I write again about the 15-minute city urban development concept as I firmly believe that this is the way for cities to survive and sustainably deal with problems such as traffic congestion, pollution, rising costs of deliveries of goods and services, and the declining general health of the population, among others. Adoption of this concept becomes even more practical in times of crisis or calamity, such as the current pandemic when we were all forced into lockdowns. Even more relevant is how this concept will help mitigate our current transport situation, which is greatly threatened by the spiraling prices of gasoline. With our mobility affected, we will be dependent all the more on our communities—hence the 15-minute city concept coming into play.
As a refresher, the 15-minute city concept means that almost all your daily activities can be confined to any point that is 15 minutes away from your residence. This will include where you shop or where you get basic services—your children’s school, your place of worship, your gym and recreation facilities, and, hopefully, where you work. As a result, there is better traffic and transport management and decongestion leading to communities and people becoming more efficient with their social and economic activities. This concept is now trending in many cities globally because of the pandemic. For us in the Philippines, we have the foundation for this concept and this in none other than the barangays, our basic unit of government. And pivoting to this should come naturally for most of our urban centers. But as we all know, there is still much work to be done and areas of improvement that need to be addressed. Among these are:
Local infrastructure for personal mobility. We now see bike and pedestrian lanes all over the metropolis more than at any time in our urban past, but these lane networks are more on the main road corridors. Except for the gated villages and the central business districts, most barangays are bereft of infrastructure such as pedestrian lanes and bike lanes, or if indeed present, are occupied by vendors or used as tricycle terminals. Currently, there’s a P10.6 billion allocation from the national government (DBM local budget circular No. 42 dated January 2022) that can be utilized by the local governments for bike and pedestrian infrastructure, but the fund is expiring on June 30. We hope that the new administration will renew this, or, better yet, increase the funds and expand the coverage.
Incentives for local businesses. Most of the businesses present in local communities are small and medium enterprises. We have the Barangay Micro-Business Enterprise Law (RA 9178) that should provide the needed incentives for local enterprises to include tax incentives, exemptions from wage impositions, special credit windows as well as technical and marketing assistance. All good, but we all know that this has not trickled down to majority of the micro enterprises. Focus then should be on aggressively engaging this sector and boosting its capabilities utilizing this law.
Improving connectivity and other government services. Encouraging people to spend more time in their communities would need reliable and affordable broadband connectivity that would allow them to work from home without much difference from the available infrastructure in their offices or schools. We were forced to do this during the pandemic despite the shortcomings of our telco providers. The government should push for better services and capacity to be at least at the minimum tier as that of our Asian neighbors. On another note, improving other government services on the local level such as securing of licenses, certifications, and payments will definitely encourage people to just stay within the confines of their communities.
The 15-minute cities are not just short term, knee jerk solutions that city administrators globally can turn to in times of crisis, such as during the pandemic. With the cost of transport going up, this concept should be our long-term goal and direction. It is also a lifestyle change for all of us, with the end objective of making it our norm in a future world where calamities will not be the exception but will be the norm.
The author may be reached at tmo45@georgetown.edu