Apl412 Gumallaoi Judelle v. RNW MT No.02

Pangasinan State University
URDANETA CITY CAMPUS

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
APL 412 – PLANNING 02
RSW MT-02: "Organic VS New Urbanism"
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. WHAT IS NEW URBANISM?
2. WHAT IS ORGANIC URBANISM?
3. WHICH HAS A BETTER AND IDEAL URBANISM PHILOSOPHY FIT FOR TODAY'S
SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT?
GUMALLAOI, JUDELLE V. ARCH. ZALDY FELIX CORPUZ, UAP

Student Instructor
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ORGANIC & NEW URBANISM: A look into the Community Developments and the role of
Urbanism Ideals for the 21st Century
By: Ar. Zaldy F. Corpuz
ORGANIC URBANISM: A new and old concept of urban growth development.
New Urbanism is a planning and development approach based on the principles of how cities and
towns had been built for the last several centuries: walkable blocks and streets, housing and shopping in
close proximity, and accessible public spaces. In other words: New Urbanism focuses on human-scaled
urban design. These design and development principles can be applied to new development, urban infill
and revitalization, and preservation. They can be applied to all scales of development in the full range of
places including rural Main Streets, booming suburban areas, urban neighborhoods, dense city centers,
and even entire regions.
"Organic urbanism" is an urban development that arises from little to no formal planning and
regulatory apparatus form of development permitted by the government. The phrase itself is a very
contentious matter. It heavily relies on traditional urban life romanticism and "back in the days" type of
reasoning.
In the pre-industrial revolution, organic urbanism is already the development growth norm such as
Siena in Italy, Baghdad in Iraq, or Vezelay in France. These city developments were organic and
incremental which may have been driven by customs and religious requirements and social mores.
Urban government under organic urbanism permits public services like water, drainage, and roads
to be shaped by the people and with little to no restrictions. The communal interface is where individuals
interact and collaborate regularly to maintain their urban and social fabric. They develop a strong feeling of
place, community, and place value for their urban surroundings as a result of their intense participation.
Instead of designating an area, organic urbanism defines streets, volumes, and functions, for
example, red volume for schools, yellow volume for dwellings, blue volume for offices, and so on. It feels
strange to employ this kind of planning methodology since creating the environments in which we live
should be about life, and this quite rigorous way of viewing life in that way is so unnatural.
According to the organic urbanism theory, the growth, structures, forms, and adaptations seen in
the natural world should serve as inspiration for how future cities should be built. Serafini S., Kidman H.,
Penet E., et. al (2012). (2012). This interpretation is related to the biomimicry idea of adopting natural
forms, which may be used to conceptualize the growth and layouts of cities. Although a city might be
viewed figuratively as an organism, it is not fully the physical equal of a tree (based on Christopher
Alexander's book A building is not a tree).
The organic urbanism philosophy suggests that the development of future cities should be
informed by the growth processes, structures, forms, and adaptations found in the natural world. Kidman
H. Penet E., Serafini S., et. al (2012). This interpretation is linked with the biomimicry concept of taking
natural forms that may be applied to the conceptual form of a city's development and configurations. A city
is not entirely a literal equivalent of a tree (based from Christopher Alexander's book A building is not a
tree) but it can be metaphorically be considered an organism.
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With organic urbanism, community-led planning and organic growth is the positive urban
development direction. It empowers the community and in its best sense represents the "bottom-up"
approach to controlling urban growth. Organic urbanism grievances are about the growing inequality in the
planning ideology of the new urbanists. Their characterization of urban identities as mere camouflage and
are irrelevant as a matter of aesthetic value.
One could wonder what an organic urbanist movement projects as their ideological stand. It may
be that such ideology is one of a bygone concept of urban growth strategy, but it is an ideology that may
have a balancing effect to what the modernists' urban strategies are putting forth. Modern cities or urban
planners and designers should hear the organic urbanists' plea for the search for the balance between
community interest versus individualism or corporate interests.
APPLYING ORGANIC URBANISM CONCEPTS AND IDEALS IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING
The development plan for suburban growth in the Philippines, particularly in the rural regions,
might very much benefit from the concepts of organic urbanists. All rural barangays, in my opinion, should
take the effort to inform and assist their residents in creating an organic growth strategy. The goal is to
manage sprawl in a short- and long-term perspective by appropriately anticipating expansion and
balancing this incremental increase.
Each barangay has to have a staff member who can assist with the correct community involvement
and local government support procedures. Of course, this idea could not be realized without the
assistance of a trained planner/designer of the rural and urban areas. If each baragay relies on instinctive
growth development ideas and is devoid of the insights of a fully qualified and educated urban/rural
planner and designer, the traditional organic urbanization process will be severely underequipped.
Each barangay might establish "bottom-up" and "top-down" plans to balance the desirable quality
of life of their expanding population and the good environmental goals with a conscientious provision for
anticipating the transition from rural to urban expansion over time. If each rural barangay is able to
manage to provide sufficient economic vitality, quality, and standards of life, this might result in the
retention of inhabitants and decrease the tendency of city migration.
Each barangays would be charged with developing their own short- and long-term development
objectives using organic urbanism as a model. Inter-barangay planning council and/or municipal council
can then combine these community-crafted development plans to include each development vision and
plan into a coordinated set of municipal urbanism goals and objectives. While the "top-down" technique
might be linked with municipal aims of development, the "bottom-up" approach is prioritized in the
planning process at the barangay level.
The goal is to provide a responsive and instructional foundation regarding the significance of
organic urbanism rather than to create high-tech or showy architectural or urban design concepts.
Members might become more accountable and involved in improving their local development if each
barangay/sitio could create an informed community about an organic growth and development plan.
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Pangasinan State University

URDANETA CITY CAMPUS

APL 412 – PLANNING 02

RSW MT-02: "Organic VS New Urbanism"

GUMALLAOI, JUDELLE V. ARCH. ZALDY FELIX CORPUZ, UAP

ORGANIC URBANISM: A new and old concept of urban growth development.

APPLYING ORGANIC URBANISM CONCEPTS AND IDEALS IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING

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