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

What has been done up to now?

In 1987 a rehabilitation committee was formed for Valletta. The Valletta Rehabilitation Committee had the aim of managing a rehabilitation project for Valletta. This project, as a result of financial, but especially human resource limitations, has been limited through the past years to the maintenance and restoration of specific public buildings in the capital, and the upgrading of some public spaces. In its early years of existence, the Valletta Rehabilitation Project, with the technical assistance of the then Antiquities Department focused on emergency restoration interventions on landmark buildings in Valletta. St. John’s Co-Cathedral and the Presidential Palace were the first to benefit from this attention, followed by Auberges (Auberge d’ Aragon, Auberge de Provence, Auberge de Bavierre) and religious buildings (Our Lady of Pilar, Our Lady of Liesse, St. Roque, St. Lucy, Ta’ Giezu, Our Lady of Victory, St. Paul, Jesuits, St. Domenic, St. Augustine, St. Barbara, St. Francis). A plan for the upgrading of open spaces within the fortified city was also developed, with the paving of Republic Square and St. John’s Square in 1991 being the first significant interventions in this regard. These were later followed by the restoration of the original paving in St. Christopher’s Street and new paving works in Republic Street and Zachary Street

During its initial months, the Committee also commissioned the architectural workshop of Renzo Piano, to propose a new entrance for the City of Valletta and to formulate guidelines for a master plan. The guidelines for the master plan were presented in 1989. Before the proposals were made, several surveys were conducted, including land use, vehicular traffic, pedestrian flow and demographical studies. Piano's guidelines did not focus solely on Valletta itself, but included also Floriana. Piano identified the axis along the Mall, City Gate, Republic Street and St. Elmo as the "backbone" of the urban area, and proposed that this axis be fully pedestrianised, and used mainly for recreational, shopping and office purposes. He then identified five other nodes on the periphery of Valletta, and linked these nodes to the centre through proposed pedestrian routes, ferry services, vertical links and bus links. Along the streets linking these nodes to the centre of Valletta, Piano recommended that commercial activities should be promoted on the ground floor, and first floor of buildings along such streets, but also advocated residential use on the other floors. Proposals for upgrading of open spaces and the creation of new gardens were also made. Piano identified sites for peripheral parking and proposed new traffic circulation routes both within and outside Valletta. Although a formal masterplan, based on these guidelines has not been drawn up, and although none of Piano's nodes have been rehabilitated, according to Mr. Ray Bondin, Executive Coordinator of the Valletta Rehabilitation Project, the guidelines "serve as the basis for discussion for all developments in Valletta, and particularly they are the basis for all decisions and projects at the Valletta Rehabilitation Project office." (Quoted from the introduction to Renzo Piano's Guidelines for a Master Plan for Valletta, written by Mr. Ray Bondin.)

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