Published Articles

Value of parks, plazas, public open spaces

by Ragene PalmaLeave a Comment on Value of parks, plazas, public open spaces

inq value of public parks

Here’s a late post of something I wrote on public, open spaces a few weeks back.

These spaces are very important in achieving sustainable cities because of how they improve (or otherwise degrade) the quality of life for citizens. Cities in developing countries, like cities here in Metro Manila, need to revisit the revitalization of these spaces.

Read the full article here.

And for some good reads on how city leaders can feasibly improve cities and spaces, here are some write-ups on the very inspirational Enrique Peñalosa, who made a difference in transforming Bogota:

Cheers to the year past, and 2018 ahead! 🙂

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Published Articles, Young Blood

Youngblood: Proving unity

by Ragene PalmaLeave a Comment on Youngblood: Proving unity

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This is my fifth Youngblood column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Thank you to the editors for letting me voice out what I believe is crucial in the recovery and rehabilitation of Marawi City. It’s not always about infrastructure, and the built-up environment. There are issues that require us to remove our biases and require fuller, sincere understanding of conflict to strategically address root problems.

Continue reading “Youngblood: Proving unity” →

Published Articles

Finding Common Ground: 32 Public Images in Metropolitan Manila

by Ragene PalmaLeave a Comment on Finding Common Ground: 32 Public Images in Metropolitan Manila

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I’m thrilled to share how on my birthday, the Inquirer actually published my article on a full page spread.

Channeling my inner Kevin Lynch, I wrote about the 32 public images and city elements in Metro Manila. Lynch wrote the book Image of the City, and told us the value of identity and legibility (or coherence) of places, and these are valuable lessons to urban design.

Conversations with civic leaders also taught me how a good understanding about these images can help in engaging communities to work on the livability of their cities, and in an entirety, a metropolitan.

Click here to read the full article. 

Published Articles

Smart City Growth: Urban Management in Singapore

by Ragene Palma3 Comments on Smart City Growth: Urban Management in Singapore

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Here’s another article published, which is a short recap of my learnings from YSEALI Urban Planning and Smart Growth Workshop – Singapore. Hoping that sharing this gets to inspire our city planners and local governments to move towards knowledge economies and innovation-driven localities, which really do help in smart growth.

Click here to read the full article. 

Here’s another article I published way back on my YSEALI Planning experience.

Published Articles

City spaces: Seeing Sydney

by Ragene PalmaLeave a Comment on City spaces: Seeing Sydney

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Thanks, Philippine Daily Inquirer, for publishing another article. This time, it’s about what I learned about city spaces when I went to Sydney in August this year.

I really dream of Philippine cities to have such spaces and elements, and to have citizen champions in revitalizing our streets, parks, and other public spaces. (Drop a comment if you want to collaborate with me on doing this.) We have to value these in cities, because public spaces represent equity of the people.

Click here to read the full article. 

 

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A Placemaking Project (A Proposal for Marikina City)

by Ragene Palma4 Comments on A Placemaking Project (A Proposal for Marikina City)

This proposal is an entry for Challenge #4 of the Civic Innovation Fellowship. It invites anyone with a passion for urbanism to propose solutions to the issues and challenges in Marikina City. Being a Marikeña and an urban planner, this call really piqued my interest because I’ve had ideas to bring placemaking into my city for the longest time. Let me share the proposal with you.

Continue reading “A Placemaking Project (A Proposal for Marikina City)” →