Inferno's Manila (Part 3)

Just a footnote on density.  Manila being tagged as "the most densely populated city on earth" (in Dan Brown's Inferno), would seem to suggest an idea that density is not good.  This is reinforced by the usual "decentralization, "devolution," and "dispersal" jargon of the last two decades.  A friend queasily asked me whether he read it right when I wrote that density is better and even more desirable.  Well, these are the signs of the times.  At the turn of this century, the percentage of the world's population living in cities reached the halfway mark, and it's going to increase further in the next century.  It is an inevitable fact.

It's a natural phenomenon.  I am certain it was not planned.  Many politicians always talk of dispersal of population.  People always complain of urban woes of overpopulated cities.  The humongous "megacities" of the world (tagged as those with over 10 million population) appeared in recent history and are fast increasing in number, most sprouting out in Asia.  Together with the actual numbers and the densities are the realities that huge problems beset these cities.  That's why being "the most densely populated city on earth" is not a flattery.

If it is not planned, then why is it happening and inevitably continue?  Because it follows the natural order of things.  Density is a natural efficiency for any population, more so with human.  We always cite bees, ants, and termites, as the most industrious creatures on earth, and we see that they live together, not dispersed - colonies and hives and all.  Enrique Peñalosa quips, "a city is only a means to a way of life."  If I am not human, I think being in a beehive or an ant colony would be the best options available as an alternative.

Let us simplify it further, if talking about mathematics, or engineering, or economics might be considered simplification because these three are often equated to common sense, something which is not so common.  Ever wondered why there are so many glittering neon lights in a city while the poor country mouse only has a single incandescent light bulb in his house?  Efficiency of numbers.  And hence, affordability.  That's why there are still many households in the country which do not have electricity, none of which are in cities.

I am not an electrical engineer so I have to guess, or assume.  Suppose it takes P10 Million to setup one kilometer of a power transmission line.  In the boondocks, you might have four nipa huts which will connect to it, usually with less than the minimum monthly consumption.  But if build it in Metro Manila or Cebu, 200 apartments will easily connect, with a backlog of applicants to boot, each stringing gadgets that gobble up kW and kW of electricity.  Easy money for MERALCO and VECO while the poor electric cooperatives in the country can barely survive to recover costs.  Which might have prompted them to run for party-list ...

Exactly the same for water consumption.  MWSS and MCWD do not have much problems getting their investment returns; while big areas in the hinterlands do not have sufficient access to potable water, hence, incidence of water-borne diseases are high.  Cable TV, cellular phone networks, internet providers - name it, they all thrive on the easy economic returns of the densely populated urban cores.  The only way for sparsely populated areas to have these amenities is if the huge profits from the city subsidize the rural services.

Not to mention transportation, or specifically, public transportation.  My Japanese professor in urban transport a lifetime ago told us, "when your city's population reaches 1 million, then it's time to think about building a train.  Well, maybe in Japan where a child's first 30 spoken words include "train station", and where a citizen's daily life is dictated by a Train Timetable.  Anywhere else, it's perhaps, 2 million, and not just a train, but maybe a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).  In other words, public transportation is most efficient in urban cities where the densities are the highest; urban sprawl produces the most inefficient and unsustainable settlements.  If cities are means to a way of life, then it's understandable why dense cities are preferable.

Since we already analyzed Manila's "the most densely populated city on earth" tag in the book Inferno, and see, that it is also somehow related to urban transportation, then we can attempt to decode the next tag - "six-hour traffic," and see where it leads us.  (To be continued…)