On November 15, 2018, city planning and development officers (CPDOs) representing 25 local government units (LGUs) participated in the first “UrbanPlan for Public Officials Workshop” conducted in the Philippines. In fact, the country joins Singapore and Hong Kong as the first recipients of this 15-year running global workshop in Asia.
The workshop, designed by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) urban planning experts, was hosted by the Urban Land Institute Philippines, in cooperation with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) at the De La Salle University Rufino Campus, Taguig City. ULI is the oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate and land use experts in the world.
The core of the workshop is to create a land use proposal balancing factors such as community interests, building types, and financial feasibility. The teams integrated design principles and land use guidelines to develop the site plan, as well as learned to work with a financial tool to develop the model to attract investors, among others.
The workshop was facilitated by Sophie Lambert, Senior Director of UrbanPlan at ULI, and Raymond Rufino, ULI Philippines Chairman Carlos Rufino and ULI Chair of Mission Advancement.
“The CPDOs tackled the exercise very thoughtfully, thinking through how the case study could give them take-aways in their regions and cities. They were also a fun group!” remarked Lambert.
The workshop was attended by City Planning and Development Officers (CPDOs) and other representatives from the cities of Baguio, Butuan, Calapan, Calbayog, Dagupan, Dipolog, Maasin, Malabon, Mati, Muntinlupa, Naga (Cebu), Parañaque, Puerto Princesa, Quezon, San Jose del Monte, San Pedro, Sipalay, Tabaco, Tacurong, Tarlac, and Valenzuela.
One of the participants, Puerto Princesa City CPDO and Environmental Planner Ms. Jovenee C. Sagun, said that the workshop has “opened many opportunities, in learning valuable new information and establishing connections with global urban planning experts who can guide [LGUs] as [they] plan and design cities towards sustainability.”
The UrbanPlan workshop is one of DBM’s initiatives to offer technical assistance to the local government units. This is in line with Green Green Green, a unique assistance program spearheaded by the DBM that aims to make the Philippines’ 145 cities more livable and sustainable through the establishment and improvement of urban public open spaces such as parks, plazas, streets, among others. (DBM)
