Patricia Nicole Bautista

2011-59647 | B Landscape Architecture

August 26, 2015

Prof. Kelvin De Chavez

Arch 161: Urban Planning

Realm of Public Space

Spaces one can define space as an empty, continuous area or expanse that is free,
available, or unoccupied. Space is the dimensions of height, depth, and width within which
all things exist and move. But if we really look upon our own environment, how much space
do people enjoy for public use? One of the biggest problem of our society is the scarcity of
space, space that should be dedicated to the public realm for social economical and
psychological function. Privatization is one of the major factor affecting the degradation of
the quality of the public spaces which alters the natural ecosystem between town and cities.
Commercial establishments and other private spaces create a gap in between people and its
environment. Long Traffic, insufficient lanes for pedestrian and bike users, substandard
ramps and walkways were just part of the long term problems that is caused by privatization.
As the population grows, the demand on spaces dramatically increased ---- altering the
natural environment, turning spaces into real estate and commercial projects.
Mediocrity is the standard. Filipinos live by the means of pwede na yan leaving their
substantial needs to be reprimanded. Some people lives near sidewalk or the sidewalk
itself, under bridges, in between spaces, near train station and other little spaces that can
accommodate their temporary o sometimes permanent space for living. We also have the
eternal issue of traffic, something that is technically easy to solve, as Benjamin De La Pea
has proved in a series of articles on urban planning, but is permanently delayed due to the
pressure of the public transportation lobby (buses and jeepneys) and the lack of vision of
public servants. I wonder if there is any urban planner in any of the city halls in Metro Manila.
Lets look at Pasay, particularly the Buendia-Taft intersection: Instead of forcing buses and
jeepneys to follow the rules, authorities chose to dismantle big portions of sidewalks in order
to expand the road. Bus and jeepneys drivers are happier, since they have more space to do
what they were already doing: loading and unloading people. The same happened on
Maginhawa Street in Quezon City. These are clear examples of the short-sightedness of socalled public servants that has had disastrous consequences over the quality of the life of
hundreds of thousands of people.
Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife, Quezon City Memorial Circle, Rizal Park, La mesa Ecopark
and UP Diliman Campus in a high density population within Manila, these public spaces

were the only spaces that serves as a public realm for the people. And most of these spaces
were not properly maintained leaving people a sense of mentality that public spaces are not
safe for all people. If we ask ourselves, how safe we are on public spaces?

Public spaces

were perceive as a privilege to the people --- they feel like they are given a chance to enjoy
something for free or atleast a cheaper price. Thats parks such as Quezon City Memorial
Circle and Rizal Park were one of the most popular parks that people often go to especially
Sundays and other holidays. The only problem is that the more people come to a certain
place the bigger the needs and maintenance it demands.

In the state of our local

governance, problems like proper disposal and safety utilities were not properly addressed. I
noticed that theres a large volume of trash collected on daily basis especially QCMC and
Rizal Park. I also experienced different modus in both places. My Ipod touch was stolen by a
man upon walking near city hall from Circle. My wallet was stolen too when we went to Rizal
Park last year. These large number of people going to public spaces like this increased the
risk and safety of the people. Yes there are Security post that roam around the park, but I
think the ratio of the security person in these public spaces/parks was 1:100 or even worse
1:1000 evidently not enough in proportion of the daily foot traffic of the public space
mentioned. Other thing I noticed were the facilities, like comfort rooms, playgrounds and
other utilities. In the play area in QCMC, I observed that there are substandard if not, rusty
and unmaintained utility that can danger the life of the user. And yet many families brought
their children in such places like these, and not complaining because for them having a free
play pen is a good thing. They tend to settle in such abnormalities and insufficient
implementation projects of this so called Government. Luckily we have University of the
Philippines Diliman. UP is the only place where I enjoyed myself walking running or biking
without any doubt. Its relaxing to walk upon the shade of the acacia trees and it is also
motivating that you can see and meet other people having the same physical pursuits. I
wonder, if these people can share same discipline regarding proper usage of such public
space, theres a possibility that other spaces can be transformed and rehabilitate into
another UP Diliman. The problem is that the government should be the one educating its
people for the proper management and land use. But I think the government and other local
sector itself didnt even know the concept of Urban Planning. Public Spaces should be given
as a right and not a privilege to the people. People should enjoy pocket gardens, a livable
and pedestrian oriented walkways and a less dependence to cars for mobility. In designing
cities, we should consider and effect of the micro and macro climate design and hot if affects
the way people live. Spaces should be interrelated, where residential areas, business
centers and transportation means are atleast 5-10 minutes walk from each other. In
addressing transportation issues, the workable solution would be the implementation of a
system of city buses like the ones available in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Warsaw,

Berlin, or Tokyo. Indeed, so many models to learn from. Streetscapes should be provided, as it
adds psychological benefits, people will be attracted to walk that will satisfy the need of peoples
independence to cars. People should dominate the space or otherwise share the road with
vehicular means of mobility. Bike lanes should be provided and proper lighting for the streets.
Implementing such developments would make a huge impact on how people live.