IN our column last week, we provided a probable picture of how life will be in the post pandemic world, particularly in Metro Manila. As we have mentioned, the picture will be a toss-up between the urban planner’s dream city of wide greenery with human-friendly infrastructure and the stark reality of seldom used or boarded up establishments. But life will go on and we in Metro Manila will find ways and means to cope up and survive.
First to adapt will be our homes, which will become the center of most human activity, be it social or commercial. Any future consideration for progress will keep this in mind and will be eschewed toward such lines. Next will be the re-focus on the community as the first cautious steps outside the residence will be the need to secure the basic needs that are immediately accessible. Hence, the revival of community commerce and activity. The corner stores, barbershops, and outdoor markets will provide us not just with what we need materially, but will also allow the breath of human interaction we also need as we remain socially limited to our immediate locality. We will also see a marked change in how we move from one point to the other. Inter-community, more so inter-city travel and beyond will become restrictive. The need for social distancing will dictate what commuters will utilize. In its old form, public transport will barely survive. Jeepneys, UV vans, buses and even rail commuting will have to adjust drastically for them to see it through.
In this week’s continuation of the article, we will discuss how infrastructure will change to best adapt to this pandemic and give us a better chance of preserving the quality of life that we want for ourselves and for our children.
Just like transport, infrastructure will now highlight safe passage as its primary feature. The need for social distancing will still be there. Moreover, efficient delivery of goods and services to the homes and communities rather than the huge and concentrated “CBDs”—central business districts that represent our economic development before—will dictate infrastructure re-focus. The government as well as private real-estate developers will re-configure their designs. There will be more open spaces, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes and green parks. Local community centers will also see growth, as people will stay close to their homes. Hence, community or barangay government centers will be converted into one-stop service centers where one can do all the basic government transactions. The big enclosed malls will have a difficult time wooing back the crowds they used to have. However, malls can do a pivot as we are beginning to see in other countries where malls are being reconfigured for a mixed-use development to include a component for residential use. Hence, shopping malls such as the huge ones we have here can become “residential communities.”
On a bigger scale, mega government infrastructure projects will also need to be re-visited to see if such are adherent to ensuring safety —under its present pandemic interpretation. Any government project that will bring about mass gathering in any instance, be it temporary or semi-permanent, will have to be reviewed and reconfigured. In doing so, designs of government buildings, rails and roads will have this as their primordial consideration, and they will be more functional.
One final characteristic of any infrastructure pivot would be its adaptability to another “Covid” situation. Therefore, roads, rails and terminals will have the readily accessible “push-button” to suspend operations and commence lockdowns while ensuring a more efficient flow of services such as food, medical and security.
As mentioned last week, cities will survive this pandemic but they will need to adjust and adapt. We saw these happen in the cities of Europe after the plague in the middle ages, as well as in other countries that pivoted after the influenza pandemic in the early part of the last century. Metro Manila and other metropolis are no different. There will be changes in our city life and infrastructure that will be a testament to our ability to adapt in our desire to survive.
Thomas “Tim” Orbos was formerly with the DOTr and the MMDA. He is an alumnus of the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu
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