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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sustainable turnaround for EDSA in the works

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Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, in the 1930’s used to be called the North-South circumferential road, a stretch of highway with wild grass and plants, and farmers tilling their small plots of land. 

Fast forward to the present: a multi-lane highway lined with factories; a river devoid of fish; lanes jampacked with trucks, cars, and buses enveloped in smog, heat, and a population of urbanites weaving in and out of its many intersections. This is EDSA today, the main artery linking Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares, a major challenge to the metropolis’ productivity and its people’s health.

Sustainable turnaround for EDSA in the works

New lease on life

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Challenges, though, give rise to opportunities and solutions. Residential developer SM Development Corporation (SMDC) recently launched steps to give EDSA a new lease on life.  It is doing this by addressing three elements of sustainable living: economic, environmental, and social.

This April, SMDC launched the Green EDSA Movement at Fame Residences in Mandaluyong City (shown here), in a bid to provide breathing space in this busy thoroughfare via a tree-lined walkway, that would hopefully pave the way for a  welcoming lush façade. This included the building of energy-saving features: a detention tank for reusable water harvesting, motion sensors for common-area lighting, and exterior curtain walls to allow natural light. Both residents and passersby now enjoy natural light, ventilation and greenery along this part of the bustling 23-km stretch.

Green EDSA dream

In line with this year’s Earth Day theme, “Restore Our Earth”, SMDC targets a bold vision: a highway lined with greens, a variety of plants giving off fresh air in lieu of smog, with sidewalks where people can leisurely stroll and relish the cityscape. Urban space filled with splashes of outdoor ornamentals against wood, sanctuaries of peace and quiet offering restoration to the urban dweller’s daily commute.  

For SMDC, this means extending to this major thoroughfare the sustainable community that its residents have been enjoying: a dynamic urban community with people whose physical, mental, and social needs are met through healthy outdoor living.  

Eenjoying life to the fullest

]Being situated at a major thoroughfare places people at the center of economic opportunities, but living sustainably requires a place where people can enjoy greenery and open spaces that allow them to breathe, and provide opportunities for social connection. 

This is the same principle currently defining  SMDC’s developments – starting from its EDSA properties, Sea and Shell Residences in the MOA Complex, where EDSA begins, to the central EDSA properties, Fame Residences, Light and Light 2 Residences, all the way to properties in North EDSA and in the country’s other major CBDs.

Sustainable turnaround for EDSA in the works

By putting green, landscaped spaces closer to urban residents, and giving them adequate opportunities for exposure to Nature, SMDC hopes to promote sustainable development – creating healthy communities where people can live securely, enjoy life to the fullest.

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