Sustainable Cities and Communities
Zooming into city life to expose the heat, the smog, and the sprawl.
Projects Towards Progress: How are Project Funds Allocated and Distributed?
This choropleth map shows the distribution of sustainability projects per region around the Philippines. It can be seen that the majority of projects are concentrated around Region III, IV-A, and NCR. This can mainly be attributed to those regions being part of three major undertakings: the North-South Commuter Railway, the Bulacan International Airport, and Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Dedicated Rail Corridor. A significant portion of these initiatives fall under “Physical Connectivity,” or transportation-related projects, which outnumber Water Resources projects, the second most common type, by a factor of four. This heavy focus on transport infrastructure reflects the government's push to improve urban mobility and economic efficiency, especially in densely populated areas. However, this centralization reveals disparities: less-developed regions receive fewer projects, particularly in sectors like water and agriculture. While the current strategy strengthens NCR’s economic role, it risks sidelining rural communities that are already vulnerable to climate change and lacking in basic services.
