deep and wide
There is no limit to what you can accomplish, as long as you are prepared to wait." Freeman Dyson
Maynila is at least 500 years old. By the time the Spanish got there in 1570, Maynila was already a thriving city with a population of 4,000.
As Stewart Brand puts it, "cities persist." Barring major natural cataclysms, Manila will still be here 450 years from now. The government's form, the shape of geopolitics, will be as similar and as different as Rajah Sulayman's court is from the current administration in Malacanang. The city's built fabric in 2450 will be shaped by the decisions we make now.
While it is easy to become frustrated by the current politics, long term vision and long term leadership means we must consider the future now. Ergo the title of this blog. In another hundred years, Arroyo, de Venecia, Cam, Estrada and the whole cast of characters will all be footnotes. Metro Manila will persist. In what form and in what condition depends on our current imagination of the horizon we have yet to see.
7 comments:
That's an extragavant picturesque painting of Intramuros. Nice find. I can't remember if I saw her gallery exhibit in Megamall just this year. Good enough that she is Filipino on known in different European countries.
"Democracy can withstand anything but democrats" -J. Harshaw
here's a quote that can go along with that footnote.
Beautiful painting indeed. As depicted in the watercolor, Manila looks like a a very clean and green place by the sea. It still is, I guess. One out of three isn't that bad. Kidding, just a bit of course.
How can citizens make sure that urban plans remain sacrosanct? Immune from the political expediency of any administration that chooses to subvert its milestones?
by instituting consultative processes. and requiring public participation
then of course, vigilance is required after that
if the people are organized, then they will be vigilant
try visiting http://www.charretteinstitute.org/
Hi IvanM,
I chose the painting precisely because of its mismashed and idealized representation. As Kevin Lynch (Image of the City) says "There seems to be a public image of any given city which is the overlap of many individual images. Or perhaps there is a series of public images, each held by some significant number of citizens."
Which is why I wholly appreciate the work you and Carlos are doing -i.e. changing people's mental images of the city.
I think we have always failed in our attempts to revive Intramuros because we have approached it as an archaelogial artifact and a tourist destination rather than a city where people live and work and play. So we pay attention to dressing it up (pretending houses are old) rather than making it livable. We put tourists first, rather than the occupants. So it's all window dressing, not paradigm shifting. (-oops. sorry to use that hackneyed term.)
We should look at integrating its economy (and by that I mean the jobs and work of the people who live in the city) with the rest of the metropolis -while keeping faithful to its historicity.
i agree Atienza's programs are a good start - at least there is some thinking going on about urban planning and design.
I don't think avenida needs to compete with SM - given manila's density (45K to 65K people/sq.km) there is enough people to keep the avenida economy going. divisoria is living proof -- it is STILL the most expensive real estate in the city.
Avenida shouldn't pretend to be SM or Glorietta though. It should take it's cues from Barcelona's Las Ramblas or Porto Alegre's Largo Glênio Peres (Brazil).
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