Manila, Cebu behind APEC peers on liveability, doing business

MANILA, Philippines — Metropolitan Manila and Cebu lag behind other Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) cities when it comes to liveability and doing business, according to a new study launched today at the APEC 2015 CEO Summit.

Of the 28 cities studied by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Manila ranked 22nd while Cebu placed 26th.

“This is useful information. Mayors should go through it in detail and analyze it. But don’t treat it as a report card. Don’t attempt to change them all at the same time,” Guillermo Luz, co-chairman of the National Competitiveness Council, told a press briefing on the sidelines of APEC 2015 CEO Summit in Makati on Tuesday, November 17.

The study titled Building Better Cities look at the metropolitan area’ influence outside their borders through 3 characteristic: basic city development, uniqueness, and the ability to hurdle hindrances.

Its 39 indicators were grouped into 5 categories: culture and social health, connectivity, health and welfare, environmental sustainability, as well as economics.

Manila ranked high at health and welfare as well as environmental sustainability, but it performed poorly when it comes to culture and social health.

For Cebu, the city excelled well in connectivity, as well as health and welfare. Its culture and social wealth status, however, weighed on its rankings.

Wake-up call

“This serves as a good wake-up call for them, something that they should be working on a long time ago,” Luz, who is also the APEC Business Advisory Council Philippines alternate member, said.

“Mayors are key drivers. We have 17 cities in Metro Manila. One guy won’t move the needle. It takes all 17 guys,” he added.

Toronto, Vancouver, and Singapore emerged as the top 3 cities in APEC in terms of liveability, sustainability, and competitiveness.

Ayala Corporation Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, said: “In doing this study with PwC, I wanted to be sure we looked beyond economic clout and considered liveability and sustainability… I hope it helps build the momentum towards designing, building, and redeveloping competitive cities in APEC through research and action-oriented programs.”

“When people think of where to live, work, invest, and visit, they don’t think countries, they think cities. Density and diversity make cities more imaginative, so long as that density and diversity are well-managed. That’s why public-and-public collaboration is needed to keep cities competitive,” Zobel de Ayala added. — Rappler.com