Nicky Bianchi laments (January 12) the gradual removal of trees from the places we live in and the bleak future of the urban landscape that is being thrust upon us. I couldn’t agree more.

What better testimony to this vision of the urban future than the revamped Ta’ Xbiex Waterfront depicted on January 14, consisting of a huge array of tarmac containing more cars than people, a pavement about one tenth the width of the road that looks too narrow to accommodate people walking in opposite directions, not a single place to sit in the shade, and, of course, not a tree in sight. It is plain that the reality, as opposed to the artist’s impression, will in summer be hot, sweaty, exhaust-ridden, cramped and basically an unbearable place – for humans, that is.

For the same money it would be possible to plant 1,000 trees, rip up the road and create a delightful park to accommodate the simple needs of a new style of urban dweller.

Only joking! These days only a fool would prefer a park to a car park.

Maybe our grandchildren will see the folly of our ways in the legacy of concrete that awaits them.