War I, the top two metres of St Magdalene Ravelins were removed to create the open space between the end of the Mall Garden and the entrance to Valletta. These large stone blocks were probably disposed of in the ditch below. They surely did not cart them away since they did not need the stone at the time. I am proposing that these ravelins should be restored and exposed to its former glory once again and there will be an escalator link to the underground railway tunnel that links to the Park & Ride. These two ditches are interconnected below the ravelins. The Triton Fountain will then be moved to a more suitable location to make way for a nicely designed square that surely our Capital City deserves. 4

5 1.5 More pedestrianisation Already many streets in Valletta have become pedestrianised and this to the benefit of the hundreds of locals and tourists who use them to access the main commercial and tourist centres around the capital every day. The number of streets that should be further pedestrianised fall mainly within the confines of the proposed circular internal bus route (red route). I also highlighted the main tourist attractions in Valletta, many of which fall within this main pedestrian area. 1.6 More green lungs Most of the green lungs around Valletta are either in the periphery or actually in Floriana, including the Argotti Gardens, the Pinetum between Sa Maison and Portes des Bombes, the Mall Gardens and over the proposed mini underground carparks. Valletta has its gardens at the Upper and Lower Barraccas and at Hastings, but at least on the periphery of Valletta, a beautiful promenade at Marsamxett and Barriera Wharf needs to be created, enabling people to walk all around the city along the rocky foreshore. 1.7 Upgrade sewage infrastructure If one is to plan ahead, one also has to think about the infrastructure of Valletta, including sewerage. It is good that we are pushing to regenerate Valletta, but it is important to bear in mind that, at the moment, only 70% of this sewerage infrastructure is being used. Government needs to start thinking from now before further streets are pedestrianised and paved, so they will not need to be dug up all over again, if studies indicate that sewer pipes need to be enlarged. Section 2 Maritime connectivity The culture of the people from the South of the Island is slightly different from that of the people from the North. There are lovely restaurants, many of them of a high standard in Sliema and the surrounding area of St Julian s. But there are few of these types of restaurants in the Cottonera area. One reason for this could be because connectivity on public transport was not effective and efficient. With the new links being suggested here, it will be much easier to travel between Sliema and the Cottonera area and vice-versa via Valletta. Automatically, this is going to encourage investors to open restaurants in the Cottonera area and this 5

6 connectivity will go a long way to helping to minimise the cultural difference between north and south. 2.1 Harbour connecting tunnel The tender for this connection tunnel has been issued and the final details are being ironed out. Thanks to this tunnel, the Sliema Ferries will be linked to Valletta and the Cottonera area. In this way you also cut down on the number of cars that are used to go to Valletta and even the Cottonera area, while attracting more visitors and generate more economic activities It is important that ferries will operate until the early hours of the morning, so people will be encouraged to go to eat out in those areas, do their shopping and return home late in the evening. The same applies for tourists. Once there is a ferry connection to the Cottonera area, another bus route can link this landing point to SmartCity, which is five or ten minutes away. So SmartCity automatically becomes very close to Sliema and Valletta. The tunnel is going to be the backbone of the connectivity between the two ports of Marsamxett and Grand Harbour. After this, you will have a hop on, hop off point, like we have on land, on the sea. There will be other opportunities, like organising dinner cruises by night, or the option to choose traditional Maltese boats, the dgħajsa tal-pass, if I do not want to go with the masses to cross over; or catch one of the small water taxis to cross to Birgu (Vittoriosa), Rinella, Kalkara or Senglea, or other areas within the two harbours 2.2 Maritime transportation node The second maritime transportation node will be located at the bottom of Ta Liesse Hill in the vicinity of the Barracca Lift and will be the backbone of many other activities. This could also be the spot where the fast ferry shuttle service to Gozo can operate from, once government decides to introduce it. Whoever comes there from Gozo can either catch the ferry to the Cottonera, enter Valletta/Floriana or go to Sliema and vice-versa or a water taxi to other areas around the harbours. Through this service one would also be creating activity for Gozo without cars. If you are in the Cottonera, you quickly cross over by ferry and catch the fast ferry to Gozo. When you get to Gozo, you catch a taxi and you are there within 45 minutes. Similarly, if you are in Sliema and want to go to Gozo, you are waiting to catch the fast ferry within 15 6

7 minutes of leaving Sliema and you then catch the fast ferry to Gozo. Well prepared schedules for all the various means of transport will cut down on waiting times. 2.3 More quays for cruise liners We are already receiving over 700,000 cruise line passengers every year and the numbers shall continue to increase. If we are going to regenerate Valletta and we are going to embellish it, beautify it and continue to build on its main attraction as a Renaissance city, it is going to attract more cruise liners. The three existing quays in Grand Harbour for these cruise liners to berth are inadequate and other quays around Grand Harbour are sometimes sought at peak times. So, it is clear that another quay is needed. This can be accommodated in the vicinity of the old Fishmarket at Barriera Wharf and incorporate a marina for superyachts, which is highly lucrative. The direct access to Valletta via the Barracca lift is an attraction to the superyacht owners. 2.4 Redevelopment of Barriera Wharf Once a new quay is built to accommodate a cruise liner and super yachts, the vicinity of Barriera Wharf would need to be upgraded. Should the old Fishmarket and the stores behind it be converted to a five-star hotel (see Section 3), this will also help to raise the level of the area by creating an attractive promenade. Section 3 Residential and commercial regeneration of Valletta The top priority for Valletta is for its main buildings to look clean and fresh. This and some much-needed regulation related to deliveries, collection of refuse and outdoor entertainment will not be costly. Other proposals in this section relate to public-private initiatives to convert certain landmark buildings around Valletta to five-star hotels, the creation of a national museum and the creation of incentives to encourage residents to move back into Valletta. 3.1 Restore all façades Valletta has a host of dirty buildings full of black residue that have not been cleaned since they were built. This is a very expensive and laborious procedure but careful cleaning with water not under high pressure can make an immediate visual impact. Some 80%-90% of this dirt will be removed in this way. You don t even need 7

8 scaffolding; just a hydraulic operated platform or a high-up. This could be done one building at a time without even closing the road and from one road to the next. Later on, the proper cleaning and restoration work can be done when the necessary funding can be allocated. Surely such a quick wash up will give Valletta a cleaner image. Government will surely be able to identify EU funding to cover this expense. Some façades have already been done by the private sector and others, like the Auberge de Castille, the Auberge d Italie (MTA), the Valletta Market, and the Presidential Palace. Once so much funding was obtained to restore the bastions, it should also obtain funding for the restoration of the façades of Valletta s historic buildings. 3.2 More quality hotels will upgrade the surroundings, attracting more residents to the area Valletta needs to be able to boast of a number of five-star hotels since these ensure that the surrounding area is upgraded. Restaurants of a high standard open, along with shops with designer clothes. One site is where there is the Evans Building today. That area is not very nice but, with a new five-star hotel, the area will be given a boost. There is already the Mediterranean Conference Centre across the road and Fort St Elmo. As I suggested above, the primary school on the back that was built after WWII can be demolished to make way for an underground car park and the school rebuilt on the top levels. On the Grand Harbour side, there is the former Fishmarket with the stores behind it that can be converted; the Auberge de Baviere, a magnificent building, should not be devoted to offices, which can be placed elsewhere; and the House of Catalunya and lower St Elmo all four sites have parking slots in front which are needed for VIPs. There is Palazzo Ferreria, which is an outstanding building in a prestigious position at Valletta s entrance, and Boffa Hospital, with its large surrounding gardens and outstanding view of Grand Harbour. These are strategic public buildings that can yield a higher return to the country. Apart from these hotels on government property, there are several other boutique hotels, some on plan, some recently opened. The more the merrier. 3.3 Foster demand to reside in Valletta The population of Valletta is constantly declining. Young people are moving out. There are no lifts in many apartment blocks; they are not comfortable to live in; parking is an issue, so people are leaving. 8

9 At the same time, there is a demand for offices and boutique hotels. This requires greater investment: cleaning the façade, installing a lift and in that way you the individual building is upgraded. If the government decides it wants to attract more people to return to live in Valletta, it needs to identify zones in the city, but it also needs to give them fiscal incentives. Otherwise it will be very difficult for people to accept to live there. 3.4 Extend scheme to convert temporary rent to long-term leases One option to attract residents into Valletta as well as the commercial community is to extend the scheme it introduced in the past two years for yearly leases at peppercorn rents to be extended to medium and long-term rental agreements of 45 years or more. This creates incentives to these tenants, be they residential or commercial, to invest in the upkeep and façades of their rented properties. Some of them were even encouraged to buy the lease outright. This has already given Valletta a boost, with several bars and restaurants having opened, along with boutique hotels and offices. With these medium-term leases, investors have adequate time to recoup their capital outlay. Government should extend this scheme even indefinitely since it is going to earn more income and at the same time generate more business in the capital city. 3.5 Government to sell buildings surplus to requirements Government owns a lot of property in Valletta, including property that was devolved from the Church, with the majority of these properties being in a highly dilapidated state. There are some buildings where government owns only a part of the property because of the haphazard, interlinked way properties were leased or sold over time. I agree with one of the key proposals in the strategy document that Government needs to conduct an extensive inventory of all the property in Valletta and this was also mentioned in the 2015 Budget speech. This will help it to decide what properties it can either dispose of outright or put up for rent on short or long let. 3.6 Relax use of buildings One of the reasons why the buildings are being left derelict and are falling to pieces is that, for the past 20 years, the MEPA policy for Valletta was to permit only offices of 50 m 2, which are suitable only for the offices for a lawyer, notary or other professional sole 9

10 practitioner, along with their secretaries. It made no sense and many buildings could not be converted to offices. The thinking was that residents would be encouraged to move back into Valletta but the opposite was the case. It did not work. It is important that certain zones should be maintained exclusively for residential purposes, while the PA could relax the use of buildings in Valletta to be converted into larger offices. The amount of approved floor space by typology per year (Table 14 of the report) shows the huge potential Valletta has to expand in every way but especially in the areas of office space and tourism establishments, including hotels. In the eight years between 2007 and 2014 only 16,155 m 2 of floor space was approved in the whole of Valletta, with 4,738 m 2 approved in 2014, two years ago, which is very low. To put this in perspective, a site for a boutique hotel has a floor space of approximately 1,500 m 2. If you were to look at today s figures, that would have grown substantially (after the 50 m 2 restriction was eased). When you see from the same table that retail floor space grew by just 4,212 m 2 over eight years for the whole of Valletta, you realise the huge potential there is for commercial expansion. Hotel space started in 2012 and in three years grew to 3,388 m PA to allow increase of heights of buildings where possible There are certain streetscapes in Valletta where there are buildings of different heights. If you have a building in a street that is already high (four or five storeys), the owner of the properties in the vicinity should be given permission to build to the same height. To be fair, this is already being addressed. 3.8 Disability access in stepped streets I feel the need to point out that, since this is a Valletta master plan, we have to be practical. On many occasions, one applies for a permit for alterations to a building in a stepped street there are many of them or streets on a steep incline to convert the premises for offices or a hotel. Then, according to KNPD regulations, you need to have a number of rooms accessible to the disabled, the lift accessible to wheelchairs and ramps to gain access to the building. It is pointless to do all this when the street outside is full of steps or at a steep incline. It makes no sense. Too much unnecessary pressure in this regard is being placed on the investor. You have to be practical. I stress that the priority is that there should be 10

11 disability access wherever possible but it depends on the location of the particular building and how likely it is to need to be accessible to the disabled. 3.9 Presidential Palace as a National Museum Malta does not have a National Museum that is a focal point of its millennial history. We have a lot of museums that are spread all over the place. The Presidential Palace is already a prestigious building in the centre of Valletta and a museum in its own right. So I recommend that significant artefacts from the various eras of Malta s history, starting with pre-history, are collected in one place and divided into different sections to represent a cross section of the islands chequered history. The Church has its own artefacts and can have its own section too, which it could be looked after. In this way, many items that are currently stored away, with nobody being able to see them, can be put on display. They will also be able to benefit from a share of the entrance fees to this national museum. I do not expect people to spend a whole day or more like you could do in the Hermitage in St Petersburg or the Louvre in Paris, but a good half a day could easily be within the scope of a visit to such a museum, and this will prove especially attractive to the day visitors Open the tunnels as a tourist attraction I agree with the proposal in the report that the underground tunnels should be opened to the public. In my 1989 article mentioned above, I wrote about the undiscovered city within a city. I went down into these tunnels myself. Below ground, Valletta is an engineering masterpiece, including the way it was designed to store large quantities of water. One of the access points could be near the Malta Stock Exchange. The wartime tunnels at Lascaris are already accessible thanks to the Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, but there are so many more tunnels that can be accessed. I went down into the tunnel in Merchants Street, and walked all the way to St John s Co-Cathedral Live entertainment should stop at 11 p.m. We should encourage live entertainment that is suitable for a Renaissance city. I do not want to see another Paceville sprouting up in Valletta, nor should Valletta attempt to compete with Paceville. One can expect to go to Strait Street and hear relaxing music with the violin, mandolin or similar soothing instruments. 11

12 Then it is important that at 11 p.m. all outdoor, live entertainment should come to a halt, unless there are special activities, so as to respect the residents, the tourists staying at our boutique hotels and the character of the city. People should be attracted to go to Valletta to have a good meal in a serene atmosphere and by the many cultural activities that are constantly organised at various locations. By 11 p.m. people will have completed their meal, although they may want to go to a wine bar where loud, intrusive music is not sought after. They want to be able to chat and enjoy themselves socialising with their friends Timed deliveries Deliveries should be restricted to certain off-peak hours to create minimal disturbance. They also need to use suitable vans for Valletta s streets and, in the future, only hybrid vehicles should be allowed to be used to make these deliveries. You should not expect to dine in Valletta and see a Service vans or trucks passing by you collecting the rubbish or making a delivery to commercial establishments in the vicinity Underutilised convents There are enormous convents in Valletta where only a handful of nuns live. These can either be used as old people s homes or put to some other useful social purpose, including childcare centres, but in some way we have to encourage them to be better used. You are not going to convert them into hotels, but as places for the elderly with their internal gardens they are beautiful. The nuns can have their own section but the rest can be put to productive use and the Church will earn additional income Demolish social housing at Valletta s entrance The social housing as soon as you enter Valletta is a huge eyesore when on the opposite side of the entrance there are the houses of parliament. Beyond the social housing there is Palazzo Ferreria, soon to be restored, and this block is obstructing the view of the magnificent St John s Cavalier (the counterpart of St James, which is still partially visible, despite the development in the former Freedom Square). City Gate is like Malta s entrance hall, which should provoke a Wow! effect on any visitor. We now have the opportunity in the context of this master plan to remove this unsightly building and relocate the families living there to other vacant property in Valletta, which can be given to them restored and on a freehold title. This will be their incentive because they currently lease their properties. 12

13 The shopping complex and other retail outlets can be accommodated beneath the stairs leading to Hastings and with a good, holistic design, these commercial outlets can be relocated by the sides of a new but nicely designed square that matches our new Parliament building s design. This will uncover the beautiful St John s Cavalier at the back. Conclusion My vision is for a Valletta with a long-term master plan that will enable it to be regenerated as a truly unique Renaissance city. I love our capital city and I want it to be brought back to life as a centre of commerce and as a home for the many residents that should be attracted back. I am sure it is the desire of many to see Valletta returned to its heyday, with a vibrant resident population, a huge influx of workers and tourists who must also feel at home there, and as the commercial hub for many sectors of the economy, both local and international. Angelo Xuereb July