Development with a plan
May 19, 2003 | 12:00am
A very energetic friend of mine, Grace Eleazar, whose positivism is truly contagious, took me to see her latest project in Quezon City. It is a low to middle income residential community with a day care center, grocery, fitness and recreation facilities, and vegetable gardens and play areas planned with a holistic approach. The fully furnished studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are very small but cleverly space-designed. Because of support from the National Housing Development Authority, a condominium can be purchased with monthly payments as low as P2,500 per month, equivalent to what many students and office workers pay for a bed space. Grace says she focused on this market when she realized how many people live in sub-standard conditions just to be close to their place of work or study.
On the way home from the site, I thought about Grace’s oasis surrounded by the chaos of the rest of the city. I imagined how great it would be if her project were not just an isolated pocket but part of a larger community of housing supported by efficient infrastructure. I thought of my many colleagues at the office who have to brave two or three hour commutes twice a day in public transport exposed to unbearable, toxic pollution. I pondered about the waste of time, away from family, work and studies – the cost to our personal and national productivity – which have made the quality of living for so many, inhumane.
I wondered why there isn’t a concerted effort by our city mayors to work together to organize a powerful planning office under the MMDA. Perhaps the various city planning offices could continue to report to their respective mayors, but move their offices under one roof for better coordination. Imagine if this planning office could design a Master Land Use Plan for Greater Manila that would identify and zone specific areas for middle-income office workers and student housing. Today, the privately developed planned communities or "villages" have sprouted all over the city without being part of an overall plan. Many are isolated and have to fight for access and services. Most are designed for upscale residents with cars. Only a few have the scale and resources to provide infrastructure.
Cities have an opportunity to emulate these private planned communities through zoning. In an overcrowded city with many parcels owned by many people, it is important to use the power of planning and zoning to create the critical mass needed to attract private and public investment in redevelopment of existing districts. Landowners can convert even a small piece of land into a component of the overall plan. Municipalities would be compelled to relocate schools, access roads, sidewalks and other public services to attract a middle class tax paying resident. Utility companies would be attracted to invest in up-to-date infrastructure. Businesses would set up stores, restaurants and recreation areas. Transportation companies would look for ways to serve a large community. For instance, the MRT could conceivably decide to extend its line if there were a million commuters within a planned community. Or, someone could make a river transit system a successful enterprise if areas along the Pasig River were re-zoned for mass housing.
In Vietnam recently, I visited the Saigon South Urban Development Project located south of Ho Chi Minh’s current business sector. Saigon South is being developed to support the growth of the city’s population. Investment in the area has been very successful which developers attribute to careful master planning, timely and faithful execution of the plan as well as the commitment of the Vietnamese government up to the national level. Designed by Skidmore Owen and Merrill, the master plan was endorsed by national government as "a new urban center developing in parallel with the existing center and plays an integral part in the development of Ho Chi Minh."
The commitment to a master plan by government at a municipal and national level, one that transcends changes in administration, gives private developers the necessary confidence of investors. Planning also allows for the creation of the critical mass needed to make an investment viable, the economy of scale to allow for higher standards and a better quality of life for everyone.
Thank you for your comments at dorisho@attglobal.net.
On the way home from the site, I thought about Grace’s oasis surrounded by the chaos of the rest of the city. I imagined how great it would be if her project were not just an isolated pocket but part of a larger community of housing supported by efficient infrastructure. I thought of my many colleagues at the office who have to brave two or three hour commutes twice a day in public transport exposed to unbearable, toxic pollution. I pondered about the waste of time, away from family, work and studies – the cost to our personal and national productivity – which have made the quality of living for so many, inhumane.
I wondered why there isn’t a concerted effort by our city mayors to work together to organize a powerful planning office under the MMDA. Perhaps the various city planning offices could continue to report to their respective mayors, but move their offices under one roof for better coordination. Imagine if this planning office could design a Master Land Use Plan for Greater Manila that would identify and zone specific areas for middle-income office workers and student housing. Today, the privately developed planned communities or "villages" have sprouted all over the city without being part of an overall plan. Many are isolated and have to fight for access and services. Most are designed for upscale residents with cars. Only a few have the scale and resources to provide infrastructure.
Cities have an opportunity to emulate these private planned communities through zoning. In an overcrowded city with many parcels owned by many people, it is important to use the power of planning and zoning to create the critical mass needed to attract private and public investment in redevelopment of existing districts. Landowners can convert even a small piece of land into a component of the overall plan. Municipalities would be compelled to relocate schools, access roads, sidewalks and other public services to attract a middle class tax paying resident. Utility companies would be attracted to invest in up-to-date infrastructure. Businesses would set up stores, restaurants and recreation areas. Transportation companies would look for ways to serve a large community. For instance, the MRT could conceivably decide to extend its line if there were a million commuters within a planned community. Or, someone could make a river transit system a successful enterprise if areas along the Pasig River were re-zoned for mass housing.
In Vietnam recently, I visited the Saigon South Urban Development Project located south of Ho Chi Minh’s current business sector. Saigon South is being developed to support the growth of the city’s population. Investment in the area has been very successful which developers attribute to careful master planning, timely and faithful execution of the plan as well as the commitment of the Vietnamese government up to the national level. Designed by Skidmore Owen and Merrill, the master plan was endorsed by national government as "a new urban center developing in parallel with the existing center and plays an integral part in the development of Ho Chi Minh."
The commitment to a master plan by government at a municipal and national level, one that transcends changes in administration, gives private developers the necessary confidence of investors. Planning also allows for the creation of the critical mass needed to make an investment viable, the economy of scale to allow for higher standards and a better quality of life for everyone.
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