Re-launched New Clark City set to complete initial phase in 2022
The actual construction of the New Clark City, formerly called Clark Green City, already began, with state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) eyeing to formally re-launch the ambitious metropolis project in October.
During The Manila Times 6th Business Forum held on Friday, BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio Dizon said the agency is set to re-launch the New Clark City in October, with the initial phase of the project targeted to be completed by 2022.
He also said that as the government moves to fully execute the project, the cost to develop it could reach to "billions of US dollars".
Right now, as the actual construction of New Clark City slowly takes place, BCDA is looking at a development cost of more than R20 billion.
"This project is one of the longterm solutions of the government to decongest Metro Manila. We have rebranded this project and we are going to formally relaunch this in October," Dizon later on said in an interview with reporters.
"We want to finish phase one by 2022 at the last year of President Rodrigo Duterte's term. For the initial phase of the project, we are talking about more than R20 billion development cost until 2022 before we formally open it," he added.
According to him, the initial phase of the project will involve the development of the roads and other infrastructure requirement of the project as well as several commercial spaces owned by some private companies.
Located in Tarlac, the 9,450-hectare New Clark City project aims to be the next major metropolis outside Metro Manila in the government's bid to decongest the capital.
It will consist of national govern- ment center, a food-processing terminal and international food market, and mixed-income development housing.
BCDA will also be preserving approximately bulk of the total land area of the project as open spaces for agriculture and forest land.
The agency will be partnering with other government in the region like Japan and Singapore to develop the project.
"We can't make the same mistake this time. We will invest a lot of money to make this project happen so we have to make it right, that's why we need to partner with the best developers in the world," Dizon said.
Approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board in 2014, New Clark City is envisioned to become the future home of 1.12 million people as well as 800,000 workers.
The project is seen to contribute gross output of around R1.57 trillion per year to the economy.
"The population density in Metro Manila is one of the highest in the entire world. We should really develop new cities now outside Metro Manila. In terms of size, Metro Manila is 60,000 hectares, while New Clark is 10,000 hectares, a size of at least two districts in Manila," Dizon further said.