[Location]

Naga City is centrally located in the Bicol region, a peninsula found on the southeastern tip of the Philippine island of Luzon.  It is 377 kilometers south of Manila, the nation’s capital, and about 380 kilometers north of Cebu.

The city is at the core of Metro Naga, a fast-growing area formally comprised of 15 municipalities belonging to the Metro Naga Development Council (MNDC).  All in all, the MNDC covers the entire 2^nd district of the province of Camarines Sur and part of the 1^st and 4^th districts.

Naga is easily accessible using air and land transport.  Air access is through a 45 to 60-minute trip from the international airports of Manila and Cebu.  By land, the city is a 7 to 8-hour ride from Manila; and approximately 22 hours from Cebu with ferry transfers in Sorsogon, the southernmost province of Bicol.  Daily rail services to and from Manila are provided by the Philippine National Railways.

AREA AND LAND USE

Nestling at the foot of Mt. Isarog, Naga has a total land area of 8,448 hectares distributed among 27 barangays.  The Bicol and Naga Rivers trisect the city’s urban area.  

Source: City Planning & Development Office, 2000

Of the city’s total land area, 24.10% is allocated for commercial, industrial/agro-industrial and tourism purposes. 19.77%  is for residential use.  42.06% is reserved for agriculture.

Among the features of Naga’s current land use plan are:

• Expansion of the agro-industrial/industrial and commercial areas.  Primary among these are the growth zones identified by the Naga City Investment Board.

• Designation of a tourism/eco-tourism zone to pave the way for development of the city’s upland areas while preserving ecological balance. Referred to as the East Highland Tourism Zone, it covers barangays— Pacol, Carolina and Panicuason-- leading to Mt. Isarog and the city’s water shed area, forest parks and preserves.

• Incorporation of proposed circumferential and diversion roads that will connect strategic points or investment areas around the City. Among these are:  Diversion Road II which will provide another connection from Central Business District-II to the Concepcion Growth Corridor and the Naga Agro-Industrial Zone; and the Sabang-Mabulo-Triangulo Road that will hasten the growth of the South Riverfront Growth Area and provide another route to the northern portions of Metro Naga.

• Designation of the upland/non-flooding barangays of San Felipe and Pacol as residential expansion areas to accommodate the housing needs of the city for the next 5 years.

• Provision for flexibility in the future use of transition areas.  These are areas that were formerly agricultural but were later reclassified by the City, before the current land use plan, for non-agricultural uses.  No specific use has been identified for these areas. Innovative techniques or new strategies for development of planned areas can be employed in these zones as long as they are not incompatible with those of adjacent/neighboring zones.  

Additional land resources may be developed within the Metro Naga area.  Each of the towns comprising this metropolitan area have their specific roles in development.

CITY/TOWN	DEVELOPMENT ROLE
Bombon	Primary food bowl; water resource development
Bula	Primary food bowl
Calabanga	Primary food bowl; fishing industry development
Camaligan	Expansion area for middle-class housing; fish processing industry development
Canaman	Expansion area for middle-class housing
Gainza	Auxiliary food crop supplier; gifts and housewares industry development
Magarao	Primary food bowl
Milaor	Warehousing and bulk storage facilities
Minalabac	Auxiliary food crop supplier
Naga	Business, education and cultural center
Ocampo
Pamplona	Industrial estate development; cattle and dairy industry development
Pasacao	Gateway to major markets through the Pasacao Port; cattle and dairy industry development; fishing industry development
Pili	Secondary trading center and agro-industrial development
San Fernando	Water resource development; cattle and dairy industry development