Clark Green City master plan ready next month, BCDA says

THE BASES Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) will present to investors by next month the master plan for its flagship Clark Green City project.

The 9,450-hectare development that is expected to be a bigger Bonifacio Global City in the heart of Central Luzon “is now in full swing,” said Vivencio B. Dizon, BCDA president and CEO, and the detailed plan will be presented to attract investment there.

“Our most ambitious project yet is the New City that we want to build in Clark. The master plan is almost done and it will be presented to the business community and the investing community in the next month,” Mr. Dizon said recently.

“[It’s the] first time we’re doing this… I think there were presentations during the past administrations but those were conceptual, this one is already a detailed master plan — where the government centers will be, where the housing will be, how big this [development is],” he added.

The BCDA is developing the area as a new metropolis, part of efforts to decongest Metro Manila, as major thoroughfares suffer gridlock due to vehicular traffic.

“As you see the traffic in Metro Manila is unsustainable and we really need to let the city breathe, the way of doing it is by moving key government offices to some other place outside Metro Manila,” the BCDA official said, noting that the Department of Transportation will lead the move by the end of the month.

BCDA, the entity tasked to transform former US bases and Philippine military camps into commercially viable projects, earlier said Clark Green City at full development would have about 1.12 million residents, 800,000 workers and contribute gross output of around P1.57 trillion per year to the economy or roughly a 4% share of gross domestic product.

The first phase of the project is expected to finish by 2022.

Road works are currently ongoing to improve and rehabilitate some 19.4 kilometers of existing roads leading to and within the Clark Green City, which is crucial to the development of the area. The roads provide access to the first phase of project: the 288-hectare site allotted for the future 70-hectare University of the Philippines campus and other schools. They can also help increase the area’s land value, economic potential and attraction to would-be investors.

BCDA has partnered with Filinvest Land, Inc. for this initial stage.

“We want to promote and develop a green and smart city where we really build around the environment. There will be a commercial center, there will be world class housing. There will be an integrated transport system… there will be an innovation center for high-tech companies, light manufacturing companies such as semiconductor makers,” Mr. Dizon said, noting that there is also plan to move the Philippine Sports Complex to Clark as BCDA offered 100 hectares of land to the Philippine Sports Commission for free to build world-class training facilities and offices.

BCDA has almost 1,000 hectares of property in Luzon.

Clark Green City, which lies in Clark Special Economic Zone, will have fully developed centers of government, business, academics, and agro-forestry research and development; as well as wellness, recreation and eco-tourism districts.