Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1500676
en. "What's worse, the summary procedure that has approved the absolute majority of such 'small' pencil developments of up to 16 units, are assessed through a checklist approach, strictly ac- cording to policy adherence, with even less time devoted to design assessment," Zammit says. The impact on property values For sure the court decision has implication in the financial values of terraced houses, now based on the potential to develop apart- ment blocks. But according to Zammit terraced houses should still have a high (financial) value. "The value, however, should steer away from being one calcu- lated based on redevelopment in- to apartments and instead the val- ue is in the fact that the zone has a special status as one characterised by this typology." But the value of a terraced house depends on the context where it is located. "A terraced house in a row of terraced houses wherein the street is consolidated has a high value; one that is wedged in between apartment blocks with blank walls on either side will lose such value." It is for this reason that Zammit is proposing that there should be designated terraced house areas, in those places where we can still have them, in the same way that we have Residential Priority Areas for villas and bungalows, and Ur- ban Conservation Areas. This can be done either through a proper revision of the local plans, but also through other means. He points out that the recent approach to consider buildings within the radius of a scheduled building or monument different- ly, even if within 'the scheme', has probably been one of the more ef- fective planning measures that has managed to curb newer develop- ments in such settings. The same approach could be adopted with such designated areas. Moreover, from a property valu- ation point of view, terraced hous- es should be valued based on their context and different scenarios could be considered – as terraced houses in their own right within current parameters, as terraced houses where potential extensions can be allowed, and as terraced houses which can be redeveloped. "Certainly, if the street has not had any redevelopments, then the emphasis should be on the first and second scenarios. If the ter- raced house is wedged between higher commitments, then the third scenario prevails. But there could also be 'in-between' scenar- ios." The risk of a domino effect Developers often make an argu- ment that once the context has changed following the approval of one or two applications for apart- ment blocks on the same street, a contextual approach would de- mand approving other application to fill the gaps. Zammit acknowledges that this regard to existing commitments is one of the main policies in DC15, but thinks it is being misinterpret- ed when used to justify a project's low-quality design and aesthetics, describing it as a really low point. "Where you draw the line is al- ways tricky, indeed." For while it might be fairly straightforward to safeguard the context in streets that have not yet experienced commitments – as was the case in Santa Lucija – it is trickier when there are sporad- ic ones within a street. "Does one redevelopment in a street consti- tute a commitment to redevelop all the rest? Do two commitments at a distance from one another au- tomatically allow the 'in-between' to be committed, but not the rest? Does one 'step down' from a high- er commitment to mitigate the blank wall that has been created and demand a side set-back not to create a new blank wall and limit the extent to the redevelopment? So yes, this can easily become a domino effect." The width of the street One major consideration in such decisions according to Zam- mit should be the street width. If the street is wide, and has a good height-to-width ratio, then even the maximum height established in the local plan might work well as this could still allow "good sun- light penetration", respect the human scale, and thus the devel- opment will still be well propor- tioned. But in other cases involving nar- rower streets lower heights have to be considered. This should be an opportunity to start a new lan- guage and logic within the street using redevelopments. "Some streets might work well if the two-storey proportion is retained and the first new floor is immedi- ately set back, to retain the 2-sto- rey line in the street." In this sense each street should really be studied on its own merits. Again, this was always the spirit of DC15 when talking about context. Another solution should be the creation of transition zones around urban conservation areas and at the edge of the develop- ment zone. "We are ending up with high edges at the develop- ment fringes that mask the inter- nal workings of our towns and villages. The whole rationale of a townscape and its skyline is being eradicated." Liveable cities Ultimately for Zammit planning is not there to facilitate develop- ment. "It is there to balance de- velopment, in tandem with other equally important considerations. This is why we talk about spatial, or strategic, planning." At the basis of this is an im- proved quality of life. Zammit says liveable environments are ones that respect the existing ur- ban and architectural context as well as residents, and seek to en- rich and ameliorate it. "The cities that stand the test of time, that rank high in terms of liveability scores and indices, that attract the best brains and the top investors, are the ones that manage to im- plement such environments, to truly have a long-term resilience and robustness, not just physical and infrastructural but also hu- man." Zammit has had a crucial role in developing a new undergraduate course in spatial planning at the University of Malta that will see 10 Planning Authority employees graduating this year after a first part-time run of the course. He is also collaborating with 10 other departments and institutes with- in the University to really encap- sulate "the multi-disciplinary and complex web of spatial planning". The course will open full-time this October and Zammit hopes it will encourage "forward-thinking students" to challenge the status quo by making a positive change. It is also high time that "we ac- credit planning professionals and recognise their professional sta- tus". Overall, a newfound approach is needed for planning. "Cities are constantly reinventing themselves and rethinking their strategies – be it in terms of development, or mobility, or green infrastructure and we cannot shy away from this or expect that parameters estab- lished in different times and con- texts must necessarily remain or are still applicable. It is never too late to do that." jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 JUNE 2023 NEWS terraced house