(EID-010) “INTEGRATED AREA DEVELOPMENT

Integrated Area Development (IAD) is a very basic concept in development management, and yet it seems that we hardly have any successful models of it in this country. The term has a dual meaning, because it refers not only to the integration of development in a specific geographic area, it also refers to the integration of development programs within the same area.

Our attempt to integrate shelter, health, agriculture, peace and education (SHAPE) programs in the United National Integrated Development Alliance (UNIDA) is merely intended to set the pace for others to follow, because there is really more to development than these five priority programs.

In the history of mankind, civilizations were formed around bodies of water, and up until today, the pattern continues with economies forming around lakes, rivers and shorelines. To some extent, the formation of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum is along this model, viewing the Pacific Ocean as a singular body of water.

The definition of a specific geographic area provides the practical framework for development planning and management. It is like the framing of a house that supports the sidings, the later being likened to the development programs built around the framework.

In the case of Mega Manila, the framework so to speak should have been the Manila Bay and the Laguna Lake; being two bodies of water that actually form one ecosystem. Ideally, the planning and management of the cities and towns within this ecosystem should have been integrated.

Although there are some advantages in the decentralization of local government functions, the thrust towards decentralization should have been equally balanced with the twin goal of integration. Using a specific example, the devolution of health functions has resulted in imbalanced development, because many LGUs are able to improve much less sustain the delivery of their health services.

In the absence of integration in development planning and management, some benefits could be gained if the national government would define and impose common standards in the delivery of public services, so that we would know if the LGUs are doing their jobs, even if they are unable to integrate their program delivery.