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In Part 1 of this article, we talked about what citizens should look for in the land use plans of the master plans for Greenprint 2030 and the future Quezon City Central Business District (QC-CBD).
In this article, we'll discuss what to look for in the street plan and the open space plan.
The street plan
The transportation network plan shows the roads and transport hubs.
What to look for:
Wide sidewalks, ground-level pedestrian crossings
Pedestrian connectivity is about how easy it is to walk from one place to another. Places that make walking a priority put people, not vehicles, first. Places that put cars first make it difficult for people on foot to get around.
All the streets in the plan should have wide sidewalks. Good sidewalks will be wide enough so that at least five people can walk side by side. Trees should shade these sidewalks to make walking pleasant.
The sidewalks should be well connected. Pedestrian crossings should be at ground level. Pedestrian overpasses and underpasses mean the roads are too wide and the traffic too fast for people to cross safely.
What to look for:
Narrow roads, small city blocks
The sizes of the roads and city blocks determine how walkable a place is. Plans that put people first will show a fine grid or street network with lots of small streets.
In contrast, plans that have very wide roads (i.e., more than four lanes of traffic) are hostile to pedestrians. Wide roads tend to be faster and, therefore, more dangerous for people on foot.
Lots of wide roads also usually mean very big blocks. This means people have to go a long way around just to get from one place to another. (You can learn more about “walkability” and the benefits of people-friendly street networks here.)
What to look for:
Bicycle lanes
Bicycle lanes encourage more people to ride their bikes to work or school. This reduces car use and air and noise pollution and makes the city greener.
The more bike lanes you build, the more cyclists will ride. So concludes a new study of 90 of the 100 largest cities in the U.S.
Protected bike lanes are better. “There's not a city in the world that has more than 10 percent of the population cycling that doesn't have protected lanes,” says Gil Peñalosa in this article. Peñalosa is executive director of 8-80, which promotes creating livable cities filled with walkers and bikers.
Bike lanes should also be supported by other bike infrastructure like bike stations. Here are good examples from Chicago and from Washington, D.C. Programs and ordinances that require office buildings to provide bike parking and shower facilities also help to make the city greener.
What to look for:
Transport hubs
Eight out of 10 people in Metro Manila take the tricycle, bus, jeep, FX, or train. Having transport hubs will make it easier for commuters to catch their rides. It will also organize public utility vehicles so they don’t hold up traffic while loading passengers.
Transport hubs should be easy for people on foot to get to. They should be in central locations that are well connected by sidewalks.
What to watch out for:
Large parking lots or parking buildings
These are red flags that the planners think cars are more important than people. Making parking easily available promotes car use. Places that are greener tend to reduce the number of spaces available for parking.
The open space plan
The green plan shows how much of the land is set aside for green or open spaces. Not all green spaces are good, however. Private golf courses do provide trees and open spaces, but they are usually for members only (i.e., the rich). Golf courses can also act as barriers for pedestrians and force people to walk a longer way. This discourages walking and encourages more car use.
What to look for:
Green spaces that everyone can access
Every city needs a large, green, and public park like the Pasig Central Park. Parks give people a place to come together, enjoy nature, and relax. The trees in these green spaces serve as the lungs of the city and clean the air.
There should also be lots of small parks that are open to the public. They give “green breaks” to everyone.
To encourage more people to walk, there should be a park or a playground within a 10-minute walk (about 800 meters) of every household in the city. This is one of the goals under PlaNYC, New York City’s plan to be a greener city. (Project for Public Spaces lists the qualities of great parks and public spaces.)
Let's make sure these master plans put people, not cars, first.
Benjamin de la Peña is the Associate Director for Urban Development at the Rockefeller Foundation. Contact him via benjiedlp@shortmail.com or follow him on twitter @benjiedlp. The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the foundation.
Dinna Louise C. Dayao is a freelance writer and editor. You can reach her at dinnadayao@gmail.com.
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