Imagine massive green open spaces, bike lanes, high-speed internet connection, and probably even self-driving cars in the “city of the future” that will soon rise at the Clark Special Economic Zone.
This is the vision of Surbana Jurong, Singapore’s largest engineering firm and a leading expert in urban and infrastructure development, for New Clark City, a 9,450-hectare metropolis about 100 kilometers north of Manila.
“I think you will probably be seeing the next generation of city that is coming up. A lot of people are asking what the city of the future is like. In New Clark City, we are putting on a type of digital network. It’s going to be smart, as well as sustainable,” Surbana Jurong CEO Wong Heang Fine told business television station CNBC.
“It will be a showcase for the Philippines…I think that is very exciting, and [it is] a very unique city that is going to come up,” Wong said.
Last February, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Surbana Jurong. Surbana Jurong is BCDA’s development management partner for the full implementation of New Clark City.
The New Clark City, one of the big-ticket projects of BCDA under the Duterte administration’s Build Build Build infrastructure program, will not only decongest Metro Manila but is also envisioned to be the next premier economic hub in Asia.
Wong expects the New Clark City to attract a “whole new industry” of technology companies.
“Part of our task in New Clark City is really to see a bit forward, not just in 2022, but really 10 years from now,” Wong said.
BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio Dizon has said that the vision is to build a future-proof metropolis.
The New Clark City is designed to be the country’s first smart, green, and resilient city where nature, lifestyle, business, education, and industries converge.
One of the components of the New Clark City, the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC), broke ground last January. The NGAC involves the development of back-up offices of various government agencies to ensure continuous business operations in case of calamities and disasters.
Phase 1A of the NGAC project, which covers 40 hectares, also features the construction of world-class sports facilities to be used for the Southeast Asian Games in November 2019.