Community inclusion and accessibility in Valletta 2018

Abstract

This report presents the findings from the fourth and final cycle of a research project which aims to identify factors affecting the participation of various community groups in activities related to the Valletta 2018 project, with particular emphasis on elements that promote or hinder the inclusion of a diverse audience. The report also focuses on the theme of accessibility, which is understood as comprising physical, social, geographical, financial, linguistic, and intellectual accessibility. Previous cycles of this research project have indicated that Valletta is a complex social space encompassing multiple layers of meaning for different community groups and individuals, with literature demonstrating that an in-depth understanding of the social context and the engagement of the public are critical success factors to the European Capital of Culture project (Garcia and Cox 2013). Another theme emerging from earlier research was the impact of urban regeneration on Valletta as a communal space, which has led to a wide variety of responses, often highly polarised.