Baguio moving towards raising carrying capacity to stunt urban decay thru catalytic projects

The city government is moving towards managing its resources, population and tourism industry to raise the city’s carrying capacity to stunt urban decay and cope with climate-induced disasters and one of the ways is the aggressive pursuit of projects that help the city achieve innovation, sustainability and resiliency.

During the Public-Private Partnership Investment Summit where the city’s high impact projects were presented to the public last Oct. 4-5, 2023, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city has to be ready with its mitigation and adaptation plans to delay if not reverse urban decay as well as cope with the inevitable effects of climate change and aside from building awareness, capacity and logistics, the city needs to implement “strategic and catalytic” projects that address the major environmental, economic and social needs of the populace.

City Planning Development and Sustainability Office Coordinator Arch. Donna Tabangin who presented the city’s growth node model that charts the city’s urban spatial development said the city while having a small land area of 5,747 hectares is a virtual magnet for activities and people being the country’s summer capital.

Aside from this, the city is a historic, commercial, educational and administrative center thus its nighttime population of 380,000 (2023 projection) doubles during the daytime.  It also attracts 1.7 million tourists yearly and captures 65 percent of the total tourist arrivals in the region and during holidays and peak tourist season, its nighttime population even quadruples.

This upsets the city’s carrying capacity and prompts a conundrum on whether the city should already curb its tourism industry.

“Our economy is based on tourism and for us to close the borders of Baguio would be the death of our economy.  So we have arrived at that moment where we have to decide: close the borders or manage our resources, population and visitors?  And of course the better option is to manage,” she said.

She said the city needs to be able to manage its resources, the city needs to improve its services and go for diversification and innovation which the projects embody.

Tabangin said at present, the city has 59 catalytic projects being implemented from 2019-2022 which address the city’s seven-point agenda: managing environment, land use and energy; expanding climate and disaster resilience; strengthening urban regeneration; empowering the youth; accelerating economic development and competitiveness; hastening smart city transformation; and good governance.

There also six big ticket projects, five of which are under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme: the Session Road Rehabilitation Project, Smart Urban Mobility Project, Electric Monorail and Bus Transport System, Intermodal Transport Terminal, Asin Hydropower Plants Development and Improvement Project and the Market Redevelopment Project.

The Session Road Rehabilitation Project is a joint concept by the city government, the St. Louis University and the University of the Cordilleras and is anchored on the concept of safe access and mobility.

The Smart Urban Mobility Project proposed by Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation aims to provide holistic solutions to improve mobility and address the perennial traffic problem in the city.

The Electric Monorail and Bus Transport System Metro by Renewable Transport Solutions Inc. aims to develop an electric monorail and bus transport system to provide green transport solutions in the City that will reduce traffic congestion and emissions thereby improving quality of life and economic activity.

The Intermodal Transport Terminal by Megawide Construction Corporation eyes the development of an intermodal terminal along Marcos Highway that will cater to provincial buses coming from outside Baguio to serve as passenger transfer terminal to different modes of transportation going into the city to decentralize the vehicular traffic in the congested central business district and create a lot of breathing space within the urban core.

The Asin Hydropower Plants Development and Improvement Project by Repower Energy Development Corporation Modernization of the Asin Hydropower Plants using latest electro-mechanical technologies and incorporating Artificial Intelligence software and hardware to provide optimized electricity generation.

The Market Redevelopment Project by SM Prime Holdings Inc. seeks to transform the city market which has turned into a congested and unsightly landmark into a “world class” public market with commercial retail and parking. – Aileen P. Refuerzo