Urbanization is accelerating worldwide, increasing pressure on land, infrastructure, energy systems, public services, and environmental quality. Cities also play a major role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while dense urban districts are increasingly exposed to flooding, heat stress, pollution, and disaster risks. In Metro Manila, these pressures are intensified by fragmented governance, complex institutional responsibilities, and the difficulty of translating national and local climate policies into actual development projects. Although climate-resilient city planning has received increasing attention, fewer studies have examined how governance mechanisms manifest in building-scale design. Given these challenges, there is a need to conduct in-depth research into how smart urban governance can translate into climate-resilient urban design and development.
The study was conducted by Professor Dina Cartagena Magnaye from the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning and published (DOI: 10.1007/s44213-026-00068-9) in City and Built Environment in 2026. The study investigates how smart urban governance can guide climate-responsive decision-making from policy formulation to architectural and development-scale outcomes in Metro Manila.
The research used a qualitative multiple-case study design to examine selected urban development projects in Pasig City and Makati City, including a high-rise residential condominium, a commercial and office development, and a mixed-use project. Data were collected through policy and document reviews, semi-structured key informant interviews, and on-site observations. The analysis was organized across three levels: the macro level of policy and institutions, the meso level of institutional coordination, and the micro level of design and development. The study also applied four phases of community adaptation—fortification and defense, accommodation, retreat, and clean-up—as a practical lens for evaluating climate responses. Findings showed that smart urban governance works best when inter-agency coordination, regulatory coherence, and stakeholder participation converge across these levels. In Pasig City, residential development emphasized safety, social cohesion, open space, natural ventilation, and livability. In Makati City, commercial and office development placed stronger emphasis on green architecture, energy efficiency, technology-enabled performance, and disaster preparedness. Mixed-use development showed a more balanced strategy, integrating environmental management, mobility, and occupant comfort. Across the cases, policies and regulations were translated into visible design features, including green infrastructure, flood- and seismic-risk measures, passive cooling strategies, open spaces, and adaptive spatial configurations.
The authors said the study shows that climate resilience cannot be delivered by policy alone or by design alone. It depends on the everyday connections among planners, regulators, developers, local governments, and communities. They said smart urban governance should be understood not only as a digital or managerial system but also as a coordination model that helps cities translate climate goals into practical design decisions. In dense and risk-prone cities such as Metro Manila, this means aligning building codes, land-use planning, environmental safeguards, and community needs before projects reach the construction stage.
The findings offer useful guidance for policymakers, urban planners, architects, developers, and local governments working in rapidly urbanizing regions. The study suggests that building-scale projects can serve as active platforms for climate adaptation when supported by coherent regulation, institutional collaboration, and participatory planning. For Metro Manila and other cities in Southeast Asia, the proposed framework can help evaluate whether development projects are not only compliant with rules but also aligned with resilience, sustainability, and public well-being. Future research could extend the framework to other metropolitan regions and use quantitative or mixed-method approaches to assess how governance coordination affects climate adaptation outcomes.
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References
DOI
10.1007/s44213-026-00068-9
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s44213-026-00068-9
Funding information
This editorial was supported by two RGC research grants (no. E-HKU702/17 and no. 17202618).
About City and Built Environment
City and Built Environment focuses on newer fields related to various forms of urbanization and development, which resolves those related challenges from a world view perspective. The inner relationship between buildings and cities, as well as the complicated interactions among people, building and city, is emphasized.