August 21, 2025
Leadership and Liveability
Through our program, we have run almost 60 Liveable Cities Labs, each focusing on different aspects of city management and urban planning. Throughout the years, we’ve covered topics like public health, education, mass transit and mobility, infrastructure, flood control, disaster resilience, waste recycling, and a host of other topics of relevance to city mayors, LGU officials, residents, and the private sector. These hybrid sessions have attracted a following of about 60 onsite participants and 150-200 online participants.
March 20, 2025
Data and the City
Cities are basically the economic engines of national economies. Regardless of whether you are looking at developed or emerging countries, cities typically outperform their own host countries in terms of GDP, productivity, innovation, and creativity. Their growth outpaces the country they belong to. That should not really be so surprising since cities are the hubs of opportunity, innovation, and community. They concentrate a large population in a relatively small space, which can create economies of scale and efficiency. When well planned, power and energy, communications, water, transportation, healthcare, education, and other basic services can be delivered efficiently and affordably. Density can be good, when well managed.
July 18, 2024
What makes a city liveable?
What makes a city “liveable”? This is a question we’re often asked at the Liveable Cities project we run. Liveability can be a subjective matter for some – what you like about a particular city, for instance. However, there are actually some common standards which people use to evaluate whether a city is “liveable”.
April 18, 2024
Urban Connect
We are pleased to announce that Liveable Cities Philippines will be joining the Urban Connect project. Urban Connect is a USAID project which focuses on urban development and management in nine cities across the Philippines: Batangas City, Iloilo, Tagbilaran (Bohol), Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga City, General Santos City, Puerto Princesa, Legazpi City, and Tacloban.
February 15, 2024
Diagnosis
I recently had the opportunity to listen to a World Bank briefing on the “Philippines Systematic Country Diagnostic Update” during one of a series of consultative meetings done with various sectors. The main purpose of the report is to identify priorities for a country to most effectively and sustainably achieve its goal to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a liveable planet.
For the decade 2010-2019, economic growth accelerated and became more inclusive, with poverty declining by 9.5 percent. Progress accelerated from 2015 to 2018 but the pandemic which hit in 2020 reversed some of those gains.
January 18, 2024
The Future-Ready Liveable City
Just as the world is becoming increasingly urban – an estimated 75 percent of global population will live in cities by 2050 – so too is the Philippines. Out of an estimated 109 million people as of 2020, 45 million (or 41 percent) of them live in just 149 cities across the Philippines. The rest live in approximately 1,500 municipalities and rural areas.
January 22, 2023
The need for intelligent cities, municipalities
Today, more than half of the world’s population live in cities. This proportion grew from just 30 percent in 1950 and is expected to reach around 66 percent by 2050. The same trend is true for the Philippines. Over half of our population lives in 1,634 cities and municipalities across the country, with a large proportion of them residing in 147 large cities.
September 15, 2022
Liveable Cities Lab: Boosting Immunization through Technology and Innovation
Globally, there has been an alarming rise and reported outbreaks of flu, polio, measles, and dengue. According to WHO, vaccination currently averts 2 to 3 million deaths annually and could save 1.5 million more if global coverage of vaccinations improved. However, despite vaccination efforts, citizen reluctance, supply-side chain issues, and lack of communication are ongoing challenges faced by the healthcare sector.
