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.
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