Building a new lifestyle

As urban im-provements and developments are being made around the world, developers are redefining what makes for a great environment for people to live in. They know it’s not how tall the buildings are, how dense the skyscrapers are packed, how high the rents are, or how many cars parking lots can accommodate. Today, urban planners are looking back at how cities were built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when cars didn’t take up vast areas, when cities were pedestrian-friendly, and public spaces – not private amenities – were being enjoyed by all.

"Make no small plans," Daniel Burnham – the architect and urban planner who helped shape the cities of Chicago, Washington, DC, Cleveland, and Manila – once said. "They have no magic to stir humanity’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical plan once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency."

This is exactly what Ayala Land, Inc. and Evergreen Holdings, Inc. of the Campos Group are doing with Bonifacio Global City (BGC). They are redefining what makes for a great central business district that will help shape and enhance its surroundings and the lives of its inhabitants – an exciting complement to the pioneering and iconic development of the Makati Central Business District.

BGC has an area of approximately 240 hectares, conveniently located in the forward looking City of Taguig. The district now boasts a new masterplan that involved a major redesign of the amenities and features of its 36-hectare City Center to make the entire area more efficient and attuned to the new standard of urban living.

Why is it important to have all this? Ayala Land president Jaime "Jim" Ayala says, "The great cities of the world are defined by their landscaped areas. New York wouldn’t be New York without Central Park. London wouldn’t be London without Hyde Park. Open spaces and parks serve as the crowning jewels of cities."

Joselito "Butch" Campos, chairman of Evergreen Holdings, Inc., emphasizes the influence of well-designed cities. "Cities inspire me especially when, despite globalization, they continue to be true to themselves, and after a trip, a pleasant memory is left for us to bring home."

Look at the old cities of Europe; he says, "We look at historic Europe and learn from each of its ancient culture and how this same set of values takes them to the present times."

Campos is right. Even as the future of the world is increasingly becoming homogenous, the value of the past is being acknowledged every day. Venice is considered by urban planners as the "greatest pedestrian city" for its vast network of car-free streets and squares. While it is packed densely – so packed that the streets are a maze to even the most well-traveled tourists – getting lost in Venice is part of the experience.

Ayala points out that parks are important amenities and people don’t mind paying more for such views – as they would for a hotel room or an office space that looks out to a lush, green space, rather than, say, a parking lot or the window of the next building. "Psychologically, greenery has a soothing and calming effect. Parks help people get in touch with nature – and when you are in touch with nature, you are usually in better touch with yourself."

Indeed, urban planners with the opportunity to build a city from scratch are of the same mind that the best cities are those that are friendly to pedestrians and have a network of squares, parks, offices, retail spaces, car-free neighborhoods, restaurants and entertainment districts.

This is the future of Bonifacio Global City.

Excerpts from interviews with Jim Ayala and Butch Campos:

PHILIPPINE STAR: What experiences from building the Makati Central Business District (MCBD) are you applying in building a new CBD in Bonifacio Global City?

Jim Ayala: First off, allow me to point out that the Makati Business District is the first masterplanned business district in the Philippines that has retained its primacy even after several decades. It didn’t just happen. It was conceptualized and masterplanned by the forerunners of Ayala Land. Neither has it retained its prominence simply by chance. It continues to be vibrant because its stakeholders, organized as the Makati Commercial Estates Association, continue to actively govern its development. Being the biggest landowner in the MCBD, Ayala Land is an active member of Macea, the association of landowners in the district. Macea continues to build pedestrian underpasses and continually improves the walkway system; it also constantly studies ways to improve circulation within the city.

Having experiences in planning Makati, we’ve planned BGC to have a diversity of uses taking place round the clock so that those who live and work there will have a balance of activities. These activities or uses will keep the city vibrant at all hours of the day as in many of the best-rated cities in the world. You do see mixed-use neighborhoods in certain portions of Makati, such as Salcedo Village. Another mixed-use neighborhood is springing up around Greenbelt. We’ve expanded those concepts in BGC.

We’ve also learned that people like to walk within the business district provided they have adequate shelter from the sun and rain. We began putting walkways in Makati in the 1990s and have been pleasantly pleased by the popularity of these pedestrian systems. We’ve also expanded that idea at BGC.

Our experience with the MRT, which has improved access to Makati, has also shown us that people will commute given an efficient mass transit system. We will put in a managed public transport system that will effectively link BGC and Makati.

As you can see, Bonifacio Global City is turning out to be a natural physical extension of Makati – and a natural extension of our learnings in Makati, too.

Which will be the better place to live in – Makati or BGC?

Jim Ayala: Both will be good places to live and work in. Both will offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. We believe the preferences of individuals will help them best determine where they would want to live and work. To use an analogy, Serendra will offer distinct advantages over Forbes Park and vice versa. We believe, nevertheless, that both communities have distinct strengths and weaknesses and people will choose what best suits them.

How did the partnership of Ayala Land and Evergreen Holdings, Inc. come about?

Butch Campos: Our families have known each other for so many years. Nevertheless, the first opportunity to work together came about accidentally at a residential village project in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.  We had an original partner in that project that decided to sell its interests to ALI.  From then on, we saw more opportunities to work together in other ventures.  The partnership in Bonifacio Global City was certainly not accidental. In fact, it has become very strategic.

How did your past professional and personal lives prepare you for this tremendous job of developing a new City ?

Butch Campos: My family’s exposure to the property business dates back to the 1960s.  Initially, we would acquire land and earmark it for the expansion of our manufacturing operations.  As new land acquisitions were made, so did the realization that development is a serious responsibility.  The job of haphazardly paving roads and calling it a new city is not difficult.  The responsibility to ensure that the city can and will be sustained in the long term is the tremendous challenge.

How is the leisure component of Bonifacio Global City going to look like?

Jim Ayala: The retail promenade is an inspired blend of high energy and interactive retail, and it will have its stores located in twin boulevards banding a huge park. Dual zones are created for those with active and healthy living lifestyle. It is a pedestrian highway of 40 meters wide – a green, landscaped retail strip with a length of about 400 meters cutting across the city center. Community life is expected to come together at the retail promenade. From fashion and beauty, to health and wellness, home accessories and furnishings, sports lifestyle, anything is literally a walk down the road. The vibrant social activity in the park shall be complemented by the best matched retail and food concepts.

What companies have expressed interest in relocating to BGC? Will it have space for small and medium enterprises?

Jim Ayala: Call centers and BPOs in general have been significantly pushing up the demand for office space in most business districts in Metro Manila. BGC is no exception. Aside from this industry, we have also received expressions of interest from large multinational companies that are considering relocating their head offices to BGC because of its accessibility. While some offices are relocating from one business center to BGC, it’s not as if BGC’s gain is someone else’s loss. As the economy expands, new demand for office space is being created.

Yes, BGC will have room for small and medium enterprises. We are now offering smaller office units ranging from 72 square meters to 135 square meters within the promenade, the retail and recreational amenity at the core of the city center. These units will be conveniently located at the second level, on top of the flagship stores of the preferred dining and retail brand establishments. The offices will have excellent views of the activity park.

The BGC promenade offices are ideal for smaller firms that value accessibility, as well as proximity to high-end residential subdivisions and condominiums. Our initial deals have thus been closed with trading firms and pre-schools. The office units will be turned over in September of this year. 

Two central business districts – Makati and Bonifacio Global City – that are close to each other, does it make business sense for Ayala Land and Evergreen Holdings to invest in another CBD? Is the market big enough?

Jim Ayala: BGC is positioned to be a natural extension of Makati because of its proximity to this premier business area. As previously mentioned, both have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Locators will go where their needs are met.

Right now, we’re seeing a lot of interest from call centers and BPOs because we still have the space they require. Some multinationals are also attracted to BGC because of its location. We believe that as the economy expands, there will be room for a number of masterplanned business districts.

Is the rent going to be higher or lower or just about the same as Makati CBD?

Jim Ayala: Understandably, rental rates at BGC are still slightly lower than the rates in the Makati CBD. However, as BGC develops, the rates are expected to increase and reach the same levels as those in the MCBD considering how near they are to each other.

Is there a shortfall of space in Makati for businesses? By how many percent?

Jim Ayala: Vacancy rate in the Makati CBD as of end-2005 was at 7.4 percent. This is expected to go down further to 4.7 percent by the end of this year. This improvement in the office space take-up is driven mostly by demand from call centers/BPOs. However, the vacant spaces in the Makati CBD are mainly small office spaces found in Grade-B buildings that do not offer the facilities that today’s businesses require.

How accessible is Bonifacio Global City? What are your plans to improve accessibility and maintain a good flow of traffic once all the buildings are up? What lessons did you learn from Ayala Avenue traffic that you’re applying now to BGC?

Jim Ayala: BGC benefits significantly from being located between two major highways, EDSA and C-5. Currently, three well-designed interchanges (Kalayaan, Mabini and Sampaguita) are providing direct access for traffic from these highways. These interchanges are far better than simple surface intersections with traffic signals in providing access and can handle a much larger volume of traffic without experiencing traffic congestion. In the future, another interchange (South Luna) may be built along C-5. 

There are also plans to eventually implement a managed public transport system between the Makati business district and Bonifacio Global City which may run on dedicated lanes to ensure fast and reliable service for commuters as well as use high-quality buses. This is to ensure that we will never see disorganized and chaotic public transport vehicles disrupting traffic in BGC.

A major feature of the new BGC masterplan is the adoption of a grid layout for streets in the city center, which will ensure that traffic takes the most direct paths between destinations, provides parallel routes which helps to spread out traffic rather than accumulating along only one main street, and avoids complex multi-street intersections that create traffic bottlenecks. 

A grid layout is also more understandable for drivers to use and facilitates the implementation of a one-way traffic system in the future should traffic conditions require it. These factors, interchanges and a grid road layout, will ensure that BGC will have an efficient and high capacity roadway network to handle development way into the future.

What’s the satisfaction you get from building a new City ? 

Butch Campos: The opportunity to build a new city is certainly a very rare privilege.  It’s that same feeling of excitement one gets when building his home.  The thrill and pressure all combine and lead to the realization of a dream.  After we’ve moved in, we talk about leaving it one day for the next generation.  Building a new city is like that, too, but we speak of a different magnitude, we talk of a bigger land area and longer timeframes.  But the basics are there ... thrill, pressure, excitement, a dream, and leaving a legacy.

In your travels abroad, what cities have inspired you?

Butch Campos: A lot of cities inspire me, and they inspire me in different ways.  We talk of the fast-paced, vibrant American cities, and get awed at how quickly time flies when we’re there.  We look at historic Europe and learn from each of its ancient cultures and how this same set of values takes them to the present times.  Asia has some resemblance to its European neighbors with a strong culture deeply rooted in its modernizing society.  Cities inspire me especially when, despite globalization, they continue to be true to themselves, and after a trip, a pleasant memory is left for us to bring back.