The Philippine STAR was born at a critical turning point in our history. For the past 40 years, it has stood as a beacon of truth. And as we look forward to another four decades of free press, we must design a future for the people it serves. Just as how our democracy stands on a prevailing truth, so must our cities.
By 2050, we will need at least 100 additional cities to accommodate more than a hundred-fifty million Filipinos living in urban areas. Aside from providing necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and education, these new metropolises must be able to address modern issues such as climate change, traffic congestion, and social inequity.
If the past was about building more, the future is about building smarter. We must learn from the previous mistakes to move forward, toward 2050 and beyond.
Our mistake was following the post-war American pattern of suburban development, where places were exclusively segregated based on their use: live, work, and play. The result of car-dependent planning has left us with paralyzing traffic congestion. Instead of connecting places, our roads ended up dividing communities and depriving people of access to basic needs and commodities.
Real estate used to be about location, location, location. Now, it is about mobility, accessibility, and connectivity. The 1973 energy crisis taught us that people would like to live near where they work, play, shop, study, dine, and worship; hence the need for development that is compact, polycentric, mixed-use, and transit-oriented, and the rise of New Urbanism, vertical urbanism, and smart cities.
By developing self-sufficient cities outside Metro Manila as counter magnets, people in the province will no longer have to flock to the capital for opportunities and livelihood. This will not only reduce congestion but also make housing affordable, reduce the cost of living, and spur regional development and economic growth. Additionally, when people do not have to travel great distances, they will have more time to spend on more meaningful and productive purposes.
Human capital is one of the greatest strengths of the Philippines, with the country ranking 12th globally. How we maximize that will ultimately depend on the cities that we build for them.
Cities are dynamic and diverse in nature. That is what makes them engines of growth and prosperity. We must embrace this truth to ensure that we are building places that serve people and uplift lives. That is why we, at PALAFOX, follow a triple bottomline: people, planet, profit. People must always come first.
Truth doesn’t change. The metropolises that we are building today will shape the lives of the generations to come. If we are to build cities that are smart, sustainable, resilient, and future-ready, we must act with visionary leadership, strong political will, and good governance.
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Architect-urban planner Felino “Jun” Palafox, Jr. has 53 years of experience in architecture and 51 years in planning. He was educated at Christ the King Seminary, UST, UP, and Harvard. He founded Palafox Associates and Palafox Architecture Group, which have more than 2,000 projects in 41 countries and were recognized with more than 200 awards. He is also the first recipient of the UAP Dubai Awards Lifetime Achievement Award (2023).
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