Multi-sectoral groups push for Mega Cebu masterplan

CEBU, Philippines - Multi-sectoral groups in Cebu have joined hands to push a 30-year masterplan to create a “Mega Cebu” project to sustain and improve Cebu’s global competitiveness regardless of political boundaries.

Recently, a group called “Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board” was formed in order to make this project a reality. Chaired by Cebu provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, the movement is actively particpated by 13 influential organizations such as the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Cebu Business Club (CBC), Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Cebu Leads Foundation, among others.

RAFI president Roberto Aboitiz is leading this movement to lure private sector, academe and the civil society to participate on the movement, saying “the spirit of success and love for Cebu is shared by all. Together with political leaders—we can craft projects that will bring Cebu to higher level,” said Aboitiz during his presentation to members of the Rotary Cebu West.

The Mega Cebu project involves an integrated masterplan that will make greater Cebu, from Car-Car in the South, to Danao in the north, a metropolitan region.

According to Aboitiz, today’s changing competitiveness standard, “size matters.”

What happens today, is politicians have their own defined development geography, most do not coordinate and cooperate for the over-all development of the Cebu metropolis, Aboitiz said.

This project, he said will brand Cebu as a “Region City”, this will in turn attract more investments, and increase job opportunities.

“This has not been done before because of political boundaries,” Aboitiz said. But, through this movement, which is shared by the private sector and other sectoral groups, Cebu ‘s development is seen not to be hampered by political squabbles, which largely derailed development.

Development should be integrated that will cover at least the 13 cities and municipalities within the Mega Cebu region, Aboitiz said.

Supported by IBM Philippines, through its Smart City campaign, this movement is seen to change Cebu’s landscape in the next 30 years, benchmarking the successful mega regions in Canada, like Vancouver which applied also applied this concept.

“Politics may change, but business stays the same,” said CBC president Dondi Joseph. Thus, there is a need for a strong collaborative efforts from the political leaders specifically from Mayors of the idenfied cities and municipalities.

Eventually, after the coordinating board will also form different committees, and planned out the 30-year masterplan with the help of developmental experts, the group will make formal recommendation of this project to the Regional Development Council (RDC) and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

At present, the council is still a loose organization, committees are still being formed, while the group is also inviting supporters and volunteers to participate in this “historical” movement for Cebu.

IBM’s Smarter city intiative treats the city as an ecosystem composed of multiple subsystems to manage transportation, healthcare, public safety, government services, energy, commerce, communications, and water resources.

These subsystems come together to form an interconnected, mutually-influencing, and mutually-enhancing whole. In previous city developments, due to technological limitations, these subsystems could not offer integrated information support to city development.

A smarter city enables information sharing and collaboration among different municipal governmental agencies and systems, so that resources are used rationally, decisions are made that best benefit city development and management, and emergencies and disasters are predicted and dealt with in the shortest possible time.