CITIES in the Philippines are adapting rapidly through the addition of business districts and transportation systems. This can all be viewed as a sign of positive growth and increased competitiveness in a country’s economy. However, oftentimes with growth, quality of life and satisfaction decreases. This leads to the question: “Are our cities actually better?”
For many Filipinos, the answer remains uncertain.
Transportation systems force the majority of the population to have long commutes throughout the day. Parents are out of the house before kids wake and are back after they fall asleep. Kids can’t go outside and play. The elderly have to deal with inadequate infrastructure to cross the street. Daily life becomes daunting and miserable with long commutes, heavy traffic and fatigue.
This problem has many layers, but the main issue is city planning.
Planning that is overly focused on the economy, land and transportation creates broken and distant cities. While some of the planning is necessary, neglecting physical and social relationships that create the fabric of a community is costly.
This leads to the idea of Care-Centric Urbanism.
This focuses on how lives in a community can be supported throughout their different life stages. This focuses on people as they rely on supports for their different needs and not solely on them as workers, taxpayers and consumers. Families need time to connect and share experiences. Adults with disabilities need mobility that respects their dignity. Older adults need inclusive, supportive and accessible neighborhoods that help them maintain their engagement and dignity.
Cities should be built to systemically support and care for the daily needs of families and strengthen communities. This should include more than supporting local economies.
The Philippines is a good example of the most backward urban development.
Look at the new low-density diaspora subdivisions surrounding Metro Manila. While they are new places for people to live, they leave people living there with no nearby work, school, health care or even basic services. They end up having to use a car and spend hours commuting even to the most basic of needs. Every hour on the road and away from family is lost time for self-care.
Roads maximize vehicle flow at the expense of people. Walkways are nonexistent or blocked. Children and the elderly are left to their consequences. There are no public spaces in the city, or they are poorly designed. Contiguous, inclusive public spaces are absolutely necessary.
The impact of long commutes, car-centric local design, and poor urban and public space design is highly visible and unequal. Stress and fatigue are worsened by long car commutes on top of daily car-centric design of the city. Poor public spaces and walkable design of a city invite inactivity and isolation. We are at risk to design cities that are disconnected and isolated.
Care-Centric Urbanism challenges us to redefine what urban success means.
Success should be measured by more than just gross domestic product, or GDP. Systemic design for self-care, dignity and community engagement that support the daily needs of families should be the measure of success as well. Public spaces should be designed to support child safety in their routes to school, accommodate elders’ comfort in the use of public spaces and provide more family time for parents through community gathering and densification without urban sprawl.
City success should not hinge upon the tallest skyscrapers or the greatest extent of road width. Successful cities should promote human dignity.
Achieving this vision demands prioritizing public safety, mixed-use and transit-oriented planning. The built environment should include public spaces and gathering facilities as essential services, not optional amenities.
Of great importance is the shift in the values of planners, policymakers and developers. They should consider care as primary urbanism.
This notion is part of Filipino culture. It promotes family values, “bayanihan” and “malasakit.” However, the built environment has designed against these values as it promotes the separation of families, and weakens ties and the community by design.
As Philippine cities urbanize, we must ask ourselves, do we want to maintain cities which view humans as an output of economic productivity? Do we want to create compassionate cities?
Human life and nature should take the center stage of urbanization. Urban spaces should not extract productivity from its residents. How fast does traffic move on city streets? Where is land valuated the most? Which city has the biggest skyscrapers? These things do not decide how great a city truly is. A great city is known for how well it takes care of its people. Maybe this is what Philippine urbanism really needs to understand.
Louwie Gan is an architect and urban planner, and founder of Care-Centric Ph. He is a sustainability advocate and promotes care-centered urbanism and regenerative development. He has been a consultant to several government agencies, the World Bank Group and various international agencies and organizations on sustainable urban planning and green development.
