Table of Contents

PAGE

INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF GENERAL SANTOS CITY 1
BRIEF HISTORY 2
KEY ISSUES 3
GUIDELINES 10
REFERENCES 23
















Introduction
GENERAL SANTOS CITY Its been
dubbed as the Tuna Capital of the Philippines
due to the bountiful yellow fin tuna in the
surrounding waters. As the top producer of tuna
in the country, it has placed the city on the global
map. The warm, temperate water in the province
has allowed the fish to spawn abundantly.
Gensan, as locals call the city, holds the annual
Tuna Festival in thanksgiving. The celebration
features tuna dish competitions, carnivals,
parades of tuna and tuna-like floats, street
dancing, and drum-and-lyre performances. It
also brings together the locals into one united
force; they call themselves generals during the
event and make an all-out push to promote
Gensans tourism trade.
Plus, while youre feasting, you might
bump into the eight-division world boxing
champion, Manny Pacquiao. He hails from this
area and patronizes all the businesses in his
hometown.
General Santos City is located in Region XI
or Southern Mindanao, at the southernmost tip of
the archipelago, with bearings 530' to 640' North
Latitude and 12415' to 12545' East Latitude.
GenSan (Gen. Santos) covers a total area
of 536sq.km. Its terrain ranges from generally flat
to gently undulating in the city and generally flat
with scattered hills and isolated mountains in
neighboring South Cotabato and Sarangani
Province.
The city is the gateway to the opportunities,
sights, sounds and culture of SOCCSKSARGEN
region. Backed with world class infrastructure
today, GenSan and the whole of
SOCCSKSARGEN region can be reached by air,
land, and sea or even via the most advanced form
of technology from virtually any part of the world.
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BRIEF HISTORY
The Blaan people were the original and
native settlers of what is know now as the city
of General Santos. They lived a nomadic way
of life in GenSan, and they are believed to
have very rich culture and tradition. They
named GenSan after the trees called
Dadiangas which are abundant during that
time.
Under the organization of National
Land Settlement Administration headed by the
former President Manuel L. Quezon, on
February 27, 1939, headed by General
Paulino Santos, 62 Christian Settlers were
sent to the land of Dadiangas. They traveled
by a steam boat Basilan of Compania
Maritima. The 62 settlers industriously
cultivate GenSans fertile expanse of land.
After some time more and more settlers from
Luzon and Visayas moved to the fertile land of
Dadiangas. However this resulted in the
displacement of the nomadic tribes of Blaan.



On March 1939, the first formal settlement
in Dadiangas was established in Alagao which
is now known as Barangay Lagao. Lagao district
was known then as the Municipal District of
Buayan under the jurisdiction of the deputy
governor of the Municipal District of Glan. Until it
officially became an independent Municipal
District of Buayan on October 1, 1940 appointing
Datu Sharif Zainal Abedin.
Fourteen years later the Municipality of
Buayan was renamed General Santos in tribute
to the great leader of the pioneers who built the
small town of GenSan. After long years of waiting
on July 8, 1968 The Municipality General Santos
was finally converted into a City.

Now General Santos City is one of the most
populous and prosperous cities in the Philippines
and it is continuously improving and developing to
compete globally. General Santos City is also
classified as a Higly-Urbanized City.


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Key Issues
Parking
The rapid growth of community in General
Santos City affects the availability of the desired
parking areas for the vehicle (PV or NPV). Other
establishments also and buildings have
insufficient parking spaces to be used. Others
may have wrong orientations of their parking
areas and does not have the right setback.



Street Lights
Not all the streets in General Santos City
have decent street lightings due to the improper
maintenance of the people and government.
Other streets also do not have lightings especially
in those areas that are quite far from the center of
the city. Other street lights also do not work
properly and are not maintained which leads to
the malfunction of other lightings.



Street Lights
3












Key Issues
Waiting Shed
Most of the waiting shed are abandoned
and destroyed which some homeless people
prefer to make it as their temporary shelter,
especially the beggars, crazy people, badjaos,
etc. Some also are cannot be used for it is already
broken and useless. Other waiting sheds are dirty
and have an unpleasant smell.



Traffic Flow
Due to the increasing number of PV and
NPV causes traffic delay. Road expansions are
now going on in the city due also to the increasing
numbers of vehicles that leads to slow traffic.
General Santos City has narrow roads making the
vehicles stuck and closer to each other. The city
also has only three traffic lights and the other
areas need to have more of it.



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Key Issues
Drainage System
Due to the improper drainage system here
in General Santos City the stuck water in canals
causes some various diseases such as dengue
and typhoid. Other drainage system in the city is
not maintained and some are broken. Other
drainage also has holes that are very much
dangerous to people passing through these ways.



Garbage Disposal
Some problems in General Santos City
garbage disposal is lack of garbage cans,
improper segregation, and unsuitable dumping
stations. The garbage trucks in the city are very
few and they collect garbage on barangays
seldom.



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Key Issues
Round Ball
The Round balls in General Santos City
are not properly stabilized for the reason that it
cannot be easily recognized due to the absence
of landmarks on it. Normally they are just a big
form of a circle at the center of the road. No
landmarks are built, thats why its hard to be
recognized. Some round balls also does not have
any round ball. It is because the proposed
structure for it was not implemented and not
followed up.



Street Vendors
The street vendors are already occupying
the sidewalks as an area for selling their goods.
Even if they are given a designated area for
selling, these vendors will occupy spaces
especially the sidewalks. Many cases of it is at the
public market. Some illegal vendors also do these
which would create slow traffic on the streets and
would cause disturbance.



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Key Issues
Manhole
The improper location of the respective
manhole leads to some accidents. Some
manholes in the city have no cover. This is very
dangerous especially to the people passing
through these areas. Open manholes also lead to
unwanted smells of canals and others are stuck
during rains because of the garbage thrown in it.



Ramp Installation
Approximately commercial buildings are
violating the B.P. 344 about the ramp installation
are not following the required standard
measurement for ramps. Other ramps are too
steep and are not appropriate to be used
especially by the disabled persons. Standard
ramp ratios must be 1:12 and not all ramps in the
city have proper locations. Some are located in
a dangerous manner such as near the road,
steep, narrow and does not have any handles.



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Key Issues
Shoreline
Due to the presence of illegal settlers on
shores, people make it as their own garbage
disposal area and their toilet. Other facilities also
dispose their wastes on the sea which
contaminates the water and making it dirty. Slums
also make the shoreline as their shelter and they
build their own houses with it.



Public Comfort Rooms
The lack of public comfort rooms lead
people to make streets, walls, post and
abandoned lot as their public comfort room. This
makes these establishments having undesired
smells, dirty and unpleasant. The city have less
urinals and public comfort rooms which leads the
people release their wastes everywhere. Other
public toilets are not clean and sanitary, they also
ask for payment despite the fact that it is for public
use.



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Key Issues
Road Systems
Some road in General Santos City is
narrow and bumpy. This may lead to slow traffic
for vehicles and can also lead to vehicular
accidents. Other roads have cracks and the road
lines are fading. Due to the narrow road systems,
there are many difficulties between the large and
small vehicles traveling on the roads.



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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
PARKING
As for General Santos
City, and to be noted as one of
the developing cities in the
Philippines, the demand for
parking slots are now uprising
due to the existence of huge
establishments that shows
total urban development in the
city.

Since its now
considered as a key issue for
the succeeding production,
one of the best treatment for
this problem is to provide a
nearby spaces for the
allocated functional structures
by building parking elements:
SPACE BUILDING, PARKING
LOTS, UNDERGROUND/
BASEMENT PARKINGS,
ROOF TOP PARKING and
MULI-STOREY PARKINGS.

Thus, these proposals
will provide uninterrupted
sidewalks and access road
that causes delay and bumper
to bumper traffics.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
STREET
LIGHTS
Post lights/ street
lightings is one of the main
component to have a
compatible arrangement in
urbanization.
For the city of General
Santos, the lightings are highly
observed to be inappropriate
in terms of sufficiency,
proximity and adequacy for a
safer condition.
In this situation,
additional for streetlamps,
post lights, path lightings,
building decorative lightings
should be administer by
government for every design
element reflected in the
ground of the city.
Through this, we can
achieve a good ambiance for
the city with concern to
sufficient lighting, safer place
and environmental friendly
location.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
WAITING
SHED
Shading component or
simply waiting sheds are
structure responsible to cover
a number of persons in a
particular area, temporarily.
But having a problem in
maintaining it, unsheltered
citizen in the city dominated
the said structure, so the
function is not acquainted to its
real purpose.
In this situation, the
waiting shed should be
maintained, expanded, added
and secured.
In line with this, the use
should focus on its function
without the determinants of
the presence of unsheltered
people.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
TRAFFIC
FLOW
Due to the
development of the city, traffic
flow took place as a great
contributor to the places
problem.
Not extended, not
widened, unpolished
properties of the surface of the
road & streets are the causes
of this constraint, and for this,
the most common solution that
can treat this problem is to
widen, extend and repair all
the road connected internally.
Traffic lights should
also be placed in a location
that it needs the most. Flow
structures and rotunda as
regulator can also be
constructed for an ease of
access.
For peoples access,
Overpass Bridge connecting
both edges of roads is a great
idea to surpass any
pedestrians that causes also
traffics.


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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
DRAINAGE
SYSTEM
Due to the improper
drainage system here in
General Santos City the stuck
water in canals causes some
various diseases such as
dengue and typhoid.
Clogging as a result in
an improper garbage disposal
is also observable. By this
situation, the city is on its high
risk in rain floods which
causes other constraints to
occur in one time.
As a treatment,
drainage system should be
repaired, enlarged and
conducted to any evaluation
for its stability to maintain its
function.
The drainage slots
should also protruded to the
road as on its safe dimension
without adjusting to any of the
opening dimensions
responsible for the draining
system.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
GARBAGE
DISPOSAL
Some problems in
General Santos Citys
garbage disposal is lacking of
equipment and systematized
processes like, garbage can,
improper segregation, and
unsuitable dumping station.
The disposition to every
waste can be interlinked to any
of the constraints indicated
that would cause any
uncomfortable situation to the
city.
In having this problem,
the treatment is as follows:
ADDITIONAL GARBAGE
COLLECTING EQUIPMENT,
IMPLEMENT STRICTLY THE
CITY ORDINZNCE ABOUT
GARBAGE DISPOSAL AND
CHANGE OF SYSTEMATIC
PROCESSES IN
DISPOSING.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
ROUND BALL
/ ROTUNDA
Accessible by its route,
City should improve the given
structure located to every
intersection roads.
This rotundas or round
ball structure can be isolated
to any other road because of
its unpresentable features.
The engagement of
duty to regulate traffic
situations is regularly defined,
but the aesthetical element of
the structure that visually
perceived the image of a
rotunda is not completed
because of the absence of
ornamental monument and
landmark.
For this problem, we
can treat it by adding
monuments or any iconic
structure that represents the
city in order to mobilize the
presence of the said route
towards any road circulations.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
STREET
VENDOR
We know that one of
the source income of Generals
is street vending, due to this
concern, their safety is the one
that should be looked at by the
local government.
Before this, the effect of
this condition is related to any
other circumstances, like
occupying pedestrian
sidewalks, cause of traffics,
and cause of other road
related issues.
For the treatment, we
can conduct relocation project
for the vendors that could
provide safety environment for
them and can bring back all
their profits and proficient
needs.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
MANHOLE
Road portrays as the
greatest element for urban
cities, like Gen. Santos City,
and because of this, other
attached elements to that
structure should be kept
intellectually constructed.
Manhole, this problem
centralized the improper
utilization in streets and roads
of the city. The openings are
not protected or covered
because of not maintaining it
and with it some effects are
observable, like cause
accidents, clogging of
drainage due to some debris
insertions, and because of
clogging condition it will not be
maintained continuously.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
RAMP
INSTALLATION
Urban design shows
concerns for totality, and for
the citys establishments,
some of them neglect the
importance of installing ramp
devices and structures.
It only shows that some
of builders/ developers less
the value for PWD. In this
case, ramp installation should
be acquired into plans before
compromising building permits
and to implement the law that
integrates the value for the
PWDs.
And if present, the
structure should be installed
appropriately into its proper
ratio and dimension.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
SHORELINE
Developing shorelines
especially considering the
orientation of the city greatly
contribute impacts to the
urban development. But due
to some settlements
particularly in Brgy. Bula, the
presence of any bad situation
is linked. As for solution,
relocation for the settlement
can be a way of resolving the
problem.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
PUBLIC COMFORT
ROOMS
As to be indicated,
comfort room is the general
public area use for peoples
convenience. So as to have a
problem to some CR in public
places, CR CABS,
MAINTAINED URINAL
FACILITIES AND
ADDITIONAL RESTROOM
can be set as solutions.

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Guidelines
INAPPROPRIATE
APPROPRIATE
ROAD
SYSTEM
Generally, circulation
matters is good for this city.
The access are quite
transportable, but due to some
constraints, road is one of the
element that is mainly
affected.
As of this feature, roads
should be repaired and
maintained to deploy some
constraints and problems
towards the convenience of
the generals.

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References
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http://gensantoscity.weebly.com/
http://gensan.freehomepage.com/
http://wowgensantos.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/general-santos-citys-brief-history/
http://www.gensantos.gov.ph/