Guidelines to the analysis to urban areas in Malta : a case study of Lija

Abstract

The first impression one gets when looking at a small village is the extreme serenity. The old villages in Malta tend to be very quiet with only a few people in the streets going about their business. The architectural expression is normally bland with a few ornate elements. What attracts people to live in such places? What is their opinion of their home village? What needs improving? In recent years what· has been tampered with to its benefit or maybe to its detriment ? These are some of many questions which need answering. Quite a number of studies about towns and villages have been carried out on international and local levels. Many of these studies concerned with the local context dealt with the physical form of the village. Unfortunately the human factor in the urban areas has usually been ignored. Although a study of the: village's physical form must be made so that the designer has a deep understanding of it, yet it is just as necessary for the architect to understand the human values relating to the built environment and to assess how such values are affected by subsequent modifications.