Published: February 27, 2015

            Vice President and housing czar Jejomar C. Binay today urged local government executives to develop more public spaces, saying that "more public spaces mean better people’s lives."

            "The challenge is upon us to protect and improve on existing public spaces and to bring public-private partnership in developing new ones. We must continue to fight for their development and we need champions who can push to protect, create, and make useful such public spaces."

            "My friends, our cities are now at a crossroads. We can stay at status quo and let our cities continue to grow haphazardly, with overemphasis on economic growth and little regard for human and social needs and environmental consequences. Or we can change our priorities and create a more sustainable and liveable urban system. As leaders of your cities, that choice is yours to make," Binay said during the Interactive Conference on Public Place and the New Urban Agenda.

            The two-day conference is organized by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council in partnership with UN Habitat, United Cities and Local Governments Asia- Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) and the League of Cities of the Philippines, and seeks to discuss issues affecting public space and planned urban development.

            The Vice President stressed the importance of public spaces in urban places.

            "In an urban setting, where buildings crowd the city, open public spaces play an environmental role by serving as a buffer zone for high density development; where you get fresh air and sunlight as such public places are often lined with trees thus serving as the urban lung of the city."

            "Depending on how public spaces are created, they can also provide room for cultural exchanges among city dwellers; or a place for expressing opinions, where forums can be organized," he said.

            Binay deplored the fact that along with the material development of cities over time, a host of pressing issues such as population density growth, social disparity, pollution, public safety and security, congestion, and loss of biodiversity.

            "With fifty percent (50%) of our country’s population living in urban areas, it means that every day, one (1) out of (2) Filipinos experiences heavy traffic, is exposed to a polluted environment, and has limited access to certain basic goods and services.  However, at the same time, by being in the city, one finds himself in a position to partake of the roughly seventy-five percent (75%) of the country’s economic output, which comes from these areas. That is, in a very general sense, the scenario we have today," said Binay.

            Binay noted that unless urban living conditions and social conditions in general are improved, the country cannot claim to be successful even in the face of the steady economic growth over the years.

            "So long as half of our citizens are exposed to the ills that continue to plague our urban centers, we need to continue striving harder to make things better.  We have to continuously work to make our urban areas and cities more viable, sustainable, enjoyable, and liveable. We must manage urbanization well to ensure that it is more beneficial than disadvantageous to the people," the Vice President said.

            Binay added that the conference is designed to help address the issue of public space.

            "Through an informative and interactive framework, this conference will not simply give our participants a better understanding of our urban systems and its issues, but more importantly, it will provide them with the necessary analytical tools to address the same," he added.

            Binay also added that his stint as mayor of Makati City saw the introduction of measures to attain sustainable urban development.

            According to Binay, the Makati Development Agenda for the 21st Century or Makati 21, introduced was aimed at providing balanced growth that ensures the economic, social, and physical well-being of the communities and all individuals within them. 

            He added that Makati 21 had three pillars--jobs, shelter, and pride of place.

            "With regard to shelter, we did not focus simply on housing but the communityscape which includes infrastructure and facilities that will ensure high environmental quality and strengthening of the social fabric and community bonds.  We focused on raising the overall quality of life in our communities."

            "Pride of place, on the other hand, is reflected in the physical cityscape, its economic affluence at one end of the spectrum, and environmental quality in the other. In-between would be social elements: the diverse population, social equity, cultural richness and heritage. And another counterbalance would be the responsiveness of the people themselves—the communities’ drive for excellence and productivity, and their sense of civic commitment, responsibility and identity with the city," he said.

            He also said that Makati pursued various strategies in line with the pillars of its development plan.

            "With the need for more parks and open spaces, the same had to be provided innovatively, doing away with conventional methods. This included linear parks in the form of riverside, creekside and roadside landscaping. A green plan was also pursued wherein areas were designated as green spaces, pocket parks and landscaped gardens located in highly visible areas such as, street corners, vacant areas of public facilities, rotundas, and others," said Binay.

            He added that the city government also entered into partnerships with private companies willing to invest in the city, providing incentives for projects that included public places such as a network of green and open spaces, including roof gardens; and public art or heritage facilities.

            "The recently approved Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance of Makati City reinforce the said strategies. The new CLUP and ordinance state that a bonus incentive of one additional floor compliant with the mandated floor area ratio shall be given to buildings in commercial zones within 200-meter walking distance from an existing rail station. Bonus incentives shall also be granted for the development of iconic spaces and landmarks that would give the city a positive and distinct image," he also said.

            Binay said that the Makati Park and Makati Coliseum are projects that came out of the effort to improve the well-being of the city's residents. He added that the city is now intent on pursuing the Makati Poblacion Heritage Conservation Project.

            The project, he said, is aimed at revitalizing the old town core of Makati through redevelopment of parks and plazas, pedestrianization of streets, and restoration of key heritage buildings.

            "After putting up these so-called places for the people, we reinforced our efforts by spearheading activities that make people actually use these places. The Caracol event is held every 3rd Sunday of January. Students in colorful mother earth-inspired costumes participate in an ethnic dance competition. The event attracts local and foreign tourists. Other events continuously promoted by the city government include the Makati Day celebrations highlighted by the Flores de Mayo, Miss Makati, sports fests, fireworks display, band concerts, street parties and a grand parade," said the Vice President.