The New Manila Bay
City of Pearl

Timeline: 2017 - 2019
Client: UAA Kinming Development Corporation
Industry: Real Estate / Infrastructure / Place Branding
Location: Manila, Philippines

Project

New Manila Bay - City of Pearl is located at the heart of Manila, a shining jewel in the ocean. The 407 hectares of land is the biggest self sustaining Smart City in Asia, planned to host more than 500,000 citizens and creating over 100,000 jobs.

Summary

The capital of the Philippines has a persistent problem, living space for urban life. This makes reclamation a great option for creating living and community development space for the Filipino people.

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“It will bring our city a step closer to recapturing its old glory and be recognized once again as the Pearl of the Orient,” Joseph Estrada

Mayor of Manila, Philippines

Services Provided

• Market Research 
• Strategy Workshop 
• Brand Consultation 
• Logo & Identity Design 
• Creative Direction
• Government Pitch (strategy & visuals)
• Investment Presentations

Challenge

To build a cornerstone brand reflecting the main aspects of this new Smart City that will inspire potential residents and investors to call it home. With dozens of constituent target audiences, including potential residents to developers to the Philippines government, building a coherent brand strategy that resonates with all of them was by far the greatest challenge.

Research

We studied the history of Manila’s existing CBDs to understand what improvements will yield value - ranging form infrastructure to community spaces. The research also included other major urban areas in the Philippines and how they interact with their citizens.

Solution

Since City of Pearl is conceptualized with a high end character, we focused the brand on technologically innovations that provide the greatest value and optimize usage of space. With our technology partners, we agreed to build the most technology advanced city in the Philippines.

Outcome

The UAA Kinming Development group received approval from the Philippines government for the vision and project, with Gohan Strategy and HPA Architects providing essential strategy and visual components. Construction will begin in 2022, and will welcome the first residents in 2030.

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Thank you.

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