HISTORY OF PLANNING

Maria Lourdes T.

Munárriz, PhD, EnP UP-School of Urban and Regional Planning Institute of

Environmental Planners

Trends in Human Settlements

Prior to the 18th century, most cities of various civilizations did not exceed 50,000 inhabitants. With small populations and no mechanical means of transportation, most cities of the past, even the larger ones, did not exceed 2 kms and could be crossed on foot in not more than 20 minutes. Thus, these towns were built on human scale.

Trends in Human Settlements

For about 10,000 years, Man lived in villages, and for more than 5,000 years in small urban settlements whose size and slow growth permitted the creation of continuous and

compact settlements, and endowed these with values which remain important.

In almost all these settlements, the 5 elements of human settlements – nature, man, shelter, society and network were in complete balance.

Trends in Human Settlements

However, at the start of the 18th century until the 19th century, and especially in the 20th century, the picture completely changed … the elements of human settlements have developed individually and in turn, the balance among them was lost.

Man developed demographically, culturally and intellectually. Society grew and became more complex.

Trends in Human Settlements

Industrial Revolution brought large masses of people to live within cities.

More and more people live in metropolitan areas, but even the most economically successful of these regions manifest sharply uneven development.

For instance, gentrified neighbourhoods adjacent to lowincome areas display the emblems of affluence, and suburban enclaves of privilege, increasingly set off by walls

and gates, sharpen the distinctions between the haves and have-nots.

Trends in Human Settlements

At the end of the 20th century, urban areas are vastly different from the metropolises of a hundred years earlier.

The old central cities contain a shrinking proportion of regional wealth and population. Although some cities are the command center of the global economy or nests of technological innovation, others have lost economic function even while they still encompass large populations.

Environmental pollution, traffic congestion, racial and ethnic discrimination, and financial crises afflict many urban cores.

Urban Settlement Pattern of Man

Evolution of Planning

Urban Region

Megalopolis

Metropolis

City

Town

Villages

1st stage – master plan or blueprint era

2nd stage – systems view of planning 3rd stage – participative-conflict in

planning

Evolution of Planning continued • 1st stage – master plan or blueprint era

Main concern: Set out the desired future, in

terms of land-use patterns on the ground (maps);

Old planners, e.g., Geddes or Abercrombie;

Set up after WWII … After the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act of Great Britain.

Evolution of Planning continued

2nd stage – systems view of planning

Under the 1968 Planning Act – embodied new

structure plans;

Managing and controlling a particular system … the urban and regional system;

Concentrated on the objectives of the plan and on alternative ways of reaching them (writing rather than detailed maps).

Evolution of Planning continued 3

rd stage – participative-conflict in planning

Emphasis on tracing the possible consequences of alternative policies;

Evaluating alternatives against objectives and then choosing a course of action;

Monitoring process is continually repeated.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Pre-Hispanic Filipino Settlements –

communities called barangays settled by separate kinship groups within their respective defined territories.

• Manila was already a homogenous population of 3,000 inhabitants before Spain came. It was

an important Muslim outpost held by Rajah Soliman.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Spanish Colonial Period – gridiron arrangement … “plaza complex”. The church and town hall were the dominant structures. Streets were laid to provide a continuous route for religious processions.

• The compact villages provided a framework for rapid Christian indoctrination and societal organization. (Fort Santiago)

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Towards the end of the 19th century, road building programs were introduced by the Spanish government … the Manila-Dagupan railway.

• Similar settlements were built by the Spaniards

throughout the country … Fort Del Pilar in Zamboanga, Davao, Ilocos, Visayas, etc.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• American Era – saw the urgent need for guiding the urban growth and physical development of the country … concentrated in planning of cities where growth was inevitable.

Examples: development of waterfront; location of parks

and parkways as a means of recreation to every quarter of the city.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Street system securing direct and easy communication from one district to another;

• Location of building site for various activities;

• Development of waterways for transportation; and

• Summer resorts.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Settlements During the New Republic – the problem of housing, health and sanitation became the major concerns. The People’s Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC), now the National Housing Authority (NHA) purchased 1,572 has. in Q.C. (including UP area) for Php2.0 million … for the different housing projects.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Settlements During WWII – about 4/5 of Greater Manila Area was devastated. Manila was a “giant slum”.

• Pres. Roxas instructed the National Housing Commission in 1946 to build houses for the US-Philippine War Damage Commission.

• The National Urban Planning Commission was created to prepare general plans, zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations.

History of Planning in the Philippines

• Post War Settlements – Pres. Quirino

created the National Planning Commission

(NPC) … for more integrated planning in the

urban and regional areas.

History of Planning in the Philippines

NPC has prepared a master plan for Manila by 1954 with the following objectives:

1.Make Manila a convenient and ideal place for settlement, work, play and own;

2.Remedy the critical traffic congestion;

3.Prevent overcrowding of population;

4.Use land optimally;

5.Distribute schools and playgrounds; 6. Protect and promote

healthy property values;

7. Utilize existing improvements.

END