by Nicasio Angelo Agustin
For the past 26 years or so, I’ve been traveling and going places. I am not a cabin crew, neither a businessman nor a medical representative, but there were times in the last two decades that I’d been in and out of airports and probably recorded a rather significant number of flights per month. I was just an ordinary public servant, and I am now an ordinary development consultant.
My previous and current work requires me to visit places for meetings, seminars, trainings and project monitoring in my capacity as a participant or as a major actor. I also went to places for personal reasons – as venues for my continuing education, family holidays and recreation.
When I was much younger, trips were quite a welcome break from work routine, from the monotony of office environment. Yet, trips were just simply trips. Unless obviously obnoxious and apparently detestable, facilities and amenities were almost insignificant for comfort and convenience. At younger age, my threshold for difficulty and inefficient way of life was high; it was much easier to adjust and adapt to a given situation. The inadequacies and imperfections of some hotels and other lodging services for temporary stay were often regarded as trivial. Even an inefficient transport system was never a hitch. Adventure and thrill, more than anything else, excited me as risk-taking and exploring young, naïve and trouble-free traveler.
When I grew up a little older and still continue to travel, my attention to details became more evident. I started to feel the discomfort of sub-standard public utility vehicles, the narrow and nameless streets in the poblacion, a not-so-clean and not-so-orderly hotel room, the inaccessibility of convenience stores to buy snacks for the night, the uncollected garbage and some shirtless and shameless tambays along the streets. And many more.
Fast forward: Now that I am much older and perhaps a bit wiser, my requirements for convenience and comfort in places have also grown. More than just the availability of transportation – a cab more than anything else, I now look for efficiency and quality, and I mean clean, air-conditioned unit, polite and courteous cab driver. Road and street patterns and their level of service capacities cannot escape my observing eyes. Fast and unobstructed travel around the area is certainly a plus. For accommodation, I now prefer not just a well-ventilated and orderly room with cable television set, clean bed sheets and bathroom but one that is also provided with at least a fitness gym and a consistent internet connection. The latter need no further justification. Young and old people alike have gradually cultivated their penchant for the internet for various reasons – productive or otherwise. It is now an ardent need rather than a mere fad.
In some of my recent travels, I imagined myself living in those cities I’ve been to – perhaps as possible places for retirement with my family – and as I continue to assess, I realize that my requirements have expanded beyond my own personal and professional necessities. For me, a place to be called livable must have accessible and affordable service facilities for education, fitness and health. Not just having them, but having them with the highest possible level of quality and standard. It must have a good sense of business direction, propelled by the host local government and fuelled by local business leaders. As a possible hub for business, investment, education and employment, a livable place also requires reliable infrastructure support facilities, abundant yet well-planned spaces for residential growth, an orderly pattern of streets and circulation networks as well as amenities for wholesome amusement, entertainment and recreation. The level of security is manifested not by the presence of uniformed military personnel but by the general conduct and discipline of the local residents – whether they be PU drivers, vendors, professionals, executives or business people. Politicians included.
Recently, the Mercer and The Economist came up with the Quality of Life Survey and the World’s Most Livable Cities, respectively. Scanning through the results of the Quality of Life Survey, I can say that I’ve been to the top five cities in the American region and three of the top five cities in the Asia Pacific region. Probably, my exposure to the kind of life in these cities formed my own standard and perspective of a livable city.
Before my early retirement from the government service tow years ago, I actually resided for eight years in Davao City, which, incidentally, has been adjudged as the Most Livable Highly Urbanized City in the Philippines for 2010. I agree that among the cities in the country, Davao City has the edge and the capacity to provide for the requirements of the young travelers, the professionals, the business people, and some folks who are considering Davao as the place to be.
I also believe that Davao City could harness its potentials for progress and growth. Yet it should not rest on its laurel for being the “Most” among cities in the Philippines. The challenge for Davao City and other identified most livable highly urban cities in the country is to raise the bar higher and consider other cities outside the country as their benchmark. By the way, the Mercer Quality of Life Survey considered New York City as the benchmark. Remarkably, many of those in the list surpassed New York City.
Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.
