Masterplanning a city, not an afterthought
A LACK of foresight in urban planning could turn a city into a messy mix of narrow streets with sidewalks dug up to make them wider; house gates and gardens jettisoned to give way to that road widening project; and a hodgepodge of green parks to fill whatever space that’s left. It all becomes an afterthought. But the Gotianun family — builder of Filinvest City — knew that the 244-hectare prime property it won thru a stateled bidding over two decades ago should become more than a bedroom community next to the Ayalas’ exclusive village in the outskirts of Manila.
The owners of Filinvest Alabang, Inc., the Filinvest City developer that is a subsidiary of listed Filinvest Development Corp., had Filinvest City masterplanned such that it will become the axis from urban Metro Manila to the Calabarzon region.
“The Gotianuns believed this would be the central business district at this part of Metro Manila. So they won it ( bidding) because the vision was really bold,” Catherine A. Ilagan, Filinvest Alabang executive vicepresident, said in an interview.
Over 20 years after Filinvest City broke ground in 1995, its masterplan remains flexible enough to accommodate more parks, more trees and more amenities without taking the shine off its old charm.
Filinvest City probably loves trees so much — it has over 3,000 date palm trees lining the streets — that it now wants not only those who drive cars or bikes, but also those traveling on foot, to enjoy the lush landscape.
It combined a circumferential road with smaller midway streets to build a pathway for pedestrians to walk along a one-kilometer stretch without the drudgery. The pathways have trees for shade and interesting pieces of architecture really designed to be easy on the eyes.
“We have lots of trees and greens but they were concentrated on medians, a visual amenity but you used to experience it as you drive along. So we said we need areas to be converted into parks, large spaces where people can really engage themselves, use the green spaces,” Ms. Ilagan said.
“As they walk thru that space, they’re actually in a park.”
Bike lanes along that stretch will be kept too.
The integrated greenway system connects Filinvest City’s districts to a public transport depot it built — the South Station which has a transport terminal, public market and discount shops. That terminal is home to buses and jeepneys that take people from Laguna, Cavite, and Manila to and from Alabang.
“The more people are encouraged to walk and use the public transport, the better for the city,” said Ms. Ilagan.
The company anticipates more foot traffic with work under way — under a different proponent — to connect the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). SLEx leads to Filinvest City, which can also be accessed via Skyway, Daang Hari and Alabang Zapote Road.
“When Skyway came around, that’s a game changer,” Ms. Ilagan said, adding that it helped that the ramp’s exit points carried the Filinvest brand.
“The next game changer will be the NLEx and SLEx connector road.”
Filinvest hopes to finish the pedestrian-friendly pathway by next year, and the rest of the enhancements, in “two to three years.” It is building a central park together with the government that will be an assembly point during a major disaster.
Other buildings that Filinvest City has been known for — the Festival Supermall and the office district Northgate Cyberzone — will see new landscaping work too.
Filinvest City was designed for the upscale market. If you’re thinking of moving in — with it being a metropolis in itself (FEU is building a campus there too) — properties there, according to Ms. Ilagan, are now valued at P200,000 per square meter (/sqm), a fourfold boost from around P50,000/sqm in 2012. —