Philippines' ambition: building the city of the future
Many countries are embracing the future and building their own "city of the future." Including Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, and Xiong'an, China, which are about to spend 500 billion US dollars to build a new desert city. Now, the Philippines, suffering from the famous "Manila traffic jam", also wants to build its own city of the future.
In order to alleviate the problem of overcrowding in the capital, Manila, the Philippines is working hard to build a "city of the future." This city of the future is called "Clark New Town". This urban project will create a high-tech green city in the Philippines. In this city, people can enjoy realistic technology that can match the high-tech described in science fiction, including robots, drones and driverless cars.
Statistics show that Clark New Town is about 120 kilometers away from Manila. Investors hope that this "city of the future" will become the Philippines' first smart, sustainable city that can quickly recover from disasters.
Of course, many countries are working to create their own future cities.
For example, in late 2017, the Saudi government announced that it would spend 500 billion U.S. dollars to build a megacity in order to achieve the goal of economic diversification. The development project called "NEOM" was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a press conference held on October 24, 2017, local time. This project is one of a series of mega projects designed by Saudi Arabia to reshape the country's economy, and it is also very ambitious.
According to the plan, this mega city will completely use clean energy, erase "all traditional things", and will also use unmanned technology and passenger drones. Saudi Arabia plans to build a large number of solar and wind power plants. Large-scale energy storage solutions and certain desalination projects are also considered. In addition, this futuristic megacity will provide free wireless high-speed internet, provide residents with automated and interactive government services; focus on media, digital content and video game production; huge sports and entertainment facilities, and focus on global events. As a large city that will be independent of Saudi Arabia's "existing government framework", NEOM, covering an area of 26,500 square kilometers, is located near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. It is understood that NEOM’s land "will extend to the border between Egypt and Jordan." This big city will focus on the development of energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment industries.
Compared with Saudi Arabia, the Philippines still has a long way to go in terms of economic growth. Because of this, the financial future of the Clark New Town project is full of uncertainty.
One day, Clark New Town will ease the pressure of congestion in Manila.
The main developer of the city project stated that the project mainly provides financial support through a public-private partnership. Obviously, this is necessary for the Philippines, which is short of funds. One of the project partners, Singapore urban planning company Surbana Jurong pointed out that one day Clark New Town will ease the pressure of congestion in Manila.
Will become the "twin city" of Manila
This smart city will make full use of some promising technologies to solve a series of problems caused by the growing population density of the Philippines.
Heang Fine Wong, CEO of Surbana Jurong, pointed out in an interview with CNBC: "Unmanned vehicles may appear on the streets of Clark New Town, so people's need for parking lots will be weakened." The executive also revealed that Clarke The new city will become the "twin city" of Manila. He explained: "You will gradually find that Manila will become a different type of city, and the city may provide more financial support for Clark New Town. At the same time, in Clark New Town, you will see more new technology companies in Manila settled down."
As we all know, millions of vehicles stop and go on Manila’s dilapidated roads every day. A study released by the International Cooperation Agency in 2014 showed that due to lost productivity and wasted energy, these vehicles cause losses to the country as high as 876 billion pesos each year, equivalent to more than 20 billion U.S. dollars (about 120 billion yuan). ). For the Philippines, which has tried its best to boost economic growth, this is a serious waste. In addition, Manila is also plagued by other problems, including power outages, chronic water shortages, old communication systems, dilapidated roads and bridges, and substandard airports.
However, bringing residents from Manila to Clark New City may be a huge challenge for the Philippine government. Recently, the Philippine government announced that it has pledged to relocate some government offices to Clark New Town. However, Heang Fine Wong claimed that the main target plan is to introduce foreign investors into Clark New Town, allowing the former to invest in the latter.
At the same time, new infrastructure projects may shorten the distance between Manila and Clark New Town. A brand new railway line is already under construction. The contractor is the Japan Overseas Transportation and Urban Development Infrastructure Investment Corporation. This railway line will shorten the travel time between the two cities from the current two to three hours to one hour.
By 2022, the first phase of the project will be completed. However, Heang Fine Wong pointed out that the goal is to complete the project ahead of schedule as technology advances.
The executive added that although the future is bright, uncertainty remains high. In terms of new city construction, the Philippines still faces many uncertainties. The first is that the financial prospects of the project are uncertain. The main developer of the new city project stated that the project is mainly funded through public-private partnerships, which is necessary for countries with shortage of funds.
Second, attracting the population of Manila to move to New Clark City may also face challenges. Wong said that the Philippine government recently announced that it will relocate some government agencies to New Clark City, but the main goal is to allow foreign investors to set up offices there. In addition, technical obstacles still need to be overcome and resolved. He said: "These things need planning. For example, you need a commuter network, and you also need an information security network."