Davao City's rising landscape
PEOPLE who haven't come back to Davao City for probably more than five years now often ask, "So how is it like in Davao City now? What has changed? How does the city look like now?"
Davao City, over the years, is obviously not the same as it is before. What used to be a location of a 2-storey or a 3-storey building has already tall condominium buildings standing proud mirroring how the city had been resilient and progressive over as time went by. Gone are the days that the urban landscape of the city is of low and old buildings.
The improvement of Davao City's facade and landscape can be very much paralleled to how the lifestyle of Dabawenyos had also changed over the years. If before, the settlement preferences of Dabawenyos are mostly in horizontal residential houses, it had evolved into condominium and vertical residential spaces. This difference on choices had greatly sculpted the way Davao City looks like now.
Along C.M. Recto St, are the tall, proud buildings of Avida Towers and just a few meters is a high-rise building of Vivaldi Towers also being constructed. In just a few years, it can be projected how this single street in Davao City would look like how other key cities in the Philippines already look like.
In J.P. Laurel Avenue, the towers of Abreeza Place, Aeon Towers, and Santos Land will define what Davao City is actually becoming - a progressive, proud city whose developments continue to flourish as it continues to be on limelight.
They say how the city develops is dictated by how the lifestyle of the residents improved as well. As what different businessmen investing in Davao say, the purchasing capacity of the Dabawenyos had also changed. This, among others, had attracted these same investors in Davao City as they see great potentials in the city.
Just late last year, research survey of Prime Philippines revealed that the rising real estate industry in Davao City makes it the best time to develop, buy, and sell lands in the city.
“Right now, Davao City’s commercial rental leasing is currently on the rising stage. That’s why it is the best time to develop if you have plans on establishing real estate establishments or commercial establishments. Now is the best time to build it because you will have a foothold before the arrival of the big developers,” said Prime Philippines Capital Markets and Investment Associate Raphil Saguan said in an earlier interview.
This statement is further supported by the data from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Southern Mindanao Region (HLURB-SMR).
“Since I was assigned in this position in 2010, the revenue made from these residential developments had increased to about P20 million last year compared to only about P4 million in 2010. Now we are targeting to reach about P25 million this 2018,” said HLURB-SMR Regional Director Miguel Palma Gil adding that the livability and the beauty of the region are the reasons more horizontal and vertical housing are being developed in Davao City.
However the current facade and the urban landscape of Davao City is perceived now, it is quite clear that all of this is reflective of the inner development happening with the people and for the people of Davao City.
As more and more condominium projects are still being constructed and others still in the pipeline, it is safe to say that Dabawenyos can expect a more physically different Davao City but is still culturally-conscious despite its modern facade.