Arcadis Construction, Engineering & Design by GineersNow Drones & Technologies in Construction Industry | Page 43

But what makes this city extraordinary is that it is a
self-sustaining smart city ‘beyond any international
standards today,’ as its designers would say.
“The most inspiring fact for me as a masterplan
designer is that the client wanted to create something
that no one has done before,” Ho said.
“The city is designed to become a self-sustaining
smart community where the city itself is run by artificial
intelligence. Everything we’ve done on this city is
based on one central theme: the smart city concept.
“We want it to be green, we want it to be self-
sustaining, not dependent on anything or anyone else.
We want the city itself to have hardware and software
so integrated in a way that it can feed back to artificial
intelligence to ensure that city operation is always at
its optimal level.
“ When it comes to electricity, the city will generate
power from renewable energy like solar and tidal
waves.
Ho revealed that this project is the result of several
years of negotiation between Beijing and Manila, with
UAA Kinming and Estrada leading the talks.
“This was orchestrated by UAA Kinming about a few
years ago,” Ho said. “This project got the blessing
from President Xi Jinping and President Duterte last
year in Beijing, and we got the go-ahead to proceed to
planning.
“ While some fear that this project might be controlled
by China, Ho assured that that will not be the case,
and that the Philippines will exercise full autonomy
over the city.
“There’s no military application for this project. No
one’s going to use it as a military port or airstrip or
anything like that. This is purely a mixed-use, public–
private-partnership development.
“ Over the course of completing the New Manila Bay
– City of Pearl, about 50,000 jobs will be generated
ranging from construction to development. It will take
about 20 years to finish the entire city done phase by
phase.
Construction Leaders • May 2017
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