More despair in the city

Disasters in the Philippines strike with alarming regularity. Every few weeks, there’s a new one to bury the previous tragedy into oblivion. The landslides in Leyte are tragic in that authorities knew of the hazard and warnings of "La Niña" had been issued. The Ultra deaths paled in comparison to the possible loss of an entire village.

Our curse as Filipinos is that we forget such tragedies so quickly and do nothing to correct previous ones. So this week, let’s try and not forget.

I received two long e-mails on the Ultra tragedy. The two writers take opposite stands – one agrees with me that a big contributor to the disaster was the inadequacy of the venue while the other shifts the "blame" on Filipinos’ lack of discipline.

We start with the latter point of view from writer SM, who quotes from my article and comments per point:

I read your article, "Crowds and Despair in the City.  (02/11/2006 The Philippine Star) and I disagree with certain points in your article, and it seems that you have not considered many factors.   

"Whatever the cause of the stampede might have been, the loss of life can be partly attributed to the physical setting at the PhilSports complex. The (venue) ill-configured to accommodate or process such huge crowds …." 

The PhilSports complex has hosted many events (before) and none … encountered anything like this. Did it come to a point where people had to push down the gate just to get in the complex during these events? Did people have to climb up the covered walkway, when the guards said that they would be letting people in? The only thing that the people had to do was form a line and wait. The event was scheduled on a Saturday, did "Wowowee" say that they should be there on Thursday and wait there until Saturday? No. (A survivor) said, "Hinihimatay na mga tao kaya dapat papasukin na kami, isinampa ko yung anak ko sa bubong, tapos bumagsak yung bubong." (People were fainting so we should have been let inside, I threw my child up on the roof, then the roof collapsed.) If ever they got in the stadium, would there be food … there?     The people who were there are fans of the show, and they have been going to the ABS-CBN studio (regularly). They are able to form lines (without pushing each other). What is the difference of the ABS-CBN and PhilSports? Nothing. …The location has nothing to do with what happened. These structures are built to hold and accommodate large crowds and all provisions are taken into consideration.  

"Like almost all other such complexes in the metropolis … adequate space, building setbacks, access routes, fire and emergency lanes, parking, lighting, green buffer zones were not planned, much less provided for."

These requirements that you have stated are all provided for by the architects who build such structures. They are trying to work with what lot or piece of land is given to them. It is stated in United Architects of the Philippines documents (UAP documents) that provisions like parking, fire zones, emergency lanes, etc. shall be followed or no structure shall be built. Architecture students are taught to design with these rules and regulations, considering all factors like ventilation, capacity of users, provisions of fire exits and service areas, building setbacks, fire walls, etc. All of these are drawn, checked, and revised several times by architects, with strict and standard requirements in order to comply with the regulations given to them.  "Physical development in the whole metropolis, like Ultra’s evolution, has been incremental and problems attendant to such un-guided and unbridled growth are covered up with patch-up, short-term solutions like zoning waivers, U-turns and road-widening. … All these lead to threats to life, limb, and social cohesion. Wrongly located malls and factories steal water and pollute the air in residential zones. U-turns have spotty effectiveness and accidents are daily occurrences. Flyovers, highway access ramps, and LRT pedestrian walkways are badly designed because they have to be squeezed into inadequate space – leading to death and injury with alarming regularity. 

"The whole metropolis is a tragedy already unfolding. We little realize that we are part of this humongous urban crowd stampeding towards disaster. …Barangays get buried in basura (Payatas), partygoers are burned to a crisp (Ozone), and whole neighborhoods disappear (Cherry Hill)."

The government has provided proper housing for the squatters, but still, they continue to live by the garbage dump site. Payatas was not meant for housing, it is a DUMP SITE.

Changes such as U-turn slots and road-widening … These are solutions to existing problems. If the (country) was an empty piece of land, then it would be easier to build new roads, new buildings, and other facilities. But the Philippines has existing structures and the only thing to be done is build with what you already have. 

The only thing we need is plain and simple DISCIPLINE. This tragedy shows that we lack discipline. I encounter this kind of problem even in church. People cutting in lines and forming branches from a single line. When Filipinos go to the US, they are able to comply with rules …They are Filipinos and wherever they go, they still will be Filipinos. (If) they are able to do that when they are in other countries, why not here as well? 

Pointing a finger at "Wowowee," the organizers, the location, Ultra, the government, is not where the problem is. The people are the problem and their lack of discipline. We try to blame so many things when the real problem is obvious.  

I hope that this has given you a new point of view about this topic. Thank you for taking the time to read my reaction about your article.

Thank you, SM, for your e-mail. I agree with you that discipline is needed to conduct ourselves properly in many crowded situations, and that this could mitigate much of our behavioral problems. Notice that we have learned to queue up for FXs and jeepneys. Some would attribute this to the effect of 20 years of learning to line up for hamburgers and fries (one of the rare benefits of the fast-food phenomenon).

However, I stand by my contention that the Ultra venue, along with many such complexes in the cities throughout the Philippines, is inadequately designed. You are right – there are building codes followed by our competent Filipino architects, but several factors negate this general diligence in adhering to codes.

First, a lot of these codes and local ordinances are obsolete (some date back to the 1920s). Many are out of context in a highly densified (crowded) city. Setbacks, buffers, parking allowances, emergency lanes are underspecified. More importantly – although codes are followed within property boundaries, the effects of such complexes on neighboring (often conflicting) land uses (i.e. malls versus residential areas, columbaria versus housing. Mints versus hospitals) are not taken into account. This is due to the lack of a framework for urban design and city planning. Zoning here is a joke and everything is negotiable. The tradeoff is usually inconvenience to citizens, traffic, and increasing threats to safety.

This lack of a planning framework (and metropolitan authorities with the mandate to enforce such frameworks) leads to incremental changes that compromise the integrity of originally well-designed complexes, like the Ultra, along with the districts they are located in. A lot of these additions are again localized within the complex and designs for these manage to get permits because of the lack of consideration for the larger functional and even physical context of the structure. Our building permits system also has so many loopholes that, well, need I explain in detail how any structure can be built on land so long as you go under the table?

Still, I agree with you on the point of discipline, but an ordered society cannot function as such in a disordered environment. I also disagree strongly with some of your points – U-turns are limited and non-sustainable solutions to our traffic mess, the government definitely has not provided proper (or enough) housing for anyone and building with what one is left with or making do with short-term solutions is a cop-out driven by bad governance and lack of political will. It indicates a mind-set that deals with disasters after the fact and not years ahead when prevention is less socially and monetarily costly.

Next we print (slightly abridged) a letter from a consultant from New Zealand. If you are wondering why a view from a foreigner is relevant, please read on.

LJI writes:

I read with great interest your article on the tragic events at the Ultra and the role of stadium design in such tragedies. Thank you for raising the topic.

The problem of stampedes or crowd crushes or surges, as they are more commonly referred to, is very complex and one, sadly, that probably bears no real, easily identifiable cause or solution … There are countless psychological studies that demonstrate all too clearly that in a crowd situation, normal, sensible, intelligent people adopt a "herd" mentality and simply charge in the same direction.

The most often cited example was a crush in a cinema in the USA, where the crowd stampeded towards the fire exits.  There were a number of fatalities. All the survivors interviewed thought they heard someone call out "Fire!" But none could actually give an indication as to who that might have been and none admitted actually seeing signs of a fire themselves.

I have examined a number of stadium tragedies as case studies (the writer is author of the book "Facility Planning and Maintenance") including:

• Bradford, England, 1985: A carelessly discarded cigarette caused the accumulation of rubbish underneath a dilapidated stand to catch fire. 56 people died and many hundreds were injured. 

• Heysel, Belgium, 1985: Poor design, the inappropriate use of the stadium – the standard of the game, the teams involved, and the supporters attending far outweighed the ability of the stadium to deal with them, and a lack of organization in controlling the crowds (maybe that is a little too harsh.  The plans looked good on paper but did not work in real life) resulted in the death of 39 people.

• Heart of Oaks, Ghana, Africa, 2001:120 people died after the police fired tear gas into the crowd at a soccer game.

• Fome, France, 2004: Four people were killed and eight injured when a power outage started a stampede in the stands. Regardless of the trigger, the herd mentality and the subsequent crowd surge were the common traits in all these disasters. While it seems to be the case that a "it has not happened yet" mentality exists, Murphy’s Law dictates that at any given sporting facility it can, and probably will, happen one day and, therefore, it must be taken into account by facility designers and event coordinators.

If you care to look around, you will notice that nowadays stadiums are built with wide entrances and exits leading to and away from specific, pre-designated areas. The corridors are large and spacious, permitting easy access and egress. Seats are provided, not to give the spectators comfort, but to limit the number of people who can physically fit into a given area.

Tickets are sold or otherwise allocated.  This serves not only as an indication of the numbers attending but as a way of (also) restricting the numbers attending. Entertainment may be provided before and after games – this provides the spectators with entertainment and the incentive to arrive early and leave late, thus avoiding mass entries and exits.

Gates are opened early to permit the crowds to trickle, rather than rush in. Stadiums are built in the middle of open spaces to facilitate the gathering and dispersal of the crowds.

Overt crowd control, security planning, the attendance of various organizations are, in reality, retrospective responses to crowd numbers. Crowd safety really begins with good design and ongoing maintenance. The key is prevention, not post-disaster management. I am sorry to say I stayed at the Ultra in 2001-2002 while developing a Grassroots Sport Development Plan for the Philippine Sports Commission and witnessed, first-hand, the potential for tragedy.  I tried to warn the PSC but, sadly, no one listened.

This was a truly awful way to know I was correct.

Thank you, LJI. There are always physical as well as behavioral issues in disasters. Desperation is a tragic reason to risk life and limb to join a crowd. Sports or showbiz madness generates mass hysteria at times, but not like the frenzy that led to the tragedy at Ultra.

Desperation also leads our bursting population to locate in settlements situated in hazard zones. Most of our citizens are marginalized – with little access to livelihood or property. Political motives (read votes) prevent local authorities from taking action to move people and such settlements to safer ground.

Making settlements safe, environments healthy, and structures sound are issues addressed by proper environmental conservation and planning, rational urban design, and enlightened architecture. Desperation is cured by sound governance and an economy based on quality of life as indicators – not profit or growth percentages. Despair from our tragedies will never turn to delight in our communal lives if we keep on forgetting to learn from the past and if we do not take responsibility even before disaster strikes.

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Feedback is welcome. E-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.