It is high time for policymakers to understand and accept that the term ‘infrastructure’ can no longer be coined on its own. We have to start demanding that our
infrastructure is a sustainable one where environmental and social considerations occupy centre-stage when infrastructural decisions are made.
The term ‘sustainability’ can no longer be conveniently used to make ribbon-cutting news headlines look more sophisticated. I will now do my best to give tangible examples of what I deem to be sustainable infrastructure in the short to medium term. I dare not venture into the long term as I am a realist by nature.
Taking a cue of what is happening in cities like Milan, Paris and Madrid, public spaces need to start being returned to the people. It is easy to observe that, in our town centres, the exigencies of the private vehicle trump the needs of the common citizen.
We need to ask ourselves: what is the opportunity cost of road space and on-street parking space? The answer is simply open, pedestrianised, green public space.
Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives like that undertaken at the entrance of Valletta (the MCP car park), need to be replicated elsewhere. This initiative served to ensure the seamless pedestrianisation of several Valletta streets and, more importantly, the removal of on-street parking in the capital city. Cynicism aside, the three-decade timeline for completion was anything but commendable.
I am aware that curtailing street parking in Malta would translate to political suicide but PPP initiatives can serve as the catalyst to return open spaces to the public.
Can you imagine what the Ferries at the Sliema seafront would look like if a PPP project is undertaken to change the present car park into a multi-storey car park below street level?
Critics will puncture this idea by claiming that the cost to build a three-storey car park below sea level is astronomical. However, if the area at street level is commercialised it can easily justify the investment. In return, the total eradication of street parking on a 200-metre stretch of road can be easily converted into wider pavements to encourage walking and greener and more open spaces.
What is being suggested is by no means a reinvention of the wheel; in cities like Zurich and Madrid this is part of the city fabric.
Countless studies show that Malta is lagging in the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs). Strategically, our decision-makers need to ensure that this new technology is primarily embraced by industry and, subsequently, by the private citizen as the effort needed for this change in mindset is the same but the resultant effect is considerably different.
Public spaces need to start being returned to the people- Andrew Bezzina
However, I dare say that the biggest challenge is that, currently, there is an infrastructural electrified deficit. This means there is a lack of mobility options which are electrical. Infrastructure Malta, as its namesake implies, must ‘slightly’ tweak its forma mentis – asphalt can no longer be the only cornerstone of every infrastructural decision made. At policy level, how much importance is being given to electrified infrastructure?
The same applies to Planning Authority permits. Why are we still dragging our feet on imposing the need for public car parks and new fuel stations to cater for electrical options?
The need to adapt is the best excuse to buy time. However, if there is anything we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic it is that, when pressed, we adapt quickly.
We also need to address the skills gap that currently exists about EVs. Are our mechanics, panel beaters, vehicle importers ready to take the plunge in the EV arena? If these strategic stakeholders fail to embrace the EV reality, then the little effort being made to entice Joe Citizen to make the switch is futile.
Multimodality is another cog in the sustainability wheel. Again, a change in culture is needed to reconsider the use of the private vehicle for all mobility related needs.
The vertical integration of diverse mobility services, be it scooters, cabs, shared cars, buses, bicycles and even walking, has to be seriously encouraged and incentivised since this change in mindset can seriously change the fabric of the way we move.
What will it take to incentivise a Sliema resident to take a scooter to the Ferries and take the ferry to Valletta and, subsequently, walk to the law courts as opposed to getting to Valletta with his private vehicle?
At times, industry leaders dream that we should strive to put Malta at the forefront of future technologies, such as autonomous vehicles. But if we are unable to grasp and bring to fruition some of these simple, yet, effective ideas and thoughts, all this will remain pie in the sky.
Andrew Bezzina is co-founder of eCabs.