The Urban Roamer has talked about places, events, and issues. Now, beginning with this entry, the Urban Roamer will be featuring from time to time the people who have helped shaped Metro Manila in this new feature called “Metropolis Builders.” We will be looking at the contributions of urban planners, architects, visual artists, and other visionaries who have helped enrich the metropolitan landscape. And it is apt that the first figure to be featured here is the one who was instrumental in shaping the Manila that we know today… Born onĀ September 4, 1846 in New York State, Daniel Burnham wasĀ as an American architect and urban planner who first cameĀ into prominence…
-
-
Manila’s Port Problems
The past few months have been quite a strenuous timeĀ for the Port of Manila. Partly, one major factor behind this was the truck ban implemented by the Manila City Government against trucks plying the streets of the city during key hours of the day. (the original hours of the truck ban was virtually whole day from 5 AM–9 PM, but was tweaked so there were window hours set in place for trucks to ply the city streets from 10 AM-3 PM) While the jury’s out whether the truck ban has alleviated traffic in the city, the idea itself gained traction as other cities in the metropolis implemented their own truck…
-
Cine Europa 17
The Urban Roamer is not just about places or events. From time to time, it indulges in appreciating art in any form…in this case, the art of cinema. What better way to indulge in such aspects than to check out this annual event that celebrates European cinema: theĀ Cine Europa. Organized by the European Union inĀ the Philippines, Cine Europa is an annual film festival which showcases films produced by someĀ of the EU’s member countries (+ Norway and Switzerland, which areĀ not EU members) for free, thus giving moviegoers an opportunity to be acquainted with the best in contemporary European cinema.
-
Sampaloc’s Twin Churches
The district of Sampaloc in the City of Manila has long been known not only as a bustling residential enclave but also an important educational center of the city and of the metropolis as a whole. But at the heart of this busy district is a spiritual core that is common among many communities in the country. What makes Sampaloc’s case a bit different though is that its spiritual core is served not only by one but two Catholic churches with an intertwined history that has shaped the suburbĀ we know of today.