| Living in an urban community still needs a touch of nature. Local parks in Makati City is pretty much less of nature, but a little bit too commercial for the way they’ve been changed in the last four years. Before these local parks have been in tune with how greenery has evolved organically and managed like the way it should be.
The local parks had major renovations and they become more of an urban park complete with concrete walking paths that certainly no longer tuned to the nature. With that it also happened recently with the newly renovated Arroceros Forest Park in Manila that was inaugurated almost a week ago that definitely changed forever. |
Its name itself “Arroceros Forest Park” being known as the last lung of the city clearly defined what is a forest park. Not all with the brightly color changing fountains or concrete pathways. Before the renovation it was organically a small forest that you feel like a time has stopped and trees definitely take up root and have spread its leaves all over the place.
The last night I was at this park was in the same month prior to the pandemic. There was news that renovations for the park would happen when the new mayor-elect took office and made sure one of his projects would improve the Arroceors Forest Park. Of course, there were delays due to the lockdowns and strict health protocols during the height of the pandemic.
Sometimes Change is not a Good Thing
There were indeed major changes to the park and it was a big renovation that also included the school beside it. Before when you enter the park it was through the school gate by putting your name to log in sheet at the guard house. Now, they made a separate entrance to the park directly that was good and restrictions are not as what it used to be when things eased up. The new entrance bolster the name of the park’s gate and there was a plaque from the City Hall during its opening last week.
I have reservations and expectations that the park would still be the same, but upon entering in the new gate those expectations were dashed with a letdown. It also reminded me how the Makati City parks have become and it also happened here for the ‘last lung’ it definitely lost its charm as a ‘forest’ into a commercially viable common urban park with a lot of bells and whistles.
The original Arroceros Forest Park’s main charm was the greenery and its organic pathway that made you feel like getting lost in a jungle. But now, they changed it up and made it concrete, tiled, and elevated. Fancy lights where installed underneath on both sides of the pathway like it was Christmas and then divided the park with sections that they call it ‘interactive.’
Urban-Style Forest
Elevated pathways has taken away the charm of this park. The forest feel is no longer there. It became more of an artificial than how it used to be. There are some good improvements, but the translation to putting a koi pond that looks more concrete than a natural fish pond certainly lost its aesthetic of being ‘part of nature.’ The changes wasn’t that bad it’s just out of its nature and into a concreate jungle.
Arroceros Forest Park has become a ‘concrete park’ that planted the trees than the other way around. Whoever had the vision to re-invent what a forest park must have not experience how it feels like going through the Warraparinga in South Australia. It wasn’t the same as the way the path ways were part of the experience being inside the Arroceros Forest Park. Don’t get me wrong, the improvements are impressive. But for someone who used to hang out an actual forest park this is not what it should be like overdoing too much into a city park.
Lost in Concrete Nature
Despite not having been to New York’s Central Park, which is probably 30 times bigger than this park has been kept organically a jungle than what you see here. This park is not yet finished with the Pasig River side is still being finished. I’m not hoping it would retain its original appearance. But hoping the improvements would not affect the experience of seeing that side of the river.
Probably, the best part of this place right now is how they turned the street as part of the park’s external area like installing another color-changing fountain near the MET theatre and installed a tree nearby with tables and chairs for a soon-t-be opened café.
The tour of this park’s newly installed section was not all disappointments. The benches were great just that the way they made the pathways concrete has made this forest park quite bland. But despite all the major changes I’m still going to make the visit. It’s just the appreciation is no longer there and just visiting to pass the time.
Oh yeah, before I left befriended an old security guard who is as gracious as welcoming than the others in the area. Probably, he’s the silver lining in this part of the change and let’s hope they keep him.
The Arroceros Forest Park is open from 8 AM to 9 PM daily, which is another great thing. Wrapping up, with all the good stuff it is still a park, though not what you hope they will retain. But it’s a good place to just make the visit when you can.
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