The city as a psychological space

In his first week in office, Mandaue City Mayor Jonkie Ouano ordered a citywide cleanup and vowed to install more streetlights to ensure public safety and improve night visibility across the city.

- Atty. Ian Vincent Manticajon

In Cebu City, meanwhile, Mayor Nestor Archival declared that his top priority is a clean and orderly city.

In a report by The FREEMAN yesterday, Archival expressed concern over scattered debris and exposed tree roots along sidewalks. He urged contractors to finalize the landscaping to improve Cebu’s urban aesthetic. Archival said the city plans to remove unused utility posts and coordinate with VECO and MCWD to clean and repaint unsightly transformers.

As someone who studied design in my postgraduate years, I welcome these developments in Mandaue City and Cebu City. While some might say these are trivial things (just cleaning up, fixing lights), they matter more than most people think. Let me explain, drawing from the work of Lidwell, Holden, and Butler (2003), “Universal Principles of Design.”

The book states that people perceive aesthetically-pleasing environments as easier to use and more reliable, even when they function no differently from those that are less visually appealing.