Baguio Needs To Rethink Urban Planning Vis. Creative City Designation

Urban planner Dr. Mary Ann Alabanza-Akers shares her ideas on how Baguio can take on the challenge of being a Creative City of UNESCO. This was during a talk on Urban Planning Strategies to Enhance Creative Cities on Jan. 4 hosted by the Baguio Museum.

Dr. Alabanza-Akers, who is the daughter of renown Baguio architect Jose Alabanza, said that her inputs were her way of sparking the conversation on rethinking urban planning for the Summer Capital. She also qualified that most of what she shares is based on her experience in the United States.

She is currently the Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in Baguio City, finishing her college studies at UP Baguio.

What Is A Creative City? And What Is Creativity?

Dr. Mary Ann starts her talk defining creativity and what makes a creative city. She cites that being creative means being able to come up with original ideas from one’s imagination. Artists are usually the ones who are gifted with creativity. She adds however that if an architect’s design can “give delight” to people, then architects can be considered artists as well.

To illustrate what creativity entails, she asked three volunteers from the audience to take a creativity test. The test made use of a simple curvilinear shape which the volunteers must improve on in one minute. She also showed some of the creativity exercises she did with her students. Creativity, according to what she saw in her students’ work, showcases different ways of seeing the world and therefore different ways of learning. Oftentimes, students who think outside of the box and who see things in a non-linear manner are the most creative.

In terms of creative cities, she cites that Baguio already has built a name for itself. In fact, she says that Baguio is more advanced than other creative cities she knows of in the U.S. She shows a map of the US and its creativity index, pointing out that the most creative cities were those with the most diverse populations.

‘Disruption Is Good’ And May Be What Baguio Needs

In the course of her talk, she engaged the audience with provocative questions such as “What can Baguio do to encourage cultural experiments and innovation?” She also raised a few points about rethinking urban planning in the city, which may mean focusing on other areas other than the usual ones.

Some of the ideas she showed about creative cities came from the U.S. These included having creative districts or nodes, or areas of free expression scattered all around the city. Nature and open space also plays an important part in creative cities, as well as regular arts and crafts festivals as the city’s identity.

Among her suggestions had more to do with trying out new things which entails involving as many stakeholders as possible. She particularly calls on the city to involve more millennials who may be the key to “disruptive ideas.”

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