PLANNING 03

Introduction to Urban & Regional Planning

Module 1

Faculty Instructor: Arch. EnP. Kirby S. Mercado

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Module Content
Outline
1. HISTORY OF PLANNING IN THE PHILIPPINES
2. Planning Terminology
3. History of Planning Agency in the Philippines
4. References
HISTORY OF PLANNING IN THE
PHILIPPINES
BARANGAY COMMUNITIES
Pre-Hispanic Filipinos were predominantly migrants of Malayan and Indonesian
stock. The communities settled as separate kinship groups within their defined
territories that obtained the character of villages.

Their houses were therefore, scattered singly or in small cluster along river
shallow water. Prior to the coming of Spaniards in the 16tth century, a few
villages were becoming what reed termed as supra-barangays. Notable among
those were the settlements of Manila and Cebu. in the case of Manila, it already
had a homogeneous population of 2,000 inhabitants at the Rajah Soliman-a
bamboo barricaded town resisting Dutch and Chinese invaders. It was razed to
the ground in the battles between the native and a Spanish Exploration in 1570.
It was soon to be rebuilt and made the center of Spanish colonial activities.
COLONIAL YEARS
By the middle of 16th century, the archipelago experienced its exploitation by a
European colonial power and for over the centuries, Spanish molded and
cripples the island with its hard policy of Gold, Cross and Sword. It will be noted
that religion and the Spanish government based on economic exploitation
determined the settlement patterns in the islands.

The Spanish form of settlement provided for effective control of the pueblos
(town). The natives were introduced to the gridiron arrangement – plaza
complex. The dominant structures were the church and the town hall around the
town plaza. Street were laid out so as to provide a continuous route for religious
processions. Around the edifice revolved the residence of the Spaniards, the
principalia and the masses. Te clergy learned from the resettlement projects in
Hispanic America that compact villages provided a framework for rapid Christian
induction and societal organization.
From a Gamboa-barricaded outpost, Manila turned into Intramuros, a fortified
walled city. As the city took its place in the economic scheme of the galleon
trade several pattern of decentralization and locality concentration came into
being south of the city a group of wealthy Filipinos occupied the settlement of
Malate and soon Japanese settlers were found in San Miguel and Paco. By
1650, approximately 15,000 Chinese occupied Parian, the settlement relegated
to them by the Spaniards more than 7,000 Spaniards lived in Intramuros and
20,000 Filipinos settled throughout the outlying sectors. Towards the end of the
19th century, road building programs were initiated by the Spaniards
government. The Manila-Dagupan railway lines was constructed
Similar other settlements were built by the Spaniards throughout the island.
Fort Del Pilar in Zamboanga, Davao, Ilocos, Visayas, etc.
AMERICAN ERA
The American were able to do a lot more the Spaniards for the Physical and political development of
the Philippines in less than 5 decades. The American saw the urgent need for guiding the urban
growth and physical development of the country. They concentrated in planning cities were growth
was inevitable.
In 1904, Daniel Burnham together with Pierce Anderson, surveyed Manila, Baguio and other Cites. By
this time Manila submitted in 1905 included the ff:

1. Development of the waterfront of recreation of parks and parkways so as to give the proper
means of recreation to every quarter of the city;
2. Street system securing direct and easy communication from one district to another;
3. Location of building sites for various activities;
4. Development of waterways for transportation;
5. Summer resorts

The plan was accepted and the office of consulting architect was created the following year by Phil.
Commission Act. #1495
THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
Like other countries the problem of housing, health and sanitation became the
preoccupation in the field of planning. The People’s Homesite Corporation date to
become PHHC now NHA purchased 1,572 hectares. For Php 2 million in Quezon City.
The different housing project including the UP site was part of this area.
The 1939 census gave 623,997 as the population of Manila. The National Parks
Office was creation of President Quezon with the help of Louis Croft. The American
adviser on National parks and land planning served Quezon, Osmena, Roxas and
Quirino.
Then came the outbreak of the Second World War. Four-fifth of GMS (Greater Manila
Area) was destroyed. Manila was converted into one “giant slum”. To arrest the
housing problem. Roxas instructed the national Housing Commission in 1946 to built
houses for the US-Phil. War damaged commission The National urban planning
commission was also created during that same year. It had the purpose of preparing
general plans, zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations for was devastated
areas, a real property Board was also created to attend to real estate problems
resulting from the plan implementation NUPC in Manila in 1947.
In 1950, Pres. Quirino created the National Planning Commission-Absorbing the NUPC, CCPC, and
RPB. The new agency was intended for more integrated planning for both urban and regional areas at
a greater efficiency and economy.
NPC prepared a master plan for Manila, which was submitted, to President Magsaysay in 1954. The
Plan has the ff. objectives;

1. Make Manila a convenient and ideal place to live, play and own;
2. Remedy the critical traffic congestion and at the same time provide for anticipated traffic needs;
3. Prevent overcrowding of population;
4. Use land to the best advantage and bring order and reason the present undesirable mixture of
homes, stores and factories;
5. Distribute equitable the much needed elementary schools and playgrounds;
6. Protect and promote healthy property values; and
7. Utilize existing improvement as much as possible
Planning Terminology
• Abutter: Means the same as “adjacent landowner.” Usually, the
person who hates progress and wishes everything still looked the
same as it did in 1800.
• Arcology: What happens when you splice the words “Architecture”
and “Ecology.” Used to describe self-contained megastructures that
reduce human impacts on the environment (basically, the
conceptual projects that architects love to design and no-one loves
to pay for.)
• Boomburb: Boom(ing) (su)burb. Areas that have the population
density of a city with the ugly buildings of the suburbs.
• Community greens: Shared green spaces in residential
neighborhoods. What you mean when you color your plan green in
certain areas and call it “sustainable design.”
• Conscious city: A city that understands you better than your
therapist.
• Conurbation: The urban equivalent of the Blob: an area formed by
multiple towns and cities merging together to create one district.
• Coving: An urban planning method of winding roads and non-
uniform lots. Sounds fun until you drive by the same house 4 times
and realize you have no idea where you are.
• Edge city: A secondary CBD on the edge of the city.
• Ekistics: The fancy science behind urban planning.
• Elbow roomers: People who leave the city for the countryside
• Green belt: A policy used in urban planning to retain a “belt” of the
natural environment around urban areas, because if there’s still a
tiny strip of green we can keep pretending we’re not destroying the
Earth.
• Greenfield land: The opposite of Brownfield land: land that is
untouched and pristine.
• Out growth: An urban area growing out from an existing town or
city.
• Overdevelopment: The radical idea that maybe ceaseless
population growth and building development might negatively
affect the world.
• Permeability: How cheese hole-y an urban area is. New Urbanists
love this.
• Placemaking: The art of making “places” rather than stand-alone
pretty buildings.
• Ribbon development: When developments occur alongside a
ribbon, usually main roads and railway stations. Leads to urban
sprawl.
• Setback (land use): The minimum distance to which a building must
be set back from a street, road or natural feature.
• Smart city: Similar to the conscious city, the smart city uses data
collection to gain information about its residents in order to
manage the city effectively. Has the potential to vastly improve how
we live, but also sounds like a Black Mirror episode.
• Terminating vista: Super important buildings that stand at the end
of a road, so you can’t escape the view.
• Bid-Rent Theory – assumption that land value and rent decrease as distance
from the central business district increases
• Brownfield development – a brownfield site is real property, the expansion,
redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollution, or contaminant.
• Business Park – low-density office development of a type often established
by private companies on greenfield sites. The sites are often landscaped to
create a pleasant working environment. Business parks tend to be located
near motorway junctions and may have a high proportion of high-tech firms.
• Central Business District (CBD) – area of a town or city where most of the
commercial activity is found. This area is dominated by shops, offices, entertainment
venues, and local government buildings. Usually CBSs are characterized by high
rent and rates, tall buildings, and chain stores and is really accessible to pedestrian.
• Conservation Easement – is a legally binding contract in which a landowner
voluntarily restricts the rights to use and develop land, as well as the right to sell or
convey mineral rights, i.e., conservation easement could limit activities allowed on
the land to open-space uses, such as wildlife habitat and watershed protection. A
conservation easement may exist in perpetuity or for a specific time spelled out in
the easement document.
• Conurbation or metropolitan area– large continuous build-up area formed by the
joining together of several urban settlements.
• Counter urbanization – movement of people and employment away from urban
areas to smaller towns and villages in rural location. Push factors within urban
region may be responsible, i.e., congestion, high land prices, population pressures,
etc.
• Demography – the study of population
• Depressed area – region with substandard economic performance perhaps
due to a change in industrial structure, such as a decline in manufacturing
industry.
• Eminent Domain – is the power of the government to take property for public
use with “just compensation”; it is one of several powers fundamental to a
functioning government. ‘Just compensation’ has been accepted as meaning
the fair market value of the property taken.
• Free Port – port or sometimes a zone within a port where cargo may be
accepted for handling, processing, and re-shipment without imposition of
tariffs and taxes.
• Gentrification – restoration of deteriorated urban property especially in
working-class neighborhoods by the middle and upper classes.
• Industrial Estate – are planned for industry where space is available for large
buildings and further expansion
• Inner City – the area that immediately borders the central business district of
a town or city. In many cities, this is one of the older parts and may suffer from
decay and neglect leading to social problems
• Land banking – the advanced acquisition and consolidation of lands in areas
identified for future urban expansion.
• Market Town – settlement with a permanent or periodic market (once a week,
for instance). This acts as a selling point for goods produced in the
surrounding hinterland
• Multiplier Effect – process whereby one change sets in motion a sequence
of events that result in decline or growth
• Police Power – the rights of government to establish laws and ordinances to
preserve public order and tranquility and to promote the public health, safety,
morals, and general welfare.
• Poverty Cycle or Development Trap – set of factors or events by which
poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention.
Once an area or a person has become poor, this tends to lead to other
disadvantages, which may in turn result in further poverty. This situation is
often found in inner-city areas and shanty towns.
• Primate City – city that is far the largest within a country or area. Such a city
holds a larger proportion of the population, economic activity, and social
functions than other settlements within an area.
• Pull Factor – any factor that tends to attract people to an area. Example
include higher wages, better housing, and better education opportunities
• Resort Town – settlement whose main function is to cater for tourism of one
type or another
• Scenic Value – Open space offers scenic vistas that translate into higher real
estate values.
• Settlement – place where people live, varying size from isolated dwellings to
the largest cities
• Shanty Town – group of unplanned shelters constructed from cheap or waste
materials (such as cardboard, wood, or cloth). Shanty towns are commonly
located on the outskirts of cities in poor countries, or within large cities on
derelict land or near rubbish tips. Lands available for shanties are often of
poor quality.
• Slum – area of poor quality housing. Slims are typically found in parts of the
inner city in rich country and in older parts of cities in poor countries. Slum
housing is usually densely populated, in a bad state of repair, and has
inadequate services (poor sanitation, etc.)
• Spot Zoning – spot zoning singles out a parcel of land for special treatment
or privileges not in harmony with the other use classifications in the area and
without any apparent circumstances which call for different treatment.
• Squatter – illegal occupant of a building or land
• Sustainable development – development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Urban Decay – the decline of the social, physical, and economic fabric of a city,
usually located in the oldest part of the settlement.
• Urbanization – process whereby an increasing proportion of a region’s population
becomes concentrated in urban areas.
• Urban Renewal – adaptation of existing buildings in towns and cities to meet
changes in economic, social, and environmental requirements rather than
demolishing them. Urban renewal has become an increasingly important element of
inner city policy. A major objective is to preserve the historical and cultural character
of a locality, but at the same time to improve the environment and meet new
demands, such as rapidly increasing motor traffic.
• Urban Sprawl – outward spread of built-up areas caused by their expansion
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes
environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods
containing a wide range of housing and job types.
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that
concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl
Gentrification – restoration of deteriorated urban property especially in working-class
neighborhoods by the middle and upper classes.
Urban Renewal A US Federal program under the Comprehensive Housing Act
of 1949 which was designed to help communities improve and redevelop
areas that are outworn, physically deteriorated, unsafe, or poorly planned
Resettlement Site involves the acquisition and development of large
tracts of raw land to generate serviced lots and/or housing units for
families displaced from sites earmarked for government
infrastructure projects and those occupying danger areas such as
waterways, esteros, and railroad tracks.
Infill housing is the insertion of additional housing units into an
already-approved subdivision or neighborhood
On Site Development-The process of upgrading and rehabilitation of
blighted slum urban areas with a view of minimizing displacement of
dwellers in said areas.
• Export Processing Zone-A specialized industrial estate located
physically and/or administratively outside the customs territory.
Predominantly oriented to export production.
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is an agency that assists
foreign entities in facilitating businesses within the PEZA Special
Economic Zones. Created in 1995 under the Republic Act 7916, PEZA
is often beneficial to the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
• Growth Corridor are high level integrated land use and transport
plans that provide a strategy for the development
• ECONOMIC PLANNING – refers to those activities concerned with
uplifting the quality of life and income levels of the population through
assessment of advantages from economic activities in either agriculture,
industry, tourism, services, etc.
• PHYSICAL PLANNING – shall mean the rational use of land for
development purposes.
• ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING – refers to activities concerned with the
management and development of land, as well as, the preservation,
conservation, and rehabilitation of the human environment
• Social Planning- Refers to those activities concerned with planning, development,
and management of social services, facilities required by specific population
groups, community, town, city, province, region, or nation.
Land Tenure is the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who
is said to "hold" the land. It determines who can use land, for how long and
under what conditions.
Parcel - a contiguous land area which is considered as a unit, which is subject
to a single ownership, and which is legally recorded as a single piece.
Land use is the term used to describe the human use of land. It represents
the economic and cultural activities (e.g., agricultural, residential, industrial,
mining, and recreational uses) that are practiced at a given place.
Land Use Map reflect the land resources and types of land use in the
national economy.
New Town Movement refers to towns that were built in the United Kingdom
after World War II and that have been purposefully planned, developed and
built as a remedy to overcrowding and congestion in some instances, and to
scattered ad hoc settlements in others.
Garden City Movement is a method of urban planning in which self-
contained communities are surrounded by "greenbelts", containing
proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture.
Neighborhood Unit, crystallised from the prevailing social and intellectual
attitudes of the early 1900s by Clarence Perry, is an early diagrammatic
planning model for residential development in metropolitan areas
City beautiful movement- Movement that emphasized aesthetics in urban
design and planning.
History of Planning Agency in the Philippines
• 1935 – National Economic Council: Chief planning agency formulating
national economic policies and preparing broad economic as well associal
development (revitalized in 1950)
• 1938 – Established the Philippine Homesite Corporation (PHC) After World
War II: unabated migration of families into the city from all parts of the country.
The “squatter phenomenon”
• 1946 – National Urban Planning Commission (NUPC) created by Pres.
Sergio Osmena under EO 98
‐ To reconstruct towns and cities destroyed during WWII
‐ Presidential Assistance on Housing (PAH)
‐ National Housing Commission (NHC)
• 1947 – People’s Home site and Housing Corporation (PHHC) replaced the
NHC and PHC
• 1948 – July 17, 1948 Presidential Decree 233: creation of Quezon City as
the new Capital of the Philippines
‐ Capital City Planning Commission (CCPC); Architect JuanM. Arellano
created a development plan for Quezon City
• 1950’s – The Department of Social Welfare under the administration of Pres.
Elpidio Quirino created the “Slum Clearance Committee” to relocate
squatters outside the city
• 1950 – National Planning Commission (NPC) replaced NUPC and CCPC
‐ Functions was authorized to design any kind of town, city or regional plan for
any part of the country
‐ To draft a Building Code
• 1954 – NPC prepared a masterplan for Manila which was published in 1956
• 1954 – Social Security Services (SSS) was created
• 1955 – Pres. Ramon Magsaysay’s EO 149 established the National Housing
Council (NHC)
• 1956 – Home Financing Corporation of Manila (HFC) was created
• 1957 – Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) was created
• 1959 – RA 2264 – Plan for Philippine towns and cities; responsibility of
Local Government
• 1960 – Intermediate structures consisting of regional authorities
‐ Took care of planning and development between national departments and
local political units
‐ To diffuse the rate of growth which was considered to be overly centered in
Manila
‐ Authorities established –
o Mindanao Development Authority – first regional authority established in
1961, patterned after the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
To develop Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan
Authorities created concurred with development of ports, tourism, etc.
o Central Luzon-Cagayan Valley
-Concentrated on water resource projects
-Collection of basic data on the region
-Survey of Cagayan and Pampanga Rivers assisted by French and Japanese
specialists
-Formulate plans for the two rivers
-Designed provisional studies on irrigation systems and dam sites in the Magat
River Multi-Purpose study
o Laguna Lake Development Authority
-Engaged in feasibility and design study aimed at hydraulic control of
the lake for agriculture
-Industrial and transport pursuits
-Pilot demonstrations in hog management in Luzon
-Fish culture in Rizal
o Mountain Province Development Authority
-Economic report on the province
-Project studies of vegetable industry
• Bicol Development Company
-Economic survey of the region
-Rice crash programme
-Fishing project
-Tiwi geothermal deposits and Abaca Industry
o Revised Administrative Code
-Special Uniform Charter of Regional Development Authority
-Country divided into 9 regions
• 1961 – National Finance Corporation of the Philippines (NFC) was created
• 1962 – Tapping the potentials of the Pampanga River Basin
• 1963 – Central Bank of the Philippines was established
• 1963 – Sapang Palay – pilot project of Presidential Committee in Squatters
• 1963 – Center for Urban Studies started to take shape which led to the
create of the Local Government Center (LGC) of the University of the
Philippines Institute of Public Administration
• 1964 – National Urban Planning, Housing Financing Authority was created
‐ Due to rise of urban dwellers (in the 1960’s 30% were urban dwellers)
• 1965 – Council of Administrative Management
‐ Heade by PIA General Armand Fabella
‐ Regional development authority should only do planning and their operational
functions turned over to pertinent line departments
• Oct. 1965 – University of the Philippines established the Institute of Planning
through RA
• 4341, renamed as the School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) in 1983
• 1966 – RA 4852 established the Central Institute for the Training and
Relocation of Urban Squatters (CITRUS)
• Oct. 25, 1966 – President Economic Staff (PSF) Bernard Wagner engaged
for 2 yrs. Through International Development Aid
• Feb. 1967 - NPC should have completed the Master Plan for the city for
11 years
‐ NPC limited to that of consultancy; planning up to individual cities and
municipalities; since no funding, no plans were done
• Nov. 15, 1967 – Principal agencies and offices concerned with housing
and urban development
‐ Presidential Assistance on Housing (PAH)
• 1968 – Creation of Presidential Coordinating Committee on housing and Urban
Settlements (PRECHUS)
• Feb. – June 1969 – Conference on “Man and his Environment” to assess the
following:
‐ To recognize the ills of the city, its causes and effects
‐ To Adopt measures to use or at least alleviate these ills
‐ To recognize the need for planning and the procedures and methods of
planning
‐ To implement these plans
• 1969 – Data bank for urban and regional planning written by Gerardo Calabia
‐ Describes the need for a planning data bank
• May 16, 1969 – Committee from the Board of Technical Survey and Maps, NPC
& UP Institute for Planning formed a task force committed onLand Use Planning
• 1970 – Physical Planning Strategy of the Philippines
• Nov. 9, 1970 – Joint Resolution no.3, Congress of the Philippines – Basic policy
which shall guide the country and economic development through environmental
planning
• 1972 – Countryside Development Programme – to stabilize the unhealthy
balance between urban growth and rural development
‐ Land reform
‐ Farmer’s cooperatives
‐ Small- and medium-scale industry assistance
‐ Rural electrification
‐ Self-employment
‐ Road construction
‐ Media dispersal
• 1972 – Regional Development Council (RDC) was established
‐ 1 RDC for each 11 regions
‐ To conduct a comprehensive survey of the resources and potentialities
of the region
‐ To prepare long range and annual socio-economic development plans
for the regions
‐ To translate the national economic goals into more specific regional
objectives which shall be reflected in its regional plans and programmes
• Sept. 1972 – Integrated Reorganization Plan
‐ Division of country into 11 later 13 administrative regions
‐ Establishment of Regional Development Council
‐ Restructuring of field office of implementing national agencies
• 1973 – PD 107 creation of the National Economic Development Authority
(NEDA)
• 1974 – Regional Planning Strategies of the Philippines, blended significant factions
of all 3 meanings of regional planning
‐ Planning for a region as a separate economy
‐ Testing the consistency of regional plans with each other and the national
plan
‐ Putting “space tags” as projects on the national plan with 2 objectives in
mind
o To assure the best possible location of industry
o To reduce the gap in productivity and income among various regions in the country
• 1975 – NEDA organized sectoral workshops to strengthen planning
authorities and to ensure that sectoral decisions taken atthe central level
combine to serve the needs of regionalization
• 1975 – Regional Planning Assistance Project
• 1976 – Mindanao Regional Development Project
• 1976 – Manila Bay Metropolitan Region Strategy Plan Study
• 1976 – NEDA cam out with a set of “National and Regional Planning Guidelines
“ to incorporate the national policy of the development of the 12 administrative
regions
‐ Publishes internal statistics papers entitled “Reforms in National Policies Affecting
• Regional Development” which states basic policy guides for specific areas
‐ Creation of Human Settlement Commission
‐ Has regulatory powers on Land Use
• 1976 – Budget Commission issued guidelines on the preparation of the
National Budget of 1977
‐ To pave the way for allocation on an area rather than sectoral basis and
ensure the flow of resources to the regions
‐ To realize fund is direct to regional offices
• 1978 – Regional Development Investment Programme
• 1979 – Zero Based budgeting further took ground
• 1980 – Regionalization of budget of National Government Agencies
• 1981 – Regional Budgeting System improved further with the adoption of a
mechanism for the formulation service and integration of budget proposals of
government agencies of the region
• 1983 – Improvement of the budget process to ensure efficiency in allocation of
budgetary resources for the development programmes and projects
• 1986 – National Shelter Program
• 1991 – RA 7160 - Local Government Code
References:
• Guidelines for the Formulation/ Revision of Comprehensive Land Use Plan by
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), 1996
• Property, Patrimony & Territory: Foundations of Land Use Planning in the
Philippines by Ernesto M. Serote, Diliman: University of the Philippines, 2004
• Philippine Planning History by Magno pdf