Cities’ sufficiency is determined by the streams of supply it mined from. Some old cities could boast about its abundance of supply through its public markets. Big cities like Davao has its Bankerohan, CDO has its Agora while Cebu has its Karbon. To experience immersion with the city, one should walk through its public market. It is here lays the soul of the city. This is what differentiates a city from the sleeping towns: the public market. What makes Makati City vibrant? What makes Cebu City unequal? And why does Davao city welcoming? What made these cities different? The answer lies by walking right through its respective public markets, the abundance of supply, enough or exceeds the demands of its residents. A walked into the thickets of trading inside my city’s public market would reveal its competence to outdo old cities in such abundance of supply of food and other amenities.
It was 1997 that rocked the long held patrimony of many local traders and business owners in the city. They resisted leaving the old public market, and it had ensued marathon of legal battles against the local government’s decision to relocate them to the new public market, built inside a 7 hectare land donated by a generous family of the city. It was a crucial decision indeed and called for a short period of sacrifice, enough to ensure an unimaginable floodgate of positive results. The rest were all history.
Public spaces are provided to nurture the gift of many, the city, welcomes the undiminished diversity of talents, of individuals aspiring for greater opportunities. Public spaces away from the influence of economic ventures provide a conducive venue for unhampered expression of variety of gifts from individual city dwellers- normally the youth. Parks, sports complex, cobbled lanes for walking, arboretums planted with varied species of flora and caged bird of varied species for public viewing, these are indispensable amenities that most urban villages had neglected in the passing of time, maybe such amenities were construed as non-essentials in the complex urban life. As can be observed on many highly acclaimed world cities, public spaces are being kept and maintained, giving their constituents the necessary buffer zones. My city has kept it.
My city is just barely 14 years from its cityhood but from its township is 28 years away for centenary. Old cities around the country were founded in the 18 th century, Manila, Cebu and maybe Zamboanga. These old cities are well populated and the signs of stresses surfaced on the crucial aspects of urban living. Heavy traffic is taking its toll on these places. Public spaces are given up by the local governments in exchange for more revenues by converting public plains into commercial utilities. Old buildings are torn down unfit for human habitation. Local leaders coming from breed of generations of politicians are adamant to give new blood in the political life of their cities