Thesis La132 Squatters

__Centrinel Park: Prevention Of Extra-Legal Development In Cemeteries In Quezon City

CUSTODIO 2011 Page 1

Centrinel Park:

Prevention Of Extra-Legal Development In Cemeteries In Quezon City

A Mini Thesis

Presented to

The Department of Landscape Architecture

College of Architecture

University of the Philippines, Diliman

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Landscape Architecture

Liselle M. Custodio

200805059

3rd

Year, 2010-2011



Table of Contents

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………2

List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………..

List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………

List of Appendices……………………………………………………………………..

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………

Thesis Executive Summary……………………………………………………………

PART I. THE PROBLEM

1. Introduction...........................................................................................

a. Background of the Study ………………………………………………….4

b. Problem ……………………………………………………………………5

i. Statement of the problem…………………………………………..5

ii. Objectives of the Study and the Thesis…………………………….6

iii. Goal………………………………………………………………...6

iv. Scope and Limitations……………………………………………..7

v. Significance of the study…………………………………………...7

2. Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………….

a. Review of Related Literature………………………………………………8

b. Theories Bearing on the Problem………………………………………….

3. Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………………

a. Design Philosophy…………………………………………………………

b. Landscape Architectural Design Concepts………………………………..

4. Research Design……………………………………………………………………

a. Description of the Sources of Data…………………………………………

b. Research Methodology……………………………………………………

c. Description of Instruments used……………………………………………

d. Data gathering procedures…………………………………………………



PART II. THE FINDINGS

I. Site Selection Criteria ……………………………………………………………

II. Site Inventory and Analysis/Interpretation………………………………………..

PART III. SYNTHESIS OF DATA AND ANALYSIS INTO A DESIGN SOLUTION

I. Space Programming………………………………………………………………..

II. Site Development Plan and Write-up……………………………………………..

III. General Sections and Write-up……………………………………………………

IV. Details……………………………………………………………………………..

V. Perspective………………………………………………………………………..

PART IV. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, REVISIONS, SUGGESTED

READINGS

I. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………

II. Recommendations…………………………………………………………………

III. Revisions and Jury Comments/Recommendations………………………………..

IV. Suggested Readings………………………………………………………………

Author‟s Biography………………………………………………………………………

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………

Dedication(s)……………………………………………………………………………



Background of the Study

Quezon City, a center for economic, political, social, educational, and cultural activities1,

encompasses the essence of urbanization in Metro Manila2. Unfortunately, this growth has

resulted into a decay of its own physical environment3 in response to the Filipino‟s

modernization, and quest for a better life2.

The city, once dreamt by former president Manuel L. Quezon as a paradise for working

men4, has evolved into a hub where personal interests are promulgated and public concerns are

forsaken. It is unable to comply with the demands of the people, especially the poor Filipinos

who migrated to fulfill their dreams of a more convenient and comfortable life. Lack of welfare

for these unfortunate Filipinos has ill-conceived illegal settlers, the stagnant social class whose

population is alarmingly increasing. Such development manifested the so called urban decay

wherein pollution, crime, and costs for living are rising, inducing great discomfort to its

inhabitants3. Increase in density and expansion of urban fringes in Quezon City easily makes its

environment congested forcing inhabitants to occupy agricultural lands and open spaces2.

Urbanization has left Quezon City depleted of its beauty and ardor.

However, there has been a growing need for urban outdoor spaces from the inhabitants of

Quezon City5. This need has spurred from the want to maximize social activity of everyday

living. It has been known that whenever exterior conditions are optimal, the probability of social

1 Ballesteros, Marife Magno. Land Use Planning in Metro Manila and the Urban Fringe. Discussion paper, Makati City: PIDS Philippine

Institute for Development Studies, June 2000.

2 Oreta, Andres. "Safe Cities." Profile, Quezon City, 2007.

3 Banfield, Edward. The Unheavenly City Revision. Canada: Little, Brown, 1974.

4 Quezonian Newsletter. "Quezon City Saga." Quezonian Newsletter, 2010: 4-9.

5 Gamil, Jaymee. "500,000 party at spruced up Rizal Park." The Inquirer, January 02, 2011:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=312087.



interaction genuinely increases6. This relationship is particularly important to the design of a

landscape for a society where social interaction is a vital part of culture. This renewed public

interest in developing the urban physical environment is critical and should be utilized to

revitalize Quezon City of its former glory.

Problem Statement

Urban open spaces in Quezon City are often located in contestable areas, prone to illegal

expansion and use as per zoning guidelines. These landscape spaces are further diminished by

inappropriate development and lack of physical security. There is a need to create urban open

spaces that are secured with appropriate landscape elements and can satisfy the needs of the

population with incidental improvement in its economic value.

Sub-problems

1. What are the forms of illegal and inappropriate use and development of urban and

land resources in Quezon City?

2. What are the existing strategies of preventing illegal settlers from using and

developing in contestable areas in Quezon City?

3. How can these existing strategies be improved?

4. What alternative strategies can landscape design provide to prevent illegal use and

development of remaining open spaces in Quezon City?

6 Gehl, Jan. "Outdoor Space and Outdoor Activities." In Sustainable Urban Development: Urban Reader Series, by M. Wheeler and Timothy

Beatley, 81-85. New York: Routledge, 2004.



Objective of the Study

1. Identify legal basis which serve evidence of inappropriate use of open spaces in

Quezon City.

2. Identify the flaws of existing strategies in the prevention of the expansion of illegal

settlers in urban open spaces.

3. Introduce alternative design solutions in the prevention of the expansion of illegal

settlers in urban open spaces.

4. Recommend design solutions that shall maximize use of available resources to create

favorable landscapes.

Goal of the Study

Most doctors say that prevention is better than cure. That is where the inspiration for this

thesis comes from. The propagation of illegal settlers in Quezon City may be a side effect of its

urbanization but it should not be tolerated so easily. The expansion of these shantytowns worsens

the city‟s urban health but providing an acceptable solution would be very expensive. Therefore,

prevention and delimitation of illegal settlers should be done instead. The goal of this thesis is to

provide a landscape design strategy that will enable urban open spaces to prevent illegal use and

development through its very landscape.



Scope and Limitations

The study is limited to the application of Quezon City, although almost inseparable from

the rest of the Metro Region, as it is aimed to pursue the needs of a specific community (in this

case, citizens of Quezon City). It is also limited to strategies in prevention as providing a solution

to the existence of shantytowns involves countless disciplines and requires credible experience in

social welfare development. The researcher also chooses to delimit the study in order to conform

to the given schedule.

Significance of the Study

Planning in its barest essence is a direct intervention by the government which sets the

direction, the scale, and the pattern of urbanization7 of a place. Quezon City, being a center for

commerce, education, business, and governance, has to establish a face that shall embody the

best qualities of a Filipino and the Philippines. However, it is impossible to deny that the former

Filipinos in-charge have understated the concept of town planning into mere beautification rather

than management of land and urban resources7. This study, although limited by a very narrow

scope in urban planning, deals with the design and development of strategies that will protect

urban open spaces, idle lots, and remaining agricultural lands from informal settling, illegal use,

and development. It also aims to integrate strategies into the design of the landscape in the

context of finding positive ways of dealing with informal settlers. The study also serves the

interest of the public, considers the environment, and may become a basis for new policies





concerning urban development especially in areas dealing with the urban poor. Overall, the

significance of the study was to improve the urban health of the city even in the slightest manner.

The researcher believes that the improvement of Quezon City, an important contributor to the

country‟s economic performance, will lead to the betterment of the Philippines.

Related Literature and Studies

To fully understand the situation of the study, it is necessary to review related topics that

shall provide greater insight, valuable data, and thoughtful analysis. The researcher believes that

readings about urban planning, materials describing the nature of Quezon City, and articles

concerning the situation of the urban poor deserve to be mentioned in relation to the study.

Urbanization

What do we really mean by urbanization? Urbanization is a product of the world‟s

modernization and industrialization wherein people, encouraged to live in places of necessity (i.e.

work, school, hospital, government buildings), migrate from rural areas that give rise to a growth

in city population. This population increase would later on cause a „congestion8‟. Congestions

are situations wherein the density of a place becomes intolerable. This congestion prompts a

governing body to several choices of action, one of which was to „eliminate congestion8‟ by

expansion. Urbanization, in the simplest terms, is city growth.

8 Banfield, Edward. The Unheavenly City Revision. Canada: Little, Brown, 1974.



There are three imperatives that affect metropolitan growth: demographics, technology,

and economics. Demographics should be considered, as population determines the demand of

urbanization. If the population increases, urbanization is inevitable. Technology, on the other

hand, determines the direction of the expansion. The city shall expand either upward or outward

depending on the availability of the technology in transportation and building construction.

Economics is critical, as this determines the distribution of income and capacity of the

population to avail new housing and provide funds for city development. It is necessary to

change these three imperatives that comprise the logic that shapes the pattern of the city.

The typical model for urban growth is concerned with the migration of the poor and rich

population. The poor population moves inwards while the rich moves outward. It is necessary for

the poor to live in areas that shall satisfy their basic needs with less cost rather than consider the

quality of life in the congested city centers. The rich, on the other hand, could afford the time and

expense to travel from an area that is of more quality. This movement results into a continuous

degradation of the city center while its urban fringes continuously expand outward. The decay is

very evident in land use wherein the lots previously owned by the rich were subdivided into

smaller lots to accommodate the needs of the poorer population. Another usual pattern in land

use would be the conversion of zones dedicated to agriculture or open spaces into residences.

This change in urban environment effects into a city where pollution, crime, taxes, costs, and

discomfort continually increases. This may not always be the case in which cities form but may

serve as an example on how these three imperatives of metropolitan growth functions.



Urbanization of Quezon City

Quezon City was created on October 12, 1932 in compliance of the Commonwealth Act

no. 502. It became the capital of the country on July 17, 1948 under the Republic Act no. 3339.

The city was unified with the rest of the Metropolitan Region which assumed the city‟s function

of capital of the Philippines. It has a population of 2.8 million, third largest in the country10

,

wherein 42-45% belong to the social class of the urban poor11

.

The urban planning of the metropolitan region has dated back to the Spanish occupation.

The application of the “plaza complex” in cities is a common feat. These town planning

strategies were codified into ordinances which provided guidelines for site selection, road layout,

and lot dimensions. During the American occupation, urban planning became a very apparent

sign of American reign in the country. They have provided cities with plans created by famous

American architects and gave emphasis on road systems, port facilities, zoning of industrial and

residential locations, and open spaces for parks and recreation. Unfortunately, the Filipino had a

difficulty understanding that urban planning was not for mere aesthetics, and that it has a direct

effect on the growth of city in economical and social aspects. Quezon recognized that the

physical development of the city also determines pattern of development in other fields.

―I dream of a capital city that, politically shall be the seat of the national government;

aesthetically the showplace of the nation – a place that thousands of people will come and visit

as the epitome of culture and spirit of the country; socially, a dignified concentration of human

life, aspirations and endeavors and achievements; and economically, as a productive, selfcontained

community.‖ — President Manuel L. Quezon In his address before the members of the

National Assembly September 18, 1939.


10 Local Government of Quezon City. www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.ph (accessed January 8, 2011).

11 Espino, Romeo, interview by Liselle Custodio. Informal Settler in Quezon City (January 10, 2011).



Quezon City was born of the social justice philosophy of President Quezon. He wished

for the laborers or employees not only a little more food in his stomach and a little more clothe

on his back, but also a stronger roof over his head and a healthier environment. He envisioned a

paradise for workingmen--- dwellings with all the comforts of sanitation and with playgrounds

hear-by for children, to be constructed by the government and given in sale or lease to the

laborers or employees at cost12

.

Frost Plan of Quezon City13

| Open spaces and Agricultural lands are still present in the city plan.


13 Cardenas, Kenneth. Quezon City Plan by Frost. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlq3/3986635874/, 2010.



Quezon City today was far from once originally envisioned. It is neither a paradise nor a

place that would feed the Filipinos basic needs. It has degraded itself into a highly urbanized

expanse deplete of agricultural lands and open spaces.

Quezon City Zoning Map of 201114

| Land Use in chaos

14 Local Government of Quezon City. Land Use Plan of Quezon City. Quezon City, 2010.



Satellite Maps of Quezon City

15 | Top shows how the boundaries for Quezon City are not define

Bottom shows a closer view to the congested city center.

15 Google Earth, Map Link. Quezon City Satellite Map. Quezon City, Jan 7, 2011.



The Urban Poor

Cities are centers of inequalities among the people; places where social classes are

defined and utilized by those in power16

. Quezon City is infamous place where the local

government is unable to prioritize the interest of the public above the interest of the richer

minority. This has resulted into various consequences, one of which is the rapid growth of

shantytowns in the metropolis.

Shanties, the urban poor occupying lands in extra-legal conditions, consist 42-45% of the

population in Quezon City. Most of them are occupying idle public and private lots, waterways,

floodplains, road lots, agricultural lands, bridges, railroads, utility structures, cemetaries and

multiple other types of properties where a makeshift home can be built. Poverty in these areas

range from the slightest to the extreme conditions, but most are without access to legal

acquisition of utility services17

. Communities of illegal settlers are usually governed by

syndicates, criminal enterprises, or politicians who exploit the poor man‟s ignorance13, 14

. The

problem regarding their relocation has been a constant vex to the local government. This stems

from the abuse of the “Lina Law” or the RA 727918

, and legal pluralism13

. The Filipino public

has adapted this legal pluralism, tolerating the illegal actions of fellow men and accepting it as a

reality in life. The illegal settlers have found a way to use poverty to defend their personal

interests. This has caused several others in poverty to adapt to the culture of “franchising” the

image of the poor to the point of earning from this image and forcing a conclusion in favor of

their personal interests (i.e. professional shanties claiming disturbance fees, misguided side-

16 Crawford, Colin. "OUR BANDIT FUTURE?: Cities, Shantytowns, and Climate Change Governance." FORDHAM URB. L.J., 2009: 212-226.

17 Espino, Romeo, interview by Liselle Custodio. Informal Settler in Quezon City (January 10, 2011).

18 Local Government of Quezon City. www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.ph (accessed January 8, 2011).



agreements, forced collaborative social housing projects, and out of court settlements). The poor

has found a way to pursue personal interests like how the social minority of the rich interests

promulgated in the city after the World War II19

.

Growing Need for Outdoor Spaces

However, there has been a growing need for urban outdoor spaces from the inhabitants of

Quezon City20

. The attendance of half a million Filipinos at Rizal Park in Manila is proof to this

emerging need. This has been attributed to the Filipinos love for recreation and celebration21

. It

has also been observed that the betterment of environment has a direct relationship to the

reduction of crime and violence in the city22

. According to the Recreational Outdoor Exchange in

Fort Boni, future of outdoor recreation in the Philippines is immense. The growth of airlines

reaching different areas in Philippines is proof to its immensity. Unfortunately, this love for

outdoors cannot be enjoyed in the vicinity of the city. The type of recreation enjoyed in the city

was to enjoy it in illustrious schools, malls, and private sports complexes. Current situation only

implies that the city is unable to provide for the poor and the luxury of outdoor recreation is

exclusively for the well-off.

It is recognizable that this need for outdoor recreation has spurred from the

modernization of the social landscape of Filipinos. Social activity, aside from the necessary ones,

has been considered as an optional activity or plainly a want. However, the emergence of



20 Gamil, Jaymee. "500,000 party at spruced up Rizal Park." The Inquirer, January 02, 2011:


21 Recreational Outdoor Exchange. "Meet the Great Outdoors." Sunday Inquirer Magazine, April 19, 2009:

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sundaymagazine/

22 Oreta, Andres. "Safe Cities." Profile, Quezon City, 2007.



multiple technologies in communication has made this want into a need. Filipinos has established

a love of social activity, even without physical presence in communication. The urban outdoor

space is one solution to bring physical presence back to the Filipino‟s standard of social activity.

Exterior conditions such as streetscapes, parks, and pedestrian walkways when in good state

increase the probability of social interaction23

.

Poor Good

Necessary Activities

Optional Activities

Resultant Activities (Social

Activities)

Quality of Physical Environment

This need for social activity can be maximized to better everyday living. Relationship

like such is particularly important to the design of a landscape for a society where social

interaction is a vital part of culture. This renewed public interest in developing the urban physical

environment is critical and should be utilized to revitalize Quezon City of its imagined glory.

23 Gehl, Jan. "Outdoor Space and Outdoor Activities." In Sustainable Urban Development: Urban Reader Series, by M. Wheeler and Timothy

Beatley, 81-85. New York: Routledge, 2004.



Bibliography

Ballesteros, Marife Magno. Land Use Planning in Metro Manila and the Urban Fringe. Discussion

paper, Makati City: PIDS Philippine Institute for Development Studies, June 2000.

Banfield, Edward. The Unheavenly City Revision. Canada: Little, Brown, 1974.

Cardenas, Kenneth. Quezon City Plan by Frost. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlq3/3986635874/, 2010.

Crawford, Colin. "OUR BANDIT FUTURE?: Cities, Shantytowns, and Climate Change Governance."

FORDHAM URB. L.J., 2009: 212-226.

Espino, Romeo, interview by Liselle Custodio. Informal Settler in Quezon City (January 10, 2011).

Gamil, Jaymee. "500,000 party at spruced up Rizal Park." The Inquirer, January 02, 2011:


Gehl, Jan. "Outdoor Space and Outdoor Activities." In Sustainable Urban Development: Urban Reader

Series, by M. Wheeler and Timothy Beatley, 81-85. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Google Earth, Map Link. Quezon City Satellite Map. Quezon City, Jan 7, 2011.

Local Government of Quezon City. www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.ph (accessed January 8, 2011).

Local Government of Quezon City. Land Use Plan of Quezon City. Quezon City, 2010.

Moral, Cheche. "Gearing Up Pinoys For the Great Outdoors." The Inquirer, November 06, 2007:

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/you/2bu/view_article.php?article_id=99240.

Oreta, Andres. "Safe Cities." Profile, Quezon City, 2007.

Philippine Congress, 1992. "Urban Development and Housing Act; RA 7279." 1992.

Quezon City Data and Statistics. Quezon City Data and Statistics. Data and Statistics, Quezon City:

Quezon City Hall, 1993.

Quezonian Newsletter. "Quezon City Saga." Quezonian Newsletter, 2010: 4-9.

Rabinovitch, Jonas, and Josef Leitman. "Urban Planning in Curitiba." In Sustainable Urban

Development: Urban Reader Series, by M. Wheeler and Timothy Beatley, 237-248. New York:

Routledge, 2004.

Recreational Outdoor Exchange. "Meet the Great Outdoors." Sunday Inquirer Magazine, April 19, 2009:

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sundaymagazine/sundayinqmag/view_article.php?article_id=200180.

Winston, Anne. "City and Nature." In Sustainable Urban Development: Urban Reader Series, by M.

Wheeler and Timothy Beatly, 113-115. New York: Routledge, 2004.

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Thesis La132 Squatters