Community inclusion and accessibility in Valletta 2018

Abstract

This research project seeks to identify factors affecting community participation and accessibility, with an emphasis on the awareness that various groups have of the Valletta 2018 Programme. It also aims to explore perceptions of Valletta’s forseeable developments, particularly those related to the City as a community space. Physical accessibility for persons with a disability is still very limited, although improvements have been noted. Interviewees with disability have reported attending events from the Valletta 2018 Programme. Valletta tends to have otherwise good internal accessibility although reaching the City is a more challenging task. The implications of this is that Valletta has seen a shift from being a commercial centre to a cultural and entertainment centre. With regard to the future of Valletta’s community life, respondents tended to be strongly positive on current changes and those anticipated for the immediate future, which they saw as restoring “life” and dignity to the City. However, most respondents felt that in the longer term it will become increasingly more difficult for Beltin or even Maltese people to live in Valletta. This is a process that can be mitigated to some extent through the adoption of humanistic, consultative and inclusive approaches to policy making, but the phenomenon also depends on economic forces which would require political intervention. Awareness of the Programme has also increased, and most respondents have attended events that form part of it. Nevertheless, interviewees tended to be much more aware of individual events rather than the Valletta 2018 brand, indicating that more visibility of the Programme is required.