Europe is celebrating Car-Free Day today. Across the continent, populations have over the years strived to liberate their living spaces from the autocracy of the car. In fact, since the early 1960s, a growing number of European cities have become more people-centred by actively reducing the influence of the car, and have made part of their town centres permanently car-free.

Architect Konrad Buhagiar, partner at aoM, the architects entrusted with the design at Tigné Point, pointed out that authorities both locally and internationally are starting to shut off areas to traffic to combat the issues of congestion and pollution. “Since Midi plc, the developers at Tigné Point, are creating what is ostensibly a small town, we were able to design it around a core which will provide a vital psychological and physical centre to the place.”

It is often cities that have a central core that lend themselves naturally to their conversion to a pedestrian zone. Indeed, the ‘pjazza’ in Malta has always been the focal part of the community, providing a natural venue for assembly for a wide variety of social events.

The familiar concept of a central square provided the nucleus around which various public areas at Tigné Point were devised. At approximately 2,500 square metres, Pjazza Tigné is approximately the same size as Piazza Regina in Valletta. It is situated directly above a four-storey underground car park which holds over 1,000 cars, making it one of the most easily accessible town squares in Malta.

The obvious benefits of a car-free zone are many and manifest. It is not only residents who will reap these benefits, but also their guests as well as visitors to the cafés, restaurants, the retail mall and anyone working in the offices and retail outlets.

Perit Buhagiar added: “The main benefits to a car-free neighbourhood are obvious: less noise, the fact that children can play out safely, the elderly don’t have to worry about the dangers of traffic and ultimately, of course, the fact that both residents and visitors to the peninsula will appreciate life in a pollution-free environment.

“The concept of Tigné Point is to liberate the place in which people live, work and relax in, without having to fight the presence of cars, at the same time allowing cars to be nearby.”

Commenting on Car Free Day, Midi plc CEO Ben Muscat remarked that the idea of a completely car-free community in Malta has been a long time coming. “The only other location apart from Tigné Point that is pedestrianised is Mdina, and when you think about it, it is not fully pedestrianised because local traffic and service vehicles are permitted entry into the Silent City. Not so with Tigné Point which has been developed with an underground traffic distribution system at various levels. Other major developers are now touting pedestrian zones in their projects, but none are as extensive and significant as either Tigné Point or eventually Manoel Island. Just to give you an idea of scale, the combined traffic free environment of the two MIDI sites is as large as Canary Wharf in London… but with a much lower carbon footprint.”

The peninsula at Tigné Point is, coincidentally, roughly the size of Mdina, therefore planning an area of this size as a fully car-free zone, yet also ensuring it remains accessible and serviceable, was a major engineering feat. Most of the area was excavated to 0.5 meters above sea level and the four levels gained beneath grade level now comprise underground road networks, service lay-bys, parking areas, distribution centres, generators, reservoirs, centralized air handling units and separated refuse collection.

Not only will the public have access to the piazza and Fort Tigné itself, but it will also have full access to the shoreline and to a new walkway which will circumnavigate the peninsula. This new footpath will be an extension of the already popular Sliema front as it will link the Qui-Si-Sana promenade with the Ferries, thereby creating an uninterrupted public walkway from St Julian’s to Manoel Island.