The Project
The ancient Citadel of Victoria on Gozo Island, the former capital of the island and presently a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dominates the profile of the city, clearly showing the intentions of the military architects who designed it. Having centralized probably since the Neolithic era the island activities, in Roman times it became the Town Hall independent of Malta, the hub of administrative, religious and military life.
The Citadel Masterplan project developed by Politecnica covered urban and territorial planning with specific focus on tourism development strategies, redeveloping the reference scenario for the enhancement of its important historical, archaeological and natural elements.
The Citadel Masterplan formed the basis for the long-term policy framework formulation, defining the essential guidelines for the Citadel sustainable management, in the aim at safeguarding its historical aspect while promoting and developing its cultural, social and economic life.
Based on the Concept, the policies for the enhancement of the entire Citadel have been identified, addressing geological, geotechnical and restoration aspects as well as the archaeological, landscape and conservation topics.
The guidelines governing the implementation and improvement of the accessibility-related issues of the different structures were also drafted, thus upgrading signage, lighting, safety and sustainability of the routes.
The Masterplan, co-funded by Maltese Government and EEA European Grant (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), was approved by the Maltese Government on 6 October 2011. The outputs obtained since 2015 (+40% increase in satisfaction rate of visitors and business operators) show that appropriate heritage-oriented planning, together with exhaustive local groups interface, do create a redevelopment project meeting the needs of all involved sectors.