https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/2686 2026-07-11T19:33:25Z 2026-07-11T19:33:25Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147477 2026-06-16T11:02:14Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: A critical analysis of the critiques surrounding the sustainability of circular economy : an authenticity assessment of circular economy practices in the plastic industry in Ghana Abstract: The circular economy (CE) has gained prominence as a strategy to reduce waste and decouple economic growth from resource depletion. However, the practical implementation of circular business models (CBMs) in developing-country contexts remains poorly understood. This study evaluates the adoption, challenges, and sustainability outcomes of CE practices in Ghana’s plastic sector, through a mixed-methods design involving surveys and semi-structured interviews with manufacturers, packaging companies, recyclers, diversified firms, and informal actors. The findings reveal a sector engaged in early, reformist circularity, active yet constrained, pragmatic yet fragmented. The research indicates that CE understanding is often limited to recycling, with minimal attention to upstream strategies such as redesign, reuse, and product life extension. Business type and size significantly shape CE adoption patterns: packaging firms exhibit the lowest uptake of recycled content, manufacturers remain dependent on virgin materials due to strict quality requirements, while medium-to-large firms demonstrate the most balanced and dynamic engagement through industrial symbiosis and structured waste systems. SMEs and cottage industries practice grassroots circularity driven by necessity rather than strategy. Across all groups, contextual barriers including weak enforcement, high technology costs, dependence on fossil energy, and inadequate infrastructure limit environmental and social outcomes. Social sustainability remains inconsistently integrated, with informal waste workers facing persistent inequities despite their central role in material recovery. To synthesise these dynamics, the study proposes an emergent conceptual framework positioning business characteristics (type and size) as key determinants of environmental and social CE outcomes, moderated by regulatory, market, and technological conditions termed as contextual factors. The analysis recommends corporate strategies for implementing circularity are tailored to firm size and business model. It further positions Ghana's CE landscape as a mirror of worldwide CE critiques, ambitious in theory but limited in practice while emphasizing the importance of livelihood, equality, and adaptive rationality in building sustainable transitions in developing countries. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147398 2026-06-15T08:52:48Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Understanding the travel behaviour, and attitudes towards sustainable mobility amongst migrant commuters in Malta Abstract: With ongoing challenges related to global warming, sustainable urban mobility remains a critical issue. Unsustainable travel behaviour is shaped not only by infrastructure and policy but also by societal attitudes, norms, and cultural influences, which are further diversified by international migration. In Malta, a highly dense and car-dependent island, the growing migrant population adds new layers of complexity to urban mobility, yet this group has been largely overlooked in existing research. This study addresses this gap by investigating the travel behaviour and attitudes towards sustainable mobility of international migrant commuters in Malta. The research adopts a mixed-methods, exploratory sequential case study design, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches for both in-depth and generalisable insights. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews and activity diaries with 12 migrant commuters and 12 Maltese participants as a control group, followed by a quantitative survey of 331 migrant commuters. Secondary data, including census and policy documents, complement the primary data. Findings reveal that buses are the dominant transport mode among migrants (61%), while car ownership remains relatively low (23%). Mode choice is influenced mainly by practical factors such as cost, convenience, and traffic congestion, rather than environmental motivations. Migrant mobility is dynamic and adaptive, shaped by nationality, age, prior mobility experiences, and length of residence in Malta. Some migrants gradually assimilate into the island’s car-oriented system, whereas others maintain flexible, multimodal, and relatively sustainable practices. A “honeymoon period” in early settlement emerges as a key phase for policy intervention. Despite moderate awareness of sustainable mobility, everyday travel is comparatively sustainable, reflecting pragmatic adaptation. The study highlights opportunities to strengthen public transport, promote long-term sustainable mobility, and ensure migrant commuters’ voices inform urban mobility policies. Recommendations aim to encourage continued use of sustainable transport and prevent latestage car ownership, contributing to a fairer, more inclusive transport system that supports social integration and wellbeing. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/140661 2025-10-28T11:16:35Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Car dependence and the concept of lazy : understanding the impact of pedestrianisation on car dependency reduction in a European island Abstract: Across the globe, the shift towards cleaner, active modes of transport has been recognised as a crucial step in improving the quality of life of people. This transition in urban communities is essential to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address health risks from sedentary lifestyles. The study examines the reliance on cars for short, walkable trips, focusing on Malta, a car-dependent small island state. Through the application of the Perceived Exertion Theory (PET) and Lazy User Theory (LUT), the research investigates how time, money, and perceived physical and mental effort can influence travel choices. A mixed-method approach provided insights into travel behaviours and the potential for street interventions to encourage active travel. The quantitative analyses primarily included multiple linear regression, mediation models and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The study’s findings reveal a significant relationship between perceived effort and car use for short trips, with mental effort and time identified as critical determinants. While respondents exhibited significant correlations between walking frequency, car use frequency, and distance thresholds, the mediating role of perceived exertion was only evident in the case of walking frequency. Notably, habitual car users in Malta were not affected by the perceived exertion associated with walking. However, walking frequency partially mediated the relationship between perceived exertion and distance thresholds, suggesting that individuals who walk more frequently are less averse to physical effort. On average, participants in the study reported a walking distance threshold of 1.3 km or approximately 16.93 minutes. These results align with the concept of "x-minute cities", which advocate for urban planning that enables access to daily needs and activities within 15–20 minutes of walking or cycling. This study highlights the complexity of transport mode choices, shaped by physical, psychological, and environmental factors. The qualitative data collection through stakeholder interviews, workshops and a virtual urban living lab were key to exploring the community’s response to pedestrian interventions and urban transformations. These approaches examined the barriers and facilitators to promoting active transport, with a digital platform serving as a participatory tool for gathering community feedback. The participants expressed a strong desire to engage in the planning process and contribute to shaping their urban environment. By incorporating community perspectives throughout the urban mobility interventions and experiments, their active participation can help address resistance to change and foster a sense of ownership in the community. The study emphasizes the need for multi-dimensional strategies to promote active travel in car-centric settings, such as enhancing pedestrian infrastructure, creating engaging public spaces, and offering reliable mobility alternatives. Using Malta as a case study, it highlights the unique travel dynamics of small, car-dependent island states and provides insights into sustainable mobility. By addressing barriers and leveraging motivations for short-distance active travel, the research offers policymakers guidance to reshape urban mobility to improve quality of life. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.)

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/132488 2025-02-25T13:05:36Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Assessing perceived walkability through pedestrian experiences using a citizen science approach Abstract: There is a growing body of literature suggesting that studies on the walkable environment cannot be abstracted from its social setting and should be assessed through the citizens who experience it. Pedestrian perceptions and experiences towards the walkable environment should play an integral part in studying, planning and designing public space. But unlike predominant walkability assessments based on objective observations and measures, pedestrian-centred approaches based on subjective and qualitative experiences require new ways of observing, measuring, analysing and interpreting the walkable environment. This study proposes an innovative research methodology based on a pedestrian-centred walkability assessment, in which participants simultaneously share georeferenced experiences and other observations on the walkable environment as part of their daily routine. As a result, this method provides a new way to assess perceived walkability supported by related objective data that add more precision, reliability and further insights to the study. On the one hand, a conceptual operationalisation of the perceived walkable environment based on four indicators (perception of safety, comfort, pleasantness and vibrancy) allows pedestrians to systematically share experiences in a structured way. Thus, pedestrians can rate perceived walkability through the following dichotomous variables: safe or unsafe, comfortable or uncomfortable, pleasant or unpleasant, and vibrant or dull. On the other hand, participants can include objective observations to identifying any type of components or characteristics of the walkable environment considered relevant for their experiences. A perceived walkability index is developed to combine all these data and assess the degree and spatial distribution of perceived walkability. Furthermore, pedestrians’ observations on the walkable environment are analysed to identify the most relevant environmental determinants that influence their experiences, both a positive and negative way. Sentiment, content and spatial analysis provide a better understanding on the underlying relationships between the walkable environment and pedestrian experiences. The study applies citizen science principles in participatory walkability research to engage and maintain volunteers, ensure data quality and the long-term viability of the project. It also explores the benefits and challenges of using WhatsApp as the main technological infrastructure for continuous data collection and communication during the project. This approach is empirically tested in a case study in Malta, where every day pedestrians shared information about how different elements and characteristics of the walkable environment influence their walking experiences. At a national scale, safety was the most relevant type of experience shared by pedestrians, with significantly more unsafe (70%) than safe experiences (30%). The main determinants linked to unsafe experiences were absence or poor pavements, exposure to traffic and lack of crossings, whereas safe experiences were mainly related to wide pavements, public parks and no or low exposure to traffic. However, results varied considerable between different localities and at street scale. Results show which areas are considered pedestrian-friendly and which require improvement in safety, comfort, pleasantness or vibrancy, while identifying the most relevant determinants influencing such experiences. This can greatly assist policy and planning by prioritizing areas and specific interventions towards a more pedestrian-friendly Malta. Despite some challenges for data collection, process and analysis related to large citizen social science projects, the results of the case study proved the suitability and effectiveness of this innovative method for community research projects on walkability, especially for local case studies. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.)

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z