The Philippines Is Building A $14 Billion 'Pollution-Free' City That Will Be Larger Than Manhattan- Forbes.com

Manila, the capital of The Philippines has the honor of having the "worst traffic on Earth" and dense smog. The Philippines has a plan to combat Manila's dire situation with a pollution free city larger than Manhattan.

The new green city, called New Clark, will boast driverless cars, drones, large green spaces, low consumption buildings, and massive sports complexes. The new city, built just 75 miles from Manila, is funded through a combination of private and public partnerships.

BCDA Group

New Clark City

The goal is to both help alleviate environmental pressure on Manila and stand as an example city with sustainability at its core. The New Clark city will be home to 2 million people and is estimated to cost $14 billion. To help make the city net pollution-free, two-thirds of the city will be green spaces and farms to help offset carbon dioxide emissions.
The project is being led by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), a governmental agency in the Philippines. The urban project aims to contrast the deadlock traffic jams of Manila and be an example of the "city of the future."

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Not only will the city be net pollution-free, but it will be resilient to disasters. The large green spaces will allow space for flooding that will not harm infrastructure and the buildings will be constructed to withstand natural disasters.
The 23,350-acre New Clark city will take 25 to 30 years to complete and plans to avoid the mistakes made in the nearby Manila. Manila has the highest population density of any major city in the world, with 107,000 people per square miles compared to a population density of 27,000 per square mile in New York City.

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The BCDA is working hard to build the city as quickly as possible, with a goal to complete the New Clark City sports facility in time for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. BCDA aims to continuously modify the city's plans as technology rapidly advances and new green solutions become possible.
With nearly 13 million people in the Manila metro area, this will help reduce population pressure on the capital of The Philippines. However, the real goal is to be an example of how Manila can adjust and advance their infrastructure to cope with the ever-growing number of cars and people.

BCDA Group

New Clark City rendering

Trevor Nace is a PhD geologist, founder of Science Trends, Forbes contributor, and explorer. Follow his journey @trevornace.