REGIONAL PLANNING

STATE OF PHILIPPINE URBAN AND

REGIONAL PLANNING
REGIONAL PLANNING
• Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use
activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area
of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is a sub-
field of urban planning as it relates land use practices on a broader
scale. It also includes formulating laws that will guide the efficient
planning and management of such said regions.
• Regions require various land uses; protection of farmland, cities, industrial
space, transportation hubs and infrastructure, military bases, and
wilderness. Regional planning is the science of efficient placement of
infrastructure and zoning for the sustainable growth of a region. Advocates
for regional planning such as new urbanist Peter Calthorpe, promote the
approach because it can address region-wide environmental, social, and
economic issues which may necessarily require a regional focus.

• A ‘region’ in planning terms can be administrative or at least partially

functional, and is likely to include a network of settlements and character
areas. In most European countries, regional and national plans are ‘spatial’
directing certain levels of development to specific cities and towns in order
to support and manage the region depending on specific needs, for
example supporting or resisting polycentrism.
PRINCIPLES
• Specific interventions and solutions will depend entirely on the needs of each region in each
country, but generally speaking, regional planning at the macro level will seek to:

• Resist development in flood plains or along earthquake faults. These areas may be utilised as
parks, or unimproved farmland.
• Designate transportation corridors using hubs and spokes and considering major new
infrastructure
• Some thought into the various ‘role’s settlements in the region may play, for example some may
be administrative, with others based upon manufacturing or transport.
• Consider designating essential nuisance land uses locations, including waste disposal.
• Designate Green belt land or similar to resist settlement amalgamation and protect the
environment.
• Set regional level ‘policy’ and zoning which encourages a mix of housing values and communities.
• Consider building codes, zoning laws and policies that encourage the best use of the land.
The purposes of regional planning
• The primary purpose is deciding on the general distribution of new
activities and developments. This is necessarily indicated on some
map base, but the scale of regional planning and other considerations
will dictate the level of detail given in showing, for example, new
settlements, areas of commercial and economic development, placing
of linear or other major infrastructure. The time scale planned for
may also vary considerably, although at this scale a minimum of ten
years from the expected date of completion of the plan is normal. In
recent years this has often been extended by ten or even 20 years. An
example of such spatial guidance on a map base is given in Figure 1.1,
showing the key diagram of the Flanders Structure Plan, which was
finalised in 1997.
STATE OF PHILIPPINE URBAN
AND REGIONAL PLANNING
Significant People:

• DANIEL H. BURNHAM - was an American architect and urban

designer. Burnham took a leading role in the creation of master plans
for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago, Manila
and downtown Washington, D.C.
• WILLIAM E. PARSONS - was an architect and city planner known for
his works in the Philippines during the early period of American
colonization in the country. He was the successor of Burnham.
• FELINO A. PALAFOX Jr. - a prominent Filipino architect, urban planner
and environmentalist.
TERMINOLOGIES
• Poblacion – Population/ town.

• Sanitary Barrios – favorable to health; free from dirt, bacteria, etc.

• Spanish Armada – A Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in August 1588, under the
command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia

• Atu – or a Ward.

• Tagalogs – or Taga-ilog/ River dwellers.

• Maranaw – Lake dwellers.

• Balanghay – Known as Barangay.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
• Pre colonial age (Pre 15-21)
• Spanish Era
• American Era
• Post –war Period
 PRE-COLONIAL AGE
Natives' communities were either near the bodies of water or
dispersed around the land they cultivated for farming.
• There existed a kingdom of Moros located along the banks of the
Pasig 200 years prior to the coming of the Spaniards. This group of
people which was later headed by Sulayman established the city of
Manila and protected it with fortifications against the foreign
invaders. When the Spanish armada came, the Moros resisted but
were overwhelmed by the power of the former's forces. When
rebuilding the city after the ravages of war, the Spanish colonists
employed local materials, technology, and craftsmen. Some of the
known geniuses in their craft were Panday-Pira and "El Admirante." El
Admirante was commissioned to undertake the construction of the
walled city of Intramuros.
• Other groups of people around the archipelago displayed their own
distinctive patterns of planning their settlements.
SPANISH ERA
• This code, which was applied successfully to the Spanish colonies in the Americas, was known as the Laws of
the Indies. The law provided guidelines for site selection; layout and dimension of squares, streets and other
land uses; and the main phases of planning and construction. Details were also written pertaining to the
location of the principal buildings, recreation spaces, cultivation and pasture lands, and sites for garbage-
producing uses
• The law is based on the Greco-Roman Renaissance design principles, it favored the use of the gridiron
pattern in the establishment of roads and blocks. The instruction of the Laws of the Indies further aims at
providing health, safety, order, and beauty.
• In the late 16th century the Jesuits established the reducciones policy, which was aimed to gather dispersed
communities "under the bells."
• The city of Manila became the colonial Capital during the time of Legaspi. Although Spanish architects and
engineers envisioned Manila as a city of stone, she rather was developed into a city of fortification. The
Manila Bay was palisaded to protect the city from Chinese pirates [led by Limahong] and other foreign
invaders as well as the Muslim and Japanese inhabitants. This was the precedent of the construction of
Intramuros, which was a self-contained city "within walls."
• Urban design by the Spaniards left a lasting physical mark in the landscape of Philippine cities [as there was
an emphasis on the use of stones for building].
• Spanish town planning was principally done "first for the purpose of defense and second for grandeur….
Housing was not considered at all, as a public responsibility… The badly-housed were not the concern of the
municipality". Regional planning was nonexistent. What only has been done was the establishment of
hierarchy of the political territories: the country is divided into provinces [or alcaldias]; the province is
divided into pueblos; and the pueblo is further divided into barangays.
AMERICAN ERA
Daniel H. Burnham
I was commissioned to prepare the physical development plan for the cities of Manila and Baguio. Trained as
an architect and guided by the principles of the City Beautiful Movement, I envisioned the city manifesting
aesthetic elements such as wide boulevards, public edifices and landscaped parks. In the United States,
Burnham draw plans for cities like Chicago, Washington, Cleveland, and San Francisco
William E. Parsons
A man of "sound business judgment and experience," a man who can convince practical of business to "make
no little plans."
• The "super" regions shall have the following primary, though not exclusive, development themes:
• Northern Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle - Agribusiness
• Luzon Urban Beltway - Globally competitive industrial and service center
• Central Philippines - Tourism
• Agribusiness Mindanao - Agribusiness
• Cyber Corridor - Information and communication technology and knowledge economy
• In Burnham's plan, there were sites allotted for national and municipal buildings near Intramuros,
hospitals, and colleges. Spaces were also set for a world-class hotel, city and country clubs, a casino,
boat clubs, public baths, and the new residence for the Governor General. Resorts were also to be
developed near Manila but the ultimate escape during the summer season would be the city of
Baguio.
• The "super" regions of the Philippines are an informal grouping of
parts of regions and provinces of the Philippines based on their
economic strengths. According to Executive Order No. 561, which
establishes these regions,

• "These groupings neither supersede current political boundaries nor

alter the regional development councils as established by existing
laws and issuances."
• 1946 - Interior Department created local and planning commissions
composed of the Provincial Governor, district engineer, and other
local officials. The work of the new body included the survey of local
conditions and the preparation of plans to be proposed to the
Director of Public Works. Although town planning was given a boost
during this period, the practice was yet to be established as a
discipline.
• The problem during this pre-war period was that there was a limited
pool of trained city planners both in the local planning commissions
and the Bureau of Public Works.
• The Office of the President created in 1950 the National Planning
Commission [NPC]. The NPC prepared and helped administer plans
and regulations for the local government. After 1959, however, some
powers of the NPC like zoning, subdivision, and building regulation
were devolved to the city and municipal governments.
Philippine Planning Environment
The country, as all other developing nations, is affected by technological advancements in
communications and transportation. The state is also affected by social phenomena such as world
trade, capitalism, and international laws.
Globalization does not only affect a developing country economically but spatially as well. National
and local planners and leaders must appreciate this fact.
National and Local Framework
In the years immediately after the war, the government formed the National Urban Planning
Commission [NUPC]. Thereafter, another body was created: National Planning Commission. This
new organization combined the functions of the NUPC and the Capital City Planning Commission.
Successive reorganization led to the formation of the following planning bodies: Ministry of
Settlements, Task Force on Human Settlements, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating
Council, and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Local government enjoyed planning autonomy as early as 1959. Powers like zoning, subdivision, and
building regulation were devolved to the cities and municipalities from the NPC. Later, legislation
like the Local Government Code [RA 7160] and the Housing and Urban Development Act [RA 7279]
further developed the capabilities of the local government units [LGUs].
Of Land and Laws
• Executive Order 71 [1993] seeks to ensure the efficient devolution of
powers to the local government units and provide for an orderly and
smooth transition as well as definition of future relationships
between the national and local governments.
• EO 71, Executive Order 72 provides for the preparation and
implementation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plans [CLUP] for the
Local Government Units. These two executive orders aim at
complementing the Local Government Code of 1991 and other
pertinent laws. In addition, the local government can also reclassify
agricultural lands to other uses by virtue of Memorandum Circular 54
of 1993.
The Philippine Constitution of 1987
• In Section 9, it declares that "the State shall, by law, and for the common
good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing
program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at
affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to under-privileged and
homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also
promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the
implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small
property owners."
• In Section 10 it continues that "urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be
evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law and
in a just and humane manner. No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers
shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the
communities where they are to be relocated."
• The Urban Land Reform Law [PD 1517] it states that "it is the policy of
the State to liberate human communities from blight, promote their
development and modernization, and bring about the optimum use
of the land as a national resource for public welfare." Although not
clear if it repeals PD 1517, the Urban Development and Housing Act,
otherwise known as Republic Act 7279, was passed in 1992. However,
the spirit of this law is too philanthropic as it basically promises
provision of housing for the homeless citizens.
• Presidential Decree 957 of 1976, which mandates the protection of
subdivision and condominium buyers.
• [PD 1344] was enacted empowering the National Housing
Authority[NHA] to regulated and police the real estate trade and
business.
• In 1982, Batas Pambansa 220 authorized the Ministry of Settlements
to urge the private sector to provide "economic and socialized
housing" for the middle and lower income earners.
• Issues pertaining to land use include the land reclassification and
conversion to other use. Executive Order 124 of 1993 serves as a
guide to the procedure of land evaluation for conversion.
• Aside from reacting to the issues of land of land use, the Congress
was also quick to answer the problems posed by the real estate
developers. The response was the Executive Order 184, which is a
directive to create socialized housing center one-stop processing
centers to facilitate the processing and issuance of permits,
clearances, certifications, and licenses appropriate and necessary for
the implementation of socialized housing projects.
• The problem of squatting or the unlawful occupation of land duly
owned by another person or organization is another problem faced
by city planners. In 1997, Republic Act 8368 repealed Republic Act
772, which is entitled "Penalizing Squatting and Other Similar Acts."
The new law, which was passed during the Ramos administration,
decriminalizes squatting in all its forms.
• A strategy for building up capability for regional planning and
development is the establishment of an authority that will administer
the development of a special region. This idea is exemplified by
Republic Act 7924, which is "an act creating the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority [MMDA], defining its powers and functions,
providing funds therefore and for other purposes." The powers of the
MMDA include development [physical] planning, transport and traffic
management, solid waste disposal and management, flood control
and sewage management, urban renewal and zoning, health and
sanitation, and upholding of public safety.
Social Planning
• Laws like the Clean Air Act and others were passed to answer these
problems, but there has been a lag in their implementation.
Physical Planning
• In the cities of other countries, rivers and other bodies of water were
an important element of the city. Filipino planners and leaders
possessed and understood the same vision, the cities across the
archipelago would have been developed into urban satellites enjoying
commercially viable ports.
Issues that the Urban and Regional Planning
facing today.
STRATEGIES IN URBAN PLANNING
• The "super" regions of the Philippines are an informal grouping of
parts of regions and provinces of the Philippines based on their
economic strengths. According to Executive Order No. 561, which
establishes these regions,

• "These groupings neither supersede current political boundaries nor

alter the regional development councils as established by existing
laws and issuances."
• The "super" regions shall have the following primary, though not exclusive, development
themes:

• • Northern Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle - Agribusiness

• • Luzon Urban Beltway - Globally competitive industrial and service center

• • Central Philippines - Tourism

• • Agribusiness Mindanao - Agribusiness

• • Cyber Corridor - Information and communication technology and knowledge economy

TENKYUUUUUUUUUUUUUU 