Next time you visit Valletta, take a short walk from the Triton Fountain to the Bocci club of Pieta, located at the end of Triq L-Indipendenza, to appreciate the importance and the necessity of tree-lined roads, a feature as essential to the urban landscape as any park or garden.
Without acknowledging this fact, the island will lose the opportunity to maintain the remaining tree-lined roads - such as Triq Tal-Labour, Naxxar, Triq Il-Wied Ta’ L-Imsida, Msida, Triq Manuel Dimech, Qormi, Triq Mons Mikel Azzopardi, Zebbug, and, more importantly, the opportunity to explore the possibility of greening the entire road system of the island.
The idea to use trees as a tool to emphasise the main lines of a composition and to guide the eye towards a particular reference point, bloomed in the gardens of 16th century Renaissance Italy, from where it started its journey across Europe.
As with any other idea, it did not take long before people began to experiment with the notion to create an illusion of space and to open the perspective towards the infinity, inviting spectators to look beyond the boundaries of private gardens.
Shortly afterwards, tree alleys moved into the surrounding countryside and in the shape of tree-lined roads criss-crossed through the entire Europe as the continent, producing the effect of coherence and emphasising the uniqueness of a place – even if following generally accepted and practiced rules – as each garden and road had its own story and memories enriched by the many myths attached to the trees themselves.
Yet, this has been of little importance in the dawn of economic growth and its progressive thinking, replacing, in many areas, unique stories and memories with road surfaces and parking spaces.
Nevertheless, the point should not be to completely neglect one thing for the sake of the other, but to establish a balance between the two, incorporating tree-lined roads and alleys all around Malta, not only in the remote locations like Dingli or Ta’Qali.
Primarily, tree-lined roads are a distinctive feature of a landscape as they elegantly accent infrastructure, conferring an extra dimension on them, both from the road itself and from the outside. The dimension of volume, which a winding road on its own cannot possess, creates a sense of space, particularly evident in urban areas from the shape of meticulously selected trees and the way they are organised together, thus, constituting an architectural feature with a beginning and an end, height, proportions, width and an arrangement. A live form of architecture which improves, if properly maintained, over time.
In addition, trees counterbalance the increasingly tall buildings, are more resilient to vandalism and have considerable impact on the quality of life in an urban area.
Secondly, rows of trees along a road contribute to safety, making it easier for drivers to read the road ahead, signalling bends, crossroads and the approach to built-up areas. They are a key aid in helping drivers to anticipate and adapt their driving to the environment, both in normal weather conditions and especially in rain, fog or at night. The rows of trees also help drivers to maintain awareness of their speed and, by channelling lateral vision, encourage prudence, whereas an open road reduces vigilance and encourages speed.
Thirdly, as tree-lined roads and alleys require maintenance, the increase in their numbers will benefit the entire tree related sector, creating employment opportunities not only for the professionals but also for low-qualified individuals.
Fourthly, tourism also prospers from tree-lined roads and alleys as they extend an invitation to explore and discover the countryside they cross. In this respect, they enhance the area’s attractiveness. More importantly, they make a room for emotional response and plant a memory for the visiting person, that of a country with an innovative approach of how to utilise all greening possibilities in the Mediterranean weather.
Trees are assets with a quantifiable value that increases over the years, unlike the depreciating worth of most of the buildings around. Various formulas are used to determine the value of a tree, considering its species, state of health, size and aesthetic benefit. Bringing together the various estimates accepted by insurers leads to a value of around €1 million per km for two complete rows of adult trees in good condition, with the trees spaced at an average distance of 12 m.
By stating a tree as an asset in public accounts as buildings or other tangible constructions, the government would make it visible to the public and provide a useful point of reference for effective financial decision-making.
Besides being an important architectural feature, contributing to road safety, creating employment and benefiting tourism, trees shelter from wind and sun, conserve energy, provide a canopy and habitat for wildlife, beautify space and become atmospheric air-conditioners, limiting the impact of extreme temperatures, reducing peak run-off flows and preventing soil erosion.
All the above, with all its glamour, must account for the fact that Malta has a limited amount of space, especially when speaking about densely populated urban areas and considering that there are more cars in the streets than ever before: 402,427, according to National Statistics Office. This means that there is a need for wider roads and parking spaces.
Nevertheless, it should not prevent looking into any possibilities of how to balance tree-lined roads and alleys with required parking spaces and road expansion projects, as there are ways of doing it: selecting the right tree species, accustomed to the Mediterranean weather and being canopy dense, identifying optimum spacing between each tree, rerouting existing traffic flows in densely populated areas and encouraging innovative approaches to name a few.
The concept of tree-lined roads must be preserved and expanded to its maximum capacity – as there are numerous benefits for urban landscape and the community – especially when there are ways how to connect them with the demand for the expansion of roads and parking spaces. If such balance is acquired, Malta will have another beautiful example of what such a small country can achieve.
Mantas Stockus is a Malta-based Lithuanian. He has an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Criticism from the University of Malta. Mantas is particularly interested in thought-provoking writing and haiku poetry.