One Direction

This paper draws on the data from the study commissioned by the Faculty for Social Wellbeing (University of Malta) in 2023 called ‘The perceived effect of traffic on our wellbeing amongst the Maltese Population’. It seeks to navigate around the seeming impact of traffic on the populace, in terms of social wellbeing. In this paper, we will be revealing that there are no two ways around this phenomenon. What we will be referring to as the ‘trafficisation’ in our communities is having a major impact on our standard of living. In other words, the commodification of our communities, and car ownership as one of the indicators, is starting to leave an indelible mark on the livability and quality of life of its citizens. The liminality of progress and economic affluence in relation to our quality of life is the tension that will be debated in this epistemological-driven piece of work. The paper will attempt to confer the research question that livability and improved quality of life depend on re-negotiating a lifestyle which is not car-centric.