Sustainable Cities Indicators: What does it mean to be a Sustainable City?

Vancouver, London, Curitiba, Malmo, Leipzig...

What do these cities  have in common?

They are all not in the Philippines...

Right.

What else?

Their citizens and politicians are in AGREEMENT..

On what?

That THEY WANT THEIR CITIES TO BE SUSTAINABLE!!!

REALLY?

Is that possible at all- 

that politicians and citizens

are eye to eye on a topic.

Perhaps abroad.

Yes, they are even in AGREEMENT-

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SUSTAINABLE CITY!!!

SO, OK...

Tell me, 

what are the indicators of a sustainable city???

In Cebu City, to the local politicians...

it means FLYOVERS, AND MORE FLYOVERS!!!

SO, we are not able to see the topic on the same page.

The residents of Cebu DO NOT WANT FLYOVERS!!!

We want a SUSTAINABLE CEBU...

Ok, so what are these indicators of sustainability,

maybe, the residents should share with the politicians...

There are three important ethics-

first,

that we care for the earth- 

all development must pay attention to its environmental impact:

which means developments must not harm the environment;

second, 

that we care for the people-

all development must improve the quality of life of the residents,

not just that of a few people;

third,

that we care for the future-

all development must be for securing the future of the next generation,

thus, no myopic, short-term solutions...

so, in many SUSTAINABLE CITIES

around the globe,

politicians are holding hands with its citizenry,

and have agreed that any urban development

will be guided by the three ethics-

care for the earth, people and the future!!!

ok, so what does this have to do with opposing the FLYOVERS?

Flyovers, are developments made for cars and more cars.

Its impact on the environment is obvious:

more pollution!!!

Its impact on the quality of life of the residents:

more congestion, pulmonary diseases, insane stress-levels!!!

Its impact on the future generation:

Crazy, unlivable, unsustainable urban life!!!

So, if we have a chance  to speak NOW,

Let us speak in one voice:

Politicians and Residents of Cebu,

SPEAKING IN UNISON,

WITH THE REST OF THE SUSTAINABLE CITIES 

ACROSS THE GLOBE...

WE WANT OUR CITY TO BE SUSTAINABLE!!!

WE WANT CEBU TO BE A SUSTAINABLE AND LIVABLE CITY,

just like Vancouver, London, Curitaba, Malmo, Leipzip...

then we can proudly say,

We SHARE A COMMON SUSTAINABLE VISION!!!