There is something good brewing among LGUs nationwide outside Metro Manila. Forward thinking heads of cities and provinces are now looking at how to improve the quality of life of their constituents through the use of technology. Generally termed as “smart city” solutions, the latest information and communications technology are being tapped to improve their services in areas, such as traffic management, solid waste, flood control, water, electricity and other utilities. Technology enhances these services by reducing resource consumption, operating costs and wastage, thus making them more efficient and sustainable.
I have seen this in my recent travels outside Metro Manila. In Baguio City, newly elected Mayor Benjamin Magalong hit the ground running by immediately looking at smart city solutions to address the problem of traffic and solid waste. Aside from planning to implement an intelligent traffic system to control traffic flow in the summer capital, a cable car system, similar to the Metrocable in Medellin, Colombia, is being pushed in collaboration with the national government. Also in the pipeline is a waste to energy plant, which would do well than a solid waste facility in a land-starved area like Baguio. In General Santos City, Mayor Ronnel Rivera is also implementing an intelligent traffic system to address the growing traffic congestion as a result of rapid development. And rightly so, as I have been told that vehicle sales in General Santos are among the highest in the entire Philippines. In Mandaue and Cebu, Mayors Jonas Cortes and Edgardo Labella are looking at enhancing their traffic system with an automated no contact apprehension component and exploring an integrated approach to traffic management along with the rest of the nearby cities that make up the greater Cebu area. Good because as we all know in Manila, traffic flows do not end at city boundaries. In Davao City, Mayor Sara Duterte is intent on pursuing its transport modernization plan and has gone a notch higher by planning to bring in low floor, low entry buses that will be operated together with the local PUJ groups. And in my home province, Pangasinan, Gov. Amado Espino III is looking at intelligent flood monitoring solutions, among others, in anticipation to the perennial effect of flooding caused by the Agno River.
I am sure other cities and provinces are also seriously looking at such a road map. With smart city solutions, local administrators are given data-driven decision-making tools that lead to enhancing the quality of life of their constituents. Equally important, smart cities bring in investments. And investments mean bringing direct and indirect revenues to the community. Take the case of the business-process outsourcing companies or BPOs, which are now on the lookout for capable cities, especially given their present restrictions and the prohibitive costs of real estate in Metro Manila. A smart city will provide the same technical and communications needs of a BPO. And with BPOs, local commerce, transportation, lodging and other businesses will grow as well.
We talk about moving to a new capital city to solve the Metro Manila problem—similar to what President Widodo of Indonesia did recently when he announced a new Jakarta. Maybe we don’t need to do that to solve traffic congestion, lack of space, pollution and all the problems that is Metro Manila. Maybe what we need is to produce more Metro Manilas nationwide but now doing it more methodically and learning from our Metro Manila mistakes. Maybe we need to be smarter. And developing and encouraging smart cities in the countryside may be one of our answers.
Thomas “Tim” Orbos was former DOTr undersecretary for roads and general manager of the MMDA. He is currently undertaking further studies at the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University. He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu