Case Studies  A Regeneration Strategy for Valletta. Il-Biccerija Case Study

Physical Aspects

Valletta is a World Heritage site. It lies amidst a densely populated urban conglomeration, characterized by industrial areas and heavy traffic. Valletta and Floriana are established office centers generating considerable vehicular traffic within the fortification network. Activities focused around the Grand Harbour should also not be undervalued. The central power station at Marsa, the Malta Dry-docks and Shipbuilding, and a number of smaller industries within Marsa and Corradino industrial areas discharge harmful substances into the environment. Cruise liners and cargo ships, although on a much smaller scale, are also an important source of pollution. Valletta is also strongly affected by its natural geographic position. Being a peninsula, it is constantly subjected to a salt laden environment, while its siting on a promontory, makes it more exposed to the prevailing winds.

The factors affecting the present state of the buildings in Valletta are numerous and may be categorized as:

• Inherited characteristics of the primary materials.

• Consequential factors.

• Geographic considerations.

• Environmental considerations.

Inherited characteristics of the primary materials

Stone is the primary building material. The geology of the Maltese Islands is characterized by marine sedimentary rocks, mainly limestone from the Oligocene – Miocene Age, capped by minor quaternary deposits of terrestrial origin. The area which these islands now occupy was once a seabed where millions of algae and minute organisms accumulated and deposited themselves. In time, with the addition of sand and other materials, all these cemented themselves and became hard rock. For millions of years, these organisms amassed to form various strata of rock. An uplift of the land below the sea resulted in this stratification of rocks to appear above sea-level.

The different strata, constituting the geology of the island are characterized by rocks of varying properties, and although in particular places, one or more layers may be missing, these rocks are always found in the same sequence.

In the harbour region, the lower globigerina limestone and the Mara member of the Lower Coralline limestone strata are exposed, thus constituting the major source of building material for the construction of the Fortified Cities.

The Mara member consists of tabular beds of pale-cream to pale-grey carbonate mudstones, wackestones and packstones. When exposed to the elements, this formation is prone to deterioration characterized by an acute scaling of the stone.

Consequential factors

• Development

• Second World War

• Post Second World War

Geographical considerations

• Sea

• Wind

• Insolation

• Hydrology

Environmental considerations

The major source of atmospheric pollution in Malta is sulphur dioxide, mostly generated from the power station at Marsa. Until the late 1990s the station was powered by both hard coal and fuel oil, with a consumption rate of about 260,000 tonnes of coal and 230,000 tonnes of fuel oil per year. It is estimated that about 17,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide were emitted from the Marsa power station in 1990. A second power station, operative since 1991, is oil-fired and contributes towards the ambient Sulphur dioxide, although its effect on the built environment is considered as minor in comparison to that at Marsa. The contribution to the level of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere by automotive traffic in Malta is estimated to about 600 tonnes a year.

Recent studies on this phenomenon show that the inner harbour region is by far affected by an elevated presence of sulphates in the atmosphere. As one would expect, the sulphation of building surfaces does not only depend on the distance from the source (Power Station), but also on its bearing with respect to it.

Likewise, Valletta is affected by an elevated deposit of superficial soot deposit. In this regard, vehicular traffic and especially diesel engines are an important additional delocalized source of black soot particles in the area.

The degradation and decay of buildings in Valletta is not, however, only caused by atmospheric pollution, but also by a lack of maintenance, and sometimes also by extensive alterations. Several buildings, even historically important ones, especially within the centre of Valletta, have been extensively altered, possibly to accommodate commercial outlets, offices or stores. Even public buildings have undergone through such transformations. The most serious problems occur where the ground floor of some buildings is altered into a commercial outlet, whilst the upper floors will either remain vacant or are used merely as stores. When a building is not properly occupied, lack of maintenance is a natural consequence. In fact Valletta has a high percentage of vacant buildings; according to the 1995 Census.. Another contributing factor to lack of maintenance of buildings is the current legislation regarding rents. Notwithstanding the cheap rents payable for the use of the property, tenants fail to maintain the buildings which they occupy; on the other hand, landlords cannot afford to maintain such property when they do not make any profit from their lease. The current rent legislation, does not allow landlords to increase rents on their property to realistic market levels, unless the tenants change; as a result it is possible to find valuable property leased at very cheap rates. According to the 1985 Census 91.01% of the property in Valletta is leased, whilst only (*******) is owned by the occupier; (******) is free.

Although several restoration projects have been carried out on public historic buildings, through public funds, the work done so far is very limited when considering the number of buildings which still need to be recovered. Lack of financial resources, and qualified human resources, to perform rehabilitation projects are two major problems, which further exacerbate the lack of maintenance of both public and private buildings in Valletta.

Another aspect leading to the degradation of Valletta is the fact that some areas have been identified for 'slum clearance'. Although a number of buildings have been turned into slums, through the several subdivisions of property in the past, this only does not justify their clearance. Such buildings can be rehabilitated by trying to revert them into an acceptable size by removing past changes and alterations. For several years, social housing in Valletta has been linked with the bulldozing of existing buildings and the reconstruction of new blocks of apartments. It has happened that as soon as an area is identified for such projects, the area would suddenly degrade, and if such project fails to materialise for several years, the area will be occupied by squatters and remain so until the new project is carried out.

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