PN MP Mario de Marco told The Malta Independent on Sunday, in response to questions posed by this newsroom, that a carrying capacity exercise should be carried out, but should not focus on the tourism sector in isolation.

It should take a number of things, including population size and future population growth, into consideration, while also seeing things through a wider lense in order to include whether, for instance, the country is aiming for economic sectors that require a high number of employees or not.

It would also need to take into account length of time tourists remain in Malta, whether they are focused on three particular months, or better spread out, etc.

While such a study could be beneficial to helping plan the sector's future, such as moving towards attracting more quality tourists which is a move the tourism ministry effectively said it is doing... specifically it said: "rather than simply trying to attract an increasing number of tourists, the country is striving to attract a higher number of quality tourists," such a study could be beneficial in other areas.

Widening the scope into more regional or locality based carrying capacity exercises for instance, can help guide development. This is something that has been brought up in the past.

When we speak about new major developments being proposed for an area, for instance, they are often accompanied with traffic management plans. But, realistically speaking, when looking at certain localities in the country, the traffic problems have only continued to build and build as development intensified, not to mention the effect they have on surrounding areas. Some localities which are densely built cannot have their roads widened to accommodate the sheer volume of vehicles going through. At the same time, the impact of the number of people in a locality could create other issues, such as those related to garbage collection, or to sewage infrastructure, or result in far too much takeover of public space by tables and chairs for instance.

A carrying capacity exercise specific to those areas might be able to better guide urban planning. For example, is there a critical point whereby a locality just cannot take more vehicles? Once that point is reached, should the Planning Authority continue to accept planning applications that allow payment to be made instead of including parking spots within that development? Should a park and ride system be introduced for that locality? What about pedestrianization. Should limits on accommodation development be introduced to a zone?

Such exercises can also tie to social impact assessments.

What about for certain zones like Comino. If there are too many people traveling through or to an area, then that area will not be attractive or visit. Who wants to visit Blue Lagoon on a completely packed day for example? If an area is overdeveloped with infrastructure that cannot cope. Aside from the negative impact this can have on a tourist's experience, it can also have a negative impact on the residents in this country would just would not want to visit that area, or who have second thoughts about, for example, going to a beach because they are just too packed.

The country has a traffic problem, it has an issue with the space taken up by tables and chairs, beaches are overpopulated, certain areas see too much development and the country's ODZ gets eaten up. The first move should be to undertake studies and exercises to see the impacts of this and what, effectively, localities and the country can take in terms of numbers, infrastructure and development density, while ensuring that citizens aren't suffocating and that the country's natural beauty is preserved.