One realization that has emerged in this pandemic was the importance of public spaces in Metro Manila, such as parks, town centers, libraries and playgrounds. With most of us caught in extended community lockdowns, public spaces became the place that gave us that needed breathing space and the respite from being locked in our homes. It was our venue for that limited human interaction, albeit with social distancing, that we never knew we sorely needed before.
Unfortunately, we now know that we lack these public spaces, similar to the vanishing sidewalks, in many of our communities. Except for the wide-open pockets of green in the more affluent communities and the national parks, most of us Metro Manilans are but left with that mandatory basketball court, that are lorded over by only a few in the community. Gone are the open plazas and playgrounds that we used to remember in our childhood years. And as we are now going back into normalcy, this realization needs to be addressed by the government, knowing now that such simple element is essential to the basic survival of our communities.
We never knew this need for the simple reason that we never really “stayed” in our communities. We slept in them, yes; but most of our conscious human activities, such as employment and schooling were mostly outside the confines of our communities. This is aggravated even further given the traffic we have in Metro Manila as we spent more time on the road. And when we hit weekends, our recreation and family time took us to the shopping malls that became the substitute for our public spaces. Instead of strolling in the park with our families and having family picnics, we did this inside the confines and comfort of these establishments. So much so that malls were built at a frenzied pace for the past decade and designed in such a way as a better substitute for the parks and plazas of yesteryears, with the gondola rides and ice skating rinks to boot.
But these malls were just fulfilling a need; something that we now realize in this pandemic. With most us now confined nearest to our homes, we realize and ask ourselves—where are our parks and playgrounds. Unfortunately, most were sold off or rented out at one point in time by our local governments. Some were privatized for commercial purposes, similar to the privatization of our public markets. Maybe not your present local administration, but definitely the selling of public space became systemic by most town and city governments. And on a barangay level, the empty space beside that basketball court that could have been enjoyed by the rest in the community became that gargantuan barangay hall—the standard bragging symbol of barangay officials.
Indeed, these are wrong priorities, but which can still be rectified, even this late in the day. In one previous article, I talked about the 15-minute city of which public spaces are essential. This is the direction that we need to take. Yes, indeed, having most activities near our homes would prove to make our communities more resilient even in future pandemics. And it need not be expensive or dramatic. Community spaces can be opened up creatively. Maybe closing redundant streets or opening up existing public spaces such as basketball courts to more equitable activities. But what we do need from government is the political will to undertake this. And it starts with the realization of our local executives that public spaces are essential and basic to the community. It is there embedded in our Constitution when it states the need for harmony and balance for all of us. Then maybe future budgetary allocations can be set aside for either securing or improving public spaces. And if need be, then creating or strengthening the needed statutes to make such public spaces happen.
Our forefathers had it right with their city designs of the past, building that town plaza in the middle of the community. Now we realize why they had that for so many reasons—for leisure, for human interaction, for defense and control of invaders —both human and biological. Moving forward let’s bring back those public spaces. It is essential to our well-being and survival.
Thomas “Tim” Orbos is currently a transport policy advisor for an international organization and worked in government on transport and urban development matters. He is an alumnus of Georgetown University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He can be reached via e-mail at tmo45@georgetown.edu.