Column

Mapping the future of towns

By Gerardo Reyes Jr

April 07, 2024

A progressive estate allows for the evolution of the community, adapting to new technologies, residential needs, and commercial opportunities.

The groundwork of a thriving, integrated mixed-use community lies in its ability to merge various features into an interrelated whole.

A well-crafted masterplan should be able to assimilate workplaces, parks, residences, and commercial areas into an integrated, purposeful, and visually pleasing environment, allowing the all-inclusive concept of work, live, play, and learn to foster a balanced existence and design a vibrant, independent community.

Workplaces or office zones located within an estate serve as engines of economic growth. These areas accommodate a range of businesses, from street food stalls, supermarket, bakeries, and convenience stores, among others.

Proper circulation that respects and prioritizes pedestrians and bikes should be sustained and promoted. Now that we are crowding our towns and cities with motorized vehicles, multicab, and tricycles, and choked our urban areas with poisonous emissions, we realized that mapping for a better and environment-friendly future became a necessity.

The workplaces and office zones should be strategically located to ensure convenience, providing a comfortable distance from residential areas to provide option for people to either walk or bike, thus reducing noise and traffic congestion.

This meticulous and considerate positioning inspires robust economic environment without compromising the peaceful and relaxing ambiance of living spaces.

Parks and green spaces teeming with trees are vital to a community’s ecosystem, providing inhabitants and tourists alike, a restful and soothing getaway from the urban hustle, therefore ensuring physical health, mental well-being, and community interconnection within aesthetically satisfying landscapes.

Green spaces should serve as communal hubs where people can congregate, children can play, and the public can appreciate the outdoors and can do alfresco dining, nurturing a strong sense of community and belonging.

The residential zones are the nucleus of the area, intended to cater both income levels, such as townhouses or condos for affluent, duplex-type for those who preferred it, or medium-rise tenements for low-income families. Residential zones should prioritize safety, and comfort therefore providing a buffer where motorized vehicles are allowed. Close to houses will be off-limits to motorized vehicles and conveyances, but only bike and other environment-friendly conveyance. Its architecture should be designed in a way that it integrates nature, trees, and its natural environment, creating a bond between people and its surrounding and take pride in their environment.

The residential area near the baywalk is an example of a living spaces yet providing access of its residents to recreation and relaxing environment.

But beyond the physical infrastructure, the character of a settlement lies in its ability to enrich a sense of identity. Public spaces, event sites and community centers offer venues for social interface, cultural expression, and communal activities, uniting people together and forming a shared legacy.