CITY HALL

A city is a place, in particular a large town, where many people live and work near
each other. In most parts of the world a city is a specific geographic and political entity. A
city which in Tagalog is Lungsod or siyudad is one of the local government units in the
Philippines.

A city is entitled to and at least have one representative (which will be the Mayor and
Councilors) in the House of Representatives if its population reaches 250,000. Cities can use
a common seal. And as a corporate entity, cities have the power to take, purchase, receive,
hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for its general interests,
condemn private property for public use, contract and be contracted with, sue and exercise
all the powers conferred to it by Congress.

A city's local government is headed by a mayor elected by popular vote. The vice
mayor serves as the presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council), which
serves as the city's legislative body. Cities also receive a full complement of executive
departments to better serve their constituents.

A City Hall is a municipal building, and is the chief administrative building of a city,
town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city or town council, its associated
departments, and their employees. It also usually functions as the base of the Mayor of a city.

In the mid-century, a single large open chamber hall formed an integral part of the
building housing the council. The hall may be used for council meetings and other significant
events. This large chamber has become synonymous with the whole building, and with the
administrative body housed in it.

As symbols of local government, city and town halls have distinctive architecture, and
the buildings may have great historical significance. City hall buildings may also serve as
cultural icons that symbolize each city.
Difference between Component City and Main City

Component City

o Cities which do not meet the preceding requirements are deemed part of the province
in which they are geographically located.
o If a component city is located along the boundaries of two or more provinces, it shall
be considered part of the province of which it used to be a municipality.
o Examples of component cities are Laoag City, Tuguegarao City, Tarlac City, Batangas
City, Legazpi City, and Roxas City.
o Component cities has a second-level administrative divisions for educational
convenience and simplicity.
o A component city, while enjoying relative autonomy on some matters compared to a
regular municipality, is still considered part of a province.
o Some component cities form their own congressional representation, separate from
their province.
o Being part of an administrative region different from the province; for example,
Isabela City functions as a component city of Basilan: its tax revenues are shared with
the provincial government, its residents are eligible to both vote and run for
provincial offices, and it is served by the provincial government and the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan of Basilan with regard to provincially devolved services.

Main city

o Main City or mostly known as the Highly Urbanized Cities.

o Highly urbanized cities or HUCs are cities with a minimum population of 200,000
inhabitants, as certified by the PSA or Philippine Statistics Authority, and with the
latest annual income of at least ₱50,000,000 based on 1991 constant prices, as
certified by the city treasurer.
o Regardless of whether their respective charters allowed them to vote for
provincial officials or not, highly urbanized cities were no longer allowed to vote
for provincial officials.
 o There are currently 33 highly urbanized cities in the Philippines, 16 of which are
in Metro Manila.
o Cities declared as highly urbanized, has been permitted residents to both vote and
run for elective positions in the provincial government.
o Highly within Metro Manila are considered highly urbanized.

Common Problems of City Halls

1. No Urban Planning
The issue of lack of urban planning in the Philippines is so relevant these days.
Usually, the location of the Main City Hall here in the Philippines is not convenient. It
is hardly linked to transport, there is poor connectivity. There is also little space to
expand, especially in Metro Manila. Other countries have lay bays or docks for buses
that are separate from the traffic flow, here in our country, public utility vehicles stop
anywhere and disrupt the flow. These small inconveniences have gone a long way.
2. Neglected Sustainability
The thermal comfort has been taken for granted. Mostly in public buildings,
when you step into a building, you realize it’s hot because of poor ventilation. Most
public buildings rely in Air Conditioning things but didn’t think about reduction of
dependence in power grid in favor of solar panels. There are many new technologies
that can make a building last through the years while reducing the carbon footprint.
3. Sharing services
Mixed uses spaces within public function buildings can make most efficient
use of resources and could create an inherently sustainable outcome. Such buildings
might also extend opening hours, which leads to better supervision of external spaces
and richer community engagement. Public realm can create a setting for a public
building, an expression of people being invited into the space, and an expression of
its function expanding beyond the walls of the building. Public realm can create a
setting for a public building, an expression of people being invited into the space, and
an expression of its function expanding beyond the walls of the building.
4. Managing the negative impact of large-scale parking area

Big areas of parking and servicing is highly required in a large public building like City
Hall. It that attracts the substantial visitor that can make an impression of a public realm.
This is very important because a car park is the first area that visitors and even the
employees will encounter when arriving. Most city halls don’t have enough spaces for the
car parks, most of the employees were leaving their cars far from the city hall and still
pay a fee for it. It is one of a hustle things in a City halls or even other public buildings
here in the Philippines.

5. Reuse of existing buildings to retain its identity.

Public buildings can form an important part in the identity of a town or city. Adaptive
reuse of significant existing buildings, through skillful combination of new and old
elements, it helps preserves the cultural memory and character of a place that is known
in a town or city. And City hall is one of the best examples of this because City hall is the
main public space in every city, it is one of the oldest building in a specific region. It is
important to preserve the cultural identity of the building to create a unique and fluid
architecture and really preserves surrounding environment.
Solutions
1. Balancing interests of vehicles and pedestrians

• Transport System improvement. Providing a

good transport system can help make every landmark
(ex: City Halls, parks, plaza’s) be more livable and less
hustle for both employees, constituents, and visitors.

• Improve public transportation system by bus and jeepneys by assigning specific

loading and unloading area and provide and follow scheduled time of departure
and arrival on each stop. Consider providing air-conditioned buses and jeepneys.

• Consider providing air-conditioned buses and jeepneys. This way, not only
accessibility is improved but comfort, as well, especially that the Philippines is a
tropical and humid country. These vehicles must always be on excellent running
condition to minimize delay affecting traffic situations.
Modern Jeepney in the City of Taguig

2. The open green spaces also become a strategy of sustaining our cities in the long run.
• Open space can either be public or private. We’d want to disabuse people’s minds
— public space is not only government-owned, but also not only public land. One
of the best examples is the Ilo-ilo City Hall which the capital city has just
inaugurated its first green building.

The Visayas Islands in the

Philippines are gradually
embracing renewable energy.
Having a features a roof topped
with solar panels that will save
$17,000 per year and prevent
36 metric tons of carbon
dioxidebeing pumped into the
atmosphere.
 • The building’s solar roof will provide enough electricity to power all of the air
conditioning units on the building’s entire seventh floor, and a rainwater
harvesting system placed on top of the building will provide water for the City
Hall’s toilets.
• New energy conservation programs have already helped lower power
consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in the city.

3. Richer community engagement.

• Community architects are also commonly
bound by the desire to contribute to society by
becoming part of the larger process of change.
• Preserving the cultural significance of a
city by designing with accordance to the design of
the said place. One of the best examples is the
Manila City Hall which is built in American
Colonial period design by Architect Antonio
Toledo which expresses a late Spanish designs
concepts that is similar to the neighboring
structures in manila like in Intramuros.
4. Big areas of parking and servicing is highly required in a large public building.
• A solution that is part of an overall landscape proposal and which responds to
the significance of the place and its setting can be developed, for example by
creating a series of compact car parking areas or using art and / or lighting to
define a series of character zones and assist wayfinding to and from a venue
from areas that are a distance away.
• Potential for shared parking between neighboring facilities may also be
advantageous in terms of making best use of available resources and space.
 5. Adaptive reuse of significant existing buildings (Reviving Historic Structures in The
Philippines With Adaptive Reuse)
Whilst providing modern usable and accessible
facilities to meet the needs and aspirations of the client and
community. Reuse of existing fabric may also allow more of
a project’s budget to become available to improve the
quality of the internal spaces, public realm, and entrance.
New additions to existing buildings should be addressed in
a homogenous manner considering appropriate massing,
scale and materials to respect and compliment the
character of existing buildings and parts being retained.

Examples of adaptive reuse in the country include the Old

Legislative Building and Department of Finance, now the
National Art Gallery and the Museum of the Filipino People, component museums of the
National Museum. The Department of Tourism (former Department of Agriculture) will soon
be transformed into the Museum of Natural Sciences with Architect Dominic Galicia leading
the team that will retrofit this old building to house the new museum.
Accessibility
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References:

• PAs and Cities. (n.d.). PAs and Cities. Retrieved May 4, 2021, from
https://bmb.gov.ph/index.php/urban-biodiversity-conservation/pas-and-cities
• Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 24). List of cities in the Philippines. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_the_Philippines
• Wikipedia contributors. (2021b, April 29). Cities of the Philippines. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_of_the_Philippines#Classification
• Wang, L. (2014, November 3). Atelier Sacha Cotture Clads Filipino Courtyard House in

Low-Cost Bamboo and Solar Panels. Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture,

Green Building. https://inhabitat.com/atelier-sacha-cotture-clads-filipino-courtyard-

house-in-low-cost-bamboo-and-solar-panels/

• T. (2021, May 4). 7 Colonial Architecture in Manila. Colonial Architecture in Manila.

https://travelsalad.blogspot.com/2016/07/7-colonial-architecture-in-manila.html