Mega Manila, townships continue to rise

WHILE urban development persists in the National Capital Region (NCR), the demand for property in its surrounding areas and districts has led to the continuing rise of «Mega Manila.» This term covers the areas within Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan and Pampanga, which are benefiting from the expansion and growth of the NCR.

Aside from the spread of urbanization to provinces north and south of the capital, another noticeable trend is the increasing appetite for townships or mixed-use development districts that cover a large geographic area.

These complexes feature residential, office, retail and institutional establishments. Newer townships are integrated developments where projects built are near transport hubs or major infrastructure that will connect them to other townships and major cities.

«About 60 percent of the Philippines GDP is in Metro Manila, so the proximity of these locations on the fringes has been the beneficiary of this expansion,» Roy Amado Golez Jr., research director of real estate firm Leechiu Property Consultants, explains the persistent trend.

Spurring these economic developments in turn are acceptable travel times to and from work daily, new infrastructure connections, population growth, and private sector investments by developers of new real estate, which are industrial, commercial, and/or residential in nature.

The townships are growing in these areas because the high quality of their design, master planning, and development draw in companies «which bring jobs… which in turn bring in the population and create more jobs,» continues Golez.

Apparently, there is equally an increasing number of the population who are open to relocation and a different kind of employment. Golez elaborates, «The pandemic highlighted the need for more breathing space or a space to recharge. There is also more emphasis on maximizing time, so to minimize time spent in traffic to travel to and from the office, homes near the office are preferred.»

These new home owners move to these areas «because they are

near their place of work, good and reputable schools, shopping centers, medical institutions, other family members, or other places that are important