As Filipino cities and countrysides go on a concrete pouring spree, building and widening roads, and even breaking up perfectly fine ones just to pour in fresh concrete for reasons only secret bank accounts can understand, cities in other developed countries are breaking up unnecessary stretches and patches of concrete and asphalt to allow nature to take its place.
The idea of depaving, sometimes known as desealing, is simple: replace as much concrete, asphalt, and other forms of hard landscaping as possible with plants and soil. The movement has been around since 2008, when the Depave group in Portland, Oregon, was founded.
Proponents say depaving allows water to soak into the ground, which reduces flooding in times of heavy rain – aiding the “sponginess” of cities. Native plants help wildlife cling on in urban places, and by planting trees you can increase shade, protecting residents from heatwaves. Injecting city streets with greenery may even improve people’s mental health.
The movement is currently limited to some environmentalists and volunteers who coordinate with their city officials to identify and remove unnecessary concrete. Some cities in Europe, such as London in the UK, Paris in France, and Leuven in Belgium, have also begun to treat depaving seriously.
Proponents are pushing for depaving to take off and be taken seriously, especially with the climate crisis deepening, as it makes sense to become a part of the climate adaptation strategies. They are pushing for humans to start smashing up concrete to create spaces better for nature.
In Leuven, Belgium, for 2023 alone, Leuven’s Life Pact climate adaptation project calculates that the removal of 6,800 square meters of hard surfacing allowed for the infiltration of an additional 1.7 million liters of water into the ground.
However, in most parts of the world, depaving can still be described as a fringe activity. It is not known if the authorities responsible for cities and planning realize its value. Here in the Philippines, considering the public official’s love affair with concrete and its generous kickbacks, it is certainly a foreign concept.
Community-led and DIY efforts on driveways and local streets, with permission of the local government, are great, but its supporters are wishing that depaving and greening would be pushed as a new kind of infrastructure in a city, and should get the same kind of planning and investment as a new railway or mass transport system.
This paradigm shift in the way cities we plan, design, and use its roads and sidewalks, which are mostly concrete in this country, is something we might want to think about, as we grapple with the worst effects of climate change, such as floods, heatwaves.
If you come to think of it, embracing a common sense concept like depaving or greening can help us with our flood control and heat islanding problems, make our concrete jungles prettier by providing greenery and shade, give us mini parks to make up for the lack of public parks, along with improve the mental health of those who like to interact with their communities, which can become greener and more natural. It seems like there should be no reason to stick to our old concrete-centric way of building our cities that are turning out to be damn hot, flood prone, endlessly gray, and stinky.
Aside from all those advantages, one of the best things about depaving is that it is practically free, at least when compared to cementing another road, since there is no concrete to pour. It is about planting plants and trees to grow in places where we would normally and unthinkingly pour cement. Maybe some leveling and tiles or paving stones are needed where pathways are to be built, but there would be more greenery and shade, rather than concrete. The only people who would be against it would be the politicos and their favored contractors whose concrete-based business models will be upended.
Depaving is unheard of in the Philippines, and the only way anyone, especially our leaders, hear about it is if we make enough noise, which can happen only if we agree with and appreciate the concept. It starts with people starting these conversations on a small, local level, until the voices get loud enough and government officials have no choice but to listen. For those of us who are tired with the concretization of everything, this is an opportunity to bring up the topic every time we see a space that would be better off depaved, starting from our own homes and slowly expanding outward to the barangay and then the cities.
Because if you stop and take the time to notice all the unnecessary concrete around us, whether it is terribly hot, or when flood waters are rising, or just when you miss green public spaces, there is so much we can do to make our communities greener and better.*
