THE Quezon City government announced on Sunday the approval of its comprehensive land use plan for 2011 to 2025 by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.
City administrator Aldrin Cuña recently received from HLURB chairperson Drueco del Rosario the certificate of approval of the city’s CLUP, which was drafted by the administration of Mayor Herbert Bautista and geared toward adapting to changes in the landscape and for business, nature, residential, and disaster mitigation purposes.
A revised CLUP was adopted through City Ordinance 2069-2011 owing to the transformation of the pattern, direction and intensity of the physical environment, Cuña added.
The plan “adheres to applicable national and regional policies, such as the National Framework for Physical Planning 2001-2030, National Urban Development and Housing Framework 2009-2016, and Physical Development Framework Plan for Metro Manila 1996-2016,” he said.
The plan is a long-term framework plan defining the city’s desired physical pattern of growth, the city official added.
Pedro Rodriguez Jr., the city’s Planning and Development Office chief, said the CLUP 2011-2015 is the foundation for the Quezon City Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of 2016.
“It is the basis of our zoning ordinance as to how we can effectively make use our available land resources. We have studied it carefully. There are too many national infra projects being undertaken here, such as the Segment 8.2, Skyway and Metro Rail Transit line 7, that affect our land use of transportation linkage and roadway, and develop into commercial hub,” he said.
CLUP also contains a long-term spatial strategy, adopting the multiple growth centers’ strategy of the city’s old CLUP, Cuña said.
The growth centers are Central Business District’s Knowledge Community District, Cubao Growth District, Batasan-National Government Center Growth District, Novaliches Growth District, and Balintawak-Muñoz Growth District.
The city government also included in its CLUP the land use and infrastructure development challenges from natural hazards, such as floods, earthquakes and climate change.
Bautista envisions Quezon City to be the “green lung” of Metro Manila, to be devoted in recovery and conservation of the network of open spaces, which shall be under perpetual greenery and protection, aside from becoming the knowledge industry capital of the Philippines, and a health and wellness center in Asia.