The Slow Streets Malta project

Abstract

The small and dense Mediterranean Island of Malta has an ever-increasing car-dependency, which has had serious implications on the quality of the urban realm and liveability. To put this into perspective, there were more than 404,000 licensed motor vehicles on the Maltese Islands at the end of March 2021, of which more than three quarters were passenger cars. Given that there were around 270,000 licensed motorists in Malta at the same time, that is equivalent to 1,500 passenger cars for every 1,000 drivers. There are many reasons for this reality — few deterrents to own and maintain a car, affordable car licences and cars (especially second-hand ones), and free on-street parking throughout the territory (Zammit and Local Councils Association). In addition, public transport investment has been very low and only recently have there been more users. Walking and cycling infrastructure (when available) is not always in optimal condition. These numbers also imply that we really need to understand who uses our streets and what space they occupy. [Excerpt]