Uploaded on 2016-07-28 by Diego Almeida

Here is my panoramic shot (view from Metropolitan Theater) of the capital city of the Philippines, Manila. This area is called the Plaza Lawton, where the Manila Post Office Building (beige white building with columns) is located. It has become a public terminal with routes to the southern cities and provinces with also a nearby train station. As you can see, there are at least three modes of transportation visible in this photo: the buses, the public utility vans, and an elevated railway (right side). The City of Manila was urban planned by Daniel Burnham, but unfortunately discontinued due to World War II. Now, the city is conglomerated with vehicles and road networks, leaving less area for the public spaces and urban design. Nevertheless, Manila has maintained a few green open spaces compared to other Philippine urban areas. It is visible in this photo too that trees play a huge role in the daily commute of people. With the given scenario, the city could use a facelift in terms of segregating public utility vehicles (that take up of the much needed space and time) with the private vehicles. If roads could be built underground, instead of putting them above, we could avoid the unsightly features of a decaying bridge. Commuters would have less risk of crossing roads in between fast moving private vehicles to reach the public utility vehicles. It is clearly evident in this photo that vehicles are given higher priorities than pedestrians.