City futures in transformation

Participants of the UNESCO Futures Forum-Workshop Resilient Cities, Brighter Futures attended by mayors, administrators, planners, academics, NGO leaders, bankers, social scientists and futurists from different parts of the country and the world. (Shermon O. Cruz)

By Romelene Pacis

Contributor

“Many cities are beginning to imagine alternative futures for themselves that go beyond the tradition of only providing for roads, rates and rubbish. Cities do now have the ability to influence climate change and the future in general. While many Asian cities remain locked in the bigger is better race and fighting for constructing the tallest building, healthy cities are emerging and some, like Laoag, are setting the example for ‘Glocalization’ in the Philippines and if it emerges the Asia Pacific region as well. If more forward looking politicians emerges a broader vision of the city could be created. If Laoag succeeds, it could be used as a template for the preferred city idol, if you will,” these were some of the narrative insights shared by Sohail Inayatullah, one of the most influential futurists and political scientists in the world today and main speaker of the UNESCO Future Lecture Laoag edition, to the participants of the four-“day Resilient Cities, Brighter Forum Workshop” held at the Laoag City Auditorium on May 21-24, 2014.

Organized by the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines, UNESCO Paris Headquarters, the Center for Engaged Foresight, the City Government of Laoag, Northwestern University Laoag in partnership with the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, University of Hawaii, the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, Tamkang University, the Heal-Being Society of South Korea, The Ilocos Times, and SMART Communications around 90 participants consisting of mayors, city administrators, city planners, urban planners and developers, researchers, academics, consultants, bankers, disaster risk reduction officers, environmentalists, movement organizers, social scientists and futurists attended the four-day forum-workshop.

The first day introduced the emerging discipline of futures studies and strategic foresight. The morning panel featured the experiences of Hawaii, Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines in advancing futures to policy-making, decision-making and governance.

Shermon Cruz, director of the Center Engaged Foresight, explored some conditions and suggested some strategies for futures literacy and strategic foresight to occur in the Philippines. Using Google and IBM research, Mr. Cruz noted that Filipinos are primarily short-term oriented while Singaporeans, Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese are long-term thinkers.

Dr. Jiang Bang Deng discussed the beginnings of futures studies in Taiwan and that 30,000 students at Tamkang University has 6 to 9 units of futures course to develop Taiwanese students’ capacity to anticipate the future, to create and innovate new imaginings for the future of Taiwan.

Mark Alexander from the University of Hawaii discussed Jim Dator's alternative futures methods and the East-West University Myanmar Futures Exchange. Dr. Hyun Ryul Park shared some notes on the future of the creative industry and tourism in South Korea and the implication of foresight to South Korea's health, tourism and creative-related policies.

The afternoon panel explored new ways and approaches to city planning, land use and disaster risk reduction and management.

Architect Jun Palafox of the Palafox Associates, Dean Mario De Los Reyes, Dean of the School of Urban Planning, Moncini Hinay, project manager of the business risk assessment and scenario-building project of WWF and Mahar Lagmay of Project NOAH shared their insights on the future of cities in a climate change driven era. The panel discussed the importance of long-term thinking to building resilient and community preferred cities.

The local government views were shared by mayor Chevylle Farinas of Laoag, Dr. Merlinda Panganiban of the Makati government and John Escobar of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office. They presented the best, tried and tested practices of Laoag, Makati and Albay in responding to disasters and imagining city futures.

The UNESCO Knowledge Workshop on city futures and building resilient cities were facilitated by Sohail Inayatullah, Kou Hua Chen, MeiMei Song, Linda Tinio, Romelene Pacis, and Karl Lenin Benigno to name a few. The event was live-steamed by SMART Communications.

The results, outputs and report from this workshop will be presented to UNESCO Paris and will be presented to the forthcoming UNESCO-Rockefeller Foundation strategic foresight conference this year.

Mayor Chevylle shares Laoag City's experience on disaster risk reduction and management and her vision of creating valuable future for the City of Laoag to participants of UNESCO's Resilient Cities, Brighter Futures Forum Workshop held in Laoag City. (Shermon O. Cruz)