An ordinance promoting walkability has apparently passed the first reading in the Bacolod City SP. According to the press release, it envisions a safe, accessible, and sustainable urban environment that prioritizes pedestrian friendly infrastructure and promotes the well-being of its citizens.
The proposed ordinance provides for the installation of pedestrian infrastructure such as sidewalk improvements, marked crosswalks, installation of pedestrian signals at all major intersections, as well as the implementation of traffic calming measures, speed limit reduction, pedestrian-friendly land use, and public spaces. It also says the city will develop a comprehensive implementation plan to achieve the goals outlined in the ordinance.
If you come to think of it, the first requirement of any ordinance that aims to make a town or city more walkable would be to require its public officials, along with anyone involved in crafting and implementing any such ordinance, to actually walk its sidewalks and use public transportation for at least 3 months so they know what they are talking about and don’t just turn to Wikipedia and AI to come up with a flowery worded proposal that they won’t take seriously anyway if it ever passes into law.
As someone who has been trying to walk as much as possible whenever an errand requires me to go somewhere that should be within walking distance, which to me, in our conditions should be from 300 meters to around 1 kilometer away, I’d like to believe that I have a pretty good idea of why turning a city like Bacolod into a walkable one isn’t as easy as it seems and how a well-meaning ordinance probably won’t make any difference, unless it is supported by a host of other related ordinances, along with the long-term determination and budgetary support of its officials who are truly committed to change an entire city’s mindset.
The first and most obvious hurdle would be the state of a city’s sidewalks, which in the case of Bacolod, are absolutely pathetic, dangerous, and borderline unwalkable. Nobody wants to walk on sidewalks that are littered with utility posts and unnecessary signage, vendors, illegally and awkwardly parked vehicles, poorly-designed driveways and intruding commercial establishments, along with all sorts of obstacles, cracks, and holes. Restoring sidewalks to minimum walkability would be the number one challenge and I honestly don’t think a simple ordinance can do that.
The second hurdle to walkability is shade, or the utter lack of it. Everyone who has tried walking between 9-4pm knows how unbearable the heat is, and how unprotected our sidewalks are from the sun and rain. Even if the sidewalks are made walkable, but there is no shade, preferably from trees or greenery that not only helps drop the temperature further but adds aesthetic appeal, walking is a pain in the ass.
A city that wants to promote walkability has to address those top two concerns first, because nobody will walk if it is dangerous, extra-inconvenient, and uncomfortable.
The number 3 stumbling block, in my opinion, would be our chaotic public transport system where anybody can hail a jeepney from anywhere, knowing it will stop on a dime, regardless of any rules of traffic, common sense, or human decency. A city that does not adopt and fully implement a bus/jeepney stop system, which not only encourages, but forces commuters to walk to those designated stops to get on the public transport system, will never become walkable because we Filipinos are naturally and culturally lazy who will choose not to walk unless they are forced to.
Part 4 of a city’s walkability strategy would attack the private car owners. If commuters and jeepneys have to use designated stops, car owners should also be forced to walk along the now-pleasant sidewalks and that would happen if parking were made scarcer or more expensive. If jeepneys can no longer stop anywhere, the ability to park anywhere, anytime, should also be curtailed if a city wants to be truly walkable. The biggest no-no when it comes to parking in a walkable city is blocking the sidewalk, which a lot of commercial and residential lot owners still think is totally ok. All those DIY “sidewalk is reserved for parking” signs that we have tolerated for decades should rightfully become illegal, with the appropriate penalties. That means customers, visitors, and residents can no longer conveniently park right outside their properties and if they cannot provide proper parking, they will have to find it further away.
If the proponents of walkability are truly serious and are not proposing ordinances just to look busy or pretend to be an advocate, they have to realize that they are going to offend so many sectors of a society that does not know what it means to live in a walkable city. Unfortunately for political careers, making a city walkable means having to walk the talk. The relatively easy act of passing an ordinance and declaring the city walkable is not going to cut it. If such an initiative is going to stick, there are attitudes and entire cultures that have to change, and that means forcing a lot of people out of their comfort zones because they will have to do things differently.
It would be interesting to see how far this city ordinance that promotes walkability can go. Can it power through the obstacles and stumbling blocks, or will the people behind it give up and go back to their air conditioned SUVs at the slightest resistance?*
