Making the City a Home

The Great Manila Dream

The roads are painted with gold. High rise buildings are left and right signaling development. Employment opportunities are everywhere. Life seems so much comfortable and convenient because of the advanced technologies available. Public transport provides easy access to anywhere in the city. Public utilities, such as water, electricity and telecommunications, are at their best. Health services being provided are among, if not the best, in the country. The best education can be accessed in our major cities where the premiere colleges and universities are found. The seat of power is also located in the heart of one of the major cities in the country- the imperial Manila.

This is how most of the promdis (colloquial term for people coming from the provinces) who had never set foot on the "gold painted" roads of Metro Manila or in any other cities of the country look at the life in the city. Until you live and experience life in the city by yourself and have the taste of the life being offered by it, your ivory coated image of the life in cities would be shattered.

The City as Seen by its Dwellers

…a place where dying river ends

no birds there fly over Paraiso

no space allows them to endure.

the smoke that screens the air

the grass that’s never there…

- Ryan Cayabyab (Paraiso)

Once you have immersed yourself in the life the city has to offer, gradually you would realize that the life in the city could not even approximate the tip of your utopic image of it.

The environment is not conducive for healthy living. It seems that the city has invented every possible kind of pollution- from the very common air and water pollution to land and noise pollution. Air is not conducive to having healthy lungs for almost every toxic substance is already present in the air. The water is not fit for drinking. Try to drink water coming directly from the faucet and there is a high probability of you getting amoebiasis or other intestinal infections. The state of our "potable" water led to a boom in a new industry- that of purified drinking water. In almost every block, there is at least one purified drinking water station bragging the number of stages of water purification that they offer.

The state of our rivers flowing along the metropolis has worsened. They can not even reflect the colors of the blue sky because they have turned black due to water pollution. Fish kills are more often. Every year, the rivers in the metropolis are becoming worse and worse. They are on the verge of becoming lifeless- actually some have already lost its capacity to support freshwater life for so many years now. Life in these bodies of water is virtually non-existent.

Waste management is also a problem in the city. Solid and liquid wastes are not properly disposed. Tons of garbage are being produced by the cities everyday. Some cities even have to look for dumpsite outside their locality because of the problem in space. Liquid effluents are directly dumped into the bodies of water mainly because it is the most convenient and the cheapest in terms of costs that the industries have to bear.

The cities in the Philippines, specifically in Metropolitan Manila, have been overcrowded. People are migrating to the cities because of the misconceptions that life is easier in the city. The cities are congested not just by people but also by automobiles. Traffic has been a perennial problem. So much time and energy are wasted due to traffic. Low income families and the rest of the urban poor amass the slums and squatter areas. Increase in population results to stiff competition in employment opportunities and even in the availability of social services. The yawning gap between the rich and the poor is evident in the cities. The right to privacy due to lack of personal space has been gradually lost. Safety and security are less insured in the cities rather than in the countryside. The cities are becoming more and more overcrowded.

City life has turned into a nightmare for some of its dwellers. Everybody lives in a fast-paced life where people are busy making a living. It results to a very stressful life, which aggravates the health conditions of the city dwellers. The city has turned the life of its dwellers into a mechanical one where each is busy making a living and forgetting to live. What would then make a livable city?

Making the City a Home

My own concept of a livable city is anchored on the principle that man does not live by bread alone. By bread, I refer to it both literally and figuratively. However, this would not mean that the physical needs of the residents of the city would be ignored. It is only through the attainment of these physical and security needs that the higher levels of needs be satisfied. It is therefore then of high importance that the city is able to provide these basic needs. A livable city therefore should be able to provide employment and livelihood opportunities, public utilities, and social services among others.

A livable city is a city without so much congestion. There are spaces for recreations and the form is well planned. That is, there would be lesser need to commute through automobiles. Majority of the activities of the residents is accessed on foot. The concept of pedestrianization of the city would be of great help to make it livable. In terms of its physical appearance, eyesores are at a minimum and urban blight and decay are easily prevented. Slums and squatters are not present because the city’s capacity to support the needs of its residents is still within reach.

But there is so much beyond city being able to provide for effective, efficient, and accessible social services and public utilities. It is more than just securing the lives and properties of the residents of the city. I believe that a livable city must provide more than the physical and security needs of the people. More important is the ability of the city to provide and promote the well-being of its residents.

After the city could provide for the physical and security needs, the livable city should also be able to provide for the needs of the residents, which are social in nature. These needs concern more on the social well-being of an individual, which are usually conceived as intangible needs but are more important than the physical and security needs. A livable city is a city which could be considered as a home of the residents, not just a place where a part of their life is being spent such as work. It should be at least playing a major role in the lives of the city dwellers. A livable city should not just be considered as a mere structure. It should not be devoid of the "social aspects" of the lives of men. The livable city put the social lives of its residents as the core or the foci of the city’s existence.

In stepping into a higher level of human needs, a livable city provides for the cultural concerns of the people. The historical aspect of the lives of the people should not be taken for granted. It would serve as a strong foundation for the further social development of the city residents. Knowing one’s roots provides for self-esteem and dignity. Historical landmarks and other proofs of the change in the lives of the people should not be taken for granted. Philippine cities are quite eager to embrace development and neglect historical and even environmental aspects of the city. The need to address the future generation should not be ignored. Respecting history does not mean being stuck in a space and time where everything seems constant.  A livable city also has respect for posterity where future generations are not taken for granted. There is respect for the natural resources of the city. Pollution is minimized. Health is being nourished.

Self-actualization, the highest level of human needs, although very difficult to attain, should also be addressed by a city to make it livable. Economic growth and infrastructure developments are not enough to be self-actualized. It is more than that. And the city to be able to just even try to attain such need would make a lot of difference than just those cities dying to provide physical and security needs alone. Self-actualization provides contentment among its residents.

A livable city addresses the happiness and comfort of its dwellers- happiness not just in material things but more on emotional, intellectual and even spiritual needs. More than food, clothing, employment and public utilities, the city to be livable must address the social needs of its residents.

…that if I could see a single bird, what a joy

 this tired and hungry land could expect

some truth and hope and respect from the rest

of the world…

-R. Cayabyab

Considering the idea of a livable city as discussed above, the cities in the Philippines still have so many things to do to attain livability. For instance, cities in Metro Manila can not even provide enough services for its residents. This hinders the ability of the city to focus more on non-material things. This leads to the neglect of the culture and emotional aspects of the dwellers. Considering the idea presented above on the city’s livability, the cities in Metro Manila are just scratching the tip of being livable. A livable city is a city where there is respect for both physical and social aspects of the city.

Of loosing a home…

I know a fellow who lost his home.

Many years ago, he painstakingly looked for a perfect home. And he was blessed to have one. The place actually made him feel that he found the right one. People came in and out of his home. He’s just thankful to have them. These people were actually so close to his heart that he could not let them feel unwelcome.

Suddenly, just out of nowhere, he just felt that his home had left him. Although the same structure was there, the same people were there, the same smiles were there, and even the same tears were there, the warmth was lost. Suddenly, he felt that the house that actually welcomed him with open arms had then become his adversary. It made him feel like he’s being forced to abandon the place. He just found out that the place, which had been his sanctuary for so long, had become his own place of insecurity. He could not relax and unwind anymore. The place had become so filled with angst and hypocrisy. It had become a witness to indifference, ambivalence, and selfishness.

The place, which used to be his home, had left him with no choice. He did not know how it happened. He just felt that he had to go. He did go.

And he has found a new home…

Too Late…

Last Monday, we witnessed the former speaker who had his "ten long minutes" to voice out his anger. On the verge of being ousted from his post, the poor fellow from Pangasinan gave a speech that, I believe, only his fanatics could stomach.

The former Mr. Speaker appeared to be a ‘kid’ whose lollipop was taken. He gave a litany of what he has done for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It appeared to me that the former Mr. Speaker would want to show to the public that he was the ‘king maker’- that, if not for him, Gloria would not be in Malacanang right now. He said that he did this and that. His speech was actually teeming with fallacious arguments. Instead of rantings, the former Mr. Speaker should just have focused on the issue on why he should not be removed from the Speakership.

I believe that what he did last Monday was just a ploy to defer his impending ouster. And of course, the question of why only now lingers.