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Baguio City’s Urban Carrying Capacity and its Impact on Neighboring Municipalities | A Forum

The Local Regional Studies Network of UP CIDS is organizing a forum, “Baguio City’s Urban Carrying Capacity and its Impact on Neighboring Municipalities,” on 18 October 2024, 9 am, at the Audio-Visual Room, College of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Baguio. The forum is free and open to the public, but seating is first-come, first-served. Participants are enjoined to pre-register.

Concept Note

The initial forum on Baguio City’s urban carrying capacity revealed that the average daily population load of the City is in a critical state, given that it has long exceeded the threshold value of its assimilation capacity in terms of urban road area, solid waste collection, water supply, liquid waste treatment, open spaces, land for development, forest cover, and green cover.

According to Arch. Donna Tabangin, the City’s Planning and Development Coordinator, Baguio is facing crises stemming mainly from the strain on its carrying capacity. The City is already in deficit relative to the minimum standards for life-support systems, which include forest cover and green and open spaces. Moreover, their study reveals that only one out of the 128 barangays in the City is considered livable based on the livability index, while 28 barangays rank high in the social vulnerability index.

The City envisions Baguio 2043: A Livable, Inclusive, and Creative City. It is critical that Baguio does not stay “business as usual.” However, given these data, the vision will remain ambitious. Any development that happens within the City will also affect its neighboring municipalities.

To continue the discussion on policy actions needed to address the City’s carrying capacity, the forum seeks to:

    • Review and assess the impact of Baguio City’s urban carrying capacity on the development of neighboring municipalities within BLISTT
    • Revisit policy actions undertaken to address the recommendations of the research study
    • Identify areas of policy actions and recommendations of the research studies (BLISTT Development Authority)

Resource Speaker

Mr. Jose H. Dado, Jr. is the Chief of the Development and Research Division of the National Economic and Development Authority – CAR.

Organizers and Queries

For queries, please email [email protected]

This forum is organized by the Local Regional Studies Network (LRSN) of the Center for Integrative and Development Studies, the policy research unit of the University of the Philippines (UP). LRSN is one of the Research Programs of UP CIDS, and it currently involves, among others, faculty and staff of the University of the Philippines Baguio. Learn more about UP CIDS and download 1000+ policy papers for free.