EDITORIAL - Parks have to be done right

A little open space even in the most urban of settings is good for the soul. Man is meant to commune with nature and anyone spending too much time in the concrete jungle can get a little batty eventually.

We can always use a space where people can just play or relax, be near trees and plants, sit on the grass, see the wide expanse of the sky, see the distance, and breathe fresh air.

Unfortunately, Filipinos don’t seem to realize this as they are more than eager to build skyscrapers and buildings in every available lot they can find. The result is you have a city that doesn’t just look congested. It feels too close, constricting, and even claustrophobic.

Most Filipinos don’t realize that modernization and development isn’t just all about wide roads and buildings that touch one another as they touch the sky, it is also about making spaces that make some places more livable.

Cebu City is headed in the right direction with the expected opening of the new Freedom Park before the end of the month. The location seems good because a lot of people can get to it. It also offers a breathtaking view of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, and is located close to other areas of interest.

If the city has to do parks, it has to do it right.

Not too long ago, the city established two parks just behind the City Hall legislative building and dressed them up to look the part. However no one visited them, perhaps because they were too far for their intended visitors --senior citizens-- and didn’t look safe, especially after dark.

One “park” was eventually turned into a lot now housing government offices. The other successfully morphed into a better version of itself and is now a small attraction, so there’s good news there.

So there is a lesson to be learned. We cannot just open up a space and call it a park; that open space has to be big enough, located where most people can actually get to it, and be a place people will want to go to for whatever reason, be it the food, the view, the activities, the other nearby attractions, or whatever.

If it can, we encourage the city to establish even more parks and open spaces that are good for the soul of tired, jaded, and stressed city dwellers. These can even become tourist attractions if managed right.