Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1263287
25.06.2020 11 TOWNSCAPES renewable energy experts, re- search institutions and NGOs are the ones who know the technical and environmental requirements. ey're vital for our information gathering." After securing community involvement, the resultant pol- icy cannot trigger a one-size- fits-all approach. "Following the solar farms policy, we wit- nessed a surge in applications for large-scale solar farms," Perit Scalpello continues, "but we have a strict assess- ment process. We separated good applications from those of speculative development, leaving only a small number of approved applications. But de- velopment planning and poli- cy are a small part of society as a whole." "e crux of planning is to accommodate demand without damaging what is important for the country, the public and the individual – including parties who hold a powerful influence over the evolution of national sectors. You may start off with the best of intentions, but then a change leads to the whole policy mechanism needing to be reviewed. For example, when banks started becoming more conservative about issu- ing loans, they generated a rip- ple effect that saw the planning system and policy frameworks having to react quickly." While an institution can strive for improvement, bring- ing ideas to life relies on doing the best one can at any given point in time – and context always presents limitations. e Planning Authority toes the line, trying to sift out the short-term positives from long-term negatives. When forecasting, though, the longer the timeframe, the more un- certain things become. "For climate change, we talk about 100-year plans," con- tinues Perit Scalpello, "with unknown elements that make these plans less detailed and more difficult to realise than shorter-term plans. Funda- mentally, a plan's measure of success hinges on not accom- modating the interests of one sector alone. "For example, a boost in tourism might put too much pressure on infrastructure and force increased investment in energy generation and trans- port. With urban planning, we need to remain mindful that our carrying capacity is not in- finite, and there are concrete, knock-on effects and limita- tions when translating an idea into reality. But it's a dynam- ic system, and we work with milestones that motivate us to review and improve." For the Authority, 2020 rep- resents just such a milestone in their strategic planning. In 2015, the Authority's struc- tural plan was revised and a strategic vision for the next 20 years was rolled out. is year, the strategy is up for review, triggering questions about how well the plan is holding up five years later. In his conclud- ing remarks, Perit Scalpello explains that now is the time to see how the Authority's 2015 vision has moved Malta's national objectives forward. "e key question is, how has life changed since 2015?" Perit Scalpello says. "It's a roll- ing process of reviewing the validity of our vision given the ticking of time. If we find that we now have new require- ments, we'll adapt our journey because this is critical to the success of our strategic plan. A case in point would be the tourism industry. From the 'traditional', resort-style tour- ist, we're now living in the sharing economy and experi- encing an expansion of visitors opting for Airbnb-style ac- commodation. As we review, we'll ask, what are the implica- tions of this? And how are we going to react? "is is where real success lies – in asking questions, seeking stakeholder involvement, un- derstanding our evolving con- text and proactively adapting our policy frameworks in re- sponse. If we don't like where a trend is heading, this is how we can intervene to change it. But if we do like the trend, this is also when we determine the next steps in our planning fu- ture." While an institution can strive for improvement, bringing ideas to life relies on doing the best one can at any given point in time – and context always presents limitations