Iloilo City’s urban development project wins award

MANILA, Philippines — Iloilo City has won a global award in the United States for its participatory housing and urban development project.

In a ceremony held in New York recently, the World Resources Institute presented a trophy of the 2021-2022 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities to Iloilo City, which was represented by Sonia Cadornigara, regional coordinator of the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines Inc.

Cadornigara is the main proponent of the initiative in collaboration with the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives Inc.

Iloilo City was one of five finalists for the 2021-2022 Prize Cycle, which was chosen among 260 participants from all over the world.

The city’s participatory housing and urban development project aims to provide affordable housing and create flood-control infrastructure for its poor residents without moving them away from their communities, jobs and support systems.

Ambassador Ariel Peñaranda, deputy permanent representative of the Philippine mission to the United Nations, attended the ceremony to support the delegation from Iloilo City.

Cadornigara said that community groups and the city government of Iloilo under Mayor Jerry Treñas worked together to provide flood-resilient infrastructure in vulnerable areas.

Building city-wide relationships and combining multiple community-led strategies made Iloilo City a model for other housing initiatives in marginalized communities across the Philippines, Cadornigara said.