‘Good design creates places from spaces’

Malta should slim its planning policy books and focus on the quality of urban design so that people can relate to the spaces they live in, according to architect Antoine Zammit, who has just finished an “immaculate” doctorate in the UK. “It is time we emphasised quality in our built environment. There is too much at stake and we cannot afford to repeat mistakes,” he told Times of Malta. Dr Zammit lectures in spatial planning and urban design at the University of Malta. He sat on the Chamber of Architects board and the Planning Appeals Board in the past. In 2002, he graduated from the University of Malta as an architect and civil engineer, specialised in urban design at the University College London and read for a PhD at University College London, which was partly funded by an MGSS scholarship. It took Dr Zammit three years to complete the doctorate, themed Urban design quality through development control: the case of Malta. He was awarded the PhD with no corrections. John Punter, from Cardiff University, described it as “an immaculate piece of work fully serving the award of PhD”. He added: “The thesis is almost flawless in terms of expression of ideas, research methods and...