Baguio City is using two complementary assessments of urban conditions to identify development gaps and guide planning, budgeting, and possible legislative measures.
Presented to the Baguio City Council during its special session on September 9, 2026, the Livability Index looks at conditions across the city’s 128 barangays, while the Quality-of-Life Index presented during the regular session on September 14, 2026 provides a broader citywide assessment that incorporates residents’ perceptions along with global and local indicators.
City Planning, Development and Sustainability Officer Arch. Donna Rillera Tabangin said the two assessments form part of the City’s growing database for evidence-based planning and policymaking.
The Livability Index measures 10 indicators covering health, food sources, economic opportunities, crime and safety, accessibility, mobility, essential businesses, risk management, civic spaces and water. It is intended to identify strengths and gaps in individual barangays and help guide investments and development decisions including the assessment of requests for changes in land use or zoning.
Meanwhile, the UN-Habitat Quality-of-Life Index examines broader aspects of urban well-being through nine domains: basic services and mobility, governance, health and well-being, economy, environment, social cohesion, education, housing, and culture and recreation.
Tabangin said the Quality-of-Life assessment used 53 global indicators, 15 local indicators and a citizen perception survey. The data were drawn from the City’s Voluntary Local Review, Livability Index, Community-Based Monitoring System, national government agencies, regional line agencies, and local government departments.
The online perception survey generated 2,636 responses, exceeding the minimum target of 400 respondents.
Tabangin said the Quality-of-Life initiative was undertaken with UN-Habitat beginning in 2024 and continued through 2025, with the data undergoing validation, cleansing, and triangulation before the results were completed in December 2025.
She said the findings should serve as guidance for planning, budgeting, and policymaking, with the City also looking at updating the assessments in the future through updated CBMS data.
During the discussion, Tabangin identified housing, culture and recreation, urban forestry and climate literacy as priority areas for action based on the Quality-of-Life findings.
The Livability Index likewise points to the need to address accessibility, disaster risks, water, essential services, green spaces, and other barangay-level concerns.
The two assessments provide different but related views of the City’s development conditions. The Livability Index helps identify needs and capacities at the barangay level, while the Quality-of-Life Index looks more broadly at urban well-being and how residents experience the city.
Councilor Peter Fianza also called for further examination of the indicators and methodology used in the Quality-of-Life assessment, particularly the 53 global and 15 local indicators and how Baguio’s unique circumstances were considered.
Tabangin said the City Council’s own perception could also be incorporated in a future update, given its experience with local policies and legislation.
At the close of the discussion, the City Council directed that copies of the Quality-of-Life study be furnished to the Secretariat for distribution to committee chairpersons based on their respective areas of concern. **Jordan G. Habbiling
