Improve Urban Planning

[rael]

'Gov't, private developers liable for flood damage'

MANILA - Government agencies and private developers are jointly liable for the massive loss of life and property in several Metro Manila cities for practicing poor urban planning and allowing commercial and residential structures to be built in flood-prone areas, according to "green" architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr.

Palafox said a 1977 World Bank-funded study identified Marikina Valley, the western shores of Laguna de Bay, and the Manila Bay coastal area as among development areas that should prepare for flooding, earthquakes and possible changes in topography.

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"We are always reacting to crisis. It bothered me when I saw these reports and pictures and people are saying it's an act of God. It's not. It's us not following the plans and proposals. If you are an urban planner, an environmental planner, these have been planned as early as 1905," he said.

He said that to address the problem of flooding, the government should consider "vertical urbanism" and build more high-rises instead of "horizontal urbanism."

He criticized the lack of coordination among government agencies and cited the EDSA corridor as a prime example of how urban planning has failed in the Philippines.

"I did a study in Harvard on the EDSA corridor on how not to do a city. You have high-transit stations surrounded by low-gated communities and low-density military camps. How do you make people walk to it?" he said.

He said that to address the problem of climate change and future flooding in the Philippines, urban planners should start redesigning cities in the country by looking at the lessons of the past and seeing what other countries are doing.

"In a crisis like this, it's an opportunity to be creative and learn. Technology can address these problems," he said. With a report from Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News

better urban planning, better road systems... rehab the metro!

[MaxAJ]

better urban planning, better road systems... rehab the metro!

not just that overhaul the human resource dept of the government, and give more benefits to their employees yet do a constant investigation , this includes undercover method, to kick out the rotten fruit- i.e. the corrupt and lazy government people