Celebrating the local wins after the 2019 mid-term elections in the Philippines has led to many great promises and potentials for our cities, especially in Metro Manila.
I wrote this feature highlighting the first two weeks of how the new local chief executives are doing, and what it means for our cities. Thanks to Philippine Daily Inquirer for publishing this.
I’m really excited to share about my first book ever: Two of my essays were included in Young Blood 7!
It’s really an honor to be a contributor for the column, so receiving news of being part of the book was really thrilling. Here’s a news feature on the book launch, where I got interviewed.
The two essays that made the cut are Patintero on the Streets and Unethical Nation. To show support for young Filipino writers–and democracy in our country–please buy a copy of the book. It’s available at National Bookstore, P500.
Energy is a big topic that resounds in my head because of sustainability, and cities are magnets and pits of energy rolled into one.
In this article I take a look at how a seemingly simple switchback from fuel standards can become a massive problem for the country, not just because of how it pretends to be a short-term solution, but because there are long-term impacts on the environment. And there are solutions urban leaders can take on, too.
Read the full article here: http://business.inquirer.net/256491/really-want-become-dirty-petropolis.
After the Local Solutions Climate Conference in Manchester, I realised how impactful our perspective of landscapes can be. Solutions don’t always have to be about concrete, there are so many ways where we can use nature’s given solution to improve our cities. Here’s a write-up where I shared the learnings: Click to read the full article.
As always, thank you, Philippine Daily Inquirer. And to YSEALI and ICMA for the opportunity to attend the conference.
This writeup has been in my mind for a long time–many people casually use the phrase “resilient cities,” and just use it for marketing projects, creating events, and so on, without really understanding the many aspects that comprise how a city really becomes resilient. There are two main things that we have to consider: Citizens as a people, and systems in a city, and both are complex in growing urban settings, with a number of layers and perspectives to know about. Read the full article here.
I included some learnings in my writeup, which I also recommend readers to look up and study:
Happy reading!
Jean Palma 