Architecture & Design

Architecture & Design | 19 widen our roads, reduce the width of our pavements, and increase on-street parking. I recently visited Seville. Today, its city centre is largely pedestrianised, but our guide explained that years before, the main thoroughfare, Avenida de la Constitución, was always lined with cars. It was only when two of the large columns in the main cathedral started to collapse due to the vibrations caused by traffic that the city was forced to deliberate on how to change the area and find an alternative. The introduction of a tram on three main routes, leaving the narrow winding streets in between them untouched, has alleviated traffic and given back the city to its people. Elsewhere in Spain, Barcelona introduced its first superblock in 1993 near the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar in the historical neighbourhood of El Born. They then planned another two in Gràcia in 2005. Following their implementation research from their pilot projects started in 2014 has shown an increase in pedestrian trips by 10%. Seville's urban planners seem to have taken the city block idea their compatriots had used and tweaked it to accommodate an organic city plan. You may be asking yourself what is a superblock and how does it work? Looking at the gridiron plan of Barcelona a "superblock or super-block is an area of urban land bounded by arterial roads that is the size of multiple typically-sized city blocks. Within the superblock, the local road network, if any, is designed to serve local needs only." The replacement of on-street parking by underground parking and the linking of landmarks with trams makes Seville easy to navigate – a car does not even seem like an option in these circumstances. Orange trees line the pavements, restaurant tables overflow onto the streets. People are out having drinks and talking – the city centre is a hive of activity and amidst all its history and culture is a large modern intervention; the Setas de Sevilla. It is what the Sevillians call "the mushrooms" that tower over one of their main, more modern squares making sure that the present is represented as much as the past. Have we lost this locally? The current perception is that we need green spaces – proposals to eliminate over-ground carparks in our villages or larger towns replacing them with green piazzas and parks are popping up over social media and the excitement of much of the population is evident. However, have these been thoroughly thought through? While it is no secret that we do need an increase in greenery and social space, introducing new nodes without joining them up with paths will possibly lead to more areas for crime and loitering, not to mention littering. Are we looking at our island as a whole or have we just decided to put lipstick on a camel with the expectation that we have arrived at the solution to all our problems? There is a lot of talk currently about getting people to abandon the use of their cars and move towards walking and public transport – yet we fail to design for it. The size of our island can be likened to a European middle-sized city, Malta can be overlaid onto inner Paris and will be roughly the same size. It is pointless to have a green space – or a public space - if it is surrounded by carriageways and not easily accessible. On my arrival back to Malta the taxi driver took me through Marsa junction. As I looked at the manicured green areas in between the cars on the multiple carriageways, I thought of a recent Instagram post that a friend of mine had shared of him and his girlfriend lazily enjoying the sun surrounded by cars on the only green space which the government has really financed. Ironically the green space was probably present as a requisite to gain funding for the roads that block pedestrian access to isolated oases. It is a shame to have a green space if it is not easily accessible. As Jane Jacobs would say "There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans." Aerial view above of Barcelona superblocks

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