An ecosystem of interconnectedness anchored on sustainable living are being established in the provinces
Things Were Really A Lot Different Decades Ago
A number of social media pages and websites continue to be dedicated show what Metro Manila looked like in the 60’s, the 70’s, and the 80’s, plastered with sepia-toned and black and white photos of famous landmarks and thoroughfares that evoke nostalgia. Indeed, when looking at the curated photographs, one can immediately observe that is was an era of interconnected communities—where everyone seems to know everybody else and traffic almost non-existent.
Those decades are now but a bygone era. A lot has changed since that time, evident with even just a look at Metro Manila’s present infrastructure and the continued growth of its population.
With more than 23 million people living and working in the Greater Metro Manila area, sustaining the country’s premier hub and growth corridor is bound to come to a halt if the influx of people from other parts of the archipelago continue at an alarming rate.
Some of Metro Manila’s cities continue to be densely populated, with Manila topping the list at 42,628 persons per square kilometer, according to a 2015 data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority. This was followed by Mandaluyong with 41,580 persons per square kilometer and Caloocan City with 28,387 persons per square kilometer.
Mixed-Use Developments and Taking Growth Outside the Big Cities
Several major Philippine property developers have embarked on expanding their portfolio to areas away from Metro Manila, creating township projects that are the definition of mixed-use developments. Ayala Land’s Nuvali in Sta Rosa, Laguna, for instance, is poised to evolve into a premier community where open space is a premium and the landscape not just visibly pleasing to the eye but designed to promote interaction among its habitats. They are strategically positioned as easily accessible and openly inviting.
According to Ayala Land’s Anna Maria Margarita Dy, who heads the firm’s strategic landbank management unit, Ayala hopes to “humanize the experience of living in a city.”
“We want to be part of communities where we know people and people know us, where it is easy to create social ties, where we can access what we need easily, and where we can relax and be ourselves. We want easy-to- navigate, compact, and interconnected developments with open spaces for convergence,” shared Dy at The Outlook event hosted by Lamudi, the leading online real estate marketplace in the Philippines that also operates in 33 other countries.
In the case of Nuvali, Ayala Land has partnered with educational institutions such as Xavier School and Miriam, offices, and other township staples such as retail shops to establish a presence in the area. The idea is to create a community where everything and every destination is within reach. Mixed-use property developments, according to Lamudi’s Outlook Report, are always anchored on sustainability, which has become a trend in the property market worldwide.
“When you put together a development…wherein it is mixed-use, wherein everything is there, where you live, where you work, where you shop…when everything is accessible by walking, when everything is pedestrian friendly—that development by itself as a platform is sustainable,” said Manny Blas, vice president and estate head of Makati and Bonifacio Global City for Ayala Land, at Lamudi’s The Outlook event.
Other real estate giants such as Megaworld Corp. has ventured into mixed-use property projects outside Metro Manila. It has launched the 28.8-hectare Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu. A mixed-use township project, it is primarily a cyberpark that caters to Cebu’s booming business process outsourcing industry. One unique feature of Mactan Newtown, though, is that it has its own beach.
“Due to an overwhelming demand of office spaces and significant growth of the BPO industry in Cebu, we are doing a massive infrastructure push in Mactan Newtown,” said Jericho Go, Megaworld’s first vice-president, in a statement. “We have received inquiries left and right from top BPO companies that are interested to set up operations in our township.”
Ayala Land and Megaworld are just some of the country’s property developers who are banking on the expected growth of economic corridors outside the Greater Metro Manila area. By building sustainable township projects that could one day bring back the nostalgia of a close-knit community, they are hoping to create an ecosystem of interconnectedness anchored on sustainable living.
