The link between the recent furore about Malta’s poor vehicle emissions performance and a traffic accident too-close-for-comfort to an al fresco bistro’s tables drew an interesting range of comments.

These focused mostly on serious health and safety issues of placing people close to traffic and the effect of emissions on the diners. Most conveniently they failed to acknowledge that pedestrians walking on pavements being hit by cars are not uncommon and that patrons were at no greater risk than someone waiting for a bus, something that takes longer than a three-course meal much less a cup of coffee, or even some poor soul stuck in traffic.

Some very validly pointed out that pavements often became obstructed. Very few actually came out and said what they mean. That loss of parking space was the real issue. If our argument is still focused on free parking, and it’s never really free, should not the commuted payments scheme have built underground car parks as suggested by Sliema local council? Or the far too contentious shelved national parking policy come into force?

Of course we should attempt to ensure that all sidewalks are protected from the unwanted attentions of cars, trucks and buses, even segregated if necessary. Ask a cyclist if the authorities would take action to save a life and you’ll get a very short reply. Pedestrians fare a bit better, but pitched against the issue of traffic flow, in reality not that much.

The solution to remove tables and chairs as a fait accompli fails to ask more important questions about not only how to use, what is after all public space, but what kind of an environment we want to live in. If we want to dine al fresco, and most of these places are packed, shouldn’t we be calling for seriously reduced emissions, cleaner cars and slower, safer traffic instead? Should we not be asking for more pedestrianised plazas, even car-free promenades like Naples, or simply for just wider pavements?

The bottom line is this. As a starting point we need to agree on what kind of a place it is we want to live in. Smog-filled streets with only cars or somewhere a bit more pleasant and human, a liveable city. More importantly what kind of a city will our tourists, our main income for us all, want to visit?