Seeing Manila rated 145th among 181 cities in terms of smartness or strategic planning was not surprising. Those who spend four hours daily commuting to and from work or school, enduring smog, overcrowding and the consequences of unplanned urban development probably believe Manila’s rating in the IESE Cities in Motion Index 2016 could have been worse.
Beyond agreeing with the rating, however, Filipinos should see it as a challenge to make Manila – or more precisely, the mega city that is Metro Manila – a better, “smarter” place to live. Especially because several other Asian cities ranked much higher.
The index, drawn up by the Center for Globalization Strategy in the University of Navarra’s IESE Business School in Spain, is based on 10 indicators: human capital, mobility and transportation, governance, urban planning, public management, technology, the economy, environment, international outreach and social cohesion.
In Asia, South Korean and Japanese cities dominated the top ranks, with Korean capital Seoul ranking eighth, ahead of Geneva, Switzerland and Sydney, Australia. Tokyo ranked 12th, ahead of US capital Washington. Southeast Asia’s most developed economy, Singapore, ranked 22nd, with Hong Kong a far 39th, Osaka 56th and Taipei 64th. Another Southeast Asian city ranked 84th: Thai capital Bangkok, with Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur not far behind at 88th. Middling, but still well ahead of Manila.
President Duterte, who likes to warn Filipinos about the perils of the country turning into a narco state, may be interested to learn that two cities in Colombia, which has fought a long, violent war against cocaine traffickers, ranked ahead of Manila: Medellin and Cali, both homes of drug cartels, ranked 99th and 126th, respectively.
Manila at least rated better than Indonesian capital Jakarta (170th) and Vietnamese southern city Ho Chi Minh (158th). But the Philippine mega city must compare itself with the best. There’s a long way to go before Manila can compete with the three smartest cities – New York, London and Paris – but the Philippine capital can strive to catch up with Asia’s top performers.