Introduction:

Cabanatuan or simply Cabanatuan City is a first

class component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines.
It is the most populous city in Nueva Ecija and the 5th populous
in Central Luzon with a population of 302,231 in 2015.
The city is popular for being home to more than 30,000
tricycles, thus priding itself as the "Tricycle Capital of the
Philippines" and its strategic location along the Cagayan Valley
Road has made the city a major economic, educational, medical,
entertainment shopping and transportation center in Nueva Ecija
and nearby provinces in the region such as Aurora and Bulacan. It
has also earned the moniker "Gateway to the North".
Cabanatuan remained as Nueva Ecija's capital until 1965 when
the government created Palayan City as the new provincial capital.
Nueva Ecija's old capitol and other government offices are still
used and maintained by the provincial administration.

Geographical Location:

The city is bounded by the province of Pangasinan, Tarlac,

Pampanga, Bulacan, and Aurora.

Population Development of the City

Demographics

Population census of Cabanatuan City

Year Pop. % p.a.

1990 173,065

1995 201,033 +2.85%

2000 222,859 +2.23%

2007 259,267 +2.11%

2010 272,676 +1.85%

2015 302,231 +1.98%

Source: National Statistics Office

Cabanatuan City is a first class component city in

the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. It is the most
populous city in Nueva Ecija and the 5th populous in Central
Luzon with a population of 302,231 in 2015.

Development on Housing Projects/Real Estate

 Many Novo Ecijanos choose to resettle in Cabanatuan for
proximity to job and other necessities. With the influx of
people, residential developments followed and now more than a
hundred subdivisions for A to D markets decimate the city.

Large-scale residential developments are already present in

the name of Lakewood City, Avida Sta. Arcadia Estates (composed
of Avida Residences and Avida Settings), Camella Homes
Cabanatuan, Camella Homes Nueva Ecija, BellaVita, Lumina Homes,
Amaia Scapes Cabanatuan, Primavera East, Primavera Cabanatuan,
New Grand Victoria Estates and several Tierracon Homes
subdivisions. Sta. Lucia Realty's Lakewood City is a medium to
high-end project encompassing more than 170 hectares. Its
centerpiece is a 64-hectare championship golf course, one of the
largest in Central Luzon. Ayala Land's 87-hectare Avida Sta.
Arcadia Estates is masterplanned to become a mixed-use
development that will include the Avida Sta. Arcadia Residences,
Avida Settings, and Avida Town Center. Also included in the
roster of large residential districts are the Kapitan Pepe
Subdivision, Grand Victoria Estates, and Acropolis North by Sta.
Lucia Realty. Ayala Land currently has five residential
subdivisions while Vista Land has three and Sta. Lucia Realty,
three.

Prime lands in Cabanatuan are becoming pricier with the

entry of more Manila- and Cebu-based land developers.
Established players are being challenged by new comers
likeRobinsons Land, SM Prime, Filinvest and AboitizLand. SM
Prime's foray into horizontal housing development will start
construction this year on a 25-hectare lot in Brgy. Sta.
Arcadia.

Development on Shopping Center Projects

The case of SM City Cabanatuan mall

SM Primes (shopping mall company) commitment in building

safer and disasterresilient malls was considered in SM
Cabanatuan by consciously and decisively designing the mall to
allow overflowing creek floodwater during extreme floods into
the mall property. The lower ground structure also serves as a
temporary flood catchment which minimized the level of flood in
the community.

The recorded lessons learned are:

SM Prime saw the opportunity of doing business while

considering the risk.
The additional 10% in costs to build a disaster resilient
mall were more than recouped in avoided losses.
SM Prime gained more trust with its stakeholders because it
anticipated the risk and took action based on their needs,
rendering a sustainable competitive advantage.

This case study is one of a series produced by members of

ARISE, the UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient
Societies.

Development in the Economy

 Cabanatuan is the economic heart of Nueva Ecija. More than
640,000 people live in its metropolitan area comprising the city
and its adjacent municipalities. As a hub, many people in Nueva
Ecija commute to the city during the day. This causes the city's
daytime population to swell to about a million. Although
Cabanatuan does not have significant manufacturing industries,
its dynamic service sector together with the thriving
agriculture drives the economy forward.

The city is a vital financial center housing numerous

banks, non-bank financial institutions and headquarters of some
of the largest rural banks in Central Luzon. The Bangko Sentral
ng Pilipinas (BSP) has a branch in the city that performs cash
operations and cash administration. Approximately 33 billion
pesos in deposit liabilities is taken care of the city's 61
banks as of end-2015. The amount constitutes more than half of
Nueva Ecija's deposits. The city ranks as one of the most
livable cities in the country together with Makati City in terms
of banking convenience.

Another notable part of Cabanatuan's economy is the motor

vehicle industry. Popular global automotive companies make it a
point to establish a dealership in the city's metropolitan area.
Existing car dealerships include Toyota (Toyota Cabanatuan Inc.
being the 604th largest Philippine
corporation), Mitsubishi, Kia, Isuzu, Mazda, Ford, Nissan, Peuge
ot, Hyundai, Suzuki, and Mahindra, all in
Cabanatuan; Foton and Honda in Santa Rosa town;
and Chevrolet in San Leonardo town.

Cabanatuan is also a distribution and logistics center for

goods and commodities. It has a number of distribution
warehouses and sales offices which serve the whole of Nueva
Ecija as well as parts of neighboring provinces.
The NFA warehouses in the city play an important role in
regulating Nueva Ecija's burgeoning rice industry.
Income of Cabanatuan LGU (2003-2015)

Indicators reflect Cabanatuan's economic achievements in

the past few years. The growth of new business registrations in
the city reached 26% last 2014 while locally sourced taxes grew
14.81% annually in the five years to 2015. Residential buildings
and subdivisions, already exceeding 100, are taking up lands on
the fringes of the downtown. The presence of big land developers
such as Sta. Lucia Realty, Vista Land and Ayala Land ensures
competition and quality in the new suburban homes. New
commercial buildings are springing up in the CBD and along
Maharlika Highway on the average of seventy-five per year.

Cabanatuan nowadays is fast becoming a major investment hub

and is considered as one of the most competitive cities for
doing business in the country. Investors in banking, real
estate, retail and other business and industrial enterprises are
similarly drawn to the city because of its adequate
infrastructure and support services. Its continuing urbanization
has been luring investors not only into the city but also to its
suburban municipalities as well.

To further explore its vibrant economic potentials,

Cabanatuan is seeking to have a share of the IT-BPO boom. The
first call center in Nueva Ecija was successfully established in
the city in 2008. The city government is equally keen on
attracting big-ticket projects by providing prospective
investors fast business applications processing, low business
taxes, income tax holidays and other similar incentives.

In 2015, the city's total assets amounted to PHP 3.719

billion and the total income reached PHP 1.696 billion,.
Development in Transportation
The city is a major hub of transportation services in
Central Luzon. Cabanatuan City has a large number of bus
companies operating provincial and regional routes, with the
Cabanatuan Central Transport Terminal serving as the terminus.
Jeepney operators serve routes within the province with some
reaching as far to Dingalan, Baler and Dilasag in Aurora,
Olongapo City, San Fernando and Dau in Pampanga, Mariveles and
Balanga in Bataan, Baguio City in Benguet, Dagupan City and
Tarlac City. Much of the city's population rely on public
transportation such as tricycles and jeeps to get around the
city.

Maharlika Highway (or Pan-Philippine Highway) is the main

highway traversing the city where most vehicles going to Cagayan
Valley pass through. Nueva Ecija - Aurora Road links Cabanatuan
to Baler, Aurora, passing through rural towns in eastern Nueva
Ecija. Burgos Avenue and Del Pilar Street serve as the city's
main thoroughfare inside the downtown area. Other major roads
include the General Tinio and Rizal Streets which run through
the city proper in an east-west direction; Mabini Street, where
two of the city's three universities are situated and the
Circumferential Road that connects the downtown area to the
Kapitan Pepe residential district.

Two bypass roads were constructed during the early 2000s to

decongest the Maharlika Highway and to spur new developments
outside the downtown area. The 10.3-kilometer Felipe Vergara
Highway provides a direct route to Cagayan Valley, while Emilio
Vergara Highway links Santa Rosa to Nueva Ecija - Aurora Road,
avoiding traffic bottleneck along Maharlika Highway.

Cabanatuan was served by the Manila Railroad Company way

back in the 1900s through the Balagtas - Cabanatuan line and was
later abandoned after the war when scavengers have looted pieces
of the rail tracks. Rail service was later resumed in 1969 after
the rehabilitation of the rail tracks as mandated by a
government order, the service was again abandoned in the 1980s
when the route didn't fare much to the commuters. The old
Cabanatuan Railway Station is located at Barangay General Luna
and is converted to a day care center with the original
structure remaining.

Infrastructure improvements are ongoing with projects done

by administration. All key intersections in the city are already
signalized. Bicycle and tricycle lanes are currently being built
while road widening of the Maharlika Highway from the present
four lanes to eight lanes is on the drawing board. Road widening
of all city and arterial roads from one/two-lane highway to
three-lane highway is also being considered.

Two proposed expressways will pass through Cabanatuan City

if built. These are the North Luzon East Expressway (Quezon
City to Cabanatuan) and the Central Luzon Link
Expressway (SCTEx to San Jose City).

Buses in Cabanatuan Central Terminal

Development in Education

Cabanatuan is the one of the region's educational center

being home to more than 40 higher education institutions, 1
science high school, more than 50 public and private high
schools, and more than 100 public and private primary schools.
Most of the students of the province go to Cabanatuan to study
and build their career in the city.
 Republic of the Philippines
Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology
Sumacab, Cabanatuan City

College of Architecture
A.Y. 2016-2017

CASE STUDY IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OF

CABANATUAN CITY
(SPECIALIZATION I)

Prepared by:

ALBERT JELLO D. CASTRO

MARK HERANDEZ
JUSTIN JOSHUA ORDONA
ROD RUEY MABAIT

Prepared for:

AR. NAOMI TOLENTINO

Professor