PALIGID-LIGID 1

Paligid – Ligid: Revisiting Urban Open Space of the

Middle Income Filipino Neighborhood

Belmann Paul Y. Ureta

Graduate School, Thomas Aquinas Research Complex

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ABSTRACT

This paper is a completion requirement for the Certificate Course in the Community Architecture

& Design in Urban Built Environment – 2nd Cycle

It covers five topics namely: Revisiting Urban Open Space of the Middle income Filipino

Neighborhood; Open Space and Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation; Participatory Design

Approach Experiences and Learning; Article Review on Green, green, green; and Reflection

Paper on Certificate Course.

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REVISITING URBAN OPEN SPACE OF THE MIDDLE INCOME FILIPINO

NEIGHBORHOOD

INTRODUCTION

An aerial view of Metro Manila, at the portion of Makati, Taguig, Pateros, and Pasig City taken
by architect and urban planner Paulo Alcazaren

More than half of the world’s current population, in fact is

composed of urban dwellers. Overpopulation, according to
the World Health Organization, is highly concentrated in
the world’s less developed regions. By 2050, the
organization predicted, population 70 percent will have of
migrated the said to the cities.

Similarly, in the Philippines, urban population has

increased to more than 50 million which could reach to 102
million by 2050, or more than 65 percent of the country’s
total population, according to the World Bank Group
(WBG)’s “Philippines Urbanization Review.” (“Open
public spaces”, 2018)
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This action research is a response to the call of the anthropocene thesis: the rise of men over
nature. It aims to reevaluate the theory and practices which have been inherited from modernity
in our particular use of open-space at the housing level of middle income Filipino people in an
urban setting. Specific street of about 50 residences located both sides of Macopa Street, Brgy.
North Signal Village, Taguig City was used in the investigation of the lack of open-spaces. The
result of this study can then be used in the larger context of barangay and city scale middle
income housing as open-space reference.

The main points covered are the problems of middle income housing open-space, some
economic theories behind the problem, and recommended solution and concepts.

Macopa St. was chosen for the involvement of three PUP students who were currently working
on OJT with their ongoing design project in the area. It is located southwest of Heritage Park and
can easily be accessed through C-5 road.

Site Zoom In
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Photos courtesy of Google Earth

Due to time constraint, the sampling of the study covered only 11 individual lot residences
whereby 22 percent of the total 50 residences along Macopa St. This is done by mixed method of
quantitative and qualitative surveys and interviews.

The residences irregular lot cuts

The survey aims to verify and investigate the size of open-space, the average development
density gross floor area to lot area ratio, the percentage of concreted surface of open-space, and
the adherence to the setbacks requirement especially the front yard. The interview tried to extract
other important data such as number of trees and plants including those that were removed
because of the development in the area, history of the development of neighborhood in the street,
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the first original people and those that migrated from provinces, the culture of the street, the
business, resource consumption, some problems encountered in the neighborhood and on each
individual residences, and the needs, wants, and suggestions for the improvement of the street
neighborhood.

Investigating the street if it is possible to retrieve back the lost sidewalk

Interview with the tenant vendor about her business on street corner
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COMMON PROBLEMS OF OPEN SPACE STREET NEIGHBORHOOD

Most of the residences have problems in open space. Approximately 85 percent fully occupied
their lots with building footprint; about 80 to 85 percent fully concreted their open spaces; almost
every house doesn’t have proper set back; only about 13 trees in a stretch of 200m street and less
than 10 are full grown; bunch of trees were torn down for the sake of development; many have
compound of residential rental units without dividing firewalls and some have firewalls with
windows; street was used for parking because of lack of private garages; no sidewalks and the
street was dangerously used as children’s playground; rat problems on canals below and above
the electricity lines; street full of dogs and animal wastes; and safety and security issues.

OPEN SPACE PROBLEM AND CONSUMERISM AS CONCLUSION

Urban Filipinos will always prefer the socio-economic benefits of their land than socio-
environmental benefits. It can be easily predicted using the theory of the firm, a microeconomic
concept that states the overall nature of companies is to maximize profits. This is the same in the
case of landowners wanting to maximize their profit by building at low cost and low standard but
renting to high price. On the other hand, the theory of the consumer, which states that consumers
seek to maximize their overall utility can be related to land buyers wanted to utilize all of their
bought space in full.

Currently our economy and even our culture is based on the large capitalist system, which
depends for a large extend on consumerism. (Van Raaij, 1993)

Sklair(2010) defines: Consumerism is intend to make people believe that human worth is best
ensured and happiness is best achieved in terms of our consumptions and possessions.

Consumption results to resource depletion among them, our land resources. And it calls for an
urgent address, a change of thinking and belief to a new-old approach that will move the Filipino
people to embrace the socio-environmental benefits of their land more than its socio-economic
gains. We need to reevaluate the way we secure our human worth and the way we achieve our
happiness. This is not about reclaiming practices from modernity, but realization that there are
more to things that we value today. Not a step-back but a next level of human worth and
happiness. First world expensive solution might not all applicable to some third world poor
problem. It is a matter of distinguishing how much we can control from how much we can let go.
It is the difference between power and freedom. It is acceptance, and sometimes we refer to it as
satisfaction passively but actively, it is none other than creativity.

CREATIVISM AND SOME APPROACHES ON STREET NEIGHBORHOOD OPEN-SPACE

DESIGN

It may be hard to understand at first because the opposite of consumption that we all tend to
accept is production. Technically, consumption and production belongs to the same side of the
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spectrum. We produce because there is consumption, we consume because there is production.

Consumerism on one end and on the other end lies creativism. The main difference between
production and creation is that production produces product while creation creates life.

Creativism is: the conscious application of creative principles to everything in life

A creativist is: a person who applies creative principle to the art of living e.g. home,
relationships, money, work etc. (O. Ross, 2008)

Creativism can be applied many ways in neighborhood open space and street design. One of the
many strategies for example is growing sustainable vegetable garden and herbs while giving
information to people at the same time by putting useful info labels about particular vegetable
garden on its effect on the community and planet with its perceived value. In this situation
creativism was used in a sense that the garden was created mainly for community for public
benefits. From here we can develop many ideas like sharing your old benches putting it in
portion of your front yard for our elders to sit on or for the neighbor’s baby to sit on the morning
rays, our corner small portion of lot bounded by a large tree can be given to the community for
children’s playground while you’re offering healthy halo-halo or fruit shake and because it is
freshly taken out from your community’s shared space it will be very cheap. The idea here is to
create space then share for public use not to consume space and self-possess. This concept was
derived from art as public-art concept.
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RECOMMENDED FURTHER STUDIES

Further studies can focus on testing and experimentation of these open-space concepts especially
the effect it has on our Filipino culture and the culture of consumerism. Another more important
thing as the effect these concepts will imprint to our environment when use at a larger scale.

REFERENCE LISTS

• Open Public Spaces. (2018, March). Manila-times pressreader. Retrieved from

https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/manila-
times/20180314/282574493595913
• Van Raaij, F. (1993), “Post Modern Consumption: Architecture, Art, and
Consumer Behavior” E – European Advances in Consumer Research. 1: 550-558
• Sklair, L. (2010). “Iconic architecture and the culture-ideology of consumerism.”
Theory, Culture & Society, 27(5), 135-159
• Orna Ross. (2014). What is creativism. Retrieved July 7, 2019, from
https://www.ornaross.com/what-is-creativism/
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OPEN SPACE AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION & MITIGATION

RISK INVOLVING LACK OF OPEN SPACE IN MID-INCOME RESIDENTIAL

NEIGHBORING
Connected to the previous study on open-space case at Macopa Street residences
are the obtained risks as follows:
 FIRE RISK
• Without properly designed firewall of the compound residences
fire can easily spread from neighbor to neighbor.
• Without enough setbacks, people cannot easily escape the fire
disaster and rescuer will have hard time to break-in.
• Neighbors who wanted to help stop the fire won’t have enough
space to bring in water through pails.
 FLOOD RISK
• Most of open areas in the street and within the residences are
concreted therefore, water run-off volume is heavy on lower end of
the street and prone to flooding.
 EARTHQUAKE RISK
• Without enough open-space to run to during earthquake, the
neighborhood is not safe and with some buildings extended over
the street taking up the sidewalk space, the street is won’t be that
safe any longer.

STREET NEIGHBORHOOD DISASTER RISK REDUCTION & MITIGATION PROPOSAL

After reviewing the risks related to this existing street neighborhood, we can say
that properly designed and utilized open-spaces along the street and within each
residence will help a lot in disaster risk reduction and mitigation. Following the
formula of reduced RISK = VULNERABILITY x HAZARD – MITIGATION –
PREPAREDNESS plus the gathered data on case study, we can come-up to a
recommendation for street neighborhood and disaster risk reduction & mitigation
formula.
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RECOMMENDED STREET
NEIGHBORHOOD

UNDERSTANDING THE POSSIBLE RISK &

VULNERABLE PEOPLE

PROPERLY DESIGNED & UTILIZED OPEN

SPACES

NEIGHBORHOOD AWARENESS &

PREPAREDNESS
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PARTICIPATORY DESIGN APPROARCH EXPERIENCES AND LEARNING

There are two projects under the course where we applied the participatory design approach.
One, with the proposed HITODA terminal park for PUP – ANONAS – TERESA – PUREZA
commuting public. And Two, the Macopa Street renewal project at Signal Village, Taguig City.

My experience with these two projects is somehow parallel. We had to prepare our script into
talking with different people. We had to do our pre-work gathering available information and
preparing strategies for collection data. We had to do our leg-work in the initial study of the area
so that we can prepare the most supportive questions during the interview. After having the plan
prepared from initial study and brain-storming, the initial approach has been a challenging
experience. You have to cautiously bring people to the same page where you are building rapport
with them in the first place. Then you will have to gather as many data as possible beyond what
you currently needed to take chances you know won’t be easy to repeat. And lastly by the end of
conversation, you shall leave with a promise to come back with results of what you just talked
about.

I’ve learned that in doing participatory design approach, you need to be good in putting yourself
into other person’s shoe that you’re talking with. You have to pay a lot of respect for the time
you borrow from them in exchange of good information. People in general are willfully
cooperative especially when dealing with what they think is important to them. I’ve discovered
the best way to pay-back to their given time is not always by monetary means but by sharing
helpful insights related to the purpose of your study and sometimes giving architectural advises
will make them gladly receive you again next time when you return. Participatory design
approach is a must to every project to become successful and ultimately every meaningful
connection beyond the project is what counts the most.
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ARTICLE REVIEW

On Green, Green, Green pushes city governments to build better open spaces

By DBM

Published on June 27,2018

Green, Green, Green, subsidized under the Local Government Support Fund - Assistance to
Cities (LGSF-AC), is the administration's open space improvement program propelled in 2017
by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM); a program parallel undertaking to the
huge national foundation advancement program Build, Build, Build.

It helps the Philippines' 145 urban areas and their neighborhood government units (LGUs) in
making their networks progressively decent, economical, and well-associated through the
advancement or upgrade of open space by making esplanades, parks, arboretum, or professional
flowerbeds, and building bicycle paths, walkways, and green framework.

Last March, the DBM directed specialized workshops that connected with mayors, architects,
modelers, and organizers in a learning session concentrated on the prescribed procedures in open
space structures, and strategies and methods for the execution of the program. Specialists
including Landscape Architect Paulo G. Alcazaren and previous Pasig City Mayor, Architect
Maribel Eusebio were visitor speakers who urged the members to think of game-changing tasks
for their urban communities.

As of now, 100 urban areas are presently handling their venture recommendations out of the 143
that presented their demeanor important to profit of the financing. Urban areas are putting
resources into an assortment of open spaces which they have distinguished as significant
municipal spaces for their natives. These include: institutional open spaces like new government
centers (10); public squares and plazas (20); mangroves (2); parks (54); waterfronts (25); streets
(13).

While there is just no space left in urban areas to cut out open space, numerous urban areas are
finding imaginative approaches to recover space and improve regular day to day existence for
their residents. Such cities are:

San Juan City

The San Juan City LGU will actuate the Agora Plaza by planting shade trees that will diminish
the warmth impact and enable individuals to appreciate the spot even on hot days. The grower
will double as seating to be utilized during exhibitions and for eating nourishment from the
location stands. Porous, passerby inviting pathways will connect different establishments around
it.
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Marikina City

Park 15 in Barangay Marikina Heights as an underutilized zone with extraordinary potential.

Right now an open field with trees and a noteworthy cavern, the city will concentrate on
boosting the space by changing it into a recreation center. The cave will be given a setting
deserving of a landmark and in future stages the city expects to put resources into a creative
playscape.

Mandaue and Masbate City

Two mangrove woods parks are as of now being improved through Green, Green, Green
Program - one in Mandaue City and another in Masbate City. In Mandaue City Mangrove Eco-
Park, various new offices will be included, including a get together territory, bamboo footpath,
and a review deck. These highlights will enable the recreation center to suit more guests and
make more open doors for individuals to welcome the estimation of the mangroves. Likewise,
Masbate City LGU is chipping away at improving and finishing their own mangrove tum
utilizing their P9 million subsidizing help.

Zamboanga City

The city's venture centers around redesigning and associating a noteworthy coastline street and
its neighboring avenues in the waterfront city zone and legacy zone. Uniform and non-slip
clearing will be utilized to improve the appearance and wellbeing of the streetscape while speed
tables will be worked to associate walkways, making the hall inviting to individuals by walking.

Antipolo City

Antipolo LGU is setting out on a redevelopment venture that will redesign and re-green the
streetscapes and stops in this community focus. Their goal is to give the natives an inviting space
to meet up. Antipolo trees, the city's namesake plant, will assume a critical job in the greening of
the region, while reviewing the cause of the spot. A measure of P34 million will finance this
current city's undertaking.

Quezon City

Gora Lane, with a government help of P98 million, is relied upon to serve a complete private
populace of at any rate 200,000 notwithstanding in any event 313,484 day by day workers
crossing the region. The entire stretch of the path estimates 8.39 kilometers.

Rivers and Streams

To boost rivers and streams, river esplanades in Bacoor City, Dasmarinas City, Bago City in
Negros Occidental, Malabon City and Paranaque City will redevelop their conduits into parks
intended to draw in residents and restore the zone.
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More Parks

More parks are being converted into innovative designs such as Polo Park in Valenzuela City,
Wet Park in Iligan City, Nature’s Park in Caloocan City.

The Local Government Support Fund - Assistance to Cities guarantees Green, Green, Green for
better air, conceal, cooler atmospheres, less flooding, and magnificence. In accordance with the
National Greening Program, the store subsequently expects to expand the softscape of a city. The
National Greening Program and the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in this manner urge
urban areas to "plant local" and "plant native" to enable biological systems to flourish and
counteracts the risk of species.

Filipinos would thus be able to hope to see ordinarily utilized local trees, for example, ditas,
balayong, and mangium in the numerous activities under Green, Green, Green, just as
extraordinary appearances, for example, the Palawan cherry tree and rizophora - one of 39 types
of Philippine mangrove - in undertakings where these are found.
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REFLECTION PAPER IN CERTIFICATE COURSE IN COMMUNITY

ACHITECTURE & DESIGN IN URBN BUILT ENVIRONMENT

This certificate course covering intensive yet comprehensible studies on philosophy of

architecture, culture, society & governance, environmental & sustainable design strategies plus
disaster risk reduction & mitigation, community design & public participation and advanced
research was an opportunity into building my capacity not only as an architect but also as an
educator.

Philosophy of Architecture widens my vocabulary and forced me not to think deep but clearly on
how theory applies to physical world of architecture. Understanding disaster risk reduction and
mitigation management was a great addition together with sustainable design strategies to make
greener and more resilient buildings and communities. Community design & public participation
was very helpful in changing my view to make our architecture public to where it should belong.
While advanced research pushed me to get serious with academic researches and writings, this
without a doubt will quite challenge and pave my path.

I’ve studied back carefully the purpose of this course. The vision of sustainable city mode; its
mission that seeks transformative change through simultaneous process of taking action and
doing research, which are linked together by critical reflection; the short term goal to promote
action research; and to achieve the sustainable model as the long-term goal. With all these in
heart and mind, I’m planning to use my learning to contribute on future researches and extension
projects of our college and to apply this to the improvement of our program.
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