Project 2. Urban Development Strategies

Intended Outcomes

Outcome No. 1: Efficient and Effective Urban Development Management
Outcome No. 2: Rational Use of Land Resources
Outcome No. 3: Access to Quality and Affordable Housing and Basic Services

Key Result Areas

KRA NO. 3: Capacity Building
KRA NO. 4: Resource Generation and Management

Rationale

Based on the NUDFS the cities identified as the platforms for economic development and global competitiveness will develop their respective urban development strategies. Target cities will need assistance in carrying out the comprehensive planning and strategy formulation and implementation management process. It is for this reason that this project is being proposed.

This project involves the formulation of urban development strategies of key cities identified as the strategic centers or platforms of economic and urban development under the NUDFS, and can very well comprise a third phase of the CDS. While CDS 1 and CDS 2 provided assistance to identified small to medium-sized cities, the proposed CDS 3 will provide assistance large cities, which will play strategic economic development roles.

Based on the NUDFS cities will formulate their respective urban development strategies. The urban development strategies will translate the framework into implementable mechanisms that will guide the various stakeholders in properly positioning themselves, and carrying out their roles and functions and producing outputs that provide useful building blocks to reach the city’s defined vision.

Objectives

1. To build the capacity of key cities to plan and manage the implementation of the economic and urban development process.
2. To formulate urban development strategies for key cities that will strategically position them within the socio-economic and geographical development framework and approach indicated in the NUDFS and its application guide and enable their development into strategic platforms for economic development and global competitiveness.
3. To promote urban development strategies that addresses the economic development of the poor.
4. To encourage metropolitanization and city based inter-jurisdictional cooperation as potential means to achieve strategic scale.
5. To provide mechanisms for continuing improvement of city capacities for good urban governance within the context of the urban development strategy of identified cities.

Project Components/Scope of Work

The translation of the framework into urban development strategies will be done by the cities themselves with wide consultations with local stakeholders and national government, the business sector, academe, and donor institutions. The city governments will define the role and the development goals and objectives of their cities based on the national framework. They will identify, design and implement key urban development investment projects that have strategic economic impact and promote economic distributive equity within the city, and which are in accordance with their defined economic and urban development strategy. The project will have the following key components:

1. City Development Strategy Formulation
2. Economic and Urban Development Investment Program Implementation
3. Documentation of Lessons and Best Practices

A. City Development Strategy Formulation

This component involves the formulation of a comprehensive economic and urban development strategy for the city. The development strategy is proposed to contain the following core components:

• Economic development plan of the city
• Transport and communication infrastructure plan
• Land use and environmental management strategy, identifying key
• conservation areas and urban sustainable development strategies
• The city’s linkages with other cities and outlying rural areas
• Shelter and secure tenure plans
• Geographical growth plans
• Sectoral development plans
• Urban social services development strategy
• Heritage conservation plan
• Waste management strategies and approaches
• Implementation management including capacity building programs
• City public investment program
• Development financing program
• City capacity development program

The urban development strategy should provide incentives that enable the business sector to strategically position themselves within the opportunities, facilities, and services to be provided under the strategy. ↑

B. Economic and Urban Development Investment Program Implementation

This component involves investments in key sectoral development areas that have strategic economic development impact and will require design of a mix of financial support systems from ODA, government and the private sector.

This will include among others such investments as: urban road infrastructure, telecommunications and utilities, traffic management facilities, investments in site planning and development of central business districts and strategic economic city centers, and other related investments. Funds, which will come in the form of loans, are to be availed of by the cities and guaranteed by the national government. Private sector financing schemes and direct contributions of cities and national government will be part of an overall financial support system to be put in place. Proposed projects will go through the ICC process. Related investments for private sector entrepreneurship programs may be designed within the overall economic and urban development strategy and proposed as well as implemented in synchronization with the overall program design and channeled through private financing institutions. ↑

C. Documentation of Lessons and Best Practices

A review of the implementation of the above project components will be undertaken towards the full implementation stage (3^rd, 5^th, and 10^th years), best practices and lessons will be documented and published, and implications for reviewing and reforming the policy and regulatory framework of the HUDCC and eventual DHUD and the regulation activities of cities will be analyzed. ↑

Expected Outputs

1. Urban Development Strategies for selected cities
2. City Public Investment Program for selected cities
3. Specific project concept documents/feasibility studies for individual strategic
4. investment projects of selected cities
5. Implemented and operational public investment projects of selected cities
6. Published, disseminated best practices

Project Management Arrangements

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) will be the executing agency for the project. A program management committee to be headed by HUDCC and composed of senior members from the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) institutions, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Finance (DOF), representative from the business sector, and representative from the people’s organization as members will be established. The committee will be the operational policy and program management body of the urban development strategy project. It will be responsible for the annual and multi-year programming of resources and for the determination of funding policies. Cities will be the implementing agencies for the project.

A technical level program management team is also recommended to be responsible for the development of plans and policies for program and project identification, selection and prioritization, for evaluating funding proposals and for providing technical assistance to cities in the acquisition of resources for the development and implementation of their urban development strategies and associated public investment programs. It is recommended to be established with the HUDCC or prospective DHUD as the lead agency.

Project Duration

The technical assistance facility is expected to have a five-year duration. The duration for the loan facility will be determined upon the design of the loan portfolio for the financing of the city public investment programs.

Estimated Cost

US$ 5,000,000

NOTE: Cost estimates presented pertain only to the technical assistance portion of the project. a loan portfolio will have to be developed and which will proceed from the technical assistance outputs.