Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that count.
— Winston Churchill

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — Faced with the increasing impacts of climate change that threatens humanity with extinction, the need for smart cities and sustainable urban planning has become more pronounced and critical in our global agenda for survival.

And in the Philippines, we face a rapidly increasing population with over 100 million Filipinos projected to live in urban areas by 2050, so the need for sustainable urban planning to develop a smart and resilient economy has never been more important. Already, more than 54 percent of our 109.03 million (as of 2022) people reside in urban areas—a trend only set to increase in the years to come.

Still, with projections supporting the strength in our economy, we are poised to be the 16th top economy in the world by 2050 and the top 12th economy by 2075, based on a forecast by Palafox Associates and contrary to what is seen by the World Economic League Table which claims the Philippines will be the 23rd largest economy by 2039.

In support, it's worthy to note that we are a nation rich in potential due to our abundant natural and human capital resources which both position us to become a first-world country by 2050. Our strengths, too, are many—from leading in marine biodiversity and voice call centers to holding a demographic sweet spot with an average age of 26.

This vision of becoming a global economy is actually an invitation to inspire various sectors in our society—especially current and future generations of leaders, developers, builders, architects, planners, and designers—to reshape our future communities and cities into smart and resilient centers adaptive to global changes and development.

More than ever, we need now to engage the government, the private sector, environmental advocates, civil society, everyone, to collectively push and position the Philippines as a competitive country with a robust economy. This may be a bold and transformative blueprint for our future but highly achievable if we put our mind to it.

‍Yet, we need strong collaboration to attain the 17 Sustainable Goals (SDGs) set by 2030 and join the list of the first-world countries by 2040. And we need visionary leadership that has strong political will, good appreciation of good planning like urban planning and socio-economic planning and effective decision-making for good governance, good architecture, good engineering and responsible citizenship
As architect Felino Palafox once said in 1973, "development is not worthy of the name unless it is spread evenly like butter on a piece of bread.”

Moreover, we need to build vertical cities to help alleviate rapid urbanization issues by providing more compact, high-rise with mixed-use development and mixed-income residential towers for various residents. This will save on space, land and utilities and prevent more urban sprawl into the forest and the farms. Through this, we hope to see more tall buildings adopting sustainable architecture and green design and allot more green areas and public spaces for a healthier environment.

Lastly, we envision developing 15-minute cities, a concept that was first introduced in 2016 by Carlos Moreno and Anne Hidalgo, the lady mayor of Paris, France.

These 15-minute cities and 5-minute neighborhoods incorporate seamless connectivity and mobility, where every destination is within 15-minute walking, biking, and public transport, with a location that has more balance between jobs and housing.

As with every great plan, it starts as a tiny seed of vision—watered, nourished and nurtured—not in the future but in the NOW. Thus, we encourage our planners, architects, engineers and designers, together with our clients, leaders in the government and industry, and the future generations of city builders to start collaborating TODAY.
Let us work smarter, faster, and long-term TOGETHER.

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FOR your comments or suggestions, complaints or requests, just send a message through my email at cipcab2006@yahoo.com or text me at cellphone numbers 09171656792 or 09171592256 during office hours from Monday to Friday. Thank you and mabuhay!