BRIDGING CITIES, TRANSFORMING LIVES
3rd LCP Philippine Cities Global Convention and Exposition
November 17-19, 2011
Resorts World, Pasay City
Philippines

The Philippines is undergoing rapid urbanization. In 2005, the urban population was estimated more than 53 million or over 60% of the country's population. By 2015, it is estimated that it is pegged at 70 million comprising at least 70% of the Philippines’ population. (National Urban Development and Housing Framework 2009-2016)

Improved economic growth of urban centers is also estimated to account for 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2003, cities contributed 73% of the country's economic output and 67% of the household expenditures. Metro Manila cities alone in 2007 accounted 33% of the country's gross domestic product.

Urbanization and economic growth continue to attract people in urban centers, thus causing significant strain on the capability of cities to manage development and provide for the basic services required by an increasing number of constituents. The ability of cities to respond to the challenges is constrained by the varying levels of technical capability across different types of cities as well.

This issue of inadequate technical capacity is further heightened by the limited term of local leaders with the three year local election cycle ushering, in most cases, new leaders and new sets of key local government personnel that need to implement capacity development programs, at least in the Philippines.

However, it is imperative to strengthen the capacities of city managers given the traditional and evolving functions of cities - from service providers to more professional and strategic growth managers. Cities need to efficiently manage and program resources to ensure that basic services are sufficiently available to meet the requirements of a growing urban population.

It is important to enhance their technical competence in determining and pursuing priority investments and to maximize resources. As technological advancement now allows for improved mobility of investments, cities need to accelerate to develop local niche and promote global competitiveness that will support their sustained growth.

The need for further development intervention is well-pronounced in the Philippines, as large number of cities continues to rely on financial transfers from the national government and have not been able to effectively leverage and manage their own resources . In most cases, the identification of local investments has limited support in terms of technical evaluation thus affecting the effective programming of resources across the different sectors. With minimal appreciation and lack of exposure to global best practices, cities tend to focus on an inward perspective rather than develop and pursue thrusts that will promote inter-city collaboration and enhance local and global competitiveness.

Since its establishment in 1988, the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) has conducted learning activities to support knowledge development of cities in the Philippines. It is imperative for the LCP and its stakeholders to design and implement effective and accessible learning interventions that will allow cities, and possibly, cities around the world, to assimilate and apply practical knowledge that cuts across urban development issues. These interventions should incorporate global best practices on city management to inform about tested solutions and provide the opportunity to exchange knowledge with local and international practitioners.

In the 3rd Philippine Cities Global Convention and Exposition, LCP will re-examine the inclusive character of cities as the main overarching theme. The theme is Bridging Cities, Transforming Lives.

Cities are the catchment area of people from the rural areas. Cities become beacons of opportunity and engines of growth. Given their multi-dimensional character, the need for integration is inevitable given the limited technical competencies and resources.

According to the UN Habitat, an inclusive city is a city that promotes growth with equity. It is a city where every individual regardless of the people's economic stature, race, and/or religion is empowered to participate in the decision-making process. Why inclusiveness is important? Because it reduces inequality and tension, and incorporates knowledge, productivity, social, and physical capital of the poor and the disadvantaged, and increases local ownership of development processes and programmes.

By bridging cities, they redefine the notions of inclusiveness as the way forward for sustainable growth. How is inclusive development attained in cities? What defines their inclusive growth? What impede cities from implementing the development agenda to attain inclusive growth? How can bridging cities promote inclusivity in a broad spectrum of development challenges and solutions? How can cities be inclusive?

The Convention consists of plenary discussions and thematic breakout sessions on specific urban management issues, including urban competitiveness, strengthening local economies, greening cities, and city –to-city cooperation. During the plenary breaks, possible book launchings, memorandum signing, product endorsements will also be an added feature.

Plenary session will be held during morning. Breakout sessions will be conducted during the afternoon. Each breakout session will have a moderator, its respective resource speakers/ city presenters on specific topics, and a documentor. Each breakout session will run for an average of 3½ hours.

An exposition showcasing the best of Philippine cities will also be conducted not far from the venue.

The Convention is seen as a platform to identify urban development challenges and deepen the commitment into a synergized urban development agenda among cities. Noted international resource speakers in urban development, city mayors both local and foreign, and experts in local governance will promote best practices, will present cross cutting urban development issues and challenges, and will seek to find solutions while promoting inclusive sustainable growth.

1. Urban Shelter - Against the backdrop of limited resources, diversity in culture, and population growth, cities must be able to provide adequate and affordable shelter for its citizens. This session will showcase successful initiatives on providing quality and affordable shelter, and discuss integral components such as design, financing, and social marketing. It will also bring forward policy issues that need to be addressed to enhance and sustain the said services.
   
   
2. Strengthening Local Economies - Cities have long been regarded as the engines of growth, as they provide specialized services and generate significant revenues that fuel national growth. The capacity of cities to generate employment and investment opportunities, and finance development programs depends on the strength of its economies. This session will focus on enabling cities to formulate effective economic development plans that capitalize on their strategic advantages, such as size, location, and human and material resources.
   
   
3. Creating Green Cities - As cities pursue greater economic development to generate much needed resources to finance its development programs, due consideration must be given to the protection of the natural environment. The increasing occurrence and the degree of severity of disasters worldwide sends a clear message that unless ecological balance is achieved, people will continue to pay a high price for development.
   
   
4. Human Development - Because cities are often the educational, financial and cultural centers of their respective regions, they attract a significant section of the populations of contiguous areas. Cities are therefore challenged to respond to the human development needs of their growing population.
   
   This session will delve into the best practices and innovations of cities regarding health, education, and human security. Development partners, in turn, will also share their paradigms for enhancing human development in cities.
   
   
5. Planning, Designing and Managing Cities - Unplanned growth has brought about complex issues such as congestion, informal settlements, environmental degradation, and disasters. To effectively address these issues and pursue sustainable development, cities must undertake sound urban planning and management.
   
   This session will focus on enabling cities to effectively perform one of its most important mandates. Topics under this session include land use planning, urban renewal, heritage conservation, and transport planning.
   
   
6. Green Urban Infrastructure - Crucial to increasing the competitiveness of cities is the availability of modern infrastructure such as roads, bridges, utilities, schools, hospitals, and telecommunications. Limited resources however, have not only stymied infrastructure development, it has also led to infrastructure development initiatives that contribute to the deterioration of the environment.
   
   This session will present several windows of opportunities for cities to design and build environmentally - sound infrastructure. In addition, the necessary tools to enable cities to prioritize infrastructure projects and identify appropriate financing mechanisms will also be presented in this session.
   
   
7. Good Urban Governance: Key to Sustaining Urban Development - Other than human and financial resources, materials for production, and infrastructure support, good urban governance is recognized as an essential ingredient to achieving and sustaining urban development. Good urban governance embraces public participation, gender equality, transparency and accountability, rule of law, innovation, and balanced development.
   
   This session will highlight the direct relations between good urban governance and sustained urban development, and provide simple and doable steps on how cities can enhance their governance systems.
   
   
8. City to City Cooperation - Inter-local government unit cooperation encourages best practices sharing and replication for the benefit of their respective constituencies. Through the additional initiatives and support of local government associations, the benefits are further distributed. This session will focus on the successes of the different modalities of partnership that local governments and local government associations have engaged in, hoping to encourage more replication and innovation.

No. 7: Malaybalay City

The LCP Directory contains the telephone and fax number of Cities in the Philippines. To get a copy, please send a request letter address to LCP Secretariat at 7th Floor, Unit J & K, CyberOne Building, Eastwood, Brgy. Bagumbayan, Quezon City, Philippines or fax the request letter to +63-2-470-7210
 

3rd LCP Philippine Cities
Global Convention and Exposition

<<click here to know more>>