Sidewalks, essential to pedestrians, seem to have been disregarded in most Metro Manila streets, resulting in chaos as vehicles and people share the same space.
An urban planner lamented to Nosy Tarsee that most streets in the metro would get a minus-one rating out of a possible 10 in community design since many sidewalks are gone, either blocked by posts or converted to private parking spots. The practice is not allowed in most countries, but here it’s common.
The expert city designer said the Building Code requires sidewalks with a minimum width of 1.2 meters, or roughly four feet, wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
The standard was set 50 to 60 years ago, when buildings were smaller. Today, in dense areas, sidewalks should match the scale of the surrounding structures.
In Singapore and Tokyo, sidewalks in central business districts are at least four to five meters wide, a standard seen only on Ayala Avenue.
It took 20 years to reconfigure Makati’s CBD to make it more pedestrian-friendly. Salcedo and Legazpi Villages were initially designed as residential zones, but were later turned commercial.
Even then, the sidewalks were long and the blocks massive, so it could take 30 minutes to walk between those areas.
Rebuilding involves reducing road width, a practice called a “road diet.” For instance, in Ortigas, the center island of Emerald Avenue was removed and sidewalks were widened by 1.5 meters on each side. Narrower lanes also slow down cars, making roads safer for pedestrians.
Other countries even close certain streets entirely and convert them to pedestrian plazas — like Trafalgar Square in London and République in Paris. The only people who complain are private car owners.
Singapore solved this by introducing congestion pricing 30 years ago — you pay to enter the city center.
“Our main problem isn’t a lack of planning; it’s that our plans are never followed. We’ve had at least 12 master plans for Manila since 1905, starting with Daniel Burnham’s plan (the same man who designed Chicago and Washington, D.C),” the urban expert noted.
“No plan was implemented. The Metro Manila Commission under Imelda Marcos even created a detailed master plan to address flooding, but only half of it was built. That’s why it still floods today.
“People assume we never planned anything, but that’s not true. We had good plans, they were just poorly executed.”
“Our solutions are always Band-aid fixes, not long term. And yes, that’s why it’s called planning — you anticipate problems before they happen,” the urban expert whispered to Nosy Tarsee.