Cebu Heritage, Urban Development Project to be launched today

The Cebu Heritage and Urban Redevelopment Project will be formally launched at the Cebu Marriott Hotel today.

Peter Dekoning, a director of the Sister City Organization of the City of Haarlemmermeer and senior consultant of the Institute of Housing and Development Studies in Rotterdam and the Netherlands Management Cooperation Programme, will join Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Antonio Oppus, regional director of the Office of the President in the Central Visayas, and architect Maria Lourdes Onozawa, consultant for heritage conservation and urban planning, during the launch.

Representatives from national and local government agencies and international and local non-governmental organizations will also grace the event.

The Cebu Heritage Conservation Program is an initiative of Onozawa, and is based on a technical study she co-authored last year.

The study identified and assessed the city’s heritage resources, reviewed the planning system and drafted urban design guidelines and planning and zoning ordinances for the Waterfront Special Design District.

The program, which draws its key concepts from Onozawa’s study, consists of a systematic plan to rehabilitate, redesign and revitalize the urban core or "waterfront" district of Cebu City.

These include the original Spanish colonial city, American and post-war edifices, and the port area.

The program emphasizes the need to strike a balance between conservation and redevelopment.

Its revitalization component also aims to create opportunities for employment for the marginalized, especially from the cultural tourism and commercial sectors.