Introduction
I have plied to downtown Naga (Centro) from our office in Ateneo to my apartment for approximately 2,190 times, since I first set foot on the pulsating City in 2003. Aside from my usual itinerary in monitoring schools for the
feeding program in different places in Camarines Sur, I used to walk and cross the busy streets and spaces of Downtown Naga almost everyday.
Ever since, Naga City is a place of refuge. A second home for wanderer development workers seeking personal comfort and refuge.
But that is not always the case. Ask the pedestrians wandering in Centro. Until we directly experience familiar public and private spaces in Downtown Naga, which has contrasts on our will to relax, wander and chill. That is, until we understand the struggles within of both the pedestrians and establishments, silently competing for space.
Personal Notes
My interest on the topic may be drawn from the assumption that first; there is a competition for space among the different “interactants” inside Naga City Centro. Second, that these competitions do not only increases the market value of that particular space, but also increases its “political value.” Third, that the increasing political value of the space would eventually dictate Naga Centro’s power over the social relationship that should take place in such spaces.
Political value here would be referred to as the worth, not necessarily monetary, of how an individual assert power over the other individual while inside a particular space at a particular time.
The perception on the increasing political value of spaces in Naga and the kind of social relations that is taking place in these spaces thus creates power to attract fortune/job seekers, businesspersons, artists, intellectuals, bureaucrats, and common pedestrian to come and assume a particular space in Naga Centro. Furthermore, the summation of these “organisms” inside the city center would then comprise the actual interactants that are unconsciously doing “simulated forms of interactions” because of the dictates of the spaces they occupy.
Space Defined
Space may be simply put as an intangible idea denoting a particular area that has a measure. It is a certain configuration of the actual space at a given time, containing social relationships within a given society and encompasses [these] individuals that interact within the given space at a given actual time (iCount.com, 2004).
Space also creates history (Muir, 2000), since it may be seen as a product of the past e.g. the space where the Quinze Martirez Plaza in Naga City stood, and as a precursor of the future e.g. the planned construction of a Naga City Convention Center
[1] and the urban development plans of the city government.
Space also creates power, because it is capable of instructing or dictating social relations. The interactions happening inside these spaces suggest that each interactants must assert power, in order to satisfy the reason why that particular space was realized. The strategic sites in City centers (plazas, civic buildings, shopping centers, offices, etc.) are therefore arranged systematically in order to produce a set of knowledge [and norms] in realizing the kinds of bodies and activities permitted within those sites, in terms of nomenclature, function, and jurisdiction. (Muir, 2000)
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| One common day in Naga City (Tabuco Bridge) |
Creating Pseudo-Relations
We tend to experience an abrupt change of our social roles, depending on the place or space that we occupy. This is because of the continuous juxtaposition of our functions as we shift to different places from time to time.
We frequently discover ourselves engaging into different kinds of relationships depending on whom we are interacting with and the place where the interaction takes place at a certain point of time.
At some point, we may be called "sirs/mam" if we are inside a food chain or any establishment by its attendant or staff. However, if we leave the said establishment, we will again be the same Juan or Juana, competing for space in the streets, co-equal with other sirs and mams.
Naga City Centro, like any other city centers perhaps, have the capability to induce social relationships that are transient, informal, non-committing, and has individualistic-parochial end. I would call this type of interaction as “
pseudo-relationship.”
Now, imagine a common pedestrian taking lunch in a food chain. The “fake” relationship would immediately start right after the pedestrian enters the door. Without haste, the crew or security guard would happily greet him with a seemingly truthful smile.
Of course, the common pedestrian would not be overly delighted with the greeting, knowing that these people mechanistically say this phrases every day and every hour of their duty in the food chain. This same crew would do these things regardless of his/her feelings before taking his post in the entrance door. Regardless if his feet ache for standing there for too long, regardless if he/she could no longer send his brother or sister to school because his/her contract with the food chain would expire after six months, etc.
This crew is required to smile and greet, because that particular space where he is standing dictates him to do so. That particular space, which has a very high economic and political value, dictates the crew to smile and greet in a vacuum; with no meaning, with no sincerity, with no feelings. As transient and as fabricated as that. Perhaps, if
Marshall McLuhan has foreseen this "plasticity", he would not have concluded that the medium is indeed the message!
These same events are also evident in other business-oriented establishments in Centro, e.g. banks, hotels, restaurants, bars, malls, bookstores, etc.; where a certain person is being rendered the most warm and accommodating service, as long as that same person could purchase or pay something out of the services given to him. The accumulation of temporary power in these spaces mostly occurs within relationships that are non-committing and short-lived.
The Centro Spaces and the Simulation of Powerlessness
Gearing towards being the hub of trade and commerce in the Bicol region, Naga City, particularly the Centro is geometrically spaced according to the flow or mobility of the pedestrian or consumers. The manner by which the spaces in Centro are laid out purposively to create a pedestrian city
[2], not only to make the Centro appear to have an accommodating place for pedestrians, but also to further tolerate the culture of consumerism among the prospect visitors of the said space. In every corner of Downtown Naga, and perhaps, in all the post-fordist
[3]city centers, one could immediately observe how fast-food chains, restaurants, and other business establishments are systematically aligned side by side and to its adjacent corners, leaving no space unused for trade.
The irony perhaps with the geometric placements of structures is that while there are a bourgeoning number of business structures, there seems to be a decreasing space for pedestrians to rest and recreate. Spaces in Centro, are becoming money and power makers; and simultaneously marginalizing people, in terms of space-use. There is no single place in the Centro, except for the plazas, which we would discuss later, which are suitable for a common pedestrian’s resting. Definitely, there is the Crown hotel, the Fiesta Lodging Inn, Jolibee, Mc Donald’s etc. in which we could find the outmost service, the artificial cold air, good foods, etc., though it is limited only to those who could pay the service.
Walking from General Luna St, and taking the Elias Angeles St. path, there is no single space in the business lane which is suitable for resting, except the stairways and landings of malls and the of food chains. Being engulfed by these spaces would definitely co-opt any pedestrian, leaving the latter with no choice but to eat and buy or plan to eat and plan to buy or dream to eat and dream to buy.
The business spaces in Centro are being systematized or arranged in such a way that each pedestrian would be forced to buy even if it is against his/her will. Likewise, she/he would suffer the insecurities stated above, should she/he does not conform to the dictated behavior (culture of consumerism and patronage) within the business spaces. Because of the power of these spaces, our cities are being designed and controlled by ecology of fear where surveillance, control, and security are now paramount (Rubeli. 2005).
In the following illustration, I will try to discuss how the spaces in Naga Centro, particularly the business spaces are systematically arranged in order to regulate or restrict behaviors and create norms. From here, I would also like to show how these prescribed behavior and norms induce powerlessness among the common pedestrian, as he/she tries to occupy a certain space in Naga City Centro.
Now, imagine a common pedestrian residing in Milaor, or Canaman, or any other Municipalities
[4] outside of Naga City. Let us imagine him riding a jeepney bounded for Naga City. As soon as the jeepney reaches the city’s territory, we could immediately observe how Centro protects itself from “organisms” coming from other places. Each jeepney is only allowed to disposed and pick passengers in designated place in Tabuk Terminal in barangay Tabuco, which is outside of the City Centro. At first glance, such arrangement is in itself necessary and sane, considering that the limited spaces in Centro could no longer accommodate them. Letting a Naga-bound jeepney enter the City Centro would definitely create traffic disorder, as urban planners and architects would claim. The common pedestrian, therefore, would be forced to stepped out of the jeepney upon arriving at the designated out-of-Centro terminal and take another tricycle ride going to Centro; thus incurring him another expense. The common pedestrian may however choose to take a stride from the terminal to Centro.
Now, let us assume that our common pedestrian decided to take a walk along the pathways leading to the City center. At this moment, he might be walking along the less-than-one-meter pathway at the tip of General Luna St., in Barangay Tabuco. The common pedestrian’s claim for space starts at the time he sets foot on the footways leading to Shoppers Mall. The common pedestrian would start competing with other people and objects in consuming spaces in the said pathway leading to the Tabuco Bridge. He would be competing with other space-consuming rivals; with other common pedestrians, with the sidewalk vendors, with the vehicles parked side by side the roadway, with the business establishments, beggars, etc.
Likewise, having this stride would expose him to several threats while traversing the said footpath. First, he is exposed to the fumes and smoke of the vehicles, which are plying side by side the footpath. Second, he might even bump to other pedestrians or might crash a makeshift store, and cause harm to others or to himself; he might even be hit by any of the vehicles journeying the said path, or much worse, he might fall into the nearby
Naga River, and get drowned immediately.
In any case, our common pedestrian remains helpless amidst these threats. If not by his agility and conformity to the dictated-behaviors of these spaces and the objects within it, our common pedestrian would definitely fall into a pit of uncertainty, and perhaps, alienation.
Because of the manner by which the spaces of that street were fashioned and designed, each pedestrian like him/her remains powerless to have control over the abovementioned situations and spaces; mainly because the space he is walking into does not permit situations designed and wished by the pedestrian themselves. A space that would permit static interaction, a period in the pedestrian’s journey wherein he/she could stop and rest for a while. Without this, the common pedestrian therefore is forced to follow the prescribed route and prescribed behavior for him to reach his destination safely, sacrificing his own will and self-identify, to move within the Centro.
The common pedestrian’s journey would not end there, however. As soon as he/she passes the Tabuco Bridge, he/she automatically submits himself to the power of the spaces in Naga Centro. Entering Centro would mean letting out one’s self-identity and submitting oneself to the homogenizing
[5] and the regulative control of the Centro spaces.
Upon entering Naga Centro from the Tabuco Bridge route, our common pedestrian would be welcomed by two ironies of refuge. Facing North, leading to the direction of the Centro, our pedestrian would automatically notice the towering Aristocrat Hotel, situated on the right side of the road, which faces the Naga River. On top of the said structure is a beautiful Eastern-architecture-inspired rooftop, which is very conducive for sight seeing and resting.
However, our common pedestrian is strategically restricted from getting into the place to rest and take refuge. The rooftop is privately owned by Aristocrat Hotel and is exclusive only for the hotel’s patrons. Our common pedestrian has to check-in first before having the luxury of viewing half of Naga City Centro and the famed Naga River where the figurine the Lady Peñafrancia is paraded every September in the storied Fluvial Procession
[6]. From this point, our common pedestrian automatically loses power over his desire to have a peep unto the Naga River, through the beautiful rooftop of Aristocrat Tower.
Our common pedestrian has another option. On the left side, facing again the path leading to Centro, is the Naga City Public Market. The said structure is a three-story public market where most of the literally dirty commercial and trade transactions take place. However, if our common pedestrian is seeking for a public place where he could rest, the Naga Public Market is not designed for resting, lest it is designed for commerce, for trading, for money-making.
This geometric built-up of the spaces in Centro, whether be it on the left side or right side of the Gen. Luna road, encourages mobility of the consumers and limits the spaces for pedestrian resting, in order to encourage higher possibilities of service and goods consumption on the part of the consumers. Fronting directly the business establishments along the General Luna Sty., is roadway full of running vehicles. The arrangement would obviously encourage the consumer or even the common pedestrian to stay in his lane, the business lane, for him/her to be safe from being hit by any of the vehicles or to avoid the shame of being scolded by an MMDA traffic officer.
Given with these type of arrangement in this portion of the Centro, our common pedestrian therefore is again, forced to walk within the less-than-one-meter footpath provided to him/her.
Our common pedestrian would naturally take the general Luna St. path to enter Centro, since it is a strategic path leading to Centro. Walking along the street would give us an idea on how the Avenida St. in Manila looks like; a combination of service and trade business establishments that are lined immediately after a less-than-one meter pedestrian pathway, engulfing a national roadway, and facing again an equally business-densed spaces, on the other side of the road.
Let us assume that our common pedestrian, despite of his/her effort to avoid too much expenses, has decided or was forced to decide eat in a nearby food chain, along the business lane. As a consolation for giving in to the command of the business lane, he is entitled to experience a sense of power. Being a costumer of a food chain, or any other commercial establishments in Naga Centro entitles one to have a very transient, and temporary power. That is, the customer, or the pedestrian is always considered the boss in these kinds of pseudo-relationships. One acquires power whenever he/she is entering food chains or any other commercial establishments. The pedestrian acquires the power to command the crew to clean this or that; or he gains the power to request for a glass of water, or a pair of spoon and pork. Or to request for a chair. One could even have the guts to request this poor crew to lick his/her ass.
The space where our common pedestrian may probably be sitting dictates the crew to follow the former’s orders. The said space also requires the crew, and all other crews within the immediate periphery of that space to be as courteous and as humble as possible. That space in which the customer occupies has a very significant force that drives the service crew to humility and submissiveness. Being in food chains and customer-oriented establishments would definitely put the pedestrian in a state of temporary gusto, and the service providers in submission. However, it has to be noted that these interactions are counteractive. While the business spaces empowers the common pedestrian, the same is also actually being disempowered in the first place beacsue of submitting himself/herself to the dictated behavours within the premise of the food chain et al. The common pedestrian, even if considered boss, is dictated to observe “proper” etiquette, “good” eating gestures, and clean clothing.
Doing the Egg-Roll
Doing the tiresome attempt to traverse Freedom Park in Naga Centro to any point along the Gen. Luna St. or any other part of the Centro, is just like an egg rolling in a plane of unknown contour and topography. Looking the “egg out of him,” the common pedestrian is vulnerable of being crashed by several instances along the said space. He might bump into a stranger and might be accused of thieving or robbing other’s pocket. He might also accidentally hit one of the fruit stands “illegally” (as the space in the area would only permit “legal” enterprises) stationed in front of Metro Bank. Likewise, having a stop in front of MetroBank’s ATM machine, fronting
Rizal Plaza, would instantly create distrust among the ATM users who at the time may be consuming a considerable amount of space beside the bank, lined from the ATM machine to the boundary of Robertson Mall and Kenneth Jewelry Shop.
Ignorance on the intricacies of the space or simple non-conformity with the supposed space-dictated behavior would expose the common pedestrian to further dismay, and perhaps, harm. The egg that would want to roll in these spaces is very vulnerable for breakage if it refuses to conform to the supposed interaction that the space dictates. Much worst, he may not have control over any of the threats e.g. distrustfulness of ATM users, being not agile in crossing with other strangers, etc. As powerless as he is, he might as well go back or keep on walking, with his eggshells kept intact.
“Commodification” of Social Power
Power or authority is mostly dependent on the place or space where the interaction would take place. Likewise, the condition or stature of actors is sometimes interchangeable or perhaps transient. There are instances when a place, particularly a space, would define how power is being recognized within a given space, or how is power also being “disrecognized” in a different space. The recognition or “disrecognition” of power is therefore dependent on the type of relationship, which is dictated by a particular space. In this relation, power within the relationships inside the spaces of Naga Centro is frequently accompanied by the capacity of the pedestrian to compensate for the use of such space.
This power of the pedestrian over the immediate staff of the food chain (or any other spaces in the Naga Centro) is subject to the ability of the pedestrian to pay anything from the services and products offered to the former. The space therefore, though rendering obedience, service, and refuge, in favor of the pedestrian; would also require the pedestrian to pay for the product and/or services given by a business space. The pedestrian’s power over the immediate “interactants” is subject to his ability to enter into the conditions of the said space. Entering the space would also include the ability to pay back the food chain’s services lest the submissiveness of the service providers. Food chains (or any other business spaces in the Naga Centro) are spaces wherein people are temporarily empowered or “disempowered” depending on their role within the pseudo-relationships perpetuated inside the said spaces.
The feudal relationship within food chains automatically ends when the costumer leaves the place, or if the costumer no longer has the ability to pay for the service and products of a particular business space.
On the other hand, there are also other spaces in the City Centro where there are no masters and slaves. These spaces in Centro do not require anyone to have capital e.g. money to gain respect. At one look, such places would appear to be neutral grounds wherein people could stay and rest, without being required to be neither a master nor a slave.
Centro’s Neutral Grounds for Social Interactions
The Centro’s plazas are one of the few places in downtown Naga where one could find himself/herself on equal footing with other strangers in the place. Unlike the commercial establishments that are strategically spaced along the streets and straits of the self-protecting city, the plazas or parks have no requisitions or whatsoever, for a common pedestrian to regain self-respect and self-identity.
If we are going to visit again the common pedestrian who may be wandering along Downtown Naga, we might find him sitting in either one of the three plazas
[7] of the City. The Quince Martirez Plaza (Fifteen Martyrs Plaza) is located along Gen. Luna St., engulfed by the roadways. (Do for Freedom Park) Looking into the topology of Downtown Naga, these two plazas are the only probable places, which are favorably conducive for neutral interactions, wherein each “interactants” are standing on neutral grounds; each is no boss to other. In either places, our common pedestrian would be enjoying a stick of cigarette while watching two strangers playing and betting in chess, or he might be sitting in front of the historical heads of the Quinze Martirez while being struck by the skaters creating galore and amusement while being watched by other strangers and the great martyrs of Bicol. Our common pedestrian might be eating
bulastog or
kikiamlocated along the parking streets of Elias Angeles St., which is literally bursting of people and street foods. Our common pedestrian, after doing any of the abovementioned probable activities, might again sit in one of the benches in any of these two parks, once again to watch the chess players, or the skaters etc.
Our common pedestrian is relatively free to move anywhere he wanted as long as he/she is within the boundaries of the park. While inside the Centro, it is only in the neutral grounds where our common pedestrian regains his true self, it is here where he reclaims his/her self-identity.
Plazas may also be considered as the only space in Centro where people; who were enslave by the culture of consumerism and prescribed behaviors, may find peace of mind, as they were made to believe so…..
Our common pedestrian might ask: Why not make the spaces in the plaza also a commercial space, knowing that such spaces are very conducive and profitable for business?
The said place is strategically spaced in that particular area so that the anger and boredom of those who could not afford to occupy spaces in the business lanes would be immediately pacified; considering the physical appearance and topography of the said plazas. The plazas in Centro are places wherein our common pedestrian would feel equal with other strangers interacting within the space. The said place in a way conceals the greater inequalities among the different interactants in the Centro.
It has to be noted that people from the most economically marginalized classes up to the middle class and higher middle class are free to move and behave on equal footing with anyone; thus erasing the notion of indifference and inequality. The strategic nature of this parks, which, as we may observe, pacifies the inert revolutionary tendencies of the marginalized to explode because of the relaxing and accommodating character of the plazas.
Nevertheless, our common pedestrian definitely would not want to attack the urban planning of Naga City government, neither he/she wanted to stir the revolutionary tendencies of the people in the Plaza Rizal or
Plaza Quezon, or Plaza Quince Martirez, just because of these realizations. At this point, definitely, our common pedestrian has nothing in mind but to rest and cherished the free space that he/she might be occupying now, while looking into the good and bad images of the Centro; the varying images that continue to engulf the streams of insignificant people like him/her.
Presence in their Presence
The geographical order, which has been defined by the spaces in Centro are no less than the effort to ensure security among the business establishments and the prospect patrons of the latter. Traffic pathways are cleared from obstructions in order to maintain the smooth flow of vehicles and the consumers’ mobility towards the business establishments. Sidewalks are being cleared from vendors, so as not to obstruct the mobility of the consumers and not to give an eyesore to the picturesque of the existing business spaces. Public chairs and resting places along the entrance of commercial establishments are a nono, considering that the said facility would only retard the pedestrians’ mobility; thus retarding commercial activities.
Meanwhile, despite these efforts to command “order” within the Naga Centro spaces, there are still evident instances when most of the insignificant people within the Centro try to counteract these prescribed orders. Our common pedestrian however, would not want go deeper into the different theories on social resistance and class conflicts that would satisfy the above observation.
He/she would be resolved on merely looking at the existence of the informal hawkers, and peddlers along the streets of Centro. There are also other odd jobs that this same order or spacing has brought into being e.g.
bantay kotse[8] (car onlookers), baggage boys, etc. There is also a bunch of youngsters aged 12 to 21 skateboarding in the ridges of the Quince Martirez Monument. During weekends, our common pedestrian would also see a group of men running their bikes around the Plaza Quezon and would settle at Plaza Quince Martirez, wherein they would do some antics and exhibitions with their respective bikes and skate boards. Most of the times, these riders (skateboarders and bikers) would run outside the boundaries of Plaza Martirez or Plaza Quezon and would take the roadways intended for private vehicles. A scenario of youngsters running in the National Highway would definitely make the MMDA traffic officer blow his/her whistle.
The presence of these personas has been a common picture for us of the Centro spaces. Most of the times, we could see these insignificant people assuming spaces not legally due to them. For some, these people e.g. hawkers, peddlers, skateboarders etc. are a source of public annoyance as they occupy spaces in footpaths, they ignore traffic rules on roads and infect the seriousness of public spaces with [economic desperation and] slacked hedonism (Muir, 2000).
The parking lots for example, is intended for cars and vehicles only. However, thebantay-awtos and their cohorts would make their presence felt in car-specified spaces of the parking lots. There would come a time that the political value of the parking lot space, which was previously endowed to car owners, would be gradually transferred to the bantay-awtos, who may now have the prerogative on assigning where a particular car should be parked within parking lots.
Our discussion would continue with the situation of the common hawkers and peddlers along the streets of Naga Centro, particularly those tinapa (smoked fish)and tuyo ( dried fish) vendors fronting the Robertson Mall. Our common pedestrian would observe that while the less-than-one-meter pathways along the business lane is intended only for the movement of prospected patrons/consumers, these same hawkers and peddlers assumes space in the said lanes. What is interesting to note is that while the business spaces discounts the presence of hawkers and peddlers, in favor of the mobility of the business patrons (consumers), these same hawkers and peddlers make themselves mobile also, interacting or counteracting the flow of the consumers. While these hawkers and peddlers previously have semi-fixed stands, they would now resort to putting their trades in bilaos , or any movable and makeshift stands for higher mobility and easy escape, when MMDA apprehension is imminent.
Gauging from this observation, the presence of these people would suggest that even if the powerful spaces in Naga Centro has the power to dictate behaviors and norms, there is still a possibility of leakage. There is still a greater possibility of resistance, in any form, from the prescribed behavior and norms while interacting at a given space. There is this unconscious claim of the marginalized space-occupants of Centro; using these claims as a tactical capacity to intervene in the practices of the city (Muir, 2000), thus undermining the homogenized form of the Cento.
CONCLUSION
Centro, and cities in general, as has been claimed by Muir (2000), are not just mere assemblages of buildings, streets, and people. From being an insignificant space before, being a third class City in 1988, the Naga City Centro has been transformed into a venue of several important interactions in the City. The creation of other facilities and business establishments further intensified Centro’s supremacy over the people within it. Aside from being a geographical landmark, the Centro has been a living apparatus for the production of knowledge and power capable of directing, regulating, and prescribing behaviors and rules; thus the capitulation of the common pedestrian’s self-identity. (Cite Foucault’s analysis of space and compare with Soja)
While the businesses and other service centers are occupying most of the spaces in Centro, there is a greater chance of the increasing political and economic value of these spaces. Parallel to this increase is the decrease of power (either social or economic power) of the marginalized, which were, in the first place, the first occupants of the previously unboundaried spaces before, though displaced and taken off from their former spaces. There is the denudation of the inherent powers of the common pedestrians that are very vulnerable to the concealed threats of the Centro, especially when he/she is unwilling to conform to the standards of the business spaces.
Should the common pedestrian found something about this spaces that is against to his/he will, the latter would be consoled by the strategic spaces within Centro, that appears to offer space for rest and recreation; a space of reclaiming one’s lost identity. These are spaces within the City Center that would conceal the disparities among the different occupants of the place.
I have traversed Downtown Naga for more than 2, 190 times since I first set foot on this pulsating City, since 2003. And as I look at the way people are contended or were made to believe that they are contended today to the spaces of Centro, I guess that our common pedestrian would continue on walking. He/she would remain as that same insignificant person walking along and competing spaces with other equally insignificant people amidst the invisible and perhaps, invincible force engulfing them.
The common pedestrian, along with other common pedestrians would keep on walking, forcibly transforming themselves into a colony of insignificant nomadics!
References:
Robredo, Jess M. 2005. “Soaring to New Heights.” A speech delivered during the State of the
City Address in Naga City
Muir, Kit Messham. 2000. “Practices of the City and the Kickflipping Flaneur” in
Salingaros, Nikos A. 2003. “Connecting the Fractal City”. Keynote speech, 5thBiennial of
towns and town planners in Europe (Barcelona, April 2003), in
Grodach, Carl. 2002. Book Review: Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and
Regions. Review of Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions, by Edward Soja.Oxford
[1] Initially planned to be constructed on the donated Almeda Estate, as declared by Mayor Jess Robredo in his State of the City address on February 14, 2005 at the Naga City Youth Center.
[2] A phrase used by Salingaros to describe a city that offers significant urban spaces, which is conducive for the social interactions of pedestrians and [common wanderers] as contrasted to the “car city”.
[3] A prhase popularized by urbanist Edward Soja, which describes cities to be most closely associated with the new regionalism. In particular, this scholarship examines the geographic intricacies of the deindustrialization and de-territorialization of fordist economies, and their reconstitution into more flexible, and often regional, forms of production and location decisions.
[4] Naga city is strategically located in the middle of several neighboring municipalities like Calabanga, Milaor, Canaman, Pasacao etc. Because of national roads and bridges traversing the city, Naga is very accessible to these municipalities; thus encourages continuous mobility of people. Naga also has several terminals of buses and jeepneys bound for the aforementioned municipalities; thus taking control of the itinerary of non-Naga residents.
[5] Post-Urban Theories offer varying strands of explanation regarding “homogenization and regionalization”. I would suggest Edward Soja’s
Postmetropolis or any existing reviews of it for reference regarding the terms.
[6] The Fluvial Procession is a sequel of the Traslacion parade during the Peñafrancia Fiesta in Naga City. During the Traslacion, the centuries-old image of the Lady of Peñafrancia is being brought to the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. On the 9
th day, the said image is being brought to the Peñafrancia Basilica Minore via the Fluvial procession on the Naga River.
[7] Downtown Naga has three plaza/park; the first plaza is the Quince Martirez Park, the Freedom Park and the newly constructed Plaza Quezon.
[8] Bantay Awto or Bnatay Kotse (car onlookers) are people who looks after parked vehicles along business establishemtns, in exchange of money. Most of the
Bantay Awto flocks in front of the Philippine National Bank along the Gen. Luna St. to wait for possible “clients."
