A first-ever management plan for Valletta, formulated as part of the effort to safeguard the capital as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is due to be issued for public consultation on Wednesday.

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici announced on Tuesday that the management plan, which is a requirement set out by UNESCO for all sites listed as World Heritage Sites, will be published online for public consultation.

The consultation period will run for eight weeks.

Author Aleks Farrugia has also been apportioned as manager of Valletta as a world heritage site.

He said that, chiefly, the management plan will seek to safeguard and enhance all the qualities that make Malta’s capital city a location worthy of being listed as global cultural heritage.

The draft management plan is split into seven chapters and includes an analysis of what gives Valletta value as a world heritage site, the property and buffer zone related to the city, and what objectives the management plan hopes to reach.

Farrugia said that the plan’s main objectives have been formulated to fulfil the “five Cs” of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention, namely:

• credibility,
• conservation,
• capacity building,
• communication and
• communities.

In an analysis of the current issues being faced by the city, the report found that Valletta is threatened by gentrification “stimulated by factors tied to Malta’s economy”, with several factors causing the residential communities to move out of the capital.

This risks turning Valletta into an “open-air museum” and not a living city.

Couching increasing conflicts between Valletta’s residents and the entertainment industry in the city, the plan also identified “conflicts between the residential and commercial interests” in the city as serving to decrease its attractiveness to both of these functions.

It also suggests that tourism footfall in the city should be monitored to “ensure sustainability”.

The plan says it intends to set up a steering committee in which all stakeholders that operate out of Valletta can contribute and coordinate to execute the objectives.

Bonnici said the plan addresses all of the "outstanding universal values" that designate Valletta as a unique piece of global heritage.

Preserving the local community, he added, will remain a focal point of the plan, which will continue to uphold Valletta as a dynamic and vibrant city.

Those interested in participating in the consultation may access the documents online from Wednesday here.

Feedback and suggestions can be sent via email to valletta.unesco@gov.mt or by post at 21, Archbishop Street, Valletta.