Kanto Vol 3, 2018 | Page 97

When the issue is conflict, the usual response is to increase the militarization of both the urban space and the planning process. In Marawi, this happened through the proposal of more military facilities and the tight control of the planning and development process. Such command-and- control approach will create consequences because the disenfranchisement of the citizens affected by war may be used by the proponents of radical religious agenda. In contrast, citizens continue to ask for a more meaningful and participatory consultation. When the issue is traffic congestion, the usual response is to build more roads and widen them. There are the pundits who preach more “self-discipline”. There are frequent calls for a new megacity, too. But no amount of extensive road construction and self-discipline in the world can systematically solve the problem if the city is built and dependent on the automobile. Making a new megacity will not prevent Metro Manila, as well as the urban centers in the rest of the country, from growing nevertheless in the foreseeable future. In contrast, a mix of a better network of walkable spaces, public transport, congestion pricing, and other measures for inclusive mobility should be preferred as the metropolis densifies and extends. When the issue is crime, the usual response is to spot and kill suspects, especially those from the families in the slums. This wastes precious lives. increases socioeconomic vulnerability, and deepens the culture of impunity and violence that we have experienced since colonial times. The unpopular alternative is to rehabilitate offenders and address the root causes of poverty. Such urban culture of privatize-control-discipline- punish-eradicate is the meme of our urban generation. It is our popular behavior when we fear uncertainty, hate ambiguity and become tired of precarity. In such milieu, the problems are always misunderstood; solutions are mismatched and more problems are created; and unpopular but reasonable alternatives are abandoned. With such culture, our society is creating a map of our urban age where our urban commons continue to disappear. It is becoming a prison-panopticon-penal type urbanism. In that map, the arrangement of space, knowledge and power makes sure that the forms, values and rules of urban development benefit only the few. We have a fair chance to enlarge our urban commons. The strategy is to retrace, redefine and redistribute space, knowledge and power. The tactic is to recognize, empathize and organize. Those simultaneous streams are being pursued by individuals and groups in the urban parts of the archipelago today. It is already happening. Recognize. Using systems theory, communities that practice data science are trying to grasp the complex systems of our cities. Such communities use tools like data mining, machine learning and spatial analysis to address complex problems such as disaster risk or transport networks. Empathize. Using socio-technical approaches, communities that perform design thinking are trying to enhance the user experience of both the digital and material parts of the city. Such communities use interaction design or urban design to address issues, such as blight, in creative ways. Organize. Using participatory advocacies, communities that promote deliberative democracy are trying to deepen social justice by revealing the root causes of poverty and vulnerability. Such communities use protests, crowdsourcing, social media and counter- mapping to highlight the horrible fact that whether it is about poverty, blight, disaster, conflict, traffic, or crime, it is the families in poverty who pay the price, sometimes with their lives. Those streams about recognizing, empathizing and organizing are merging now. Through collaborating, the boundaries between those communities are dissolving to challenge and replace the privatize-control-discipline- punish-eradicate meme of urban life in the Philippines. Such urban transformation will require you and your friends to be weave ways of engaging the city. And you do not have to do it on your own. “Another world is not only possible; she is on her way.” - Arundhati Roy Imagine that world where the urban commons— public spaces, spatial data, human rights—are opened, restored and enlarged. We must realize that map of that urban world in our lifetime. So, what? These maps show a troubled place. But if we are to have a better urban future, then we must stay in that map and transform it. More of Mapmaker David Garcia’s maps, which can be downloaded for free, at mapmakerdavid.com. He is asking for your support through Patreon (patreon.com/mapmakerdavid). You can contact and follow “mapmakerdavid” through Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 95