Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1295509
10 TOWNSCAPES SUSTAINABILITY must be the word of the decade – or even the last half-century. Time and again we are made aware that we are the generation that will make or break the planet, and advice and guidelines in this regard are abundant. Move over digital age, we are living in the age of planning for sustainable development. But along with prominence comes fuzziness. What exactly is 'sustainable development' and how is it achieved? Malta's Planning Authority (PA) sought to establish this much-need- ed clarity through its Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED) back in 2015. As the blueprint enters its first revision five years on, Perit Joseph Scalpello, Assistant Di- rector in the PA's Policy Directorate, breaks down the Strategic Plan's crit- ical role. "You'd be hard-pressed to find peo- ple who know about the SPED despite its influence on our lives," begins Perit Scalpello. "e SPED is Malta's over- arching development vision which all national policies and local plans are answerable to and work towards achieving. It is an aspirational direc- tion for Malta's development that sits above and steers detailed policies on the ground. "When you say 'development' or 'żvi- lupp', most people think about Malta's development zoning plan, building heights or some other detailed level of planning. But the SPED comes be- fore all of that. It is a vision that spans 2015 to 2035, and by its very nature, it's a statement of intent. It rationalises what we want the country to look like in 2035 and puts forward a series of ac- tions to get us there." Before the SPED, other iterations of structure plans for Malta laid out paths for the country's urban and rural evo- lution to follow. e SPED, however, was the first to delineate Malta's coast- al zone as well as include the country's vast 25-nautical-mile marine area in development planning, making it an unabridged and all-encompassing stra- tegic national document. "e SPED identifies our country's spatial structure," continues Per- it Scalpello, explaining that the plan organises the country into four terri- tories – urban, rural, coastal and ma- rine. What's more, Gozo is regarded as a separate region to recognise the particular realities and challenges the island faces that require a customised approach to its development. "e SPED clearly defines each of the islands' spatial areas to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. It, there- fore, translates the country's vision of having a more efficient economy, more sustainable use of space and improved health and well-being into a spatial vi- sion for each area." e PA's Strategic Plan defines Mal- ta's urban areas as pollution-free, safe places to live and work, while its rural parts are green lungs that shall sustain farming and provide an escape from urban life. Malta's coastal and marine zones shall support fishing communi- ties, nurture biodiversity and maxim- ise sustainable socio-economic growth through initiatives like ports, power stations, reverse osmosis plants and A national plan worth paying 8.10.2020 Imagine a reality where people thrive with a high quality of life – one where the health and well-being of a country's citizens and its natural environment are in sync. e Strategic Plan for Environment and Development is Malta's roadmap for geing there, and Perit Joseph Scalpello, from the Planning Authority, explains why Perit Joseph Scalpello