15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERE N C E

CITY DESIGNING AND NATIONHOOD DURING THE EARLY-1900S: CIVIC DESIGN IN THE *

IAN MORLEY Department of History, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong [email protected]

This paper aims to investigate matters involved in the creation of city plans for and in the Philippines, two of ’s and the early-twentieth century’s most important exercises in city designing, and nation-building.

The work considers how the 1904 city plans for Baguio and Manila by , schemes created shortly after the end of the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), strengthened an embryonic sense of national character as defined by US imperial administrators, and how recourse to the ‘modern’ art of civic design and reliance on a new kind of expert, the city planner, helped to articulate this identity. The study will systematically examine how the conceptualization and construction of Baguio and Manila spoke to America’s yearning to disassociate the Philippines from its past as an ‘uncivilized’ place so as to create a fresh culture, environment, and identity that epitomized imperial hopes, principles and pride: a cultural and physical landscape that would in addition quell any threats posed by Filipino nationalism evident at that time.

Using well-established research methods to align the Philippines’ political and cultural transition with the realization of an instantly recognizable vision of nationhood in built environmental form, the paper probes the connection between civic design and nation- building through a detailed consideration of images, meanings, and associations. A proper understanding of how the arrangement of urban environments in the Philippines interacted with the construction of nationhood is thus crucial for determining the close alliance between civic design, governance, and identity production so that our comprehension may be deepened as to how cultural, political, artistic, and environmental forces operated upon and affected each other during the early years of the last century, i.e. a time when urban planning became professionalized.

Background

The Battle of in the Philippines on May 1 1898 fundamentally changed the course of American history, and America’s relationship with SE Asia. In the ensuing months Spanish colonialism in the Philippines collapsed, and was replaced by American sovereignty. As an upshot of this transition the United States (US) changed from being a republic based on the consent of the governed Cities, nations and regions in planning history to, for the first time, being a ruler of a distant territory. Notably too its self- perception altered. America no longer viewed itself as ‘just another nation’. Now, America recognized itself as being a world power (figure 1). It also viewed itself as being a nation fulfilling its destiny, a perceived birthright based in part on its history of continuous territorial expansion so as to redeem and enlighten ‘barbarous races’ i with the gift of civilization. Crucial to this bestowing of civilization, at least in the context of the Philippines after 1898, as shall subsequently be explained was the development of modern cities through the practice of urban planning.

Figure 1. “The new giant among Nations”, Judge (1898).

With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in December 1898 America took formal possession of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. In the Philippines the Americans quickly recognized a number of social and environmental problems existed. These included poor quality housing, polluted waterways, widespread poverty, and the lack of a national education system, for example. Likewise the Americans viewed the cultural condition of the local population as being an issue of grave concern. were perceived to be lacking in moral fiber, and to be untrustworthy too ii . It was also noticed that they had no grasp of nationhood, but rather had an identity derived from the variegated assemblage of different peoples and tribes to whom individuals had loyalty iii . Simply put, the Americans viewed the Philippines as being a place in great need of ‘improvement’, and a strategy was formed in order to disassociate the Philippines from its past as an ‘uncivilized’ place via the creation of a fresh culture, environment, and identity iv .

In grasping how America sought to bring betterment to the Philippines attention must be placed upon the Philippine Commission, a small-sized governmental body formed in January 1899 by President McKinley so as to implement American rule across the Philippine archipelago. The Commission noted how important towns and cities would be to America’s process of importing civilization. As a case in point, the Commissioners outlined the significance of urban places to the process of governance. They concluded that American authority was wholly reliant upon developing settlements because, with reference to US history, urban communities had been the seats of government, and the sites too where the nation’s political and social aspirations had been 15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERE N C E

brought into being. Furthermore, given the nature of US culture by the 1890s, urban places were considered to be the foundation and hope of civilization v, the locales too where civic virtues were to be generated vi . In this milieu developing urban places was considered central to successfully managing the Philippines. Guided by President McKinley’s ‘benevolent assimilation’ proclamation of December 21 1898, in which he defined the purpose of US colonization as a means to educate, civilize, and uplift Filipinos, Commissioner Dean Worcester asserted that settlements would assist in modeling Philippine society along American lines. In so doing tribal matters that previously served to undermine ‘progress’ would be eradicated whilst concurrently civil and religious freedoms, education, and good quality homes to people would be bestowed to all. Settlements, Worcester contended, thus would aid the socialization of the local population, in this manner permitting America to instruct Filipinos in the duties of good citizenship and ‘practical political education’, i.e. the responsibilities necessary for self-government. Thus, without developing towns and cities the fundamental objective of US policy to introduce modern civilization, satisfy Filipino ambitions vii , and develop nationhood would never been realized. In other words, as Commissioner Bernard Moses remarked, Filipinos would continue to be barbarians with tribal loyalty viii .

Although it may be assumed that the Filipinos would have been grateful to the US for endeavoring to bring advancement to their country it must be understood that many Filipinos were unhappy with not having self-rule after the collapse of Spanish colonialism in 1898. In light of having more than three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule, and the actuality that the Filipinos were close to overthrowing the Spanish by the end of the 1800s, the American offer of ‘civility’ through colonial governance was not universally welcomed. In turn the rejection of American rule led those opposed to the US strategy to be labeled as insurgents, people viewed by the Americans as being ignorant and uneducated in light of their rebuffing of the offer of emancipating their country from ‘savagery’ and ‘backwardness’. The tension between insurgents and Americans led to armed combat. From February 1899 to July 1902 the Philippine-American War, America’s first imperialistic conflict, saw American soldiers and Filipino nationalists fight for control of the Philippines. By mid-1902, as war came to an end, America reaffirmed its civilizing mission. To accomplish this the governmental strategy was widened. As a consequence the was disestablished, English was introduced as the official language, the education system reformed, port and road building programs laid down, and settlements damaged by warfare rebuilt. Notably, Western architecture and urban planning forms were introduced as part of this national development procedure.

Figure 2. Images of war-damaged environments affected by war. The photos held great symbolism: primitive buildings were associated with savagery.

Cities, nations and regions in planning history

In comprehending the American operation to advance civilization in SE Asia it must be recognized that the Americans sought to place their newly acquired colony ‘in the pathway of the world’s best civilization’ ix . So as to achieve this America strove to create a new governmental system for the Philippines, and what’s more manufacture new surroundings for people to live and work. In some regards environmental improvement could not be ignored. In the capital city of Manila urban renewal was desperately needed because of buildings and districts being destroyed by war. Likewise there was an immediate need to bring hygiene to settlements. By way of example, a cholera epidemic in 1902 killed an estimated 200,000 people and presented an unforeseen governmental challenge: “No one in the islands had an experience with cholera…and we had to get this [experience] as we went along” x stated Commissioner Worcester. Accordingly existing environmental standards in the Philippines were, given the American mindset, not synonymous with modern civilization. Better environments had to be built. This would allow the indigenous population to live in more healthy settings, but importantly too it would provide the colonizers with familiar, comfortable surroundings in which they could live and work, and so ‘improve’ the Philippines.

Figure 3. “The Filipino’s first bath”, Judge (1899).

In coming to terms with how the American process of ‘improvement’ was to be realized events of 1904-5 must not be downplayed. In 1904 Daniel Burnham, the Chicago-based urban planning visionary, visited SE Asia. As the former Director of Works for the Columbian World’s Fair in Chicago (in 1893), and the architect of numerous prominent buildings in the late-1800s and early-1900s, e.g. the Flat Iron Building (in New York) and Union Station (Washington DC), Burnham’s trip to the Philippines had an enormous impact on the nation’s course of development. Despite being in the Philippines for just a handful of weeks the legacy of Burnham’s Philippines visit remains to this day in the form of two city plans xi , created in 1905, for the settlements of Manila and Baguio in the north 15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERE N C E

of Island. Largely unknown to those interested in America’s colonial activities in SE Asia the two plans were composed along the same lines as Burnham’s work for the Columbian World’s Fair – a scheme said to be contain “many features of what an ideal city might be” xii - and the 1901-2 McMillan Plan in Washington DC, an urban renewal project that amongst other things redeveloped the Mall. This revitalization of the heart of the nation’s capital city is often ignored in American history but had massive implications from the early-1900s for the nation’s evolving sense of self. The redevelopment of Washington DC’s core afforded a new opportunity for America to display its national might and cultural progress as a consequence of industrialization and urbanization, in so doing permitting the city and its primary public space, the Mall, to become construed as symbols created by, and belonging to, America as an ‘imagined community’. Generating confidence too in American architects to deal with the contemporary functional failings of American cities, a matter broadly acknowledged by their social problems, disorganized urban forms, and lack of aesthetic quality, Burnham’s work offered a persuasive model as to what modern could achieve in aesthetic, cultural, and civil terms. Thus, with reference to the Philippines, his urban plans were to be of great value in helping sweep away predicaments that had previously blighted the country, and in tandem helping forge a pathway to social, economic, and cultural development never seen before in the Philippine archipelago.

Figure 4. Daniel Burnham’s urban plan to redevelop Manila.

The nature of American urban planning at the end of the 1800s and start of the 1900s is commonly characterized as having at its heart the notion of making cities more beautiful. In reality urban designing had a much wider social value. In the case of its use in the Philippines, as already touched upon, it was employed to help provide improved environmental conditions, to make existing settlements more utilitarian, and to aid the creation of a new civilization. At the same time city planning also imprinted US rule upon the Philippines. In governmental terms therefore Burnham’s plans for the settlements of Manila Cities, nations and regions in planning history and Baguio are of major significance: they offer noteworthy examples of how an American designer refashioned local urban space so as to aid colonial expansion, a strategy purposefully designed to establish ‘advancement’ within a place hitherto lacking, in the American’s view, modern cultural mores.

Conceived with no-nonsense objectives the development of Baguio, and the redevelopment of Manila, played a fundamental role in developing the Philippines in a manner that on the one hand contrasted greatly with the country’s perceived ‘uncivilized’ past, and on the other hand acted as guiding hands for Filipino society to attain ‘progress’. As such Burnham’s plans would both upgrade the existing built environment and bequeath a new environmental model for the Philippines, a wholly important matter considering the American view that Filipinos desired freedom from disease, poverty and bad housing, and tutelage through instruction and example of ‘progressive civilization’.

Amalgamating American ideas of political hegemony with cultural superiority xiii Burnham’s plans for Manila and Baguio won much praise from the US media. One journal remarked that the schemes would in the coming years “develop civilizing influences side by side with commercial advancement” xiv . Furthermore, as Frederick Howe broadly asserted in the early-1900s tome The City: The Hope of Democracy , the modern city “marks a revolution – a revolution in industry, politics, society and life itself” xv . Accordingly Burnham’s plans, in view of America’s its cultural, political, and economic make-up, would impel ‘unsophisticated people’, i.e. the Filipinos, into obtaining a higher state of being.

Figure 5. The plan for Baguio as suggested by Daniel Burnham.

So as to comprehend the plans of Manila and Baguio it is necessary to recognize that one part of these city plans contained abstract and practical dimensions in both structural and spatial form: the civic centre. As to why the civic centre was the core element of modern American urban planning no one single answer may be offered, yet it is possible to hypothesize as to why this was the case. To illustrate this, with reference to late-1800s and early-1900s America, the quest to idealize US citizenship encouraged the view that public edifices should be grouped together, and be visible from all parts of a settlement. In Manila and 15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERE N C E

Baguio this custom was maintained so that the local communities could look physically and symbolically up to their governmental institutions.

Figure 6. Baguio before the implementation of Burnham’s plan, and a view of the heart of the city in the 1920s (source: Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University).

In Manila, a city of about 225,000 people by circa 1900, Burnham’s plan was to fuse colonialism with contemporary American urban design practices via establishing a new hub in the settlement in the form of a collection of public buildings, the Government Group (figure 8), which were to be laid out in strict geometric manner so as to form a single, coherent architectural unit so that both beauty and convenience could be bequeathed xvi . In immediate proximity to the Government Group Burnham suggested laying down a circular plaza. From it boulevards would radiate out across the city thus allowing the civil servants the opportunity to look out to the people over whom they serve. Also in proximity to the Government Group Burnham suggested creating a Mall, an open area reminiscent of the monumental space in Washington DC which would present a grand vista towards Manila Bay, the scene of America’s military triumph over the Spanish Navy and a locale said by Burnham to be as picturesque as the Bay of Naples in Italy. The central alignment of the Mall was to be terminated to the east by the centre of the aforesaid circular plaza, marked by a statue, and marked along the axis too by the dome of the principal public building, the Capitol, a vertical element explicitly symbolizing America’s power within the colonial capital city. With the boulevards branching out from the civic center towards the suburbs Burnham believed the roadways would Cities, nations and regions in planning history provide practical as well as visual advantages in that they would aid the circulation of traffic and give accessibility to the civic core from all districts of the settlement, in so doing granting ‘sentimental’ benefits in that all parts of the city could look with reverence towards the dome, the primary symbol of American authority.

Figure 7. Burnham’s proposed civic center for Manila.

Located in the mountains of North Luzon, at a height of about 5,000 feet above sea level, Baguio’s city plan offered another opportunity for the US to consolidate their colony authority in orderly built environmental form. Developed as a miniature of Washington DC’s plan, Burnham’s plan for Baguio, like that for Manila, sought to utilize the natural environment to proclaim the virtues of US imperialism. For example, the civic core comprised of two clusters of buildings, one belonging to the local government, the other to the national government: Baguio was formed to act as the summer capital city when the climate of Manila became too uncomfortable for the Americans. Each arranged in a geometric manner close to hilltops – not on the tops of the hills as this would have broken the natural silhouette of landscape, and Burnham saw this as a great quality of the local environment xvii – the municipal and national government buildings faced towards each other from opposite sides of a valley that formed the center of the settlement. This, like the Government Group in Manila, bestowed a sense of visibility and in utilizing the hills Burnham in 15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERE N C E

Baguio was able of exploiting the site characteristics so as to express the political and cultural message of the US inserting civilization into the Philippines.

Figure 8. The core of Baguio in 1926 (source: Rizal Library, Ateneo de Manila University), and as it appears today.

Although smaller in spatial extent than Manila, owing to the fact that Baguio was planned for a population of 25,000 people and the Manila project was to cope with the city’s growth to an anticipated level of 800,000 people, the plan for the new settlement of Baguio repeated many of the features found in the colonial capital city. One component was the repeated use of parks. In Manila Burnham sought to create nine green areas which would not only beautify the city, and provide shade from the tropical sun, but would provide environments to permit social interaction. This, in the cultural context of the late-1800s and early-1900s, would inspire citizens to equate civic spaces with beauty, pride, cultural cohesion, and social equality, and consequently new civic values could become manifest. In Baguio a Mall-like park, , was formed at the centre of the city, laid down on the central axis between the municipal and Cities, nations and regions in planning history national government buildings. Radiating off Burnham Park a geometric road pattern was laid down in order to supply approaches to the central district and its edifices. Such a ploy would bestow dignity upon the settlement’s core. Due to the mountain terrain of Baguio Burnham was not able to lay out an entire urban form strictly governed by long, straight, and wide thoroughfares. Instead, owing to the undulating topography, Burnham created in Baguio a road system unique to the nature of the city’s site which ventured where possible to provide sight lines towards the municipal government buildings, and the national government edifices. These sight lines would also connect to the city’s grand entrance, a tram terminus at the urban fringe, said by Burnham to be an imposing and fitting entrance to the city xviii : fitting too because roads in the milieu of civilization-building in Luzon were important to building the island’s, and so nation’s, economy.

In summing up, the American narrative of the Philippines at the end of the nineteenth century and start of the twentieth century usually focuses upon the teaching of English, the building of schools, ports, and the rail system as the core of the American strategy to advance Filipino society. This historical outlook, whilst accurate in many regards, nonetheless ignores the Americans use of city planning to cultivate human advancement in the Philippines. In so doing the history of America and the Philippines has bypassed the significance of ordered urban forms and civic centers, and with this how America strove to impart civilization and ‘practical political education’ to Filipinos. In other words, the history and so connection of the US with SE Asia has overlooked state-funded city plans, or at a minimum not fully grasped the significance of city planning to the process of endorsing imperial politics, the pushing of the Philippines to ‘progress’, and the protection of the US presence in SE Asia.

If one visits the Philippines today the presence of Daniel Burnham’s city plans can easily be seen. In both Manila and Baguio Burnham’s plans form a significant part of the urban landscape. Baguio for example, retains a great deal of the spatial character put forward by Burnham, and Burnham Park has become a site for leisure activity within the settlement. In Manila, whilst much of Burnham’s original plan was not enacted the partial development of the Government Center near what is today known as Luneta Park, and the development of the waterfront/, demonstrate Burnham’s imprint within the capital city of the Philippines. As such Burnham’s legacy endures even though his environments were formed as colonial urban models to guide the future development of the Filipino built environment. Of course now Burnham’s legacy exists within a postcolonial setting. Although it may be said that Burnham’s aesthetic and spatial intentions were never fully accomplished in the Philippines, his urban design proposals nonetheless acted as influential environmental texts as to what American urban planning in the Philippines should be. Evidence for their influence can be seen in William Parsons’ geometrically-formed urban plans for Cebu (Cebu Island) and Zamboanga (on Mindanao Island) prior to 1914, and in the Classically inspired architecture of George Fenhagen, Ralph Doane, and Juan Arellano, the latter being a Filipino architect who in the 1930s designed the Metropolitan Theater of Manila and planned the campus of the University of the Philippines in , an environment defined by a monumental axis marked at one end by the university’s administrative building, and at the other end of the alignment by the university library. 15th INTERNATIONAL PLANNING HISTORY SOCIETY CONFERE N C E

To conclude, the achievements of the Americans in the Philippines in the years after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1898 have been noted by many historians. The rise of health and education in the Philippines have been broadly noted by historians as being an achievement of the early-colonial period, but as this paper demonstrates urban planning must also be considered. Without denigrating the accomplishment of educating people and giving social equity in the form of health if inspecting the history of the Philippines to find evidence of the elevation of the condition of the society after 1898 then urban planning cannot be cast aside. It was an essential agent in the American method of state- building in the Philippine archipelago, and notably the urban models presented by Burnham still remain. Therefore, if venturing to grasp how America civilized, uplifted, and tutored Filipino people as part of its colonial process, as this paper has suggested, city planning must not be disregarded.

REFERENCES

*This paper is based on the author’s publication in Education About Asia 16.2 (2011), ‘America and the Philippines: Modern Civilization and Planning’. i RJ Bartlett, The Record of American Diplomacy . 1956, p. 385. ii J Bass ‘Dispatch’, Harper’s Weekly . 1898, p. 1008. iii ‘Filipinos unfit to rule themselves’, The New York Times , 3 November 1899. iv J Go and AL Foster. The American Colonial State in the Philippines , 2003, p. 3. v C Zueblin, A Decade of Civic Development . 1905, p. 167. vi Minutes of the meeting of the Philippine Commission, 31 January 1901, MPS vol. 1. vii Philippine Commission Report Vol. 1 . 1901, p. 84. viii GA May, Social Engineering in the Philippines: The Aims, Execution, and Impact of American Colonial Policy, 1900–13 . 1980, p. 11. ix ‘The imperial myth’, The New York Times , 23 March 1899. x D Worcester, The Philippines Past and Present . 1921, p. 413. xi S. Ward, Planning the Twentieth Century City . 2002, p. 70. xii JC Adams, ‘What a great city might be. A lesson from the White City’, The New England Magazine . 1896, p. 3. xiii Ward, op. cit ., has noted how modern American planning synthesized many notions it received from European traditions, as well as established its own innovations. See p. 68. xiv ‘Report on the proposed improvements at Manila’, The Inland Architect and News Record . 1904. p.1. xv F Howe, The City: The Hope of Democracy . 1912, p. 9. xvi DH Burnham, ‘Report on the proposed improvements at Manila’, in Report of the Philippine Commission . 1905, p. 631. xvii DH Burnham and P Anderson, Report on the Proposed Plan of the City of Baguio . 1905, p. 10-11. xviii C Moore, Daniel H Burnham: Architect, Planner of Cities Vol. 2. 1921, 201.

Cities, nations and regions in planning history

Books and Reports

RJ Bartlett (1956), The Record of American Diplomacy . New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. DH Burnham and P Anderson (1905), ‘Report on the proposed improvements at Manila’, in Report of the Philippine Commission . Washington, DC: United States Federal Government. DH Burnham and P Anderson (1905), Report on the Proposed Plan of the City of Baguio . Washington, DC: United States Federal Government. F Howe (1912), The City: The Hope of Democracy . New York, NY: C. Scribner’s Sons. J Go and AL Foster (2003). The American Colonial State in the Philippines . London, UK: Duke University Press. GA May (1980), Social Engineering in the Philippines: The Aims, Execution, and Impact of American Colonial Policy, 1900–13 . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. C Moore (1921), Daniel H Burnham: Architect, Planner of Cities Vol. 2. 1921 Philippine Commission Report Vol. 1 (1901). Washington, DC: United States Federal Government. S Ward (2002), Planning the Twentieth Century City . Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons. D Worcester (1921), The Philippines Past and Present . New York, NY: The Macmillan Company. C Zueblin, A Decade of Civic Development . Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.

Newspaper and journal articles

JC Adams, ‘What a great city might be . A lesson from the White City’, The New England Magazine 14, March 1896. J Bass ‘Dispatch’, Harper’s Weekly 42, October 1898.

‘The imperial myth’, The New York Times , 23 March 1899 ‘Filipinos unfit to rule themselves’, The New York Times , 3 November 1899. ‘Report on the proposed improvements at Manila’, The Inland Architect and News Record , October 1904.