What’s a ‘liveable city’ for Cebu?

A “liveable city” is a safe community with jobs, clean air, good schools low crime and pollution.

Food is affordable, and infrastructure and health care is good.

This picture of an ideal city emerged in a survey of 870 respondents in 20 urban barangays in Cebu City.

The biggest factor that makes life “unlivable” in Metro Cebu, they said, is that its “crowded.”

Initial results of the survey conducted by students of the University of the Philippines in Cebu, Psychology and National Service Training Program (NSTP) were discussed yesterday by the Movement for a Liveable Cebu (MLC)

People “from all walks of life” filled out questionnaires or sat down in Focus Group Discussions (FGD), said Marc Canton, lead convenor of the citizen movement  group which was formed two years ago at the height of a campaign against new flyovers in Cebu city.

The surveys showed that the no .1 element that make Metro Cebu unlivable is  that its “crowded”.

This is followed by the lack of urban planning and “petty politics” shown by government leaders.

“What we found out in the survey is that responses were the same in most cases. Even with out-of-school youths and business leaders,  results were similar,” Canton said.

Aside from the questionnaire, 15 FGDs were held with 10 to 15 people each.

Five questions were asked in both tools:

1. What makes a city livable for you?; 2. What elements currently make Metro Cebu livable? 3)what elements currently make Metro Cebu unlivable?; 4) what will you do personally to make Metro Cebu livable?; 5) What do will you do in your job/ business/ occupation to make Metro Cebu livable?

“We can’t say (the results) are statistically significant but this is significant. We have different people from different walks of life. The survey is consistent with all results of the FGD.  We did the FGD because we want to know and define for ourselves what liveability means,” Canton said.

Rudy Alix, MLM member, said the survey results express the vision and wishes of ordinary people from 20 barangays in Cebu City to make the city livable.

The output can guide government officials and those seeking election in May.

“If  they are truly servants of the people, they will listen to the pulse of the people before setting their priorities,” said Alix. .Marian Z. Codilla, Senior Reporter