STRAINING under an overpopulated urban landscape, the megacity of Metro Manila, home to some 12 million Filipinos, is in dire need of a solution. Due to crumbling infrastructure, failing public systems, and a heightened vulnerability to the negative effects of climate change, Metro Manila is teetering on the brink of collapse.
Urban planning, the discipline that deals with the design and creation of efficient, environmental and equitable urban areas for present and future generations, has quite unfortunately taken a back seat through most of Metro Manila’s development history. Centuries of unfettered and shortsighted urban development, coupled with overpopulation, are the fundamental causes of many problems we experience today. Problems such as the extremely heavy traffic, the constant flooding, the power shortages and the ever-increasing cost of living are just some of the many consequences brought on by our unsustainable urban development practices. And without a feasible and sustainable solution, these problems will worsen as the population in Metro Manila is expected to increase steadily and exponentially within the next few years.
The situation is quite bleak, I will admit, with many factors contributing to it. For one, urban planning in our country is tied to politics: the plans change every time we have an election. Case in point, we have had a total of 11 master plans for the urban development of Metro Manila come into our possession in the past—from the Spanish plan to develop the city like Madrid, to the Daniel Burnham plan to develop it like Paris, to the grand 1970s Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) scheme. All of these were good plans, some better than others, but the fact remains that very few have been initiated, and none have ever been completed.
But no matter how dire the situation might be, I choose to remain optimistic. Awareness about the relevance of urban planning is spreading, and we are starting to realize how our future is inexorably tied to the decisions we make and the solutions we come up with today.
The real-estate industry should realize that it can be a strong avenue for initiating sustainable solutions that will address the many issues plaguing the present and future livability of Metro Manila. It is, therefore, critical for real-estate developers and urban planners to work hand-in-hand and collaborate on all aspects of development from here on out. By working together, developers and planners will play a pivotal role in the immediate rehabilitation and eventual renewal of Metro Manila.
The cooperation between the two disciplines and integrating their schools of thought can yield more effective and sustainable solutions. Real-estate developers and urban planners working together can cultivate a keen understanding of zoning, infrastructure, resource allocation, transportation, traffic schemes, waste management, adaptive reuse and so on. Schooling developers on these and other insightful aspects of urban planning will lay the foundation for efficient, environmental and equitable real-estate developments in the future. These developments, built over time and throughout Metro Manila, will serve as the synergistic and dynamic solution offered by the real-estate industry to address the city’s sustainability, to improve its livability, and build toward its overall urban renewal.
We simply cannot afford another poorly planned development in Metro Manila. We no longer have the resources and the space for it. Those of us in real estate need to start thinking seriously about the immediate and long-term impact our developments are making on Metro Manila’s industries, and its commerce, and its overall quality of life. And more important, we need to start being honest about whether or not we are contributing to their improvement.
The future of Metro Manila rests on the complete transformation of its urban landscape. Getting it out of its sustainability crisis is not going to be easy and will require the cooperation of all sectors, stakeholders and citizens within Metro Manila. Real-estate developers and urban planners, along with engineers, architects and other designers, must shift their focus to the bigger picture. We must learn how to work together to provide a sustainable way forward for the built environment of Metro Manila.