A new study published in City and Built Environment provides a practical framework for translating climate policy into resilient urban design, focusing on Metro Manila. The research, led by Professor Dina Cartagena Magnaye from the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning, examines how smart urban governance can connect policy, institutional coordination, and architectural design in highly urbanized areas. The study is available at DOI: 10.1007/s44213-026-00068-9.
As urbanization accelerates worldwide, cities face increasing pressure on land, infrastructure, and environmental quality. Metro Manila, in particular, struggles with fragmented governance and complex institutional responsibilities that hinder the translation of climate policies into actual development projects. The study addresses a critical gap: how governance mechanisms manifest in building-scale design, offering insights for policymakers, urban planners, architects, and developers.
The research employed a qualitative multiple-case study design, analyzing residential, commercial and office, and mixed-use developments in Pasig City and Makati City. Data were collected through policy reviews, interviews, and on-site observations across three levels: macro (policy and institutions), meso (institutional coordination), and micro (design and development). The study also applied four phases of community adaptation—fortification, accommodation, retreat, and clean-up—as a lens for evaluating climate responses.
Findings indicate that smart urban governance is most effective when inter-agency coordination, regulatory coherence, and stakeholder participation converge. In Pasig City, residential development prioritized safety, social cohesion, open space, and natural ventilation. In Makati City, commercial and office development emphasized green architecture, energy efficiency, and disaster preparedness. Mixed-use development integrated environmental management, mobility, and occupant comfort. Across all cases, policies were translated into visible design features such as green infrastructure, flood- and seismic-risk measures, passive cooling, and adaptive spatial configurations.
The authors stress that climate resilience cannot be achieved by policy or design alone; it depends on everyday connections among planners, regulators, developers, local governments, and communities. Smart urban governance should be understood as a coordination model that helps cities translate climate goals into practical design decisions. For dense, risk-prone cities like Metro Manila, this means aligning building codes, land-use planning, environmental safeguards, and community needs before construction begins.
The study offers guidance for rapidly urbanizing regions, suggesting that building-scale projects can serve as active platforms for climate adaptation when supported by coherent regulation and participatory planning. For Metro Manila and other Southeast Asian cities, the proposed framework can evaluate whether developments are aligned with resilience, sustainability, and public well-being. Future research could extend the framework to other metropolitan regions and use quantitative methods to assess how governance coordination affects climate adaptation outcomes.
The research was supported by two RGC research grants (no. E-HKU702/17 and no. 17202618). The journal City and Built Environment focuses on urbanization and development challenges from a world view perspective, emphasizing the relationship between buildings and cities.
