Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Ortigas Center: Cruel City
It seems that the planners who designed the Ortigas Center did not think of pedestrians, of ordinary people without cars, when they conceptualized the project. The entire business district is always congested so pedestrians are forced to walk from one office to another when delivering something very urgent. Walking is fine except that the sidewalks are narrow. At the peak of summer, one could easily sweat and stink like a stevedore after just covering 50 meters. When the rains fall, people will just have to run like hell and seek shelter somewhere because the narrow pathways are not covered. I understand the Ortigas family is allocating billions of pesos for further improvements but I haven’t heard something about providing facilities for pedestrians. Haven’t Ortigas’ planners heard about the trend toward “pedestrianisation”? Haven’t they heard something about the “new urbanism”? Haven’t they seen the “sky walk” of the Makati Central Business District that connects offices, parking spaces, and business enterprises thus lessening traffic and protecting pedestrians from the elements?
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5 comments:
:) :) :) I agree!
I was with a friend last Monday at the Ortigas Center. We tried to park at Galleria and the dumb parking management didn't even bother to post a sign that all parking slots at the basement were already taken. She said, Galleria has the worst parking system in the whole wide universe. Indeed, because after almost an hour, we have to leave the basement parking frustrated.
If only I were the planner.... :) (wishful thinking)
By the way, I still cannot comprehend why the Mama Mary statue at the EDSA Shrine is Chinese-looking. :) :)
Louise, I totally agree with you. But know what? Rex Drilon has invited me to a briefing on the plan to redevelop Ortigas Center. Want to join me? Ill accept his offer. That will be on the 29th of December. Text me if you have time.
And oh, by the way, when it come to "Mary". Yes, it looks Chinese. I guess because i heard (anybody has a better, accurate information?) the artist patterned the statue after her own face. That's what i've heard. But ill ask Rex Drilon about this.
An Asian Mama Mary! :)
I always comment jokingly on this matter whenever some friends wonder why our economy is always on the "developing" stage. My outrageous theory was: Unlucky Vibes or Bad Feng Shui. See, we also have a sad-looking Ninoy on our 500 peso bill. It led me to think therefore that as long as we do not rectify our Mamy Mary to be more Jewish-looking, God will not bestow graces unto us. And if we also do not change our sad-looking Ninoy into a smiling Ninoy, our economy will forever be mired in its unhappy state.
Must I start a Rectification Movement now? :)
Good point. We should indeed make all the statues into smiling objects, like the pictures that we send to friends when we travel to wherever.
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