The world is, without a doubt, headed towards an urban future – with rapid urban growth experienced in developing country such as the Philippines. By 2050, the World Bank estimates 102 million Filipinos living in urban areas, while the HSBC projects the Philippines to leapfrog to the 16th richest nation in the world – can this newfound wealth be reflected through thoughtful and careful planning and designing in our cities? The future of Philippine cities is a topic of urgent concern – pollution, migration, nature conservation, disasters, and a changing climate, just to name a few, compound the dynamic challenges and issues in planning, designing, constructing, and managing cities in our country.

The United Nation’s Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Goal 11 “to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” puts sustainable urbanization as one of the key priorities of the global agendas for development. With most of humanity living in urban areas, cities have become the locus of effort to achieve the SDGs. This Urban October, the UN Habitat has selected the theme “Housing for All: A Better Urban Future”. Facing the dynamic challenge of housing current and future populations in our cities will require designers and planners to construct new governance frameworks and find new solutions that leverage the technologies of today.

The Urban Design Studio Laboratory at the College of Architecture at the University of the Philippines Diliman celebrates the UN’s Urban October by holding a series of events throughout the month. These include a seminar series focusing on housing in the Philippines and an online photo-exhibit on Philippine housing submitted by the
public.

The online photoexhibit will be a curated exhibit of submissions from an open call in the Philippines of snapshots of the current state of Philippine housing.

For more information please visit the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Architecture website: https://upca.upd.edu.ph/.