The inclusion of a site to the World Heritage List brings with it quite a few implications that need to be recognised in order for it to be properly safeguarded. The fact that Valletta has been on this list for over a quarter of a decade would make one assume that the complications and complexities of this task should be well apparent to anyone involved. Yet recently there have been quite a few activities and discussions that seem to prove the opposite. The fine fortified city of Valletta appears to face its final battle and as things look, it might lose it. The enemy this time is not war or a siege, it is not even time – or the lack of it for that matter – that poses the major threat; it is simply ignorance that leads to the continuing neglect of Valletta.

Before going into recent matters it is important to know some facts about the nature of inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The legal background for this list is the Convention on safeguarding the World Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO. It is a hard-law document, which means it is legally binding for any State that is signatory to it. Malta was one of the first States to sign the Convention and since then has managed to get inscriptions for some outstanding sites, namely six of its prehistoric temples including the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum and Valletta with its fortifications. With the inscription, a site is not only recognised for its heritage value on a local scale – a value that has always been appreciated by the citizens of Malta – but for its global significance and “outstanding universal value” – as stated in the Convention – to all the peoples in the world. The safeguarding of these outstanding sites is considered to be one of the most important tasks in conservation by experts all over the world. With the signing and ratification of the Convention the Maltese government recognised its duty to “do all it can”, to safeguard its inscribed assets for future generations. So much for the original wording of the Convention.

What is the present situation? By reading the newspapers and following the discussions about Valletta, one might start to think whether what is being done now is really all the government can do to safeguard Valletta’s authenticity.

For one, there are a lot of illegal building activities going on. Additional storeys are put up that change the city’s so called fifth façade and thus its authentic character; and although there are laws that regulate this kind of degrading activities, there seem to be no means of reinforcing them so the loss of authenticity goes on.

Another important point is the non-existing buffer zone around Valletta. The World Heritage Convention’s Operational Guidelines state that an adequate buffer zone should be provided around a nominated site wherever necessary for its proper conservation. Of course one could argue about what is necessary and what is not. But recent developments in the field, which can be followed in conferences and by reading expert opinions, clearly show that especially for heritage cities it is of utmost importance to protect not only the structures within these cities but the views from and onto them as well. This can only be achieved by creating a proper buffer zone around Valletta. Otherwise, due to all the seemingly uncontrolled development going on around it, the historic context of Valletta will eventually disappear. This does not mean stop every development immediately but to evaluate every proposed development very carefully and to look at different aspects of it. Economics and feasibility are important; but the safeguarding of heritage is at least as important. After all, development projects in the area around heritage places often advertise the vicinity to this historic place, with its nice views adding value to these projects. It is often not mentioned that it works the other way as well. The view from a heritage site should give the visitor and inhabitant a sense of the historic context of the place. This experiencing of the historic context will in future become hard as views will be more and more obstructed by an increasing number of high-rise buildings around Valletta if no buffer zone is created that could help manage building activities unsympathetic to its genius loci. It is self-evident in this respect that the sea surrounding Marsamxett, Grand Harbour and the Sciberras peninsula would not make a sufficient buffer zone on its own and thus land on both sides of the harbours would need to be included. We talk about land that is of great historic significance as well if we look at Cottonera, Manoel Island or Tigne Point to name only a few places; a wisely chosen buffer zone around Valletta therefore would effectively help not only to safeguard Valletta but to protect the heritage values of its surrounding areas as well.

Finally, UNESCO asks for entities that coordinate and manage World Heritage Sites. With the Cultural Heritage Act, Malta has created a legal basis for this. Although World Heritage is not mentioned in it – so again, or already there is no reference to any existing or future globally significant sites – at least the safeguarding of cultural heritage in general is tackled.

Heritage Malta is explicitly mentioned in this Act as the operating agency that protects the cultural heritage entrusted to it. Further on the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is established as the legal body to ensure the protection of cultural heritage as defined in the Act. Similar to The Valletta Rehabilitation Project, which acts as curator for the World Heritage status of Valletta, Heritage Malta – among many other tasks – is responsible for the safeguarding of Malta’s megalithic temples, six of them being World Heritage sites. Both entities do their utmost to protect the island’s heritage but only Heritage Malta has the legal backing of the Cultural Heritage Act, while the VRP is not mentioned in it, in theory making it subject to any shift of policies in this field as governments change over time. But in order to ensure proper management and coordination for a World Heritage Site, there needs to be adequate legal backing as well as sufficient funding for the responsible entities.

With all this said, it does not mean that there should be no development in Valletta; nor that resolutions on safeguarding should be so strict that it would slowly turn the city into an open air museum. The contrary is the case. Valletta is struggling with a loss of residents and this process can only be reversed when the city becomes a place worth living and working in for every one; for young families as well as elderly people; for the businessman as well as the tradesman. This means that places need to be upgraded in order for people to be willing to live in them or to pursue their work. But it also has to be clear that this must be done in a most sensitive manner. The “regular” building and development regulations cannot be applied, as Valletta is no regular place. It is a city of outstanding universal value with a history of global significance so the measures to protect it have to be outstanding as well. It is as simple and at the same time as difficult as that. These measures cannot be invented in a jiffy nor can they be up and running in only a few days. Setting up proper management according to World Heritage Site requirements for a city of Valletta’s size takes a lot of time. But any attempt not to start with these measures immediately or even to prevent already working processes from functioning properly means to jeopardise Valletta’s status as a World Heritage Site on purpose.

The damage done to a historic site whether through decay or wrong development is irreparable. Heritage assets should be viewed as non-renewable resources. Once they are lost, they cannot be replaced.

It is one of the biggest challenges for governments and people to work together to safeguard their heritage and even more so when it is a World Heritage site. One hopes that governments signatory to the World Heritage Convention do not forget their legal obligation to take responsible action to protect World Heritage Sites located in their territory. And the people must not forget to make use of their right to insist that their government acts accordingly.

The author is an architect working on his Master’s degree in World Heritage Studies in Germany. He is a part- time Valletta resident and is currently carrying out research on the management of World Heritage Cities.