Spażji miftuħa : 15-il minuta l-bogħod

Li jkollna żieda konsiderevoli ta’ spazji miftuħa, kif ukoll li nassiguraw li dawn l-ispazji miftuħa jkunu aċċessibli għal kulħadd hi politika tajba. Il-fatt li bħalissa għandna nuqqas ta’ spazji miftuħa u aċċessibli huwa riżultat tal-falliment tal-ippjanar tal-użu tal-art kif ipprattikat f’Malta. Sfortunatament dan hu orientat lejn l-ispekulazzjoni flok ma hu ffukat lejn użu aħjar tal-art bħala kontributur għal titjib fil-kwalità tal-ħajja.

Il-Gvern nieda proġett biex jinvesti €700 miljun ħalli jtejjeb l-ispazji miftuħa eżistenti kif ukoll biex joħloq oħrajn inkella biex iħajjar lil min jieħu inizjattivi f’dan is-sens. Ħadd mhu ser joġġezzjona għal proġetta ta’ din ix-xorta sakemm dan ma jkunx skuża li warajha tkun ser tinħeba xi ħaġa oħra li illum mhux dikjarata.

Biex proġett ta’ din ix-xorta jirnexxi jeħtieġ li jkun parti minn viżjoni fit-tul, viżjoni li mhux biss tħares lejn titjib madwarna imma fuq kollox tkun immirata biex in-natura terġa’ tkun integrata mill-ġdid f’ħajjitna u madwarna. Iktar minn investiment finanzjarju neħtieġu bidla fl-attitudni li twassal biex nibdew inqiesu l-ispazji pubbliċi bħala parti essenzjali mill-infrastruttura meħtieġa għal titjib fil-kwalità tal-ħajja tagħna.

Filwaqt li hu oġġettiv tajjeb li noħolqu spazji pubbliċi ġodda, u li ntejbu dawk li għandna, ikun ferm aħjar kieku bħala l-ewwel pass nagħmlu ħilitna biex inħarsu l-ispazji miftuħa li diġa għandna,  nħarsuhom u ma nħalluhomx jinqerdu.  Il-ġonna privati, uħud minnhom kbar, li jiffurmaw parti integrali miż-żoni urbani u mill-qalba tal-irħula tagħna ilhom żmien jinqerdu biex flokhom jinbnew blokki ta’ flattijiet.  Dawn għandhom ikunu minn tal-ewwel  spazji muftuħa li nħarsu jekk verament nemmnu fuq l-importanza tagħhom. Dawn il-ġonna servew bħala l-pulmun tal-komunitajiet lokali tagħna għal ħafna snin. Għalkemm huma propjetà privata dawn taw kontribut kbir għall-ħarsien tal-komunitajiet tagħna. Dan kollu ma jiswiex flus. Jeħtieġ biss ftit konsistenza u rieda tajba.

Imbagħad ikun imiss l-art agrikola li qed tintilef b’rata mgħaġġla. L-art agrikola ukoll hi taħt assedju:  qed tinbela fi kwantitajiet mhux żgħar mill-bini tat-toroq, proġetti ta’ żvilupp inkella minn min irid jirriżervha għalih għad-divertiment għall-BBQ jew picnic fejn jistrieħu ftit il-bogħod minn għajn in-nies.  Dan kollu qed jeqred l-għixien tal-bdiewa u tal-familji tagħhom li għal snin kbar ħadu ħsieb ir-raba’ b’tant dedikazzjoni u ipprovdew l-ikel għall-pajjiż.  Dan ukoll ma jiswiex flus. Jeħtieġ awtoritajiet li jaħdmu sewwa, li m’għandniex!

Ix-xewqa li lkoll għandna għal iktar spazji miftuħa hi rifless tal-ħsieb iberren f’moħħna li nerġgħu nistabilixxu kuntatt sod mal-egħruq tagħna, man-natura. In-natura hi ċentrali f’ħajjitna, u iktar nies, dan qed jirrealizzawħ u japrezzawħ. Dan ifisser li permezz tal-ispazji miftuħa irridu nintroduċu n-natura mill-ġdid fil-lokalitajiet tagħna bis-serjetà, u mhux li jitqegħdu xi erbat iqsari tal-konkos, taparsi sar xi ħaġa! L-ispazji miftuħa huma għan-natura u mhux biex tiżdied id-dominazzjoni tal-konkos fil-forom differenti tiegħu fil-lokalitajiet tagħna! L-anqas m’ghandhom jintużaw għall-parking tal-karozzi!

Ġie emfasizzat li dan il-proġett ta’ investiment fl-ispazji miftuħa għandu l-iskop li jassigura li kull wieħed u waħda minna jkollu aċċess għal spazju pubbliku miftuħ li jkun mhux iktar il-bogħod minn għaxar minuti minn fejn toqgħod. Dan l-oġġettiv jorbot mal-inizjattiva li ttieħdet f’diversi bliet Ewropej imsejħa l-belt ta’ 15-il minuta (15-minute city). Belt ta’ din ix-xorta għandha jkollha dak kollu li teħtieġ, fil-parti l-kbira mhux iktar minn kwarta l-bogħod mid-dar. Għax mhux l-ispazju pubbliku miftuħ biss għandu jkun fil-viċin: imma dak kollu li neħtieġu.

Dan iwassalna biex neżaminaw it-tifsila urbanistika tagħna, meta nirrealizzaw li l-ħwienet iż-żgħar tagħna li servew lill-komunitajiet lokali għal bosta snin, qed jonqsu sewwa. Qed jispiċċaw jinbeżqu mis-suq bħala riżultat tal-bosta supermarkets u stabilimenti kummerċjali kbar li qed jinfetħu.

Din l-idea tal-belt ta’ 15-il minuta (the 15-minute city) bdiet b’inizjattiva ta’ Carlos Moreno, arkitett konsulent tas-sindku ta’ Pariġi imma issa qed tinfirex ma numru ta’ bliet Ewropej. Tfisser tibdil sostanzjali fl-ippjanar għall-użu tal-art biex ikun assigurat li f’kull Belt jew raħal dak li normalment neħtieġu nistgħu nsibuh mhux iktar minn kwarta ‘l bogħodminn fejn noqgħodu.

Carlos Moreno jitkellem dwar il-ħtiġijiet marbuta mal-għixien fi spazju urban imfassla fuq sitt punti essenzjali: żona residenzjali adegwata, xogħol fil-viċin, possibiltà ta’ xiri ta’ oġġetti jew servizzi bla diffikultà, kif ukoll aċċess għall-edukazzjoni, servizz għas-saħħa u esperjenzi kulturali fil-qrib, ilkoll aċċessibli b’mezzi sostenibbli.

Nistgħu neżaminaw u nfasslu l-istil ta’ ħajjitna fl-ibliet u l-irħula tagħna f’dawn il-parametri?

Il-ħwienet żgħar fl-ibliet u l-irħula tagħna jeħtieġu l-għajnuna għax qed jagħtu servizz essenzjali li jagħti l-ħajja lill-komunitajiet tagħna: jagħtu servizz u fl-istess ħin joħolqu x-xogħol fil-lokalità. Meta wieħed jinkoraġixxi l-ħidma tal-ħwienet iż-żgħar fil-ħidma tagħhom ikun qed jagħti kontribut għat-tnaqqis tat-traffiku fil-lokalità f’kull ħin tal-ġurnata għax ikun hemm inqas ħtieġa li wieħed jivvjaġġa. B’hekk jintlaħaq oġgettiv ieħor fil-pjanijiet tal-Gven, jiġifieri t-tnaqqis tal-karozzi mit-toroq tagħna.

L-ippjanar għall-użu tal-art għandu jiffoka fuq in-nies u l-ħtiġijiet tagħhom. Hu biss f’dan il-kuntest li l-iffinanzjar ta’ proġetti ta’ tħaddir fil-komunità jagħmel sens.

ippubblikat fuq Illum: 29 ta’ Jannar 2023

Open spaces and the 15-minute city

Having a substantially increased area of open spaces and ensuring that these spaces are accessible for all is good policy. The fact that currently we lack accessible open spaces is a failure of land use planning as practised in Malta, which is unfortunately speculation oriented instead of being focused on optimisation of land use as a contribution towards an improvement in the quality of life for all.

Government is embarking on a €700 million project in order to enhance existing open spaces as well as to create or to encourage the creation of new ones. No one would object to that provided that it is not an excuse for a different and undeclared objective.

In order for such a project to be successful it must be part of a long-term view of enhancing our surroundings such that we bridge the substantial and ever-widening gap which separates us from nature. However, what is really needed is a change in attitude towards the availability of public space as an essential element in the basic infrastructure required for an enhanced healthy quality of life.

While it is definitely an acceptable objective to create new open spaces, we could do much better if, as an essential first step we strive to retain existent open spaces and save them from destruction. Private gardens, some of them of a substantial size, forming an integral part of our urban areas and village cores have for quite some time been making way for the development of blocks of flats. These should be the first obvious open spaces which we should seek to protect if we are serious about the importance of open spaces. Such gardens have served as the lungs of our local communities for ages. They are in private ownership but they still contribute substantially to the wellbeing of our communities. This does not entail any expense. All it requires is a dose of consistency and plenty of goodwill.

Next on the protection list would be agricultural land which is being lost at an ever-accelerating rate. When agricultural land is not being engulfed by road-building or building development it is being taken up by those who want to transform it into BBQ or picnic land, as their private recreational hideout.  In the process they squeeze out farmers who have tilled the land for ages and contributed continuously to the national food production effort. Even this does not entail any expense. All it requires is properly functioning authorities, which we lack!

The urge for more open spaces is a longing to re-establish contacts with our roots, that is with nature. Nature has a role in every aspect of our life. We can only keep ignoring it at our peril. This would primarily signify that open spaces need to reintroduce nature into our localities and not introduce a number of token planters in concrete pots. Open spaces are about nature and not about the increased domination of our localities by concrete in whatever shape or form! Nor should they be used as parking spaces.

It has been emphasised that the current project of investing in open spaces aims to ensure that each and every one of us will have access to a public open space not more than ten minutes away from where he or she resides. This objective ties in with a current initiative in various European towns of developing a 15-minute city: that is a local community which is almost self-sufficient, all needs, or most of them being available not more than 15 minutes away. It is not just public open spaces which ought to be close by: all our basic needs should be within easy reach.

This would necessitate that we examine closely our urban fabric to realise that the small commercial outlets which have served our local communities for ages are heading towards extinction. They are being squeezed out of the market through the ever-increasing number of supermarkets and large commercial establishments.

The idea of ‘the 15-minute city’ initially put forward by Carlos Moreno, an architect advising the Paris mayor, but adopted by an ever-increasing number of cities entails turning current urban planning on its head to ensure that all our needs are available not more than 15 minutes away.

Carlos Moreno speaks of a social circularity for living in our urban spaces based on six essential functions: to live in good housing, to work close by, to reach supplies and services easily, to access education, healthcare and cultural entitlement locally by low-carbon means.

Can we reassess the nature and quality of our urban lifestyles within these parameters?

Small commercial outlets in our towns and villages require support as they are an essential help to make our communities vibrant: being of service and creating local employment in the process. Encouraging the local commercial outlets also reduces traffic at all times of the day as there will be less need to travel. It would also directly help in achieving that other objective of reducing cars from our roads.

Land use planning is for people. It is about time that this is put into practice. It is only within this context that the funding of community greening projects makes any sense.

published in The Independent on Sunday 29 January 2023

Wanted: a transport policy which makes sense

Everywhere is within reach in the Maltese islands: distances are relatively small. It is, in addition, an established fact, documented in the Transport Masterplan, that 50 per cent of private car trips on our roads take less than fifteen minutes. Do we need to be dependent on private cars for such short distances?

Over the years public transport was neglected. In the absence of suitable public transport, and as a reaction thereto, a pattern of car dependency has inevitably developed. The resulting congested roads are a symptom of this fact rather than being, as suggested in Parliament earlier this week by a government backbencher, the direct consequence of an increase in the country’s standard of living.

There have been improvements in public transport in the last years: these are however insufficient. Having free public transport is a good but pre-mature initiative as public transport has yet to be efficient and reliable. The decision announced last week by Transport Minister to invest in cycle lanes, is welcome, even if it comes a little late in the day.

The heavy investment in road infrastructure over the years has been misdirected as it has focused on the effects instead of on the causes of traffic congestion. The financial resources utilised in the Marsa Road network, the Central Link and elsewhere, will, at the end of the day, prove to be monies down the drain as traffic congestion will build up once more. This is already evident even in these early days. Others have been there before us as is revealed by countless studies carried out all over the world on the link between traffic congestion and improvement of the road infrastructure.

It is only through the provision of alternative means of sustainable mobility that the problematic behavioural pattern we have developed over the years can be addressed. Moving away from car dependency will however be a very slow process if policy makers keep continuously sending conflicting signals.

Making it easier for the car user through more or better roads is no help in solving the problem. It will make matters worse. Likewise, the subsidisation of petrol and diesel is sending a clear message to all that car dependency is not even considered to be a problem.

Three specific factors are currently in play: traffic congestion, fuel cost and the transition to transport electrification. If properly managed, together they can help us move towards a state of sustainable mobility. The transition period is however necessarily painful unless it is properly managed.

Postponement in tackling traffic congestion properly will only make matters worse.

Improvement of road infrastructure has postponed the issue of tackling traffic congestion into the future. Fuel subsidies have added to the problem as they blatantly ignore it. Electrification, unless coupled with a reduction of cars on the road will add acute electricity dependency on foreign sources to our current problems. Energy sovereignty has been problematic for quite some time: it will get worse.

The second electricity interconnector with the Sicilian mainland will worsen our car dependency as a result of linking it with a dependency on electricity generated outside our shores. We know quite well what that signifies whenever the interconnector is out of service, whatever the cause!

We need to go beyond the rhetoric and act before it is too late. It is also possible to ensure that the vulnerable are adequately protected. This would mean that instead of having across-the-board subsidises, these would be focused on those who really need them. All those who have mobility problems should receive focused assistance to help them overcome the difficulties which could result from a modal shift in transport. We cannot however go on with subsidies for all: it is not sustainable, neither economically, nor environmentally or socially

Land use planning can also be of considerable help if it is focused on the actual needs of the whole community instead of being at the service of the developers. We need to ensure that each community is self-sufficient in respect of its basic needs. This will, on its own, decrease traffic generated by the search for such needs.

The climate change debate is a unique opportunity to rethink the way we plan our cities as one way in which to combat the climate crisis. The idea crystallised as ‘the 15-minute city’ by Carlos Moreno, an architect advising the Paris mayor, entails turning current urban planning on its head to ensure that all our basic needs are available within easy reach, not more than 15 minutes away.

Carlos Moreno speaks of a social circularity for living in our urban spaces based on six essential functions: to live in good housing, to work close by, to reach supplies and services easily, to access education, healthcare and cultural entitlement locally by low-carbon means. Can we reassess the nature and quality of our urban lifestyles within these parameters?

All we do is essentially linked. At the end of the day traffic congestion and the related car dependency are a product of our mode of behaviour.  Thinking outside the box, we can tackle it successfully, as a result unchaining ourselves from our car dependency, consequently adjusting to a better sustainable lifestyle.

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday 20 November 2022

Malta: exporting abortion

The saga of the life-saving abortion required by American tourist Andrea Prudente has come to an end in Malta. Her case has now been exported to the Spanish island of Mallorca where hopefully it will be satisfactorily settled. The matter has been dealt with in a manner identical to the case of Maltese-Canadian Marion Mifsud Nora in 2014. Today’s case was exported by Malta to Mallorca while the 2014 case was exported to Paris. The support of their travel insurers to transfer them by air ambulance to foreign jurisdictions was in both cases crucial in overcoming the lack of the Maltese state in providing adequate medical care.

The Maltese state has failed Andrea Prudente. It had also failed Marion Mifsud Nora. Likewise, it fails to protect every Maltese woman faced with a life-threatening pregnancy. Maltese women in these circumstances unfortunately suffer in silence and rarely speak up. The Maltese state lacks empathy towards any woman facing a difficult pregnancy.

Apparently, the fundamentalists running Mater Dei have learnt nothing in the last eight years after they exported the Mifsud Nora case to Paris. This notwithstanding the opinion expressed publicly by a number of eminent jurists: that when a pregnancy endangers a woman’s life, its termination is already permissible at law. In such cases the termination of a pregnancy has even been described as being an act of self-defence, permissible at law.

Exporting these two abortion cases to mainland Europe adds to the abortion tourism which is known to exist between Malta and the European mainland, primarily with the UK and Italy, even though this is not limited to these two countries.

ADPD-The Green Party has been the only political party to continuously speak up about the matter. The silence of the others is deafening!

We need an urgent overhaul of the outdated abortion legislation on Malta’s statute books.

The least we can do is to ensure the urgent removal of any legal ambiguity currently shielding the fundamentalists running Mater Dei from intervening medically to terminate a non-viable pregnancy.

Members of the local medical profession are unfortunately in the same situation as their Irish counterparts who dealt with the 2012 case of Savita Halappanavar. They are afraid to act to protect the health of patients in these circumstances. In similar circumstances Savita Halappanavar died under the watchful eyes of the Irish medical profession who felt that they could not intervene due to the then legal prohibition of any form abortion in Ireland.

Ireland has in the meantime successfully learnt its lessons and immediately proceeded to dismantle its abortion prohibitions. This involved a national referendum which by over 66 per cent voted in favour of the proposal of a Christian Democrat led government (Fine Gael) to proceed with the introduction of abortion.

Ireland has learnt the hard way in order to proceed with ensuring that ethical pluralism in its midst is adequately respected.

The writing is on the wall.

While the other political parties have been generally silent, ADPD – The Green Party is one of two political parties in Malta to speak up. ADPD supports the decriminalisation of abortion and the introduction of abortion in limited circumstances, that is to say when the pregnant woman’s life is in manifest danger, in respect of a pregnancy which is the result of violence (rape and incest) and in respect of a non-viable pregnancy.

The export of abortion to other countries will not solve or address the deficiencies of Maltese abortion legislation which, enacted over 160 years ago, is long overdue for an overhaul to bring it in line with current medical practice and developments.

The Parliamentary parties are unfortunately not interested in all this. Their policies for the foreseeable future are still export oriented.

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday : 26 June 2022

Riflessjoni, wara l-massakru ta’ Pariġi

 

It-total tal-vittmi qiegħed jiżdied. Fil-ħin li qed nikteb, in-numru ta’ mejtin huwa ta’ 129,  b’352 feruti, 99 minnhom gravi ħafna.

Dan hu t-tieni massakru f’ Pariġi: l-ieħor seħħ f’Jannar.

Sebgħa mit-terroristi nvoluti huma mejta, it-tmien wieħed kif ukoll numru ta’ persuni assoċjati magħhom huma preżentment imfittxija.

L-attakk ta’ nhar il-Ġimgħa kien wieħed simboliku: kien attakk fuq il-valuri li Franza u Pariġi jirrappreżentaw. L-attakk seħħ fl-istess żona li fiha hemm l-uffiċini ta’ Charlie Hebdo [il-mira tal-attakk l-ieħor f’Jannar] kif ukoll infirex fiż-żona li fiha jsiru id-dimostrazzjonijiet Pariġini.

Ilkoll kemm aħna ixxukkjati b’dak li ġara. Avolja minn dak li nisimgħu ilna nistennew dan it-tip ta’ inċident.

Franza iddikjarat stat ta’ emergenza. F’Malta ġie estiż is-sospensjoni tar-regoli tas-Schengen biex dan issa jibqa’ sejjer sa wara li jintemm is-Summit taċ-CHOGM.

L-attakk fuq il-moviment ħieles tal-persuni fiż-żona Schengen ilu li beda. Intensifika mal-mewġa kurrenti ta’ migrazzjoni mis-Sirja. Wara Pariġi bla dubju dan l-attakk ser ikompli jintensifika.

L-ikbar rebħa tat-terroriżmu jkun jekk jirnexxielu jnissel il-biża’ fit-tul. Biża’ li jekk isseħħ tkompli tnaqqar it-tolleranza u s-solidarjetà.

Bla dubju jeħtieġ li noqgħodu attenti, kemm aħna ċ-ċittadini, imma iktar minnha l-awtoritajiet. Huwa neċessarju imma li ma nħallux il-biża’ tirkibna għax bħala konsegwenza ningħalqu f’gaġġa.

Huwa żmien ta’ riflessjoni favur il-paċi u s-solidarjetà, il-messaġġ ta’ Jean Julie il-karikarturista li pinġa l-karikatura riprodotta hawn fuq.

Il-vjolenza ma tiġġielidiex bil-vjolenza iżda bid-disponibilità ta’ kull wieħed minnha favur il-paċi u bit-tixrid ta’ kultura ta’ solidarjetà. Dan mhux faċli meta qed ngħumu f’baħar ta’ indifferenza. Inċidenti bħal dan jixxokkjawna, imma forsi jġibu lil uħud f’sensihom u jgħinhom biex inaqqsu l-indifferenza għas-sofferenzi madwarna.

ippubblikat fuq iNews, it-Tnejn 16 ta’ Novembru 2015