Private green spaces within exclusive subdivisions in Asian cities play an important role but are not well defined or regulated. There is weak implementation of standards for preparing green spaces within subdivisions in Bangkok, with most having less than the required 5% of total area dedicated as green space. In Metro Manila, surveys found 17.4% of lots within subdivisions remained vacant, with some used agriculturally by caretakers engaged by absentee landowners to avoid issues while lots remain undeveloped. Exclusive subdivisions represent a significant land use pattern but their indefinable private green spaces fall outside current planning frameworks. There is a need to better categorize these spaces and define private urban green spaces separately from public parks and spaces.

1. Openness of private green and vacant spaces
within exclusive subdivisions in the urban
fringe of Asian large cities:
Some cases of Bangkok and Metro Manila
2009/02/23
International Workshop on Sustainable City Region
Yuji Hara (IR3S Todai) with
Asuka Hoshikoshi, Takashi Furutani, Makoto Yokohari and
Kazuhiko Takeuchi
1

2. Public and private urban green spaces under
strong private landholding in Asian city region
Public parks
(limited in numbers and area)
Privately owned open spaces
(important in mass)
2

3. Private green spaces in the suburban
residential districts in Japanese cities
Parcel basis private greeneries and
their dynamic accumulation
3
（藤子・F・不二雄 1982）

4. Emerging large-scale exclusive subdivisions in
Asian city regions (using definition by Nishioka 1997)
4

5. Questions for understanding of
indefinable private green spaces
 To permanent and temporal residents:
– Who are main users?
– How and why do they utilize such open spaces?
– Who do maintain such spaces?
 To developers and government officials:
– Are there any standards, guidelines, or legal
frameworks for preparing in-subdivision open
spaces?
– How did you decide design of open spaces?
5

6. The expansion of the subdivisions in SaiMai
District in the northern part of Bangkok
6
～1967 年
～1979 年
～1987 年
～1995 年
～1998 年
° スカピバン 5 号通り
スカピバン 3 号通り
スカピバン 5 号 11km 通り
ワットコー通り
パホンヨティン 52 通り
0 1 2 (km)
サイマイ区における分譲住宅団地開発の変遷
区境界
幹線道路
(Hoshikoshi et al. 2009)

7. Weak implementation of Land Appropriation Act
in preparation of in-subdivision green spaces
7
0
10
5
団地内緑地面積率（％）
● 1600㎡を越える団地内緑地
○ 1600㎡未満の団地内緑地
Standard green space ratio to total
area of each subdivision = 5%
Subdivision with an area > 1600 m2
Subdivision with an area < 1600 m2

8. Which kinds of the green space
functions do residents need?
Active use of city park for
exercise during nighttime
8
Abandoned in-subdivision
green space

9. Weak linkage among…
9
 Public parks (Dept. of Social Welfare in BMA)
 Subdivisions (Dept. of Land in Ministry of Interior)
 Land-use planning (Dept. of City Planning in BMA)

10. 10(Kawahara et al. 2008)
The expansion of the exclusive subdivisions
around Quezon City in Metro Manila
(from not our study but previous study)

11. Map
around
barangay
Holy Spirit
1:5000 digital
vector map for
2003 shows
several types of
subdivisions with
few public roads
11

12. Plenty vacant lots in subdivisions
12
Lot numbers
1,344
Total area
562,769 m2
Average size
419 m2
Ratio of vacant lot
17.4%
(Furutani et al. 2009)

13. Agricultural lot use by caretaker
13
 Absentee landowner of speculative vacant lot wants
to avoid illegal dumping and vegetation overgrowth
 Caretakers used to be absentee landowner’s
housekeeper, driver or their relatives
 ID guaranteed by absentee landowner
 Thereby homeowners association can accept them

14. Agricultural lot use might be also important
in terms of bio-resource circulation
14
Current
compost
production
Potential amount
of compost use in
all vacant lots
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
堆肥製造量 堆肥施用ポテンシャル
t/year
(Furutani et al. 2009)

15. Installation of new ID-clarify systems by public agencies
can be discussed for promoting agricultural lot use
15
Quezon City
Holy Spirit
Philam Bagumbuhay
City boundary
Barangay
boundary
HOA
boundary
In-subdivision
house
Individual
house
Squatters
Open space
Vacantlot

16. Summary and outlook
 Exclusive subdivisions are significant land
development patterns, bringing indefinable
type of green spaces that are out of the
current planning system
 To categorize in-subdivision green spaces
according to openness and to define a concept
of private urban green spaces over urban
parks
16

17. Thank you…
17