Written by LOVELYN QUINTOS REPORTER
ANEW ‘green and intelligent’ city half
the size of Metro Manila will rise at the Clark Special Economic Zone in
Pampanga by 2016, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said
recently.
“We want to unlock the value of the
vast land holdings that BCDA have there. The main zone is idle land so we need
to protect it and also unlock the value to contribute to the regional
development,” BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Arnel Casanova said in
an interview.
He said that the new metropolis would
be a mix of industrial, manufacturing, institutional, commercial and
residential areas. Casanova added that the BCDA wants the application of green
technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of city.
“Our development must be balanced with
the environmental sustainability. We want more green spaces, open spaces,” he
said.
BCDA earlier said that the master plan
should adopt a Green Building System, use renewable energy in all buildings and
facilities from sustainable sources, and clean and affordable public
transportation system that promotes the use of cleaner burning fuels.
BCDA, Casanova said, is finalizing the
contract with the highest rated bidder for the master development plan of the
36,000-hectare property. The agency opened the bidding last March and Casanova
said that the BCDA targets to finish the master plan within the year so that
the first phase of development can be implemented in 2013.
He said that developing the property
will definitely be finished before the term of President Benigno Aquino 3rd
ends in 2016.
The budget for developing the property
will depend on the outcome of the masterplan but “will definitely be a big
amount,” Casanova said.
He added that they are eyeing
public-private partnerships to build the former military camp into a
sustainable city.
Casanova noted that Metro Manila
becomes “highly congested” as the Philippine population continues “urbanizing.”
To ease the pressure of migration to the capital from the countryside, a new
urban area must be created, he said.
He said that they are focusing on
Central Luzon since all infrastructures—tollways, seaport and airport—are
there, and because the population in the region is also increasing.
“Instead of making them migrate to
Metro Manila, we might as well create an opportunity for them in Central Luzon
itself and spur the infrastructure investment and the economic development in
the region,” he said.
Casanova also said the BCDA plans to
rehabilitate the tunnel buried 100 feet below Fort Bonifacio Global in Taguig
City into a heritage site.
“We believe that it is important in
city building [because] that there’s a sense of history and culture,” he added.
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