I noticed this initiative by The National Complete Streets Coalition (via Wired Magazine) which seeks to create guidelines for more livable urban streets. The definition of “livable” in this case is that the streets are accommodating to all modes of transportation; autos, pedestrians, bicycles, and public transportation.
This is something which I believe should be adopted by Panama in order to fix the increasing problems of traffic, pollution, and an unlivable urban environment.

The beauty of this plan is that there are no huge infrastructure costs. It makes use of the existing roadways and simply reorganizes the lanes of travel to safely accommodate all modes of transportation. The studies in other reports show that the reduction of travel lanes for automobiles does not increase congestion. Rather, by optimizing the design of the roadways and providing alternate modes of travel, traffic congestion actually decreases. In addition to creating a larger scale rapid transit metro line running the length of the region, smaller scale street cars and bus rapid transit could be added to the existing street network using this livable streets framework. In many cases the streets of Panama City are much larger than they really need to be.

Under-utilized space on Panama's streets

If the center lane of main avenues were converted into street car or bus lanes, a much more efficient and less congested transportation network would be created. Residents would have options in their daily transportation needs rather than being forced to rely on the automobile or the “red devils” which share the congested roadways with regular traffic.

No pedestrian zone between cars and buildings

Another interesting feature of this plan is that pedestrian uses are placed so that they front the street. Currently the pedestrian areas are setback and the buildings are separated from the roadways by parking lots. This creates an environment that is not walkable or friendly to the pedestrian because they are in constant fear of a maniac driver. By providing a well defined pedestrian only zone, a sidewalk, and pulling the buildings closer to the roadway, the drivers will become more aware that they are sharing the road, and the area will become more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists. This has the possibility of increasing business in the area because people are more likely to browse the stores if they feel safe walking. Watch this video to see this theory put to use in Peru.

Cinta Costera is the most recent transportation and land reclamation project in Panama City. The goal of the project was to  expand the existing roadway and improve traffc organization while creating new recreational areas by reclaiming land from the bay. As anyone who has traveled to Panama will tell you, traffic is an immediate crisis.  Gridlock paralyzes the city for hours everyday as well as providing constant deafening noise and danger to anyone who dares walk in the city.

The proposed plan for Cinta Costera was not very revolutionary.  Provide more lanes for travel, add more land to create much needed open space and then wait for the reward of increased propoerty values along the bay which is already going through a major transformation with the cnstruction of numerous luxury residential towers and hotels.

The problem with Cinta Costera is that the plan is still automobile centric. A pedestrian environment has not been created.  Cinta Costera is populated by parking lots, and at some points 8 lanes of traffic.  Along the Cinta Costera are intermittent bridges which provide a crossing point for pedestrians.  Though there are too few bridges to create a sense of connection between the city and the bay.

Panama is in desperate need of a metro system.  I wish that the planners had taken the opportunity of Cinta Costera to provide a street car system along the waterfront.  This would have created a vibrant waterfront for residents and tourists to enjoy and would have provided a startng point for a real metro system for Panama City to build on. It is a myth that by creating new roadways and increasing capacity for automobile traffic, congestion will be eliminated.  More capacity simply means that more people will drive.  Alternatives to the car must be provided for Panama City and Cinta Costera would have been a great oppurtunity to start fresh.  As it is now, Cinta Costera is no more than a glorified median strip, similar to Boston’s Kennedy Greenway.

As with the Boston Greenway, I look forward to seeing the development of the Cinta Costera.  There is no doubt that what was built is better than what existed before, but that is not acceptable.  A dramatic shift must occur to provide alternatives to the automobile, not simply make it easier to drive in the city.

This left me scratching my head for a moment…. in fact as I am writing this I am still very confused.

First. Emerald Monkey Eco-luxe Resort and Residences, claims to be the first 5-star zero-carbon resort in the world…..ummmm sure.  It is very hard to believe this.  Maybe there aren’t any existing 5-star zero-carbon resorts, but I highly doubt the claim that the Emerald Monkey will in fact be zero-carbon.  I will list reasons later.

Second. Emerald Monkey is designing a resort inspired by Bali in PANAMA!  Why?  What connections do Bali and Panama have?  The developers even came up with this really weird story about a Balinese emerald sculptor , Captain Morgan chasing a bishop, and a hidden Buddhist temple in Bocas del Toro.  What is wrong with Panama?  Why not be inspired by the culture of the natives of Bocas del Toro?  I can remember my first trip to Bocas and every island was a different, beautiful culture, the indigenous on Cristobal who first greeted Christopher Colombus, as well as the afro-carribean culture of Bastimento.  For some odd reason the developers thought that tourists would be attracted to a pseudo-Bali resort rather than embracing the culture of Panama.  bad choice!

Read on for more commentary on this criminal resort…..

Greenwash to the nth degree

Emerald Monkey makes the claim that they are “a leader in environmental responsibility”, and here is why they claim it….

• Sustainable building materials by Balinese craftsmen
• energy supplied from the country’s largest hydro-electric power plants
• biomass septic systems
• potable water gravity fed from fresh natural springs in the Panamanian mountains
• solar powered golf carts for on island transportation
• lightly filtered saltwater community pools (not individual villa pools)

YEAH! Thats it!!  are you confused as well?

• How much carbon is used in shipping Balinese craftsmen to work in Bocas?  Also this is unsustainable from a community aspect because income is being taken away from local craftsmen
• According to the marketing staff at Emerald Monkey, the majority of Panama is energy neutral because they are powered by a hydro-electric dam.  Since when were dams good for the natural environment?
• Biomass septic system is good
• Potable water gravity fed from fresh natural springs in the Panamanian Mountains….and then put onto a gas guzzling boat and shipped over to Isla Pastor.  Why not collect the abundant rain waters on site?
• Solar Powered golf carts…on paved roads.  And the transportation to the island? Is that by sail boat?  Where is the carbon off-set for that?  Why golf-carts which will kill the little critters running around and create constant annoying whirring sounds from the motors?  Why not bikes??? What happens to the golf carts at night???
• saltwater community pools….. heavily chlorinated freshwater private pools for individual villas.

That my friends is the definition of Greenwash! “Emerald Monkey, a carbon neautral resort because we get our power from a dam and our golf carts are solar powered!” I thought that carbon neutral had stricter requirements than this.

Balinese Architecture in Panama

Bali is cool, that is understood.  Is it that cool that it must be transported to Panama?  The developers seem to go through so much effort in replicating Bali..why not build the resort IN Bali? 

Panama is never mentioned in the first page of the Emerald Monkey resort website, it is simply “the ecological and spiritual sister” of Bali.

There is nothing Eco about these designs.  They are more Balinese suburban that Balinese Eco.  Below is an example of an eco resort in Bali and a traditional structure in Bocas.  They resemble each other more than Emerald Monkey resembles either.

Bali

Bocas

The Emerald Monkey doesn’t need to be a stick built hut either.  It can still be luxurious, modern, and Panamanian!  It doesn’t need to import culture to be original.  The culture of Panama is beautiful!  Why is Emerald Monkey ignoring it and creating a fake atmosphere?  Below are some final examples of what I believe to be quality tropical, eco design.  Please send me some more that you know of and love!

Panama Pacifico is a new mega-development at the former Howard Air Force Base, across the canal from Panama City.  This is actually more of a new city than a new development.  It lists itself as 1,400 hectares of land (650 of which is reserved for open space and parklands) and will create 1 million square meters of commercial space, 20,000 residences, 40,000 new jobs, hotels, retail centers, places of worship, schools, parks, recreation areas and of course….a championship golf course.

My first reaction when seeing the news of Panama Pacifico was complete awe at the scale and scope of work.  This project makes perfect sense though.  Located at the mouth of the canal, it is connected already to existing infrastructure, is only 15 minutes from downtown, but far far away from the hectic atmosphere of Panama City.  There is so much clear land already because of the air base, in fact the developers will actually be planting more trees.  I am really impressed with the ambitions of Panama-Pacifico.  I do not totally agree with some of the non-architectural related ideas of the development, such as private security, and creating a special economic area where country wide worker standards don’t apply…..but lets stick to the architecture and urban design.  Read more on the next page…………..

The Great

Town Center

I really love this idea, a mix of business and housing with the required facilities to support them (the live, work, play neighborhood).  The Town Center will be a high density mix of housing, retail, office space, hotels, and residential neighborhoods.  This is the compact town design of the  future.  All necessities for living are within walking distance eliminating the dependency on the automobile.  It is unclear to me if there is any light rail for transportation within this neighborhood….I hope there is, but all that is mentioned is that there will be bus lines within the town center.

There are a number of different scales throughout the town center.  Housing sizes range from apartments within a large mixed-use building, to townhomes and single family detached homes.  There are several types of parks, the large Central Park where I can immagine all of the festivities taking place.  Finger parks and Plazas are dispersed throughout the town center for a more intimate open space.  These smaller parks are great for the tropical environment because they provide the proper shading to make both the park and the adjacent buildings more comfortable.  Also, there is a greenway running through the town center, providing safe bicycle and walking routes.

The Developer has commited to eco-friendly design in both the master plan and building designs.  Although Panama City has a very high density, there are very few public parks or open spaces to provide relief from the heat and the traffic.  The town center of Panama Pacifico is maintaining a high density while adding safe public spaces at ground level.  The ground level will not be ruled by the automobile as in Panama City and pedestrians will have places to relax and enjoy the city.

Mixed Use Buildings

Mixing housing, office spaces, and retail is vital to creating a livable city.  Also, creating a mix of housing types is vital to attracting residents from various demographics.  The mixed use buildings in the center will have shops, restaurants, and small business on the ground floor, creating a friendly environment for the pedestrian, while the top floors are occupied by apartments and condominiums.  This also creates a vibrant neighborhood at all times of the day and night.  The streets will always be occupied by residents, workers, or shoppers.

The Bad

I understand that cities require manufacturing and business centers in order to maintin a sustainable economy.  I am not going to complain about that.  But I am going to complain about the design of the office and manufacturing buildings!!

It seems that the architects forgot that they were designing buildings for a tropical climate.  Does this image look as if it belongs in Panama, New Jersey, or Berlin???  The developers claim a green design by putting “double pane” windows in these buildings, thus reducing the loss air conditioned environment.  Yet the tropical climates already have solutions to reduce the inside temperature of buildings.  Bris Soleils (sun louvers) could protect the facade from heating by the sun, windows could be operable, vegetation could provide shade. ….  No the developer chose to use a standard north american design without an regard for the climate and environment.  I believe that their claim of an eco-friendly design is green wash in this case.

The Ugly

Again, I could complain about the inclusion of single family homes in this development because they require more land than necessary.  But I will take that as a trade off for the great town center.  I believe that there must be a mix in housing typologies in order to provide housing options for all classes.

I do find the designs of the single family homes to be hideous!  Why are we still immitating Mediterranean designs in Panama?  These homes could be in Italy, Spain, Southern California, Florida, Mexico, Bermuda….etc.   Please show some originality architects!  Look at the homes of the past American military bases in Panama.  I think that these are unique and adapt to the environment well.  They are raised on pilotis to encourage air flow beneath the structure and they have large overhangs to provide shading and protection from the rains.  It is unfortunate that modern houses in Panama must reach to the distant past for inspiration, totally ignoring the more modern (yet still historical) designs of the Canal Zone housing and architecture of the existing Howard Air Base.  Although I still hope for more modern designs, I believe that the architecture of the Canal Zone and Howard Air Base are in fact more Panamanian than these colonial replicas.

Oh well….I am very happy overall with Panama Pacifico, I can not wait to see some built results!

My question is…. WHY?????

Why does Panama City want to become a Dubai?  Who wants Panama to be a Dubai?  Is being the Dubai of the America something good? Wouldn’t Panama rather be the Barcelona of the Americas, or the London of the Americas?

It is easy to look at the countless construction sites in Panama and Dubai and draw similarities.  The “architecture” is an equally horrific mishmash of tinted glass and concrete.  There is no attempt to create context, or a neighborhood.  The only desire is to be more dramatic or “original” to grab the attention of prospective clients.  Nothing is more important than the pre-construction rendering.  It doesn’t matter what the completed building looks like, or what it does to its neighbors…. if it looks good, it will sell!

Read more on next page….

Take the Trump Ocean Club for example. WOW!  “What a beautiful structure!  Right on tropical waters…..not a neighbor in sight!  I can’t wait to go there and relax in that tropical sun feeling the fresh ocean breeze and to just get away from this crazy city life! “

Panama

I can’t imagine how many people bought a unit or invested in the Trump Ocean Club in Panama without seeing the context, which is this……

Actual location of Trump Ocean Club

You can see that the owners didn’t care about designing anything but the “image”.  They didn’t care about the neighborhood, the neighbors, the sustainability of the city.  They just cared about the image and what would sell to buyers.  Advertising rules architecture in Panama.

Why can’t Panama be the Barcelona of the Americas?  Smart investment in Barcelona renovated a dead economy and catapulted it into a world class city.  Why must Panama try to imitate Dubai by sacrificing itself to become a playground for the rich?  A forest of self contained luxury towers whose residents travel from private tower to private tower in air-conditioned sedans, never stepping foot in a public space.   In my opinion, being the Dubai of the Americas is nothing to brag about.  Feel free to leave your ideas below

• Congested streets
• Lack of a public transportation system
• Pollution in the air and in the once beautiful bay, and
• Very few quality public spaces.

For those who know very little about Panama, observe the following photos from 2008 so you can grasp what the city has become and the future it may hold.