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When the dark night rises

The morality of public space

Dr. Elise Billiard

Work In Progress Seminar

21st May 2014, University of Malta.

I would like to share with you my on-going research on Pacevilles recent evolution,

which I think is relevant not just for Paceville but for the future of urbanism in Malta;

although Paceville is today still a unique case. For the past 18 months I have

conducted independent research on the streets of Paceville, interviewing residents and

bar owners, tourists and students in English learning schools and also just sitting in

Cafs and observing the flow of life. My fieldwork is not concluded yet and this

presentation will be a work in progress, to which I hope you will contribute to by

sharing your comments and ideas.

1-Experiencing the enclaves

In Malta, it is a habit to conclude a discussion by stating the all encompassing

exonorative expression Yes,but Malta is small. Indeed the island can feel

claustrophobic at times. When I need to take a break from the insularity of the island I

head to Smart city, or Tigne point or to Portomaso. Entering these spaces I feel I am

traveling for free. I enter a place which does not resemble Malta at all, a free and open

space that does not seem to belong to anyone. A non-space as Marc Aug would

argue. However it is also a place that feels strangely familiar, with an insistent sense

of dj vu. In these places, there is always a fountain or a marina, there is always a

nice view on the sea, and the view of the infinite horizon projects me anywhere. I

dream I am in a future city far from the mundanity of my daily preoccupations, far

from my inquisitive (although friendly) neighbors. I sit down by the fountain and I

look around. There are no cars, a sea breeze of ocean air caresses me, and there are

even some trees where birds can find refuge from hunters. The terraces of the cafs

and restaurants are impeccably maintained, with potted plants blossoming high on

nitrates, immaculately paved sidewalks framed by manicured lawns miraculously

thriving under the scorching sun.

George Fenech, the head of Tumas group and the initiator of such developments in

Malta, aptly understood the formula and declared, "I believe that you do not buy

property but a lifestyle. Few people want to live in an apartment per se today. They

want security, facilities and an address to be proud of.1"

To be sure, the piazza of these developments are well thought out and have been

overzealously designed. The architects have read Richard Rogers (but maybe less

Jane Jacobs) and have included the mixed-uses mantra of the new compact city. There

is shopping, there is relaxing (the fountain, the restaurants) there is working (in the

1 George Fenech in the Times of Malta; 19 may 2002.

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obligatory business tower), and of course there are high end residences. One could

spend his entire week in this kind of development without using his car once. The

public space is not only well thought of socially (at least at first glance) but it is

equally aesthetic. Even if the palm trees and the arcades are not ones cup of tea, one

must recognize that compared to the cheaply built modern blocks of flats in Paceville

or Sliema, Portomaso definitively stands out as a quality development. Tigne Point,

an equally high standard development is even more refined. With its complex

structure of buildings; with its assymetrical terraces and patios, it reproduces, at least

from afar, the Mediterranean skyline with its rooftops, and the narrow inner streets

remind me of the ancient Moroccan city of Fez, where rays of sunlight cut through the

dark shady street walls.

I am told that the apartments interiors are also very well taken care of; generally with

the help of a qualified interior designer. On the website of Pender Garden and Tign,

the prospective buyers are offered the services of an interior designer but they also

have the possibility to bring their own designer. And indeed these developments are

the kingdom of designers who not only arrange the private spaces to resemble

international hotels but they also design the private streets and the squares with the

result that any trace of individuality is eradicated. To me, it seems as if the public

square was a private space. It is so carefully manicured, with its view, its clean

benches, its pristine paving and green plants in pots. It is so well arranged, the height

of the pavements so finely calculated, the colors of the walls so well coordinated, that

one feels as if he had stepped inside an Interior magazines photograph.

However the point I shall be making is that such developments are heterotopia,

enclaves, or capsules that negate the outside world. I will argue that far from fostering

a sense of community as the word gated community suggest and the central piazza

may aspire to embrace, these are non-spaces where the public space is suffocated

under obsessive control. And finally, I will suggest that they damage the public space

left outside by encroaching on free space thus drastically limiting mobility. These

observations were inspired by my work in Paceville, an urban area that I feel is a

micro laboratory for the future of urbanism in Malta.

2-The morality of Public Space

I have entitled this presentation the morality of public space to emphasize an aspect

often dismissed or at least misunderstood. I see two reasons why public spaces are

moral. Firstly urban public spaces are where one is confronted with strangers and

learns to cohabite with them. The second reason is that norms of behaviors determine

the ownership of urban public spaces.

Let me start by explaining that public spaces are moral because public spaces are

where confrontation with strangers occurs and thus where a shared system of values is

acquired (consciously or not). For instance, this is where a child learns that he can or

cannot expect help from strangers when stumbling over a stone. Here it is important

to stress that the socialization that comes from street level interactions is distinctly

different from the socialization that occurs in the comfort zones of privacy, such as

within a group of family or friends. In an urban area like Paceville where most people

are strangers to each other, (unlike the much debated incestuous Maltese village), here

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one interacts mainly with strangers. In such context actions are judged as actions;

there is no understanding of the action in the perspective of the individuals life or

status or reputation. Such a re-contextualization can only exist between people who

know each other, such as in the village, but not between strangers in Paceville. In the

urban public space there is no pre-existing attachment, actions and reactions are only

meaningful per se.

This leads to two important correlates. First that it is in the public realm that society is

constructed. (I am referring here to urban society, the gezellschaft, the society of

strangers, as opposed to the village community, the gemeinschaft). But although a city

is full of strangers, an urban society is not just the sum of distinct individuals whose

lives have little in common, an urban society is one entity that is much more than the

sum of parts. It is a society where individuals, although strangers, cohabite; negotiate

territories, cooperate at times, exchange information about a football match or about

the job market, or at other times can despise one another, opposed in their social

status in what they perceive from the other. Most of the time, citizens are blaz and

care little about the neighbors tattoos or nose piercing, however they will eagerly

engage in a conversation if the buses are running late or if the sun is shining after a

long wintery spell. These everyday and seemingly mundane interactions are what

builds a society. To put it bluntly, there is no society without public interactions.

The second correlate, which is no less essential, is that urban public spaces offer to

the individual the possibility to refine his judgments and his moral values. Using the

words of Hannah Arendt, one could say that public spaces are where an individual

becomes human. For Hannah Arendt, being human meant to be able to think for

oneself, to discern good from evil, which she thought, was an increasingly rare

capability in the modern world. For her, it was only in the public sphere, when

actively engaging with the others around us, in debating about the norms of public

life, that we enact and nurture our humanity.

There is an anecdote of the French poet Baudelaire who was seated on the terrace of a

new and trendy caf in Paris, and was confronted by the sight of a poor family in rags,

staring with admiration and envy at the luxurious faade of the caf he was in, the

whitness of the walls, the expanse of mirrors, the gold cornices and moldings. He

felt guilty of his comfortable lifestyle. He later wrote: Not only was I touched by this

family of eyes, but I was even a little ashamed of our glasses and decanters, too big

for our thirst. This is the kind of situation an urban public space enables. The

confrontation with the other triggers instantly a sense of obligation towards the

dispossessed, the outcast, the populace. However as Baudelaire also showed it can

also trigger the impulsive desire to reject poverty and to forbid the street to those who

do not fit the ideal of a pre-designed social picture. Baudelaire recalls the reaction of

his lover who said: Those people are insufferable with their great saucer eyes, Cant

you tell the proprietor to send them away. In a world where social inequality is

increasing, the need to choose between generosity and refuge becomes unavoidable.

The second reason I believe reinforces the concept of morality of public space is that

norms of behaviour determine the ownership of space. Morality here is understood as

a system of values that define or determine norms of behaviors. An example of such

behavioural norms are the signs that ban ball games or dogs, which prevent children

or dogs owners from entering a park. Another example of restrictions of ownership

of space are the public benches that are bum-proof. Popular amongst city councils

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such as Paris and Los Angeles they are designed to prevent anyone lying down on

them, thus excluding homeless and tramps, or even just a tired commuter from taking

a nap (and therefore temporarily owning that space). But as William Holy Whyte

stressed: lively public spaces are places where one can sit. In Paceville benches are

almost inexistent, if not in a semi-private garden in which CCTV cameras keep an eye

on anyone wanting to use the benches as beds.

Thus I would argue that regulating the activities and behavior of citizens implies

regulating the access to public space, reducing its openness. Regulations can be

imposed by an authority or by the owner of semi-public spaces, such as in libraries or

cafs. But regulation is also imposed by practice. In the case of Paceville it is obvious

that the nightlife, with its populace of inebriated and joyful people prevents other

people from using the streets or the beach at night.

This leads me once again to concur with Hannah Arendt that the public space is a

place for intense and constant negotiation. It is the conflict over the norms of behavior

as much as the conflict over the ownership that defines a public space. A space which

is entirely under the submission of one set of rules, determined and applied by one

preselected owner; where a systematic and well delimited morality is imposed, is not

a public space, it is a private space.

Thus public space is crucial for democracy because it is the object of intense

negotiations, it is the object which is common to all. It is what lies in-between

citizens. The materiality of the world, the facades, the urban furniture, the lay out of

the streets but also the waste collection, the cleaning of the streets, the public

facilities, post-offices, health centers, schools are what connect and separate us at the

same time. Indeed as Arendt writes:

To live together in the world means essentially that a world of things is between

those who have it in common, as a table is located between those who sit around it,

the world, like every in-between, relates and separates men at the same time. () The

public realm, as the common world, gathers us together and yet prevents our falling

over each other, so to speak.

Here Arendt warns us that once there is nothing to discuss, once there are no issues to

be resolved between two parties, then there is nothing that relate strangers together.

In Paceville public space has been dramatically reduced in the last 30 years. I shall

now look at the different kinds of public and semi-private spaces in Paceville.

3-Pacevilles Public Spaces

To identify the public spaces in Paceville I will use the Paceville Policy Map of

MEPA (map PV1) dating from July 2006 and show that most, if not all, public spaces

listed, are not public spaces in actual fact.

For instance the Portomaso marina is considered public open space, even though all

its gates are closed at night except for one, and even though by day and by night

access is controlled by security officers whos behavior tolerance is very limited (no

balls, no bicycles, no dogs, no naps, no stepping on the lawn etc). Even more

restricted is the access to the coastline in front of the Cavalieri hotel, which has been

closed to the public by the construction of a concrete wall blocking the access.

The only public garden of Paceville is also listed as a public open space even though

it is leased to the Tumas group who closes it at night and imposes its arbitrary

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restrictions of use. This was once a childrens playground with the usual colorful

swings, slides and merry go round. The park now resembles more a parking lot filled

with uncomfortable benches lined up around an empty center that a few trees and a

minute water feature try to hide.

Another public open space defined by the MEPA plan is the abandoned stretch of

land between Dragonara street and the Westin hotel which has been completely

enclosed by a wire fence; probably because it had become an illegal parking place. It

is nowadays deserted completely useless and inaccessible.

Finally, the last public open space listed in the 2006 Policy map located at the bottom

end of Saint Augustin street, just before Saint Georges bay, has been taken over by

one of the most powerful entrepreneur of Paceville, Hugo Chetcuti (Hugos Terrace).

Briefly, none of these spaces are really accessible and cannot for this reason be called

public spaces.

The same can be said for the Natural Coast with Public Access, which in practice is

not accessible or only with difficulty. The entire coast line is inaccessible except for

St George bay and the little protected area which is the stretch of rocks sandwiched

in between the two sprawling hotels Westin Dragonara and Hilton. This rocky coast

had been for more than 80 years the favorite spots of the residents of Paceville and

has recently become the perfect hide away for lovers under the moonlight. The coast

line on both sides of the Portomaso marina is impractible. (see photo). It is striking to

see how the three largest hotels Corinthia San Gorg, Westin Dragonara and Hilton

Portomaso, have practically taken over the entire coastline.

It also needs to be pointed out that the only sandy beach itself is partially privatized

by the beach club managed by the Intercontinental Hotel (The Paranga)

What is left to the public are the streets, which incidentally are not listed as public

open spaces in MEPAs plan. A careful analysis of the street layout reveals a

segmentation of the urban space which concentrates the motor and pedestrian

circulations in the central open grid. This map (green map) illustrates the different

blocks that have been created through the closure of a number of passage-ways. For

instance the development around the La Valette and St George hotels forms an

enclosure that cannot be crossed. Nor can the area around the intercontinental hotel,

which means that the only way to go from Bay street to the post office, is through the

infamous Saint Rita steps, which are themselves narrowed by the encroachment of the

night life industry. Another example among many others is the enclosure behind

Pender Garden and its adjacent streets (triq il-qaliet, triq iRoss, triq l-Apap) which

forces pedestrians and drivers to take either the residential Spinola street or the road

of Triq Gort and triq San Gorg, in which motor circulation has become

problematically dense. One can also see that the block formed by Bay street and Villa

Rosa prevents any access to the protected land behind it thus isolating Pembroke

from Paceville.

4-The consequences of segmentation

This segmentation of such a tiny area has several consequences.

First of all, the public space in general is drastically reduced either because it is

difficult to access (such as the rocky beach) or because it has been closed off (such as

the coastline around the Westin Dragonara) or simply because it has been privatized

(such as the place which is now Hugo terrace).

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The second consequence is that such enclosures have rendered some streets crowded

whilst other streets are lifeless (such as the residential zone behind Villa Rosa). This

increases the demographic pressure on the residential central area which is generally

dirty and noisy to the detriment of the residents lifestyle.

The third consequence is the general reduction of social diversity. In Portomaso for

instance, in the area in front of the caf or the Hilton hotel and even more so in the

desolate marina, retired residents or young people idling their time away are seen in

these areas. Instead a few white collar workers (from the Portomaso tower) and

wealthy visitors (Maltese or foreigners) comes to enjoy a coffee before heading to the

luxury boutiques. The hill behind Villa Rosa where villas are clustered is also very

quiet, almost deserted compare to the dense and mixed crowds that pass through the

central grid.

To understand the rise of segmentation Richard Sennett proposes an interesting

dichotomy between borders and boundaries, which I would like to use here.

According to Sennett, there are two types of spatial divisions. On the one hand,

borders are porous divisions which delineate two different spaces of activities or

societies but which can be crossed. Boundaries, on the other hand, are divisions that

are impermeable and thus do not allow any mixing. Boundaries are limits.

Sennett warns against the increase of boundaries such as the gated communities high

walls or highways that cut through urban spaces. Boundaries create artificial social

divisions and prevent any interaction between individuals from different areas.

Borders on the contrary are for Sennett creative spaces where different individuals

and different types of activities can blend, such as a market place sited in between two

socially opposed residential areas, and which can serve as a meeting public space for

divers social groups.

In Paceville, as I have shown, spatial divisions are hardening. The case of the gated

community of Pender Gardens is a case in point, since only residents can enter the

enclave and there is no through-traffic (whether motorized or pedestrian). However

this is not the only case. There are less visible ways to enclose spaces. One can for

instance make parking expensive, which keeps away the drivers who do not dispose

of 6 or more euros to stay an afternoon in the area. The same goes for prohibitive

rates at restaurants or cafs, an effective way to select customers. As we have just

seen, the closure of street at one end (to create a cul-de-sac) is certainly an effective

way to create de facto enclaves.

It is interesting to listen to the experience of residents who all point out the

transformation of borders into boundaries. One respondent recalls flying his kite as a

child on the coastline in front of the former Hilton hotel. Another one remembers

meeting her future husband at the Casinos regular balls. Inside the Westin grounds

lies the sunken garden which was once the highlight of childrens walks, eager to

come and see the two camels and the lion that were kept there by the excentric

Marquis Scicluna who owned the land but made this garden open to the public.

Nowadays this park is completely deserted and several entrances have been closed.

Residents of area known as The Gardens remember the short-cut of triq il-Qaliet they

used to get to Paceville. The street was closed around 8 years ago. On the Spinola

side, the residents use to enjoy the coastline in front of the Cavalieri hotel,

occasionally indulging in the hotels pool, which is now blocked by an illegal wall.

Portomaso marina until recently was also accessible from the back of the Cavalieri

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hotel, a road which is today blocked with a high fence. These examples illustrate the

change in the urban fabric of Paceville from the porous borders between hotels and

residential to the recently hardened and impenetrable boundaries thus transforming

Paceville into a labyrinth of segmented areas.

The only area of Paceville that allows for a mix of people is the night-life district

which has taken over the original residential area of Paceville. Here there are no

borders, the streets are laid out in an open grid in which pedestrians and cars

cohabitate. During the day, residents, young foreign students, businessmen,

pensioners, tourists and workers blend in the street. This area is characterized by an

eclectic mix of cafes, grocery stores, souvenirs shops, discoteques, gentlemens club

and cheap rental apartments. There is also a post office, stationery shops, two

pharmacies, 2 supermarket, several green grocers trucks, a church, a very active

chapel, and an access to the sea, all of them amenities that a residential area needs.

However, there are also recurrent issues in this area. The waste collection for one, is

regularly criticized and residents I met express a tired disillusion regarding the local

councils efforts to improve the situation. For instance they have long asked for public

conveniences to reduce the smell of urine that prevails everywhere.

The constant noise pollution is another important issue. It is true that discotheque

owners have improved the sound proofing of their clubs, but during the night, the

loud voices of the party goers disturbs those who wish to sleep. During the day, the

obsession to change the facades and interiors of the shops and bars implies a constant

digging and drilling cacophony that unnerves residents and tourists.

The dress code is also a cause of resentment for some individuals who consider that

the streets of Paceville are not the place to beachwear, to the same extent that going

topless or nude on a beach in Malta is socially unacceptable.

This is without mentioning of course, the opposition to the excessive consumption of

alcohol, drug use and prostitution.

Many residents feel invaded and denied the right to live the quiet life they enjoyed 50

years ago. They do not reject the international or cosmopolitan element of the diverse

crowd so prevalent in Paceville and many of them have and continue to host foreign

students in their own homes. Their perception of invasion comes from the change of

norms of behavior en vigueur today. Generally, the bad morality, the loose morals,

of the streets of Paceville is considered by most residents and by many Maltese as the

ultimate issue. Noise, bad smells and bikinis, transgress their morality of cleanliness,

and acceptable social behavior. The growth of the leisure industry (clubs, restaurants,

bars) has fostered a liberation of the mores that is oppressing for some as much as it is

liberating for others. This is the fundamental argument of my proposition that public

spaces are moral.

If the central grid, the original Paceville residential area, is the only public space left

in Paceville, it comes as not surprise that this area is the object of many conflicts

between the different stake holders. The night life is undoubtedly gaining precedence

over the right of the residents to enjoy a quiet lifestyle. The littered streets are not

sufficiently cleaned in the morning and the lack of public convenience has damaging

consequences on the inhabitants thresholds. The Maltese media are filled with

negative reports over this area of Paceville. However I suggest that instead of looking

at it as simply the problem, I think we should look at the area as the only place

where solutions can arise.

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The central grid is, at least until now, still in the hands of several stake holders, the

owners of the discos and clubs, the grocers and apartment rentals, the numerous small

restaurants and the residents have different interests and tend to entertain conflictual

relations. However this diversity of interests provides the foreground for public

debate over the one thing that all of them desire: the improvements of the commons.

Most stake holders agree on one thing, that there should be a stronger police presence

or that at least the police officers implement the law and punish illegalities.

While I do not wish to disregard this option, I think that a better understanding of the

situation would bring a more suitable solution.

We should first of all discuss the implication of the tourism industry which has almost

single handedly changed the face of Paceville over the past 50 years. Paceville is

unique in Malta, because there, and to my knowledge nowhere else to that extent, the

majority of the users are visitors who do not spend more than 3 weeks in the area. The

high umber of hotels and rental properties brings a massive influx of new visitors

every day. The wealthy enclaves of Portomaso or Pender Gardens also play an

important part because they are for the most part not inhabited by long-term residents

who could engage with Maltese society in the long run or in the everyday interactions.

It seems clear from several interviews with real estate agents and with former

residents of Portomaso that many clients do not live in Malta and use their apartments

as a holiday base. A quick look on the internet also reveals that many apartments are

rented for short stays, by their owners (Maltese or foreigners). This implies that most

residents of the enclaves are visitors that come to inflate the faceless crowd. Finally,

when the dark night rises, the crowd of party goers congregate in the central grid of

Paceville.

Day and night, Paceville is therefore a place of transit, a non-place in the words of

Marc Aug. Here lies the uniqueness of Paceville compared with the general

homogeneity and stability of the other urban or rural communities in which a strong

sense of place is prevalent. In this perspective, the problem is not so much the

nightlife itself but the impossibility for the permanent residents and long-term

workers to negotiate their vision of good morality. Residents have complained to me

that they cannot voice their disagreement of transgressive behaviors (as it is

commonly done in Malta) when they face an unknown group of youngsters who

anyway will leave the island in a few weeks time. Moreover, the visitors do not fear

for their reputation in a space which is not their own and where they know nobody.

Gossip and auto-censorship is of no use in a non-place.

In this domain, the establishment of enclaves, which are linked to the imperative of

movement, change and transit, has far reaching consequences.

5-Enclaves as heterotopias

The global phenomenon of gated residential enclaves is prospering. In a world where

people are traveling more often and further afield; where an elite is able to own

several summer residences in different continents and where for many work involves

considerable business travels, conferences and meetings, individuals tend to seek

refuge in closed private spaces in which they can withdraw themselves from the world

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around them. The slogan promoting Pender Gardens is particularly revealing here. On

the high boundary walls of the gated community is the slogan everything surrounds

you as if to stress the difference between the quiet inside of the enclave and the

hectic activity on the outside. The need to seek refuge in a private space is therefore a

consequence of the increasingly fast pace of our lives. This is what De Cauter

envisages when he writes that the increasing implementation of gated communities is

a direct consequence of the imperative of movement. De Cauter describes the world

as an interconnected global space, a network that connects capsules. Capsules do not

only refer to gated communities but encompass also cars and computer or mobile

phone screens. Capsules isolate us from our surroundings as much as they connects us

to a worldwide network.

I think that the term capsule is useful in our quest to understand the essential quality

of developments such as Smart City, Portomaso, Tign or Pender Garden among

others. Their essential quality being to provide a refuge for those who spend most of

their time in non-places; airports, generic cities and international conferences. Indeed,

Portomaso apartments are in majority owned by foreigners, mainly British, Germans,

Swiss and Dutch with a minority of Maltese. All these enclaves are targeting foreign

upper class clients. They are not only sold at sky high prices but also benefit from the

privilege of being Special Designated areas which means that non-residents in

Malta can buy more than one property at a time, rent it or buy it in the name of a

company without the usual acquisition of Immovable Property Permit.

What the clients of such enclaves are seeking, is an idyllic refuge with a comfortable

lifestyle to use once again the words of George Fenech. These new developments

are inward-looking, seeking to create private, self-sufficient living and leisure spaces.

Sitting by the central fountain, looking out at the horizon, taking a stroll along the

yacht marina, one is buffered from the constant sound of construction works that is so

prevalent everywhere else on the island. Traffic noise are also kept away but there

being no through-traffic and by providing extensive underground parking. As a

resident of Pender Gardens declares: Its nicely encapsulated to shield the noise from

Paceville. But such enclaves are not only capsules that barnacle us from our

surroundings, they are also utopias, or more accurately heterotopias.

Michel Foucault defined heterotopias as utopia put in practice and built in opposition

to the real world outside. The point is not only that enclaves turn their back to the

world, but that they are built in opposition to this world. Indeed as Mark Anthony

Falzon pointed out in one of his thought provoking articles in the Times of Malta 2,

many enclaves borrow from the rural imaginary, and Mediterranean folklore to color

sanitized spaces into seemingly villages. The best example in Malta must be al

Sagtrija. Falzon writes:

Here the village gossip (aka the web page) tells us that apartment owners can enjoy

the fresh produce from the fields which are part of the property. They will also be

able to play boi in the garden, bake the traditional Gozitan way in a stone oven, pray to San or Preca in the village square, and do their laundry at the bespoke gajn tal-asselin (unless they prefer the maid and laundry service, also available).

If al Sagtrija is an extreme case, it is nonetheless visible that enclaves are built to

create a sense of community away from the city anonymity and blas attitude that

2 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110522/opinion/Malta-s-flourishing-

Forbidden-Cities.366592

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Simmel described a century ago. As one client write on the Pender Garden website

You feel like you are part of a large family when you live at Pender gardens. The

veracity of this testimonial might be doubtful but in any case it reveals the marketing

tactic of the Penderville consortium.

Aesthetic plays an important role to foster an imaginary of village life. After all the

slogan of Ray Demicoli Associates (who designed Portomaso) is we believe that the

quality of our surroundings can lift the quality of our lives. The Midi group, owners

of Tign point, is not far when it declares as its mantra: Building a future with

respect for the past. And indeed the architectural style of such enclaves is often a

modern reproduction of historical city centers (Tign with its Mediterranean skyline)

or of an exotic destination (Portomaso and its palm trees)

But a community cannot be fostered by good architecture alone and some architects

have forgotten this. Community is a socio-political entity that has at its center:

efficient public spaces. It seems essential here to repeat an obvious fact: that public

spaces are made of people. An empty and yet aesthetically beautiful square is not a

public space, and in contrast the desert can become a meeting place when for example

two caravans find each other and settle their camp for a night.

It is as if, the village aesthetic of such high-end developments was designed with

intent to hide the resounding lack of exchange between residents. A former ex-patriat

resident of Portomaso justified her decision to leave the development for a village in

the south of Malta because, she recalls, it was like living in a hotel. According to

her, there was no interaction with her neighbors. She pointed out the constant turnover

of inhabitants and how lonely she felt at times.

I would argue now that it is the over-determinism (or over-design) of such

developments that itself negates the conditions for a community.

7-Discussing the commons.

Gated communities are often called golden prisons. This is usually said to stress the

irony of the privileged class that chose freely to live and to raise their children in a

completely enclosed space, surrounded by private police and barbedwire fences at

significant cost. Tign is a case in point with the German company Siemens having

installed a state of the art, and unprecedented system of control. This security system

located on Manoel Island registers the movements of each door. And like everywhere

else there are dozens of CCTV cameras in the corridors, parking and public spaces.

Pender Gardens and Portomaso also promote themselves as safe places. But safe from

what? Is this need for security really crucial in a country like Malta, which does not

have the crime rate of cities like Mexico, Mumbai or Johannesburg? My observation

in Paceville leads me more to say that far from being a necessary evil to protect

oneself against urban criminality, enclaves like Pendergardens, St Georges complex,

Portomaso or Westin Dragonara are in fact fostering urban violence. By turning their

back to Pacevilles central grid they reduce the available footprint of public space and

by increasing the influx of temporary visitors they have transformed a quiet coastal

district into a place of transit.

I also see another reason to compare enclaves with prisons or detention camps for that

matter. Enclaves are golden prisons because there is no public space.

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In the enclaves there is an almost absolute lack of ownership from the inhabitants who

relinquish their right to decide together the issues relating to their public space. The

rules of behavior along Portomaso marina for instance are not the result of its

frequentation (which actually is fairly limited) nor is it the result of a discussion

between the inhabitants of the enclave, it is a contractual clause that the developer

takes charge of the management and maintenance of the common space, which is

mostly referred to in the contracts as the common areas.

In total opposition to the central grid of Paceville in which there is constant conflict

about what kind of behavior is tolerable, there are no territorial conflicts inside

Portomaso or Pender Gardens. There cannot be territorial conflict because the space

belongs to the developers and not to the people inhabiting it or using it.

The dilemma around enclaves is not only that they are unfair, because only wealthy

people can afford such a lifestyle, the dilemma is that enclaves suppress debate,

prevent the fostering of a sense of place, and ultimately preclude the necessary

conditions for democracy. Enclaves are therefore private spaces in which a strong de-

politicization occurs. They are conceived only as an address to be proud of but not

an address to defend. Inside the enclave, the long corridors and private piazzas can

only be consumed passively, rather than actively created by the populace at large

through political participation.

With nothing left to be debated, not even the color of the exterior walls or the price of

the pool membership, what can the users of such enclaves have to talk about? Now

they are facing each other with nothing to connect and separate them, and have only

one issue: quickly returning to their capsule/home.

The public space is this in-between stranger that enables them to remain distinct as

much as the common object that keeps them related. Allow me here to quote at length

again Hannah Arendt:

What makes mass society so difficult to bear is not the number of people involved, or

at least not primarily, but the fact that the world between them has lost its power to

gather them together, to relate and to separate them. The weirdness of this situation

resembles a spiritualistic sance where a number of people gathered around a table

might suddenly, through some magic trick, see the table vanish from their midst, so

that two persons sitting opposite each other were no longer separated but also would

be entirely unrelated to each other by anything tangible.3

This is what happens when there is nothing left to debate, nothing to conquer, nothing

to fight for. Once a public space has been entirely withdrawn and regulated by an all-

mighty authority, then there is no public debate, no society, only the juxtaposition of

discontinued lives that do not meet.

Public spaces are not only places to sit and discuss the latest football news, public

spaces are more importantly places of territorial negotiation, places owned by a

diversity of strangers with different, and at times opposed interests. The imperative

for democracy is therefore the possibility for the different stake holders to discuss the

commons.

3 The Human Condition, The University of Chicago, second edition, 1998, pp.50-53.

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Conclusion

To conclude I wish to insist here on what I think is an essential, yet too often

forgotten condition for lively public spaces. Whether or not a street or a square is well

designed is not so important. The design of a place is important only to the extent that

it precludes or leaves free a great diversity of activities, such as sitting, walking across

the city, shopping, playing or idling. But what determines the liveliness of a public

place is the fact that it is a common ground that individuals share and negotiate. A

public space should be the object of constant territorial conflict, the space for debate

over its uses. This is why public spaces are moral spaces.

In the last Batman film, When the Dark Knight Rises, Bane, a dark and masked anti

hero rising from the depths of hell, highjacks the stock exchange before locking up

the whole police force of Gotham city in an underground tunnel. He sets free the

convicts from the citys prison and a new court of law replaces the establishment.

Once the dark hero has abolished the financial, executive and judicial powers, he

proceeds to declare to the citizens, all gathered for a soccer match in a stadium, or

watching the match at home in front of their private screens, that he has come as a

liberator to return what is rightfully theirs and enjoins them to take control of their

city.

Of course Bane is a direct reference to the movement of Occupy Wall Street, in

which in September 2011 in New York masked activists where showing their anger

against the all mighty financial market. However in Batman, the peoples liberation is

not the result of a popular uprising. Indeed the power is not taken by the citizens, but

given to them by a dark hero who turns into a tyrant. The streets of Gotham city are

quickly shattered by total anarchy, the palaces robbed of their gold, law and justice

become the theatre of a farce and the police arbitrarily replaced by gangs of ex-

convicts.

The example of Gotham provides a good counter point to what enclaves are, where it

is no longer the rich who retain power ; but in many aspects the situation in Gotham

city is very much like the one in the enclaves all around the world. Because in

Gotham, as in todays gated communities, the public space have been erased. Hannah

Arendts analysis makes it clear that the public realm cannot be given to the citizens,

but needs to be taken by the citizens themselves. Only then can it be public and free.

We have seen tonight that enclaves have reduced the public spaces in Paceville. We

have seen that far from recreating a modern communal life, these enclaves destroy the

little public space left. Sadly this is a worldwide phenomenon. The increasing

communalism, and the politics of exclusion in the city are a characteristic of urban

planning worldwide.

I would like to add one last thing. Paceville could very well be a testing ground for

the model of future Maltese urbanity. This is not only limited to coastal areas where

modern life and tourism thrives, it can very well spread to inland villages that are

typically well preserved. Already in villages such as Balzan a number semi-gated

communities have been built. The Orange Grove for instance seem to attract more and

more people into their introverted utopic spaces. They may be at odds with the

traditional buildings of the Maltese townscape but the real threat comes not from the

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fact that we are not protecting our architectural heritage but that we are not protecting

democracy. We need to think of the morality of such spaces.