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EDITORIAL
A CITY CALLED MALTA To communicate with us and follow the latest in research news www.twitter.com/thinkuom
M
alta is the most built-up country in the EU. One third of the Islands are covered in buildings with little consideration for green spaces and urban design. The Faculty for the
Built Environment is celebrating 100 years since it was set up and
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recent graduates are now challenged with helping fix previous mistakes. Apart from this problem, in a special focus (pg. 8–10, 16–33) THINK looks into the research re-envisioning Malta. A step in the right direction is a new document outlining the principles of good design and planning in Malta (pg. 10). Another step sees the
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University of Malta used as a test bed to solve the traffic and water problems of the whole country (pg. 24) with the debilitated port town of Marsa transformed by 2050 (pg. 23). However, the built environment is not simply concerned with buildings but also with welfare. A team of researchers are creating spaces to help dementia patients (pg. 19), while others are seeing how modern Maltese buildings would react
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to Earthquakes—an infrequent, but dangerous, possibility (pg. 29).
www.issuu.com/thinkuni
Apart from the focus, this issue talks about Prof. Rena Balzan’s life journey writing literature and using yeast to study many diseases including cancer (pg. 39). Dr David Vella writes about how literature can break
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hearts, but that is a good thing (pg. 57). Other research hints towards designing games to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle (pg. 44).
www.um.edu.mt/library/oar
Student research looks into neurodegeneration, nicotine, visual impairment, facial recognition, and new transport (pg. 12–15). Our more lighthearted fun section is filled with quirky reviews (pg.
CONTRIBUTE
58–63). Flip through the pages and tell us what you think.
Edward Duca
EDITOR
edward.duca@um.edu.mt @DwardD
Are you a student, staff, or researcher at the University of Malta? Would you like to contribute to THINK magazine? If interested, please get in touch to discuss your article on think@um.edu.mt or call +356 2340 3451
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