FOR a moment, let’s take some time to appreciate the few, yet promising, urban transformations that happened in Metro Manila since President Duterte came into office.
We all know the story of how Baclaran, Divisoria and Alabang in Muntinlupa virtually underwent massive changes overnight. Cities all over Metro Manila seemed to have embraced the tall order of cleaning up their respective territories as part of the Duterte administration’s promise to “give children back the streets, promote peace and make Filipinos live comfortably.”
These street transformations surprised us to some extent, not only because they were done in a blink of an eye, but because these locations were places deemed to have very slim chances of redeeming themselves, so to speak.
“The existence of pedestrian networks is one of the most important components of a sustainable city. The design and condition of sidewalks can positively or negatively influence the choices and behaviors of citizens,”wrote Dulce Naime, a contributor for the Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG), the thought-leadership platform of the US Green Building Council. “A comfortable network will promote walkability, social interaction and use of public transportation, contributing to the city’s sustainability, economy, liveability and health.”
Naime added that, as urbanization and industrialization continue at blinding paces today, cities have become more and more aware about how they can sustain an ideal way of life for the citizenry by reclaiming the streets and making these user-friendly. “A well-designed pedestrian network will ensure not only connection between two or more points, but also quality and safety of travel and equity and accessibility for the whole population, while producing a positive impact on the environment,” Naime shared. “As a consequence, more and more cities are paying attention to the improvement of their pedestrian networks, recognizing the potential influence they have on the success and attractiveness of cities.”
A global revolution
Transforming streets to make them more pedestrian- and user-friendly is something that has been done in other countries for years already.
Brazilian urban design collective Urb-i has documented close to 2,000 before-and-after photos of city blocks in various parts of the globe undergoing impressive transformations. Among the streets featured in this photo collection include those in France, the United States, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and many others more. These changes include cities narrowing or completely eliminating car lanes in favor of bike lanes, sidewalk spaces for retail and leisure stops and green spaces, all with the aim of putting life back to formerly congested and polluted areas.
Breathing life to a struggling landscape
However, the finest example of this kind of urban transformation was, perhaps, the one that took place in Bogotá—Colombia’s thriving capital.
Close to two decades ago, the city was nothing more than a disaster, gaining notoriety for having failed to bring decent infrastructure and urban plans to fruition. The city’s dismal state continued for years, but all the setbacks only set the stage for a renaissance of sorts for Bogotá, when economist-turned-urban planner Enrique Peñalosa won the seat as the city’s mayor.
In a span of only three years, Bogotá emerged as a globally-recognized landmark for “urban mobility and social justice.”
“Some highlights of his legacy include the TransMilenio—one of the world’s most heavily used bus rapid transit systems; the city’s social housing program; a large scale recuperation of parks and public spaces; more than 350 kilometers of protected bikeways; thousands of square feet of recovered and new sidewalks; formalization of more than 300 informal settlements, while providing sewerage and local access roads; three large public libraries and cultural centers; and strong transport demand management policies, such as restricting car usage and removing street parking,” Peñalosa ‘s profile at The City Fix wrote.
Other projects that Peñalosa introduced in Bogotá (and which were also replicated in other parts of Latin America later on) include: “Pico y Placa,” a policy very similar our number-coding scheme here in the Philippines; “Carrera 15 Sidewalks,” which include “expanding lighting, trees and street furniture on sidewalks, while eliminating parking” and thus brought major retail and commercial streets back to life; “Biblioteca Barco,” a public library and cultural center building sitting in the center of an urban park; “Metrovivienda El Recreo,” a low-income housing project concluded in partnership with private real estate developers; and “Alameda El Porvenir,” a 17-km sidewalk-bikeway—the longest pedestrian and bike-only street in the world—that provided “accessibility and a recreational space for thousands of residents, connecting them to new schools, day care centers, parks and a library.”
What these examples only tell us is simple: it’s never too late to make Metro Manila—and, more important, the entire Philippines—come to life once again. All that’s needed is to embrace the desire to welcome change and work together with one goal in mind: make Filipinos proud of our country once more.
Image credits: La Vida Es Loca, Urb-i
2 comments
Filipinos prefer clutter and mess.
Speak for yourself, not for Filipinos.