Civic Innovation for Flood Mitigation
For the Government. With the Government!
All the stars aligned. That is perhaps the most accurate description for what the Metro Manila Civic Innovation Fellowship felt like — a prophetic coming together in the cosmos. Seldom do opportunities present themselves where a group of ambitious young professionals are given the resources and the ability to directly influence decision makers to impactfully engage in the civic realm. Let alone influence how the city allocates its funds and budgets for the next few years. In Marikina City, under the aegis of Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, the city did not only welcome seven outsiders for their views on three major issues in the city, they put us on a pedestal and insisted we speak our minds. An unusual format much to be revered; certainly not one I have personally ever encountered before in South East Asia in government.
As a landscape architect tasked with addressing the monumental issue of flooding of Marikina River and Marikina City’s most precious civic amenity; the widely used River Park, the issue seemed too large to be addressed in a matter of two weeks. Flooding is an everyday reality in tropical Philippines. A low lying archipelago nation — a conglomerate of 7000+ islands — tidal, seasonal and climatic variations in water levels are a constant preoccupation. Historically, the shoreline has been a blurry zone for Filipino’s. That indeterminacy, a way of life.
In today’s concrete metropolis, especially one as heavily and densely populated as Metro Manila, even average precipitation causes disruptions to everyday life as natural watersheds are increasingly damaged and built infrastructure unable to handle current day capacities. Certainly, this is not an issue in Metro Manila alone and not one that can be solved in a fortnight. However, with the rare platform to engage and educate decision makers directly on alternate methods of flood mitigation, we may have potentially impacted the trajectory of development and policies in Marikina City. A critical collaboration and position of mutual benefit that is often missing in current models of governance.
A brief note on what we were able to accomplish in two weeks and what more could be done in a fertile political climate.
This kind of work is multi-scalar, decentralized and long term. As a result, we recommended site specific long and short term policy changes, identified platforms for civic engagement and surgical procedures within the park to assist in controlled flooding. Often hidden in plain sight, some of the low-hanging fruit and easily implementable strategies created astonishing excitement within the bureaucracy.
I. Policy Related Innovation and Shared Civic Responsibility
Flooding is a watershed issue, and watersheds are a systemic issue. Working with all local governments in the entire watershed is critical, but often unrealistic. However, it is possible to mitigate flooding in a decentralized fashion. Increasing permeable surfaces by strengthening policies on building codes, incentivizing green roofs, rain gardens and detention basins on private property within Marikina River’s watershed that can arrest or delay the flow of water to rivers can have significant impact. This idea of shared civic responsibility can be a powerful engine that has the ability to withstand the disruptions of election cycles.
II. Identity and Civic Engagement
Visual motifs, signage and a collective identity that communities can take pride in can all be easily implementable and empowering tools to sequester support and engagement. In Marikina city we had the rare position to create and disseminate an identifiable logo and a way-finding map for the park in the form of a pamphlet that highlights amenities and programs offered within the park in its current state. This simple and effective tool created a strong identity for the city. Additionally, the pamphlet has the ability to highlight improvements that have been made by the city government and the proposed improvements for the future — becoming a powerful bridge between the government and its public. A form of soft, trust building form of civic engagement.
III. Controlled Flooding and identifying the right opportunities
Parks in riparian zones are not just a public amenity, they are also relatively low risk zones that can be designed to be flooded. Landscape architects all over the world are taking this approach, creating resilient native landscapes that are able to withstand such disturbances. At Marikina River Park we proposed extensive wetlands zones within the park, to enrich native ecology while creating zones for controlled flooding. Further, identifying land abutting the river such as a baseball field and vacant lots that can be flooded during high storm events provides the local authority with a path forward. This kind of action requires long term planning, capital and technically advanced surgical interventions in the landscape.
In the short time span of two weeks, these strategies served more as recommendations and a means to challenge the current status quo. For a progressive, forward thinking local government body, I hope the ideas have been able to transform some working models and ideologies within bureaucratic processes. Personally, a platform and agency to implement new ideas and influence urban resiliency has been an invaluable experience. Perhaps more rewarding though, has been the ability to challenge the associated dogma’s in resiliency planning and for two intensive weeks, perform the role of a provocateur.
This Fellowship and work has been made possible with the support of Five by Five and the Mayor’s office in the City of Marikina.
