NAGA CITY –- An ambitious urban renewal program that will draw inspiration from the city’s rich history and cultural heritage while highlighting its vision of a livable city amidst burgeoning trade and commerce has been unveiled Tuesday during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod here by the City Planning and Development Office.

Caption: BRIDGE OVER WATER. Naga’s urban renewal project includes a proposed pedestrian overpass across the Naga River. CPDO

        City Planning and Development Officer Willy Prilles said the program has been conceived upon instruction of City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo who wanted the old business district uplifted and its Nagueño character preserved in the light of the inevitable march of progress with its attendant downside and excesses normally found in urban centers.

Caption: PANSIT. Fixing and realignment of unsightly cables and power lines will be among the immediately ‘doable‘ strategies to facelift Naga’s old business district. CDDO Photo

        Already, the internal challenges for the centro, otherwise known as CBD 1 have been identified, such as congestion, lack of parking space, proliferation of street vendors, presence of streetchildren, dilapidated and unmaintained buildings, lack of proper street illumination, unsightly cable wires, uncontrolled signages and billboards, and garbage and settlers along the Naga River, among others.

Caption: CLEAN RIVER. This is an architect’s vision of a reinvigorated Naga River as part of Mayor Robredo’s urban renewal program.

        Representatives from different sectors, including the city’s local historians have been invited during the soft unveiling of the program which Prilles said still requires feedbacks and inputs from all stakeholders, especially those whose hearts belong to Naga and whose love is for the glory of Naga.

        Prilles also see the coming of SM Mall at CBD 2 which is expected to be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2009 as an external challenge to the centro which may lay abandoned or relegated as an erstwhile trading hub if no immediate measures or interventions are initiated to preserve its otherwise irreplaceable role as the heart of the city’s vibrant trade and commerce, where within its heartbeat are the various educational, religious, and historical institutions that comprise Naga as the region’s premier city.

        The proposed steps to be taken to keep the urban renewal program on its toes will involve (1) Creation of CBD 1 urban renewal committee and special projects group that will define CBD 1 vision and character; (2) CBD 1 urban renewal masterplanning through a multisectoral process; (3) Legislation of the CBD 1 urbanrenewal masterplan; and (4) Actual implementation of the urban renewal masterplan.

        Simultaneously, work on the “immediate doables”, such as improvement of sidewalks and streetlights of modern and vintage motifs will start effectively on a one-year window that will also include facelifting within public properties and utilities such as plazas and parking spaces.

        Prilles said that masterplanning and execution of the program should be attended with strong public participation and consultations for the program to become truly reflective of the city’s character.