Reese Barcelon
Have you ever wondered what will happen to the Philippines in the next few years?
No need to daydream, as our country’s future has been exposed to the naked eye.
It turns out that Philippines is set for the most progressive integrated central business district that will surely take the country to a higher level. The said project will need a total of 407 hectares of reclaimed land for all its facilities and will be connected directly to Roxas Boulevard.
The reclamation itself will take four years and bound to kick start in August, with an interest of building the first residential tower within seven years.
According to Nicholas Ho, deputy managing director of Ho & Partners Architects, the Hong Kong-based lead designer of the project, “None in Asia has this scale of development in such a prime location with such a visionary approach. There are many townships in Asia but those townships are in the middle of nowhere. This township is extremely prime in terms of its location. This one is right smack in the middle of town, with 360-degree ocean views.”
Apparently, it was already approved by the former President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada. “This was orchestrated by UAA Kinming about a few years ago,” Ho said. “This project got the blessing from President Xi Jinping and President Duterte last year in Beijing, and we got the go-ahead to proceed to planning.”
The development of New Manila Bay – City of Pearl is the biggest One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project between China and the Philippines as it isn’t just another typical development, but rather a government-to-government-level project.
The City of Pearl will be situated 20 minutes from the airport, of which the community will be expected to depend less on car usage through the advanced driverless railway system included in the project. Commuters have the choice to take water taxis, aside from the other transportation medium, while sailing enthusiasts can berth at a marine yacht club at the same time.
On the other hand, the shopping strip will be a three-kilometre riverfront area. “We don’t want the retail to just be a mall. We want the retail to engage with the central park and also the riverside, so that it becomes a thematic integrated entertainment complex,” Ho shared.
What’s more surprising is that they are planning to incorporate artificial intelligence inside, along with participating in the green advocacy. “The city is designed to become a self-sustaining smart community where the city itself is run by artificial intelligence. Everything we’ve done on this city is based on one central theme: the smart city concept. We want it to be green, we want it to be self-sustaining, not dependent on anything or anyone else. We want the city itself to have hardware and software so integrated in a way that it can feed back to artificial intelligence to ensure that city operation is always at its optimal level.”
More features would be 10-20% area allotted to open spaces, a central park, golf course, a 10-kilometre waterfront promenade and even an all-weather park.
Moreover, Ho assured that the Philippines will exercise complete sovereignty over the project. “There’s no military application for this project. No one’s going to use it as a military port or airstrip or anything like that. This is purely a mixed-use, public–private-partnership development, he added.
As per the estimation, the range of potential job offers will be around 50,000 jobs in different industries. “Phase by phase, this project will probably take 20 years. Down the line, it’s going to create a lot of jobs for Filipinos. It’s going to really help boost the middle class.”
Based on the project itself, it gives the country a vision that it will help enhance the district and the economy of the Philippines as a whole. Once this development has been started, it will surely provide a lot of opportunities for the Filipinos, especially in the aspect of tourism.
What are your thoughts about the illustrations presented? Do you think the Philippines is ready for this kind of development?
