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RE-IMAGINING THE CITY:THREE APPROACHES IN
CONFLICT
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Fernando N. Zialcita, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Ateneo de Manila University
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Public versus Private Space
• Public space is central to a city.
• “Private space” = space that concernsonly a particular household.
• “Public space” = space that is accessibleto anyone regardless of household,residence, class, religion and other
affiliations. Streets must necessarily bepublic space.
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“Semi-public space” vs “Semi-private space.”
• “Semi-public space.” A place of worship in the
Philippines belongs to an organized religion. A
private group as far as the State is concerned.
But the place is open to visits by all, even bynon-members.
• “Semi-private space.” Space technically public,
but appropriated for private ends by private
groups. Example: public road used for unregulated private parking or private vending
or private dwellings.
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City = Urban center
Structural definition: A settlement the majority of whose residents pursue, on
a fulltime basis, specialized occupations other than
farming City or urban center thus the seat of a diversity of
occupations
Private spaces are needed.
But so are public spaces 1) to allow goods and servicesto be exchanged easily and 2) to create gathering
places that foster solidarity
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Questions to explore
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• What are interpretations of the street that have
been influential in Manila over the past hundred
years?
• If the ideal is a livable city, how can theseinterpretations be reconciled?
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Calle Hidalgo, Quiapo, Manila:
1850s to the present
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Calle Hidalgo, 1830sSource: Rudolf Lietz
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Calzada de San Sebastian, 1867.
Painting by José Honorato Lozano(Source: José Ma. Cariño and Sonia Pinto Ner,
Album: Islas Filipinas 1663-1888 . 2004)
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Calle Hidalgo, 1900s
(Source: Rene R. Olbés. The
Philippines” A Century Hence,
Then & Now . 2000)
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Hidalgo 2008: Towards San Sebastian
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San Sebastian Basilica
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Basilica de Jesus
Nazareno
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Traffic management:
Late 19th- early 20th centuries
Vehicles of visitors parked either in the zaguan or in courtyard at the rear
Streetcar service: One exclusive company under control of the municipal
government. Electrified in early 20
th
century
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Post war: Jeepney terminals
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APPROACH 1: PRIVATEBALCONIES IN A PUBLIC
THEATER
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Space in Hispanic
settlementsHispanic = Broader than „Spanish‟.
Can apply to other societies formerly
within the empire
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Urbanism in Spain: The Middle Ages
With the fall of the western half of the
Roman empire in the 4th century AD,
urbanism declines in the West
Medieval cities: warrens of circuitous
streets
However, the notion of the grid as a
needed framework begins to appear
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Urbanism in Spain: Renaissance &
Baroque periods
Rediscovery of Greek and Roman heritage in
urbanism.The planned city with a rational street
system
Initially the new concepts are implemented morefully in the new Hispanic cities in the overseas
empire, e.g. Mexico and the Philippines:
Intramuros de Manila
Hard to change existing cities in Spain
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Urbanism in Spain: Renaissance &
Baroque periods
However, the transfer of the capital from Toledo to
Madrid in 1561 opened opportunities
Both royal and municipal decrees:
Streets should be straight
Buildings on principal streets should be of uniform
height. Min. and max. height
Coordinated design
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Plaza Mayor, Madrid: 1617-1619
Part of a new
urbanism inEuropean
cities.
Streetscapes
now had apublic
character .
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The Plaza Mayor as public space today
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Significance of street balcony
Typical of Latin cities: The street balcony.
Creates middle space between public (the
street) and private (the dwelling)
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Parking in Spanish cities
Traditionally: Aside from parking beside
the sidewalk, parking within a courtyard in
the building or to the rear. Clear division
between private and public space
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The Ocampo house, 1900s,
Calle Hidalgo
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Viewing the Nazareno
procession, Estrella
house, Quiapo
,
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Part of the Nazareno
procession viewed
from the Estrella house
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Question: In 1898, Sir Ebenezer Howard
(UK) proposed the Garden City.
How did this affect concepts of the street?
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The classic sidewalk café post-1898.
Implies that the street is for walking and
enjoying
Sidewalks can be garden-like
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Question:
Why are sidewalk cafés finally becomingpopular in Metro Manila? What cultural need
do they respond to?
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APPROACH 2: ENCLOSEDPRIVATE SPACES ALONG A
CAR CORRIDOR
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The California influence
(Note: we focus on Anglo-American
towns and cities rather than on Latin-
influenced Southwest and Louisiana)
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American urbanism: The primacy of private transport
The Los Angeles model: Enclaves connected by freeways
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Significantly, LA is famous for its traffic
congestion as well.
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American urbanism: Ambivalence
about public appearance
Because of emphasis on individualism and
free enterprise, no attention paid to height
and harmony of appearance among
buildings in the Inner City.
However, suburban subdivisions do impose
such restrictions
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Impacts of L.A. style urbanism on Calle
Hidalgo:
Prioritization of privately owned vehicles,
whether cars or jeepneys
Disregard for visual harmony
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Prioritization of privately owned vehicles
1. Setback for
buildings
2. Parking ON
sidewalks
3. Destruction of
portico over
sidewalk
Photo of Calle San
Fernando, Binondo
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Impact of over-emphasis on private
vehicle
• Over-the-sidewalk parking is becoming the
norm
• Porticoed sidewalks are either
disappearing or being degraded
• Trees over sidewalks are cut down. Hence
no shade.
The result? Walking on sidewalks is a
tedious task.
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Prioritization of privately owned vehicles
1. Jeepneys are privately owned
2. Drivers are private entrepreneurs who
pay RENT to the owners of jeepneys
3. Allowed by the city to have terminals on
the street -- even if they clog it.
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Post 1960s: The question of visual harmony
Many houses torn down
Initially new buildings, like first
MLQU in the International
Style of the 1950s, has arcade
over sidewalk. As shown in
this photo
However, other buildings from
the 1970s onwards are too tall
for the street silhouette.
Moreover, they feature a
setback
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APPROACH 3: TRANSIENTPRIVATE POSSESSION OF
PUBLIC SPACE
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Space in Indigenous
settlements“Indigenous” = Native, original culture
before the coming of Chinese, Indian,
Islamic and Western influences
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Boundary between private and public
space is fuzzy. Parts of the street are
appropriated by individuals or groups for
their own ends. May be either temporaryor, with the passage of time, semi-
permanent.
Not unique to the Philippines. But can be indirectly abetted
by laissez-faire State.
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Vending at Hidalgo
Some of the long-established vendors set
up their stalls only after
World War II.
Positions on sidewalkhave been passed on
from one generation tothe next within the same
family.
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Jeepneys on Hidalgo looking west
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The barangay
Focus of barangay: Longhouse ofdatu: biggest and tallest – bydecree. Drawings are by RosarioEncarnacion for Scott‟s book
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The barangay
1. Basic settlement and political unit. Numbered30 to 100 houses (Fray Juan de Plasencia1589)
2. In coastal areas, Tagalog barangays clusteredtogether from 4 to 12 (Padre Chirino 1604)
3. But each datu was the authority in hisbarangay.
4. Came from the most important family in thesettlement. Followers in varying degrees ofdependency upon him and his family
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Streets in the barangay
1. In general: Irregular, haphazard siting of houses,
coconut tree on the road (Boxer Codex 1590)
2. But streets among Tagalogs more straight and more
regular than among Visayans (Boxer Codex 1590)
3. Perhaps because Tagalog settlements in the Lake of
Ba‟i Region used wet rice cultivation. Thus permanent
4. While Visayan settlements preferred slash-and-burn
cultivation (kaingin,uma). Could be semi-permanent
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Public space?
Was each barangay opento visits by non-members?
No, each barangayguarded its resources.Outsiders caught hunting
or fishing withoutpermission were enslaved(Alcina 1668)
Space in the prehispanic
barangay: private preservefor the datu and hiskindred, secondarily for thefollowers
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In Ilocano hamlets today: rice fields
privately owned & titled. But anyone can
open a vegetable patch temporarily on the
sandy river banks.
In Manila: anyone bold enough can build
on sidewalk or extend his building on to itor use it as his storeroom.
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THE CHALLENGE: HOW TOSYNTHESIZE THESE THREE
APPROACHES
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Observations
• Given priority: the Street as a thoroughfare
for private vehicles
• In parts of the city, also prioritized: the
Street as space that can be claimed bybusiness persons
• De-emphasized: The Street as a public
theater to be enjoyed by all, especially bypedestrians.
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Contradiction
• Streets as thoroughfares for cars get stalled by massesof vendors at certain points
• Examples: EDSA at Balintawak and at Pasay Taft
leading to Baclaran
• Lately Pedro Gil in Manila
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Contradiction
Though we are supposedly a democracy,
our cities ignore the needs and rights of
the vast majority who do not own private
vehicles, and who must do some walking.Though the capital city, Manila has been
allowed to degrade visually.
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A PROPOSED SYNTHESIS:THE WALKABLE STREET
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• Let particular streets serve as
thoroughfares for private vehicles
• Let some streets serve as spots for
vending – but only at certain times of theday or in particular seasons
• But the rights of the public that must
commute (and has no vehicle) should berespected.
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For Michel de Certeau
The built environment is the product of
historical, social, economic, and political
forces. It is also an imposition by the
bureaucrats. Walking around a city is acreative act because the pedestrian
“constructs stories, thereby weaving
places together in improvisationalnarratives”
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Making a street walkable
A street must be accessible to all. Some spaces should
remain public.
Limit over-the-sidewalk parking. Insist on parking stalls.
Make walking pleasurable in between stalls and
destinations.
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Making a street walkable
The public exterior of buildings should
harmonize with each other.
Moreover, some significant buildings
should be taken care of becausepassersby do find meaning in them.
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In a world facing increasing energy costs,
making our cities walkable cannot be a
frivolous pursuit.
Moreover, walking is a democratic
endeavour.
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Making streets WALKABLE could be a
focal point of urban regeneration in the
Philippines
The general public may relate more easilyto this
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Salamat po!