Let’s plan for a quality of life we all deserve
July 13, 2001 | 12:00am
I was very fortunate to have been offered a seat on a helicopter to avoid the Sunday rush back to Manila from Batangas this weekend. The early afternoon sun cast a spotlight on the landscape below which exaggerated the haphazard way we plan our towns, cities and countryside. I have known from the advocacy work of the Heritage Conservation Society that we do not have a National Land Use Plan. But one only has to view the patchwork of our landscape to realize the disastrous implications this neglect has on our lives and those of our children.
I first heard of land use planning when the Society was asked to comment on a Bill in the Senate. I had not realized that the land use laws in other countries reflect the national philosophy on how valuable land resources best serve its citizens. One type of planning defines separate land masses allocated for specific uses. For example:
• Where we live – areas for towns’ and cities’ residential districts
• Where we work – areas for towns’ and cities’ commercial districts
• Where we grow food – areas for agricultural land for food security
• Where we buy things – areas for commercial use
• Where we have industry – areas for light and heavy industrial zones
• Where we play – recreational areas like parks and waterfronts
• Where we find a sense of ourselves –heritage and historical districts
• Where we ensure sustainability – watersheds and reservoirs
Once these land use areas are identified, then infrastructure such as roads, highways, public mass transport systems, seaports, airports, bus terminals, power, public utilities and communication requirements become possible to foresee and plan for.
It is no wonder that life in Manila and its surroundings is chaotic. Without a land use plan, and therefore tragically without a philosophy to guide our public officials, we have mass housing in areas without public transport, populated areas without parks and open areas, commercial centers and subdivisions in the midst of rice fields, cities without sewerage systems, dumpsites and other infrastructure requirements to make our cities sustainable.
Without planning, it becomes near impossible to create new road networks that become necessary for growing populations. Instead, we are forced to carve out public domain areas for roads, public transport, airports and other infrastructure requirements by expropriating private land – after the fact – making the exercise extremely expensive and tedious.
What is extremely frustrating is the lack of political will needed to overcome this fundamental planning deficiency. Is there anyone out there thinking about how people will commute from the thousands of low-cost housing projects we saw from the air to their places of work? Is anyone assessing the economic as well as the social cost of people commuting three or four hours a day? Does anyone care about improving the quality of life of the man on the street, including yours and mine?
The irony is that there are many instances when too much political will has compromised public interest. Irregular awarding of public domain land like park areas and waterfronts or indiscriminate conversion of agricultural lands to commercial use, are but some examples.
Perhaps we have become too caught up in a "can’t do mode" to study and adopt new models in land use planning. The most exciting is the concept of mixed-use communities. Mistakes in many cities around the world have shown that segregating specialized areas from each other creates great stress on road networks and mass transport as well as burdens people with long commutes. Instead, new land use policies promote living, working, shopping, playing, and studying, all within walking distance. The advantages are innumerable, including reducing wasted time on the street to spend at home with our families. Imagine if a policy is adopted to hire people living within the community. City officials would then be inspired to take the time to plan their cities for a committed citizenry and more importantly, feel empowered and in control.
There are many talented planners and architects who can help contribute to creating a new vision for our country. All that is required is for all of us, both public and private citizens to agree that we need to take the time out to plan for a better quality of life that we all deserve.
I first heard of land use planning when the Society was asked to comment on a Bill in the Senate. I had not realized that the land use laws in other countries reflect the national philosophy on how valuable land resources best serve its citizens. One type of planning defines separate land masses allocated for specific uses. For example:
• Where we live – areas for towns’ and cities’ residential districts
• Where we work – areas for towns’ and cities’ commercial districts
• Where we grow food – areas for agricultural land for food security
• Where we buy things – areas for commercial use
• Where we have industry – areas for light and heavy industrial zones
• Where we play – recreational areas like parks and waterfronts
• Where we find a sense of ourselves –heritage and historical districts
• Where we ensure sustainability – watersheds and reservoirs
Once these land use areas are identified, then infrastructure such as roads, highways, public mass transport systems, seaports, airports, bus terminals, power, public utilities and communication requirements become possible to foresee and plan for.
It is no wonder that life in Manila and its surroundings is chaotic. Without a land use plan, and therefore tragically without a philosophy to guide our public officials, we have mass housing in areas without public transport, populated areas without parks and open areas, commercial centers and subdivisions in the midst of rice fields, cities without sewerage systems, dumpsites and other infrastructure requirements to make our cities sustainable.
Without planning, it becomes near impossible to create new road networks that become necessary for growing populations. Instead, we are forced to carve out public domain areas for roads, public transport, airports and other infrastructure requirements by expropriating private land – after the fact – making the exercise extremely expensive and tedious.
What is extremely frustrating is the lack of political will needed to overcome this fundamental planning deficiency. Is there anyone out there thinking about how people will commute from the thousands of low-cost housing projects we saw from the air to their places of work? Is anyone assessing the economic as well as the social cost of people commuting three or four hours a day? Does anyone care about improving the quality of life of the man on the street, including yours and mine?
The irony is that there are many instances when too much political will has compromised public interest. Irregular awarding of public domain land like park areas and waterfronts or indiscriminate conversion of agricultural lands to commercial use, are but some examples.
Perhaps we have become too caught up in a "can’t do mode" to study and adopt new models in land use planning. The most exciting is the concept of mixed-use communities. Mistakes in many cities around the world have shown that segregating specialized areas from each other creates great stress on road networks and mass transport as well as burdens people with long commutes. Instead, new land use policies promote living, working, shopping, playing, and studying, all within walking distance. The advantages are innumerable, including reducing wasted time on the street to spend at home with our families. Imagine if a policy is adopted to hire people living within the community. City officials would then be inspired to take the time to plan their cities for a committed citizenry and more importantly, feel empowered and in control.
There are many talented planners and architects who can help contribute to creating a new vision for our country. All that is required is for all of us, both public and private citizens to agree that we need to take the time out to plan for a better quality of life that we all deserve.
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