https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/118819 2026-04-15T05:32:29Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/46677 Title: Closing address by the Mayor of Valletta Abstract: We are very close to 2018, the year when Valletta will become the European Capital of Culture. A very important year for our city. A title which we’ve been working for since 2009 when I submitted my intention to Government, declaring the fact that Valletta, will be applying for the prestigious title. We all know what happened in these years, so I’m not going into it. I can say that Valletta transformed itself thanks to public and private funding. However, while emphasising the importance of that year, we have to prepare ourselves for what happens after. That is why this conference is highly relevant because it is looking beyond 2018. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/46676 Title: Valletta: a leisure city or a city of culture? Abstract: Until the 1970s, the City of Valletta was the most important centre for the administrative, cultural and the commercial sector of Malta. From early morning, until late at night, for seven days a week, our capital was a vibrant hub of continuous activity. However, with the development and growth of our tourism industry, other localities, such as Sliema, Saint Julians, Bugibba, Qawra and Marsascala, were also attracting both locals and foreigners for their modern entertaining and commercial facilities, with the consequence that the importance of Valletta as the island’s main cultural and commercial centre, started to diminish. The increasing number of private vehicles meant that the Maltese could now travel to various destinations without the eleven o'clock curfew imposed by the public transport. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/46675 Title: Economics, liveability and urban heritage : can they co-exist? Abstract: It is my great pleasure to be invited again by the Valletta Alive Foundation to address this gathering of residents and admirers of our capital city. It was more than seven years ago when I voiced the plea for a modern make-over, a renaissance of Valletta with the aim of recreating our city in both character and personality and to re-establish and re-energise its social and economic life. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/46674 Title: Valletta Museums in the Community Abstract: Our capital city, Valletta, is the venue of some of Malta’s top museums and heritage sites of cultural significance. These sites of memory are one the country’s prime assets at the service of the tourism sector. Indeed, these key tourist attractions, are well-known and also publicised by the Malta Tourism Authority worldwide. I have come to realise that in spite of these efforts to publicise most of these are, as yet, paradoxically unknown to Valletta’s residents. Recent local community initiatives, jointly undertaken with Valletta Local Council, brought Valletta residents to visit museums for the first time ever. The recent initiative, Naqsam l-MUŻA, jointly undertaken with Valletta 2018 foundation, also brought the MUŻA project, the new national-community art museum and one of Valletta 2018 flagship projects for Malta’s European Capital of Culture Title, and the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts in touch with the community. Ten Valletta residents, purposely chosen to represent the community’s varied districts and identities, were invited to choose artworks which they also spoke about and described, also highlighting the reasons behind their choice which was later displayed in the streets in visual form accompanied by the thoughts of each participant. Other projects have sought to engage with Valletta’s communities in varied ways but these are by and large sporadic and uneven. 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z