Management plan for Valletta 

A management plan for the city of Valletta has been submitted to UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. Pending since 2009, this was last requested as one of several items by the World Heritage Committee which met in its 45th session in Riyadh (2023). It was submitted in November, prior to the December 1 deadline set by the World Heritage Committee.

Listed on the World Heritage List in 1980, the city of Valletta is deemed to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius and an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.

World Heritage properties like Valletta are bound by the 1972 World Heritage Convention to have management plans that, primarily, protect and manage the outstanding universal values of the sites inscribed. 

The long-coming management plan was a concerted effort that involved a number of stakeholders. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Valletta’s long-coming management plan was a concerted effort that involved a number of stakeholders, chief among them the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, the Planning Authority. The exercise was driven by the office of the site manager within the Culture Directorate, approved by government and delivered to the World Heritage Centre through the Permanent Representation of Malta to UNESCO.

The management plan may be considered as the foremost of a number of items requested in what is called a ‘State of Conservation Report’. This report also includes, among other items, a list of potential major restorations, alterations and/or new construction(s) within the property and its buffer zone, that may affect Valletta’s outstanding universal value. These include both state and private projects, some of which are currently being undertaken, while some are still being contemplated or designed in or around Valletta. 

To this end, the office of the permanent delegate of Malta to UNESCO retains continuous dialogue between Malta and the World Heritage Centre.

The management plan itself, set on guidelines issued by UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, revolves around the ‘five Cs’ of the World Heritage Convention: Credibility, Conservation, Capacity Building, Communication and Communities. The document reiterates the outstanding universal value of the City of Valletta, analyses the criteria for inscription, and outlines those values that express the city’s integrity and authenticity. 

It describes the challenges, opportunities and measures that need to be implemented for the city’s outstanding universal value to be respected. 

Finally, the management plan describes conservation measures as well as several action measures, which are deemed necessary for the medium- and long-term welfare of Valletta and sets up the steering committee for the implementation of these action measures.

The management plan is also accompanied by the views and vistas and viewshed analysis – an exercise involving the noting and documentation of strategic views within and outside of Valletta. These views and vistas are recognised for their visual and symbolic values and are accompanied by their respective preservation and enhancement criteria. 

This exercise helps to better understand the extent and purpose of the city’s buffer zone in terms of the operational guidelines of the Convention. 

Once submitted to the World Heritage Centre, the State of Conservation Report with its documents, including the management plan, will be evaluated and submitted for the endorsement of the World Heritage Committee set to meet in its 47th session in Sofia, Bulgaria, in July 2025.

Mgr Dr Joe Vella Gauci Ambassador of Malta to UNESCO – Valletta