Lack of planning is at heart of the mistakes that Malta has made in development. The new president of the chamber of architects, André Pizzuto, tells Fiona Galea Debono about how he would like to fix it.

The reversal of the uglification of Malta and the rewarding of good architectural design through advantageous measures are among the goals of the Kamra tal-Periti’s incoming president as he confronts decades of development disaster.

The “undoing of mistakes” is being addressed by a complex proposal the KTP is working on, said Perit André Pizzuto.

“It is going to be very expensive, but the longer we take to fix them, the more expensive it will be. One of the first things we need to do is stop making more mistakes!”

Highlighting the lack of drive towards improving the urban landscape, Pizzuto said the chamber is working on a system to reward – through reduced planning fees, shorter planning processes and other measures – architectural design that adds value to the community and the built environment.

In the coming year, mechanisms are being studied and foolproof systems developed for objective assessments to be made, Pizzuto said.

He emphasised the importance of implementing the initiative correctly from the start to avoid any loss of credibility.

A beautiful building in a depressed area should be given due consideration as it uplifts the whole area, Pizzuto said.

Instead, design is currently only assessed in terms of quantitative parameters – such as the distance of a balcony from a party wall and sight lines, which do not necessarily result in positive outcomes.

Architects frequently complain they are pushing a good design that cannot be approved, with the Planning Commission often having to refuse something good because the policy requires it.

The KTP, Pizzuto said, is also planning a seminar to understand the cause of the uglification process, pointing to technical reasons behind it, such as the way land is valued.

It is also promoting the use of design competitions for public projects, which should lead by example. The take-up of the new initiative by two ministries has been encouraging, he said.

Industry disorganisation

But the biggest problem the KTP, the profession and the whole country are facing stems from the disorganisation of the building and construction industry, also in terms of attitudes, skills and legislative frameworks, according to Pizzuto.

Both operators and regulators need to be organised, he insisted, pointing to the Planning Authority.

It must either stop focusing on development control or change its name to ‘Development Control Authority’ and have another agency do the planning – which is not what the PA is doing anyway and is completely different from issuing permits, Pizzuto stressed.

The disorganisation is leading to negative outcomes in construction and safety methods, aesthetics and quality of life.

“We cannot continue living like this,” he said about the unsustainability of having no planning whatsoever.

Urban landscape disaster

Pizzuto has been trying to resolve these problems, that go back decades, since he joined the KTP council in 2014. He has tried to channel his frustrations into lifting the industry and profession out of the rut it was in by following international best practice, against the current of cultural and legal obstacles.

Planning is one of the essential functions of government. If it is not happening, we have a problem

The start of the urban landscape disaster, he maintains, goes back to the 1988 Temporary Provision Schemes and the 2006 Local Plans, which had “horrified” the fresh graduate back in the day. They had “killed what was left” while the current government added opportunities for further development.

For someone with a background in planning and urban design, it had spurred him to leave the country to avoid the “inevitable disaster”.

Now, in the thick of that disaster, he is heading the regulator of his profession, whose role is also to advise the government.

But as to whether the KTP is being heeded: “I am not sure we are given the consideration we deserve, unfortunately.”

Urgency of reform

In fact, on the 2021 agenda is meeting Planning Minister Aaron Farrugia to take stock of the construction industry’s reformed legislation and close it after the process had stalled.

In August 2019, the government had committed to implementing the KTP’s reform proposals, A Modern Building and Construction Regulation Framework, two years in the making, spearheaded by Pizzuto. But to date, it has not happened.

While some movement has been registered, Pizzuto conceded the reforms should not be rushed through despite the urgency.

“We cannot have a situation where the industry itself puts people’s lives at risk. The number of accidents and deaths are too frequent and there is not enough outrage,” Pizzuto decried.

“We cannot afford badly drafted laws and the industry now needs some stability. It is important that we get it right and move on to other pressing issues like planning,” Pizzuto said about the next milestone.

No planning vision

The planning system needs to be overhauled, Pizzuto stated, acknowledging that the issue is so vast it is daunting for anybody entrusted with the planning portfolio to come to terms with fixing it.

But the KTP’s role is to provide the technical solutions as it had done with its building and construction framework.

Private interest determined the outcome of towns and each authority had its own piecemeal input into the urban system, Pizzuto said, calling for a central authority.

Each entity should present its vision and the PA had to coordinate these in a way that made sense, he advised, outlining the authority’s role to determine exactly how a town should be planned and to regulate the urban environment.

“Otherwise, we will have the mess we are experiencing.”

Instead, the PA has never issued a spatial strategic plan, barring the 1990 Structure Plan, Pizzuto continued, adding that its policies are based on development control – “how far a development can go” – and not planning.

“Calling them planning policies is a misnomer. They set parameters and not a vision,” he said.

“Planning is one of the essential functions of government,” Pizzuto continued. “If it is not happening, we have a problem.”

Many environment and health and safety problems are caused by the PA, he said, giving as an example the “obsession” with imposing minimum parking requirements and increasing fines, which have forced developers and architects to excavate between party walls, with all the risks this entails.

Adding floors on existing buildings, without considering whether they can withstand them, is all wrong too.

The 2006 decision to convert two-floor areas into what eventually became five meant every owner has the choice to develop their property at their own leisure, leading to sporadic, piecemeal and never-ending redevelopment of sites over extended periods.

“This is bad planning, and it has to stop.”