Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Osmeña: Master plan for Metro Cebu By Antonio V. Osmeña Estatements
THE different cultural behaviors of political leaders in Cebu make it difficult, or even impossible, to implement a master plan program.
To illustrate, Cebu City Mayor Tom Osmeña and Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia cannot seem to agree on how to dispose of provincial lots located in Cebu City that are occupied by relocated squatters.
In the past, these settlers were not made to follow a master plan that would have brought about an arrangement of residential areas into a homogeneous pattern of neighborhood units.
Consideration should have been given to the redevelopment of blighted areas into higher and better uses, and to prevent blight in other places.
A prime consideration of Metro Cebu planners is to reduce per capita urban costs and to facilitate the flow of commerce. The success of such efforts is important, because property values depend on the efficient and economical flow of goods and persons, as well as ready and convenient access to modes of transportation.
To achieve the objective of traffic economy, a study must be made of traffic requirements and steps must be taken to provide adequate avenues of transport. Rapid and economical transportation offers significant opportunities to direct population flow in and about the city or within Metro Cebu.
It is no longer deemed good practice to follow population in congested areas with more means of transportation, generally increasing congestion problems. Rather, it has been shown that people can be made to follow avenues of transport into areas that are planned and designed for better and more healthful living.
To facilitate the movement of goods in and about Metro Cebu, streets should be designed and interconnected to meet normal, as well as “rush hour” traffic requirements. Care should be taken to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of the several types of street patterns, and to choose those which will facilitate travel and increase pedestrian and highway traffic safety.
The proper design and layout of streets are important, because the very rapid development and use of private automobiles have created for city planners a real problem of easing traffic congestion in downtown areas or urban centers.
The construction of belt highways, free ways, turnpikes that skirt (bypass) the city proper have greatly contributed, in recent years, to a reduction of traffic hazards and a lessening in community costs, whose control is necessitated by through- and inter-city traffic.
In residential areas, it is, of course, best to discourage all except local traffic. This can be done effectively with the use of winding streets.
A legislation needs to be enacted by Congress, authorizing a commission to engage in comprehensive planning within Metro Cebu and granting such body the power to employ experts and staff to existing planning boards under its jurisdiction. The members of the commission should include mayors or city/town administrators (with the consent or confirmation of the City/Municipal Council) in Metro Cebu.
Grouping the mayors together in the planning commission will undoubtedly insure that residents in Metro Cebu will enjoy the advantages from a well-organized metropolis. The cooperation of Metro Cebu mayors will tends to have its effect on the whole body of citizens whose interests, comforts and conveniences are held to be paramount.
Metro Cebu mayors have a distinct responsibility to develop the metropolis, and to protect the general public from blighting influences and willful acts that adversely affect living amenities and future investments in real property.
There is also a need for Metro Cebu to impose coordinated zoning since the impact of zoning laws upon income and value of real property is significant.
It can readily be seen that without comprehensive zoning control the competition for diverse land uses would be disorganized and individual preferences, land income concepts, speculation and possibly greed might cause “quilt work” land uses that would ultimately destroy not only land values but the usefulness of the city or town as a social, economic and political unit.
