Landscaping visions for Valletta

Creating garden walks through Valletta and Floriana and turning the city's ditch into a marine waterway are few of the interesting proposals that emerged from an academic project.

International students reading for their Masters degree on landscape architecture at the Anhalt University of Applied Science, in Bernburg, Germany, chose to study Valletta.

Their proposals, consisting of 45 panels detailing landscapes and sketching, are being exhibited at the Museum of Archaeology, in Valletta.

This project, featured in a 100-page book, was fully supported by the Valletta local council, the Urban Development Ministry and the Valletta Rehabilitation Project.

"Valletta has opened its doors to the architects of our time and of the future. This study comes at a time when the city is living its 440th anniversary since its foundation," mayor Paul Borg Olivier said.

"The students' findings are the dreams of us all. We may differ on how we perceive or want Valletta to be, yet we all share one common goal: of being more sensitive towards the city," he added.

As the students received their certificate, Dr Borg Olivier urged everybody to build and concretely develop the pencil sketches into a masterpiece for Valletta.

"We are at a time when Malta will be deciding on where to invest the EU structural funds. I have no doubt that Valletta, as Malta's and Europe's showpiece of cultural heritage, deserves a good share, if not the lot, to become once again the real unique Baroque city," he said.

Urban Development Minister Jesmond Mugliett described the students' proposals as enlightening and inspiring in many aspects.

It was through such events that research and development in academia could be transposed into a tangible reference or notable project on the ground.

The idea of landscape architecture was crucial for the heritage city of Valletta, as landscaping could be a determining factor in grafting major regeneration and urban development projects onto the old fabric.

The study gave people the opportunity to contemplate and discuss in a serene ambiance, the potential of the city. The book and exhibition fit well in the work which the ministry was trying to deliver to address the responsibilities of its portfolio.

Mr Mugliett said that this year, considerable work had been devoted to the control of traffic in Valletta and the aim was to make the city more accessible and pedestrian friendly.

"We have launched the pedestrianisation schemes affecting crucial nodes in the Valletta fabric and the Cabinet is discussing the matter. The intention is to embark on the extensions of the pedestrian areas immediately. These are also in line with the new modal transport systems being launched and the regeneration projects that are in the pipeline," he said. VRP executive coordinator Ray Bondin said his office had always welcomed fresh ideas, however, he pointed out that many projects the VRP had prepared in the past had yet to materialise.

"Even in what I am seeing today, some of the ideas were already discussed or prepared in the past but they never materialised," he said.

Mr Bondin said he believed in collaboration and not duplication and so he looked forward to working with other entities towards the realisation of some of the projects.