For many cities, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing issues in poverty and inequality including challenges in employment and livelihood, transport and accessibility, access to basic services, and security of tenure.

The ones who suffered the worst impact are the marginalized urban populations. It is then vital to understand the situation of the urban poor to inform the facilitation and conduct of resilient and green recovery in the cities.

The Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs (BCRUPD) has initiated a rapid research in partnership with the Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI) and the cities of Ormoc and Tagum. The research involves a quick survey and focus group discussions (FGD) in five barangays each in Tagum City and Ormoc City to identify the impacts of COVID-19 in selected urban poor communities.

A key component of BCRUPD is to integrate COVID-19 green recovery technical assistance to the cities of Tagum and Ormoc for recovery planning and related project investment programming. The report is likewise intended to provide data and evidence to support policy development surrounding pandemic recovery both at the city and national levels.

The second quarter 2020 issue of the BMU-IKI Newsletter in the Philippines which includes the latest news from the various projects of the International Climate Initiative in the Philippines.

Collated by the BMUV IKI Interface Project in the Philippines,
Support to the Philippines in Shaping and Implementing the International Climate Regime (SupportCCC II)

Climate change resilience building will require a new and innovative approach to urban planning and design, which are key to land use, infrastructure development and urban expansion, municipal service provision, growth management, environmental planning, solid and liquid waste management, housing and building development, and site design—all areas in which climate actions are involved.

Urban planning, when done strategically and guided by evidence-based decisions, leads to forward looking, comprehensive, integrated, inclusive approaches in enhancing resilience.

This publication was produced by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board with technical assistance from UN-HABITAT in partnership with the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners, and funding support from the Government of Spain and Development Account Project.

Under the BCRUPD project, innovative approaches on climate-resilient urban plans and designs were demonstrated in the cities of Angeles, Cagayan de Oro, Legazpi, Ormoc, and Tagum. Their experiences showcased how cities can prepare for, recover from, and adapt to the impacts of climate change, considering balanced economic and ecological sustainability in the face of rapid urbanization. Given the five cities’ different ecosystems, they contributed to a wide knowledge base on how processes and schemes can be contextualized and applied.

This publication captures the experiences of the five cities on their path towards climate resiliency; discussing their climate and urban profile, climate change vulnerabilities and challenges, how they used urban plans and designs to address these challenges, and their prospective climate resiliency projects. Their experiences illustrate how cities, with science-based information and urban design solutions, can thrive – and not merely survive – in the face of climate change.

The UN-Habitat’s report - Cities and Pandemics: Towards a more just, green and healthy future – evidences how cities can reduce the impact of future pandemics and become more prosperous, fair and environmentally friendly. The Report calls for the response and recovery to pandemics to be based on human rights principles. It outlines how cities should lead the move towards a New Social Contract between governments, the public, civil society and private sector to reduce poverty and inequality, provide adequate housing and strengthen social protection while rebuilding from the pandemic.

This sourcebook aims to detail why health needs to be part of UTP and how to make this happen. It brings together two vital elements we need to build habitable cities on a habitable planet: Processes to guide the development of human settlements – in this document referred to as “urban and territorial planning (UTP)”; and Concern for human health, well-being and health equity at all levels – from local to global, and from human to planetary health.

This sourcebook identifies a comprehensive selection of existing resources and tools to support the incorporation of health into UTP, including advocacy frameworks, entry points and guidance, as well as tools and illustrative case studies. It does not provide prescriptions for specific scenarios – these should be determined by context, people and available resources.

With an estimated 90 per cent of all reported COVID-19 cases, urban areas have become the epicentre of the pandemic. The size of their populations and their high level of global and local interconnectivity make them particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus. On the other hand, there is no evidence to suggest that density per se correlates to higher virus transmission. Cities can manage this crisis and emerge as the hubs of energy, resilience and innovation that make them such vibrant and appealing places for many to live. But this will take conscious policy choices, as this policy brief will show, particularly with respect to inequalities, local capacities and a green, inclusive recovery.

Collated by the IKI Interface Project in the Philippines,
Support to the Philippines in Shaping and Implementing the International Climate Regime (SupportCCC II)

Collated by the IKI Interface Project in the Philippines,
Support to the Philippines in Shaping and Implementing the International Climate Regime (SupportCCC II)

A key component of BCRUPD is to integrate COVID-19 green recovery technical assistance to the cities of Tagum and Ormoc for recovery planning and related project investment programming.
To ground its implementation, UN-Habitat Philippines partnered with the Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI) to conduct a rapid survey and focus group discussion (FGD) in five barangays each in Tagum City and Ormoc City to identify the impacts of COVID-19 in selected urban poor communities, and to consolidate, process and analyze the data to inform policy and program/project development related to COVID-19 resilient and green recovery.

Under the BCRUPD project, innovative approaches on climate-resilient urban plans and designs were demonstrated in the cities of Angeles, Cagayan de Oro, Legazpi, Ormoc, and Tagum.

Their experiences showcased how cities can prepare for, recover from, and adapt to the impacts of climate change, considering balanced economic and ecological sustainability in the face of rapid urbanization. Given the five cities’ different ecosystems, they contributed to a wide knowledge base on how processes and schemes can be contextualized and applied.

This publication captures the experiences of the five cities on their path towards climate resiliency; discussing their climate and urban profile, climate change vulnerabilities and challenges, how they used urban plans and designs to address these challenges, and their prospective climate resiliency projects. Their experiences illustrate how cities, with science-based information and urban design solutions, can thrive – and not merely survive – in the face of climate change.

BMU-IKI in the Philippines - 1st Quarter 2020 Newsletter