MUPD 601 Term Paper

Mandaluyong, one of the Key Cities of the Philippines and one of the Economic Capital in Commerce and
Business having Large Companies in its Urban Areas such as Asian Development Bank, Banco De Oro and
San Miguel Corporation to name a few. One of its notable Urban Area is the Ortigas Center along EDSA
having large companies and Shopping Malls as magnets to the developments.
With the current Land Area of 21.26 sqkm and having a current population of 425,758 people at 20,000
people per sqkm, the City of Madaluyong started as part of the Kingdom of Namayan with Lakan Takhan
and grew rapidly due to its geographic location. It was once part of Tondo Province and one of the
baluarte of the Katipunans and lifted as a 1 st Class Municipality and, later, recognized as Highly Urban
Area as it separated with the Tondo Province, Rizal Province and, later, become part of the Metro
Manila. Due to its geographic location, major roads and highways shaped the city to its current form.
EDSA Highway played a major role to its development with the advent of the public transportation and
infrastructure projects, thus, making the City of Mandaluyong a Transit – Oriented Development City. Its
Corporate Towers, Shopping Malls and Major Developments are all in proximity with the Transit Stops of
MRT and Bus Stops.
As we faced the Pandemic and the future of City Development, many people, trend and approaches
move towards Greening, becoming healthier and becoming more Environmentally Responsible. For us to
determine Strategies we can recommend to Mandaluyong to make it green, we’ll be inspecting 3 of its
Factors that can make Mandaluyong a Green City.
Walkability. Mandaluyong City, being a Transit – Oriented Development, many of its roads are all
designed for cars. Its highways provide limited pedestrian crossing, wider roads for private vehicles and
parking area. Though, some of its City Center provides enough space for pedestrian access, still a
majority of its area specially the heavily populated areas are not walk – friendly areas. In a walk –
friendly environment, we need to consider 4 things, (1) the reason to walk or the balance of use, (2) the
safe walk or the reliability and perception, (3) the comfortable walk or the space and orientation, and (4)
the interesting walk or the signs of humanity. With these 4 elements of a walkable city, it is very vital for
the City of Mandaluyong to convert their roads into a more pedestrian friendly road, providing lanes for
bicycle, people and greeneries. Its Urban Area is a great point to start on, not only making its road more
pedestrian friendly but also adding pedestrian infrastructure such as bike parking, sitting areas, jogging
lanes, and more public spaces.
Transportation and Emission. Being as Transit – Oriented Development, transportation is one of the key
driver of development and also a key factor for it to becoming green community. Infrastructure for
Public Transportation is one of many solutions on this matter, making lesser vehicle emissions on the
road by encouraging public transportation for everyone. However, MRT, busses and jeep are not enough
for a Highly Urbanized City to move from one place to another. Subways, Overhead Walkways and
Parkways are some solutions we can introduce for walking distance mobility and strategic routing for
the longer travels.
Social Interaction and Public Spaces. This is something the whole Philippines is lacking and one of the
reason and elements to make the City breathe and be more organic. Human, as a social animal, needed
social interactions as much as possible. And how can we interact with one another physically if there are
lack of public spaces for interaction and cultural promotion? So it is a great recommendation for the City
of Mandaluyong and for the rest of the cities of the Philippines to take into consideration having large
areas and number of Activated Public Spaces. Not only a public space but Green Activated Public Spaces.
We can turn every sidewalk into activated public spaces by making it open as building extensions to
streel level building activities such as restaurants, chops, coffees, and the likes. We can turn every
ground floor or a part of every building to become activated public spaces so that, not only we can make
the city breathe, the private also helps the public in creating public spaces for the city. The building also
breathes on the process and thus making and creating micro environment for the building and for the
city.
So, to wrap the idea up, achieving Green in the City of Mandaluyong is not far from reality. We just need
to plan and act on it faster. A Strategic Plan is good for us to be guided on every move we make, and a
faster small actions or projects with respect to the long term plans are needed because we cannot force
the city to evolve overnight. But with the Strategic Plan, and small but faster projects, we can make the
City of Mandaluyong a green city.

Arch. Lorenzo M Estoye