The path to smart polycentric cities
CUTTING-EDGE infrastructure that responds to the various needs of a public who wants to live a sustainable, healthy and productive life. That, too, is essential to creating a smart polycentric city or one that integrates its many diverse sectors into a seamless whole, says Ar. Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr., the principal architect, urban planner and founder of Palafox Associates.
As detailed in the first part of he gives a wish list: by 2050, the this article, that journey is part Philippines should have 100 of a grander, long-term vision new cities, eight roads parallel to to finally make the Philippines EDSA, 400 airports, and 5,000 a first-world country in a quarter handicapped-ready hospitals with of a century. The architect, efficient air conditioning while who recently received a Lifetime “having windows that let the sunshine Achievement Award in Dubai, in.” maintains that this monumental Failure to do so can lead to feat is actually possible, given a other Philippine cities becoming solid vision, a workable blueprint, “as bad, if not worse, than Metro considerable resources, Manila,” he maintains. and the necessary political will One basis for his projection and to execute it. solution is the increasing population
Looking at the grander picture, in major employment centers and central business districts. While their densities and traffic increased more than four times over the years, road availability and transportation supply or modalities did not.
Palafox is adamant that transportation is critical to urban development, saying that the Philippines has very few of the 32 transport modes that other countries have been using. While looking forward to the projected 2027 completion of the Metro Manila Subway that will connect 17 stations in the National Capital Region, he says that about eight Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines are also required.
The sustainability of the 21stcentury Philippine city also depends on its resilience against floods and other adverse impacts of climate change. The 2022 World Risk Index has already placed the archipelago among the top ten “most disaster-prone” nations because of our exposure and vulnerability.
According to his book, “The Philippines: Towards Resilient Cities and Communities,” Typhoon “Ondoy” in 2009 submerged 80,000 hectares of urban land in Metro Manila and the lakeshore towns in Laguna, although Pasig City’s capacity to flow water out of its bank is 600 cubic meters per second.
One way to provide mobility during flooding is the creation of more skywalks and skyways that have spaces for pedestrians and bikers. A more ambitious solution would be the development of floating cities, which countries like South Korea and Maldives are racing to build.
Local government units that recognize the vision and are willing to invest in it are critical to making first-world-country status by 2050, Palafox reiterates.
He remains optimistic because of his positive collaborations with cities like Davao and Iloilo.
The private sector is another essential resource as globally, 80 percent of the building environment comes from them, says Palafox.
Despite the financial hurdles, he also says that the sector still has “noble Filipinos with deep pockets and no vested interests.”
Twenty-six years do seem like a long time, but the architect, who has also helped design cities in 40 other countries aside from his own, still hopes to see the initial fulfillment of his student-day dreams: “… interconnecting the whole Philippines.”
(Part 1 of this article was published on Feb. 20, 2024.)