Mega Cebu: Single brand, but separate identities
Any development and design plans for Mega Cebu should show the “unique identities” of its 13 cities and towns while establishing a “unified brand,” a US-based architect said last Friday.
Senen Antonio, an urban design and planning expert, wrapped up his Cebu visit with this recommendation to core group members of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB).
Board co-chairman Roberto Aboitiz said a 20- to 30-year horizon for Mega Cebu should start today with “collaboration” among stakeholders in government, the private sector and civil society, with a “focus on agreements” instead of points of conflict.
Antonio’s presentation at the Capitol capped a weeklong Sustainable City Dialogue organized by by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).
The events were mounted in partnership with the University of San Carlos-College of Architecture and Fine Arts (USC-CAFA), the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC), and other Cebu-based organizations.
Antonio said stakeholders have to define the area as “one brand” while showing the “unique identities” of cities from Danao in the north to Carcar in the south, including Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova in Mactan Island.
“The regional plan could be a framework in assigning unique roles to each municipality but at the same time encouraging cooperative relationships,” he said.
The coast-to-mountain terrain of Cebu is a major advantage, including the mix of lifestyles from cosmopolitan to rural, he said. He suggested developing “green fingers” in each town, maximizing paths from peaks to the sea.
Based on physical appearance, said Antonio, towns and cities on the east coast of Metro Cebu just blend into the next. He suggested “discreet boundaries” between localities. “Welcome arches” are not enough.
“You should be able to identify from the form alone if you are entering or leaving a town. You shouldn’t have to rely on these signs,” he said.
Antonio also suggested “empowering” municipal planning officers so plans continue even if “mayors come and go.”
He said policy makers should work with planners and design teams to draft an overall, comprehensive development plan for Metro Cebu.
He said the participatory approach of the “charette methodology” entails preparing and revising design proposals in the presence of stakeholders.
He also suggested “scenario planning” as an “inclusive approach.”
Antonio said Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, board chairperson, earlier asked for output in three months, but this would depend on groundwork for the “charette” process where “public participation is key.”
The planning includes data assembly, base mapping, key stakeholder identification, initial community engagements, educational campaigns and mobilization of the academe.
Aboitiz, meanwhile, observed that Cebu was known in the 1980s as an “Island in the Pacific” but has no clear brand now, leaving it out of the world’s radar.
He said the right planning process that taps professional experts “is not instant coffee” but has to start today.
Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco and Consolacion Mayor Teresita Alegado, who were present in the final briefing, said they supported this vision.
Alegado said some mayors and local officials haven’t fully grasped yet what “Mega Cebu” is about but she was “very optimistic” it will succeed “as long as the determination is there.”
