TAHI: Safe & Inclusive Urban Fabric

“TAHI: Safe & Inclusive Urban Fabric” was an idea birthed from the challenge to reactivate the economy after the negative effects of this global pandemic. A challenge presented by the Ark last April 2020 – an international competition that we, in the Echo AD Studio, decided to participate in.

The global pandemic has brought the world to a halt, and then to its knees. Life as we know it has been turned upside down and the term “new normal” is now ingrained in our vocabulary. The threat to the health and wellbeing of the masses has resulted in the suspension of many activities and has required adjustments on business operations. According to the Labor Force Survey, between October 2019 and April 2020, employment decreased at an average of 20% across all industries with food and beverage, construction, ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology), transportation and tourism as the most affected, losing around 26% to 38% of jobs per industry. The economy in turn plunged to -7% growth with recovery to pre-pandemic growth rates projected to take a few years, according to the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

In the midst of all of this, people who were lucky enough to be employed despite the circumstances did not have a choice but to go to work even though they could get infected while on the bus, on the train, or just by waiting on the street. This fear of risking exposure has been present also among consumers, causing low sales and bankruptcies. This led us to probe public transport and spaces. How can we make traveling to work less dangerous so that the economy can move while people are kept safe?

Our Concept

TAHI is a Filipino word that means, “to stitch together” – so in essence, this proposal stitches together different parts of the city to improve the quality of life for the masses as it serves both infrastructure and as an initiator of a cultural paradigm shift that will enable Philippine urban spaces to become resilient from the adverse effects of the pandemic.

The proposal is stretched out over a 9-year timeline separated into three phases. For the first three years, we propose quick solutions where small-scale interventions can be applied. Reimagined roads with proper bike lanes and sidewalks that promote social distancing and community involvement are some of the examples of these interventions that promote self-mobility. This will provide people more or less 5km to 10km radius around the central business district more options to commute to and from work instead of relying on congested public transport.

Building from that momentum from Phase 1, the design solutions in the 4 - 6 year phase of this proposal will cover a larger radius of urban areas to improve access to places of work. Solutions that democratize large intersections, improve transport stops, and decongest commercial retail stores have been considered. In a bustling metropolitan, large intersections often occur under large flyovers. These are critical access points for all types of commuters. Democratizing these intersections by making them safe, accessible, and beautiful will allow safe passage and will in turn make it easier to get to and from work. Improving transport stops and initiating the necessary precautions to lessen the spread of the virus will create a safer means to work when public transportation is the only option. Lastly, decongesting commercial retail stores by setting up an extended talipapa will not only create a safer means to buy goods but also encourage local commerce.

For the last phase, we propose a clean building flow where the national building code will require provisions for aptly placed sanitation spaces within buildings so common spaces are safer and more resilient against viruses and disease. While currently, more designers are working on incorporating this into their spaces, putting this provision into the building code would ensure that all structures occupied by Filipinos have been designed to be safe. This also makes workplaces resilient to pandemics, thus doing the utmost to avoid another crisis situation like that of 2020.

These solutions all aim to re-establish the trust in the safety of employees traveling to work albeit with the current situation of this global pandemic so that once again they can go out to work and enjoy the vibrant Philippine urban landscapes in a new sense of normal.