BRIDGING CITIES, TRANSFORMING LIVES

3rd LCP Philippine Cities Global Convention and Exposition

November 17-19, 2011
Resorts World, Pasay City
Philippines
I. Background
The Philippines is undergoing rapid urbanization. In 2005, the
urban population was estimated more than 53 million or over 60%
of the country's population. By 2015, it is estimated that it is
pegged at 70 million comprising at least 70% of the Philippines
population. (National Urban Development and Housing
Framework 2009-2016)
Improved economic growth of urban centers is also estimated to
account for 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2003,
cities contributed 73% of the country's economic output and 67% of the household expenditures. Metro Manila cities
alone in 2007 accounted 33% of the country's gross domestic product.
Urbanization and economic growth continue to attract people in urban centers, thus causing significant strain on the
capability of cities to manage development and provide for the basic services required by an increasing number of
constituents. The ability of cities to respond to the challenges is constrained by the varying levels of technical
capability across different types of cities as well.
This issue of inadequate technical capacity is further heightened by the limited term of local leaders with the three
year local election cycle ushering, in most cases, new leaders and new sets of key local government personnel that
need to implement capacity development programs, at least in the Philippines.
However, it is imperative to strengthen the capacities of city managers given the traditional and evolving functions of
cities - from service providers to more professional and strategic growth managers. Cities need to efficiently manage
and program resources to ensure that basic services are sufficiently available to meet the requirements of a growing
urban population.
It is important to enhance their technical competence in determining and pursuing priority investments and to
maximize resources. As technological advancement now allows for improved mobility of investments, cities need to
accelerate to develop local niche and promote global competitiveness that will support their sustained growth.
The need for further development intervention is well-pronounced in the Philippines, as large number of cities
continues to rely on financial transfers from the national government and have not been able to effectively leverage
and manage their own resources . In most cases, the identification of local investments has limited support in terms
of technical evaluation thus affecting the effective programming of resources across the different sectors. With
minimal appreciation and lack of exposure to global best practices, cities tend to focus on an inward perspective
rather than develop and pursue thrusts that will promote inter-city collaboration and enhance local and global
competitiveness.
Since its establishment in 1988, the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) has conducted learning activities to
support knowledge development of cities in the Philippines. It is imperative for the LCP and its stakeholders to design
and implement effective and accessible learning interventions that will allow cities, and possibly, cities around the
world, to assimilate and apply practical knowledge that cuts across urban development issues. These interventions
should incorporate global best practices on city management to inform about tested solutions and provide the
opportunity to exchange knowledge with local and international practitioners.
II. Theme
In the 3rd Philippine Cities Global Convention and Exposition, LCP will re-examine the
inclusive character of cities as the main overarching theme. The theme is Bridging Cities,
Transforming Lives.
Cities are the catchment area of people from the rural areas. Cities become beacons of
opportunity and engines of growth. Given their multi-dimensional character, the need for
integration is inevitable given the limited technical competencies and resources.
According to the UN Habitat, an inclusive city is a city that promotes growth with equity. It is a
city where every individual regardless of the people's economic stature, race, and/or religion is
empowered to participate in the decision-making process. Why inclusiveness is important?
Because it reduces inequality and tension, and incorporates knowledge, productivity, social,
and physical capital of the poor and the disadvantaged, and increases local ownership of
development processes and programmes.
By bridging cities, they redefine the notions of inclusiveness as the way forward for sustainable
growth. How is inclusive development attained in cities? What defines their inclusive growth?
What impede cities from implementing the development agenda to attain inclusive growth?
How can bridging cities promote inclusivity in a broad spectrum of development challenges and
solutions? How can cities be inclusive?
III. Objectives
The main objective of the 3rd Philippine Cities
Global Convention and Exposition 2011 is to
increase the knowledge of city governments on
inclusive urban development through the
conduct of a knowledge exchange system
among city stakeholders, both national and
foreign.
For the first time, LCP will open invite its
international counterparts and cities across the globe to discuss cross cutting urban development
challenges and initiate long-term partnerships. Moreover, the Convention also seeks to achieve the
following:
1. Showcase what Philippine cities offer such as tourism destinations and events, one town one
product, services, good governance practices, and culture;
2. Promote Philippine cities as investment haven through the exposition to boost local economic
development to further generate more business opportunities and employment;
3. Foster cooperation among cities in the Philippines with other cities through networking activities;
4. Strengthen inter-governmental cooperation in planning and implementation of development
programs;
5. Promote stronger partnership between city governments and the private sector; and
6. Share innovative and sustainable solutions to common urban issues and challenges, such as
poverty, unemployment, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, and impacts of climate
change among others.
IV. Methodology
The Convention consists of plenary discussions and thematic
breakout sessions on specific urban management issues,
including urban competitiveness, strengthening local economies,
greening cities, and city to-city cooperation. During the plenary breaks, possible book launchings, memorandum
signing, product endorsements will also be an added feature.
Plenary session will be held during morning. Breakout sessions will be conducted during the afternoon. Each
breakout session will have a moderator, its respective resource speakers/ city presenters on specific topics, and a
documentor. Each breakout session will run for an average of 3 hours.
An exposition showcasing the best of Philippine cities will also be conducted not far from the venue.
V. Programme and Thematic Sessions
The Convention is seen as a platform to identify
urban development challenges and deepen the
commitment into a synergized urban
development agenda among cities. Noted
international resource speakers in urban
development, city mayors both local and
foreign, and experts in local governance will
promote best practices, will present cross
cutting urban development issues and
challenges, and will seek to find solutions while promoting inclusive sustainable growth.
1. Urban Shelter - Against the backdrop of limited resources, diversity in culture, and population
growth, cities must be able to provide adequate and affordable shelter for its citizens. This session
will showcase successful initiatives on providing quality and affordable shelter, and discuss integral
components such as design, financing, and social marketing. It will also bring forward policy issues
that need to be addressed to enhance and sustain the said services.
2. Strengthening Local Economies - Cities have long been regarded as the engines of growth, as they
provide specialized services and generate significant revenues that fuel national growth. The
capacity of cities to generate employment and investment opportunities, and finance development
programs depends on the strength of its economies. This session will focus on enabling cities to
formulate effective economic development plans that capitalize on their strategic advantages, such
as size, location, and human and material resources.
3. Creating Green Cities - As cities pursue greater economic development to generate much needed
resources to finance its development programs, due consideration must be given to the protection
of the natural environment. The increasing occurrence and the degree of severity of disasters
worldwide sends a clear message that unless ecological balance is achieved, people will continue
to pay a high price for development.
4. Human Development - Because cities are often the educational, financial and cultural centers of
their respective regions, they attract a significant section of the populations of contiguous areas.
Cities are therefore challenged to respond to the human development needs of their growing
population.

This session will delve into the best practices and innovations of cities regarding health, education,
and human security. Development partners, in turn, will also share their paradigms for enhancing
human development in cities.
5. Planning, Designing and Managing Cities -
Unplanned growth has brought about complex
issues such as congestion, informal
settlements, environmental degradation, and
disasters. To effectively address these issues
and pursue sustainable development, cities
must undertake sound urban planning and
management.

This session will focus on enabling cities to effectively perform one of its most important mandates.
Topics under this session include land use planning, urban renewal, heritage conservation, and
transport planning.
6. Green Urban Infrastructure - Crucial to increasing the competitiveness of cities is the availability of
modern infrastructure such as roads, bridges, utilities, schools, hospitals, and telecommunications.
Limited resources however, have not only stymied infrastructure development, it has also led to
infrastructure development initiatives that contribute to the deterioration of the environment.

This session will present several windows of opportunities for cities to design and build
environmentally - sound infrastructure. In addition, the necessary tools to enable cities to prioritize
infrastructure projects and identify appropriate financing mechanisms will also be presented in this
session.
7. Good Urban Governance: Key to Sustaining Urban Development - Other than human and financial
resources, materials for production, and infrastructure support, good urban governance is
recognized as an essential ingredient to achieving and sustaining urban development. Good urban
governance embraces public participation, gender equality, transparency and accountability, rule of
law, innovation, and balanced development.

This session will highlight the direct relations between good urban governance and sustained urban
development, and provide simple and doable steps on how cities can enhance their governance
systems.
8. City to City Cooperation - Inter-local government unit cooperation encourages best practices
sharing and replication for the benefit of their respective constituencies. Through the additional
initiatives and support of local government associations, the benefits are further distributed. This
session will focus on the successes of the different modalities of partnership that local governments
and local government associations have engaged in, hoping to encourage more replication and
innovation.


Transcript of The Philippine Urbanization
The Philippine Urbanization The Phl Urbanization
in the context of Asian Region With more than half of its population (54 percent) living in
urban areas in 2007, the Philippines, is one of the most highly urbanized countries in
Southeast Asia, second only to Malaysia. In 2000, while Philippines had 48 percent of its
population living in urban areas, Malaysia already had 57 percent. Percentage of Rural and
Urban Population, 1950-2020 The evolution of the composition of the Philippine population
from 1950 to 2000 has been quite dramatic. In 1950, about 25 percent lived in cities.
Twenty-five years later, 42 percent of the population resided in urban areas.

But the major break occurred in the 1990s when almost one-half (47 percent) of the
population had settled in urban areas, slowing down in 2000 to 48 percent. By 2020, almost
three-fourths of the population is projected to live in cities. While the urbanization process in
the Philippines has been quite rapid, the overall patternof urban growth among the
geographical regions has been quite uneven. The growth and levelsof urbanization among the
regions are largely associated with the growth of a metropolitan centerlike Metro Manila or
the traditional regional centers like Cebu City or Davao City. Some reasons for rapid urban
growth -Employment opportunities
-technology development
-food accessibility
-political freedom Urban growth of populations is largely due to the concentration of
industrial and services in the cities.

Urbanization and the attendant agglomeration economies can result in greater productivity
levels for the national economy. With urbanization, the benefits of economies ofscale can
result in more efficient and effective delivery of public services Urbanization, Economic
Growth,
and Urban Development More than half of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) are
generated by urbancenters. Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment Data
shows that from1988 to 2003, the rate of employment in the urban areas is lower
than that of the rural areas. But rural areas seem to have offered more opportunities for males
but
quite the reverse for females. Urabnization, Economic Growth, Urban Development The
Philippine economy has been largely transformed into an urban-based economy during the
last 15 years or so. This can be seen in the continuous decline of the growth of the
agricultural sector and with the increasing productivity, employment and income
opportunities generated by the services and industrial sectors. But government support for
urban economies during the past decade has considerably improved. This can be seen in the
infrastructural improvements (e.g., interconnectivity of roads,bridges, flyovers, rapid transit
system, etc.) Data shows that from 1988 to 2003, the rate of employment in the urban areas is
lower than that of the rural areas. Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment.
Consistent with the trends in poverty incidence, the unemployment rates for the whole
country
have also declined. Overall rates of unemployment in the Philippines declined
during the period 1994-1996, but started to rise again following the economic crisis in 1997
Urban Growth, Poverty, and Social Inequality Problems include congestion, shortage of
housing, inadequate basic services like potable water supply, health, waste collection and
management, etc.
These problems are also compounded by water and airpollution, the increasing need for
disease control and health services. the incidence of poverty in the Philippines seemed to
have declined
from 1985 to 2006, but the number of people below thepoverty line has been increasing in
absolute numbers. Poverty Incidence Across Regions and Income Groups Health, Education,
and Literacy
Water supply, services, sanitation and solid waste management.

Pollution Levels (Air, Water, and Surface, Noise). Revitalization of old cities/settlements.

Decentralization and democratization of urban governance. Urban Social Change, Planning
and Development Thank You! Towards a Sustainable Development of Cities and Towns
URBANIZATION
Urbanization has largely run its course in the worlds richest countries. The
remaining action will play out almost entirely in middle and low-income countries. In
2010, the urban population in these countries stood at 2.5 billion. In 100 years, the
urban population there could be nearly three times larger. At that point, the worlds
urban population is expected to stabilize. Future generations will live forever with the
system of cities we leave behind in 2110. In the interim, rapidly urbanizing countries
have a tremendous window of opportunity in which to use urbanization to speed up
progress for generations to come.