Domingo, Dexter Jay Plan 201 February 2, 2019

2011-51190 Homework 1

A Search for an Urban Utopia

For centuries people have had employed the scientific method to find solutions to

their problems. Aristotle (arguably) the greatest student of Plato, created this discipline of

thinking which revolves around the observation of nature and an unrelenting inquiry of

things in the person’s surroundings. Although not as structured as the scientific method

that we know today, people from the past either or both discovered and/or created

knowledge through this method. From every point in history, there was this singularity

that kept us moving forward which is the human’s desire of perfection. This aspiration

has brought us such concepts as a utopian society.

Ironically, one’s personal utopia is a reflection of the problems of the society

where he/she lives. These societal concerns serves as the building blocks of innovations

and utopias. This in the scientific method is called the purpose or inquiry, which is the

first step towards achieving the solution. With this, the best method to present what a

perfect imaginary city is to point out the imperfections of a real city – like Manila.

For days I have tried imagining a utopian Manila, but tinkering with my mind's

eye haven’t been quite fruitful, (forgive my rhetoric) because of how disgusted I am with

this city or how burnt-out I am of this city life. I haven’t seen my girlfriend for three

weeks because of the arduous commute from Manila to Cavite which is caused by the

city’s nightmarish traffic congestion. I haven’t been with my family since Christmas

because of the seventeen hour drive and three-thousand fare from-and-to Aparri. A poor

public transport system and its byproduct like traffic congestion is costing our country

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millions of revenue and things which money can’t quantify like missed dates,

anniversaries and holidays which are equally important in the lives of social animals like

ourselves.

My twenty-five-minute morning walk to work have always been a stroll along a

garbage littered street of barangay San Miguel, which is where Malacanyang is. It seems

to me that people have forgotten how storms like Ondoy or extreme weather conditions

brought by the Southwest monsoon (Hanging Habagat) had brought this “great” city to

its sorry knees these previous years because of the flooding which was induced or may

had worsen by such irresponsible behavior.

In front of the shrine of Saint Jude Thaddeus beggars will crowd you to ask for

alms, which honestly makes me feel uncomfortable and also skeptical because of my

unfamiliarity of such situations. Across our presidents’ residence is a community which

we commonly refer to as a “squatters’ area”. I rented a boarding house in that community

for two months but I was forced to go search for another because of a fire which

consumed around 50 houses which included ours, and by the way the nearest fire station

is less than a hundred meters from the source of fire. After a days’ worth of investigation

the apparent cause of the fire was the candle used by illegal drug users who were having

their usual pot session in the room above the wake of a Tokhang victim. A week before

that incident, there was a drug buy-bust operations in that community which gave me a

firsthand experience of how violent this drug war is. I saw police officers forcefully

entering somebody else’s house, gunning him down after I heard shouts of plea.

I don’t even realize how much living in Manila have changed me as a person, but

people I go home to on vacations have felt how toxic or maybe jaded I had become after

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less than two years of living in this city. I’m uncertain if this is the next level to my

“growth”, because I hope not since I still plan to live in this utopia I have in mind. If this

is the scientific method then this is the hypothesis.

I want to live in a place where I can wake up in the morning assured that I have

food to eat at the table and no pending bills to pay. A community sustained in terms of its

energy requirements through renewable sources like wind energy using turbines along

Manila Bay, solar energy stored through photovoltaic cells installed in buildings’

skyscrapers and nuclear energy which can be safely harnessed by government owned

nuclear power plants to sustain citywide or even countrywide demand for electricity.

Manila should be divided into major functional zones like economic zones for

business, trade and banking, industrial zones for different factories and residential zones

in each. All people living in the city are compensated with wages enough for them to

sustain their daily needs and ability to save and invest on businesses, and are also

equipped with the knowledge to participate in the stock market.

The private education system has been abolished by the government which made

basic education free and required for all children as they reach the age of five.

Homeschooling is allowed by the state but those who chose to do so must take a

qualifying exam to forecast their current school grade. A great emphasis on values

education and nationalism is taught to children from playschool up to the third grade.

Basic subjects of science, arithmetic, history, art and language are then taken up by the

students. The students moving across the next level is not based on their overall grade on

their current grade level but instead their progresses per subject will be determined

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separately. After they turn 16, they will be given choices on what track or field to take as

their specialty.

Every household in every barangay knows by heart the city environmental mantra

of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” which is taught to every child starting from when they enter

the barangay daycare. Seminars are provided by the city government to the household on

solid waste management and livelihood projects which involve the use of recycled

materials. City waste have been reduced to almost zero percent that the city has started to

import wastes from other neighboring cities and countries to sustain livelihood supported

by recycling.

Subways, City Buses and Bullet Train systems are all well managed by the

government across the country. People can take the bullet train which crosses the Sierra

Madre Mountain Range to go to places in Region I, Region II, Region III, NCR and

CAR. It takes around an hour or less to travel from the last station in Aparri to the

southern station in Bicol. The best thing about the public transport system is that it is

being offered by the government for free.

The criminality and substance-abuse rates among communities are now zero not

because of a war on the drugs but because an active effort by the city government to

provide people with job security and programs which focuses not only on the physical

health of the community but also on their mental health. A ministry on mental health was

established which conducts briefings on stress management and burn-out prevention

among the community.

People do seem contented about their lives that their primary focus is now the

welfare of other people. An earthquake of magnitude eight once struck the city but has

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caused minimal damage because of the reinforced earthquake proof buildings. Also,

shortage in attrition was not an issue during this natural calamity because aside from the

supplies provided after three hours by the government (which was well prepared), people

have helped their fellowmen by not overbuying emergency supplies.

This is my personal utopia, a place I built to not to escape reality but rather a

place to build the future. This is a good place to live in, but with another person’s idea of

a utopia it is certain that this ideal place of mine will be better. Together with all our idea

of beauty and perfection one day I believe that a utopia will not stay in our imagination.