WHEN an employee needs to travel two hours just to go to work, in the eyes of an urban planner, this is a big problem. There are two general insights from this: he is priced out and cannot afford to live nearer his work, and it is the best work he could find because his locality does not offer that same opportunity. If we multiply this sentiment to a million and more people, we will see the reality of citizens from Bulacan and Laguna traveling all the way to Quezon City and Makati to work. And even those from Quezon City and other parts of Metro Manila who travel back and forth to Makati. The result is dreadful traffic all over the metropolis.

But as we dig much deeper into this common issue of traffic we will find a deeper problem that Jose Rizal described as a “social ill” or “social cancer.” It is an issue of social inequality and inequity. During the Spanish occupation, town planning followed the approach of separating the Intramuros (or inside the walls) for the ilustrados, and Extramuros (or outside the walls) for the indios and sangleys.

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