THE city government of Bacolod is now planning to create an urban master plan for the city, an official of the city said Thursday, March 16.

Councilor Vladimir Gonzalez, chairperson of the City Council committee on urban poor, housing, and resettlement, said a private firm from New York has submitted its proposal to the city government for the creation of an urban master plan for Bacolod.

"We have now an ongoing negotiation, and hopefully we will be able to find funds for the said project," he said.

Once it is approved, he added, the private firm can start the project next month.

The councilor noted that the private firm will conduct the data gathering, which will take at least a month.

"After the data gathering and analysis, they will proceed to the second phase, the visioning, to determine what the stakeholders or businessmen would like to happen in the next 25 years in the city," Gonzalez said.

He said they are hopeful that after six months, the private firm can produce the large scale model of the city’s urban master plan.

"Through this project, we will be able to promote Bacolod to potential investors from other countries who want to invest here in the city. It’s our long-term goal to be a city with diverse economic activities and to provide more jobs for Bacolodnons," he added.

Gonzalez stressed that the urban master plan will address the city’s problems with traffic, flood control, economic activity, and the movement of the population, among others.

"We have to anticipate how much population we will have 25 years from now," Gonzalez said.

He said the city should have an urban master plan for the future development of the city until 2050, and it will be updated every five years.*