The environment minister insisted on Wednesday that community parks will not be over-commercialised saying "it is not in the government's interest to have shopping centres, but green lungs".  

Last week, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana suggested leveraging the private sector to improve the environment, saying that was one way how the government’s economic plan would benefit the environment.

Asked about this and whether the country can expect green lungs full of cafes and shops, Dalli dismissed the notion, saying the government is committed to its plan to have more green areas. 

The government, she said, is in the process of looking into different ways to approach the setting up of green lungs in urban areas, saying that different models work in different settings. 

"We are looking at different financing models for the different types of projects. You will have those that have to be completely financed by the government while you might have those where there are public-private partnerships.

"Through these projects, we can come up with different concepts that go beyond simply having gardens," Dalli said. 

Ahead of the general election,  Prime Minister Robert Abela had pledged a €700 million investment over seven years in urban green lungs.

The government has said it wants to see the creation of a network of gardens and open spaces, including parks, urban green reclamation projects, urban greening initiatives, underground parking where possible, green areas spread out over vehicular tunnels and car-free areas in different localities.

While not divulging any details, Dalli said every individual project will have its own business case. 

"We need to ensure that the priority remains green spaces. When we think of these projects, we cannot start off thinking we're going to have some shopping centre," Dalli said. 

The minister said the government will not be reinventing the wheel and will therefore also be looking at what other countries are doing when creating green lungs.