Concerns over Covid-19, and mounting anger after the tragic death of Miriam Pace, have gone some way towards obscuring the furore which greeted Arts Minister José Herrera’s recent remarks: that Valletta “remains a cultural city, the city of the arts, the city of creativity, but most of all the city which belongs to the people of Valletta”.

During its term as the European Capital of Culture 2018, Valletta hosted a programme of events and activities that attracted some 350,000 tourists.

Reports from KPMG state that the Maltese economy generated a total investment of €678 million, as a direct result of Valletta’s tenure as European Capital of Culture.

However, the question remains whether this economic expansion has resulted in an increase of community satisfaction among the city’s residents. Have the historic and contemporary struggles faced by Valletta’s residents been addressed, and has their well-being been prioritised? The answer seems to be resoundingly negative.

A recent project led by Andrew Azzopardi, dean of the Faculty for Social Well-being, has collected and disseminated first-hand narratives of city residents, responding to these apprehensions. They report that their concerns have been ignored or dismissed, in favour of a push towards gentrification which has seen other cities around Europe emptied of their longtime residents to make way for business interests.

Respondents identified that the “investment” represented by Valletta 2018 has not addressed their actual needs, including a lack of accessibility and a dearth of welfare support. Substandard enforcement of existing regulations, and attempts to correct the excesses which have seen businesses swallow up the precious remaining public space still left in Valletta, were also high on the residents’ agenda.

Increased commercialisation of space in the city means that deliveries are taking place throughout the day, and some residents describe how sections of Valletta are more reminiscent of Paceville than the Valletta they once knew and loved.

Half of the Valletta residents who took part in a community-based survey believe that over the past five years, changes to the city have been deleterious.

Rather than putting the spotlight on a voiceless community, there is the ominous implication that Valletta 2018 either deliberately silenced, or left largely unheard, the real needs and authentic aspirations of Valletta’s residents.

If the celebration of Valletta as a capital of culture was meant to promote inclusion among Valletta  stakeholders, facilitate access to national heritage, and develop infrastructure that protects the city’s ageing population, then it has been lacking.

So far, it has stimulated unsustainable economic growth and provoked a growing sense of social upheaval, impacting residents and visitors alike.

Any criticism of the regeneration of Valletta is often greeted with claims that Valletta was ‘dead’ and has only now been brought ‘back to life’.

However, in terms of quality of life for those to whom the city is more than a place of business, the investment brought about by Valletta 2018 has called into question what kind of ‘life’ is returning.

Valletta 2018 and its legacy might have resuscitated the city’s financial fortunes but it has failed to bring about the social and cultural renaissance that the people of Malta are entitled to expect from their capital city.