• Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    BCRUPD Partner Cities

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Five partner cities

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Tagum City (Photo: UN-Habitat Archive)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Ormoc City (Photo: Ormoc Municipality)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Cagayan de Oro City (Photo: Cagayan de Oro Municipality)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Legazpi Coastline (Photo: Legazpi Municipality)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Traffic Congestion in Ormoc (Photo: TSPA)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Flooding in Ormoc (Photo: Ormoc Municipality)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Flooding in Tagum (Photo: Tagum Municipality)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Flood Risk Map, Cagayan de Oro

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Storm Surge Map, Ormoc

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Urban Heat Map, Tagum

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Urban Heat Map, Cagayan de Oro

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Flood Risk Map, Tagum

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Flood Risk Map, Cagayan de Oro

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Issues and Opportunities, Tagum

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Issues and Opportunities, Cagayan de Oro

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Workshop in Tagum (Photo: UN-Habitat)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Workshop in Legazpi (Photo: UN-Habitat)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    City Mentoring in Tagum (Photo: UN-Habitat)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    City Mentoring in Tagum (Photo: UN-Habitat)

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Pilot Project Axonometry, Tagum

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Pilot Project Axonometry, Ormoc

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Pilot Project Axonometry, Cagayan de Oro

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Pilot Project Axonometry, Angeles

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Pilot Project Axonometry, Legazpi

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Toolbox Tagum

  • Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

    Project Benefits in Ormoc

Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs in the Philippines

The UN-Habitat project “Building Climate Resiliency through Urban Plans and Designs,” funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building, and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), in cooperation with the Government of the Philippines, aims improving policies, regulations, and capacities to adapt to climate change through the promotion of climate-responsive sustainable urban development plans and designs.

The three-year project has come to a successful conclusion with the virtual investment forum in late November. We hope that the cities can develop many of the proposed pilot projects and urban transformation strategies. As UN-Habitat expert for urban planning, Thomas accompanied the project for the last three years and provided consultancy and policy recommendations in the fields of urban planning and design.

National partner agencies, UN experts, and local municipalities together developed the National Guide on Climate Resilient Urban Plans and Designs as a reference for practitioners, communities, and institutions. The project defined local urban design solutions for climate change adaptation in five pilot cities (Ormoc, Tagum, Cagayan de Oro, Legazpi, and Angeles). The Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUP) for each city have been reviewed considering climate change risks, with a focus on the most vulnerable areas. Each was selected in a collaborative process guided by a process of Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment (CDRA) in the five partner cities.    

During this process, the partnering municipalities’ capacities have been strengthened, particularly regarding achieving climate change adaptation targets by locally implementing climate change adaptation projects.

Learn more about the project in these videos from UN-Habitat Philippines that we edited describing the process.

Congratulations to UN-Habitat Philippines for the exemplary project process!

Tagum plans to protect its most vulnerable residents by introducing holistic and integrated urban design solutions with the “Tagumpay Citywalk.”

The city of Ormoc proposed the Ormoc Urban Waterscape.

Legazpi is designing its city to adapt to the impacts of flooding, sea-level rise, and increasing urban temperatures.


Cagayan de Oro City plans to create urban-friendly green spaces by transforming vacant spaces into climate-adaptive recreational areas through Project LUNHAW.

Team: Thomas Stellmach, with the internal support of Alessandra Sammartino, Filippo Imberti, Aurelija Matulevičiūtė, Natalia Pérez Bobadilla Date: 2017-2020 Type: Consultancy Client: UN-Habitat Philippines as the Implementing organisation, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building, and Nuclear Safety, with the following National Partners: the Philippines Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the Philippine Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, the Philippine Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Philippine Climate Change Commission, the Philippine National Economic and Development Authority, and the Philippine League of Cities Location: Legazpi, Angeles, Tagum, Cagayan de Oro, and Ormoc in the Philippines Subject: City & Landscape Planning, Research & Capacity Building Status: In progress