CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) has announced the launching of the Clark Green City here which will cover this Freeport and its adjoining 35,000-hectare Clark special economic zone (formerly Clark sub zone).
During the “Balitaan” forum of the Capampangan in Media (CAMI) at the Bale Balita here last Friday, BCDA President-CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said their newest project in Central Luzon is the creation of a new urban area half the size of Metro Manila.
He said BCDA is in the final stages of master planning the Clark Green City and is expected to be launched next year.
Casanova said Clark Green City will be patterned after Songdo which is being developed on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land in South Korea along Incheon’s waterfront, 40 miles from Seoul and just seven miles from the Incheon International Airport.
Songdo is a master-planned metropolis that is a model of sustainable, city-scale development and innovation. The first phase of the new international city opened in August 2009.
Casanova said “Clark Green City will be environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, economically competitive, culturally relevant, and technologically integrated” adding that “Clark Green City will generate billions in investments and generate thousands of jobs.”
This will also provide the catalyst for the economic development of surrounding local government units, he added.
Casanova likened Clark Green City to a much more modern Bonifacio Global City that is 100 times bigger.
“BCDA, together with its subsidiaries, the Clark Development Corp. and the Clark International Airport Corp., is committed to actively pursue the development of Central Luzon. The development of Central Luzon is not merely a local or regional concern, it is a matter of national interest,” Casanova said.
