ADB okays $1-M grant to fund study on regeneration of MM

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $1-million grant to finance the formulation of a comprehensive urban regeneration and upgrading plan for Metro Manila.

The amount will be used to develop mainly unutilized or under-utilized government land for a balanced, integrated urban redevelopment program with the urban poor as primary beneficiary.

Among the government land parcels covered by the study are the 76-hectare Welfareville property in Mandaluyong, the 450-hectare New Bilibid Prison, property in Muntinlupa, and parcels of land owned by the Philippine National Railways in Caloocan.

The total cost of the study is estimated at $1.43 million, with the ADB providing $1 million plus a counterpart fund of $430,000 from the Philippine government. The ADB will tap the Asian Currency Crisis Support Facility funded by the Japanese government.

The executing agency for the project will be the Philippine Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council headed by Michael Defensor. A follow-up investment loan of $50 million is also in the pipeline for release this year.

The project is envisioned to be part of a still-being developed 15-year metropolitan-wide strategy to serve as guide for urban development as well as assist local government units (LGUs) formulate integrated interventions.

It will also include a policy-driven program to help unblock Metro Manila’s urban land market, encourage private sector participation in urban renewal and regeneration activities, and pilot innovative mechanisms such as land readjustment, community redevelopment zones, tax increment financing, and other incentives.

According to the regional financial institution, the project "will also result in the identification of a package of priority investments in support of the plan, to cover a five-year slice of the 15-year strategy."

Parts of the strategy will include urban poor housing, water supply and sanitation services, and associated municipal and social infrastructure. It will also have rapid land use assessments and poverty mapping in selected LGUs utilizing high resolution satellite imagery, and provide training on computer-based geographic information systems for more rational urban planning and management.

Matthew Westfall, ADB senior urban development specialist and mission leader said that city planners need better skills and training.

"Without knowing what is there, how fast, and in what ways it is changing, effective planning can not be done," Westfall said.

"We aim to help the government to achieve equity, social justice, and broad economic gains through unblocking of urban land markets, disposing of idle government lands, and granting of land titles to the poor," he said. "Capturing the economic potential of this urban land or the dead capital as it has been characterized is key to this process."

Metro Manila is a megacity of 17 cities and municipalities with a population of over 12 million. It is growing at 3.3 percent per annum. Over 20 percent of the population live either below or near the poverty line, and 35 percent, reside in informal slum settlements.