Tuguegarao City, CAGAYAN – Tuguegarao City bared its new comprehensive land use plan (CLUP) for 2019-2028 in a public hearing held by the city government last January 29.
If passed by the Seventh City Council, the new CLUP is set to replace the old land use plan that guided Tuguegarao City since 2005.
Tuguegarao City Vice Mayor Bienvenido De Guzman emphasized the importance of the new CLUP, as land use is critical to the development of the city.
“It is very important for the city government to update the CLUP, for a fact that the last update was made last 2005. We can see how Tuguegarao City developed, and we know that our development is dependent on the land use,” De Guzman said.
The comprehensive land use plan is a document that will guide the local government unit in the allocation and utilization of its land resources according to spatial organization of economic and social activities, among others.
The new CLUP is guided by the Ambisyon 2040, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2016-2019 Executive-Legislative Agenda of Tuguegarao City.
According to City Planning and Development Coordinator Maria Fe Villania, the update in the land use plan is part of the efforts of the city as it gears towards being the ‘Premier Smart Ibanag City’.
In her presentation, the city planner emphasized that Tugugarao City has to invest in energy, data, transportation, infrastructure, connectivity and mobility, in order to be a ‘smart city’.
It was also revealed that the land use plan adapted a ‘tri-polar spatial strategy’, which assigns different economic and social activities to the three existing geographical divisions of the city.
The northern area of Tuguegarao City will remain as the regional government center while the western area will serve as the commercial and transport center. The eastern area will be developed as the agro-industrial center.
According to Villania, the spatial strategy of the new CLUP is intended to decongest the city center and to spread development in all areas in the city.
The environmental issues encountered in the city are also addressed in the plan, as it included the creation of a city forest land use plan that is expected to allocate 947 hectares for a forest reserve.
The CLUP was presented to the public to solicit comments and suggestions before the executive department transmit their final plan to the Seventh City Council for their approval. Northernforum.net
