REMAKING OF METRO MANILA

By Architect-Urban Planner Felino A. Palafox, Jr.

METRO Manila used the wrong planning model of post-war Los Angeles and
before the 1973 OPEC oil crisisa central city with politically motivated
zoning plans and ineffi cient transport systems that favor the upper 5 percent
of the city by prioritizing private vehicles over organized mass-transits.
Housing in the cities of Makati and Quezon has become too expensive for its
laborers, pushing them to live as far as Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan. During
peak hours in the morning and the evening, EDSA and C-5 is a standstill
because of unbearable traffi c congestion and over-capacity in traffi c density.
A 10-kilometer ride becomes a two- to three-hour travel. Six hours of family
time a day is robbed because of unbearable systemic traffi c congestion.
Quality education and health care are mostly incomparable by standards in
Imperial Manila to other regions, except for a handful.
The urban-planning principles, land-use zoning, and deed restriction that
Metro Manila uses are obsolete. And I fear that cities in other regions are
copying the urban laboratory of how not to do it. Complaints get stuck with
analysis-paralysis.
The remaking of our cities
After the OPEC oil crisis in the 1970s and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989,
cities around the world have redeveloped to be more democratic and
inclusive. Zoning and transportation policies were signifi cantly changed.
Cities and regions were integrated to give access to quality housing,
education, health care, and job opportunities to more people, and to prevent
rapid in-land migration and population density in central cities. Mixed-use
developments integrate places to live, work, shop, dine, learn, and worship.

The rulers of Dubai went around the world to hire the best planners,
architects and engineers to bring Dubai from the third world into the fi rst in
15 years, and to create a global gateway and a garden city out of the desert. I
am thankful to have been name-hired, and the only Filipino and Southeast
Asian in the team, from 1977 to 1981.
The main highlight for both federal nations are their urban and regional plans
focusing on bottom-up initiations, effi cient mass-transits, pedestrianization
(i.e., walkability and bikeability), and integrating cities and regions to develop
cohesive land- and water-use plans. Their cities were able to evolve from
being seaport-, highway-, freeway-, and railway-driven to being airport-driven.
Reforming Manila
During my studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, I wrote a paper
called Manila Megalopolis 2020. In that paper, I shared the importance of
developing urban growth centers outside Manila, as centralized cities induces
unsustainable in-land migration and city density, and unnecessary traffi c
congestion. The urban centers in the north, such as Clark-Pampanga,
Zambales, and Bulacan, and in the South, such as Laguna, Batangas, and
Cavite will act as counter magnets to the already congested Manila.
One of the important steps to do is build international airports in Clark and in
the Batangas-Cavite area. According to a recent JICA research, there is
overcapacity in NAIA and arrivals will multiply fi ve times by 2050.
One of the fastest ways to develop new growth centers is by establishing
more special economic zones and tourism zone in nearby cities of Metro
Manila. This will greatly encourage more investments outside Metro Manila, as
lesser taxes will be charged. Of course, these zones will be rendered useless
if people will not be able to access these sites. That is why it is important to
extend and develop high-speed railway systems going to these areas.
Bias for automobiles
It is said that about 500,000 cars travel through EDSA every day. But I believe
about a million cars travel the streets of Manila. Nationwide, thats about 2 to
3 million. With a population of 100 million, only 2 percent own cars. But why
is it that roads for private vehicles are given more priority than the rest? All

of us are pedestrians. That said, why should we give up our sidewalks for
wider roads, parking, and vendors?
There is a need to redesign the streets and urban transport corridors of Metro
Manila to accommodate more mass-transit and public transport, as most
citizens use this. Also, there are several best practices elsewhere in the world
showing that making the streets walkable and bikeable does not only promote
health, but actually lessens traffi c congestion and increases land values.
Postcards from the Future
Palafox Associates and Palafox Architecture Group will present Postcards
from the Future, including Philippines at 500: Philippines 2021 and Beyond,
on June 24. Such revolutionary ideas and global best practices in Urban
Planning, Architecture, Infrastructure, and Real-Estate Development can help
bring our country well into the 21st century.
Let us help the incoming Duterte administration remake our country into a
truly globally competitive nation and be in the top 20 economies of the world
by 2021.