After experiencing this economically humbling pandemic crisis understanding the true potential of Uptown Cagayan de Oro is probably the key to unlock the bright future for many business ventures in town. The City has a population of nearly 700,000 according to the last census in 2015 and has ambitious city expansion plans in Barangays Carmen, Canitoan, Lumbia and Pagatpat in Uptown making it the flagship project of the new growth areas of the city. According to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan 2019-2027 the vision is to build a mixed use modern district on a 850 hectare area in Lumbia conceptualized by UN Habitat's Achieving Sustainable Urban Development (ASUD) Project with a government center, green belts, parks, open spaces, tree parks and tree strips along the main thoroughfares.
While these development plans may still take some time to become reality the existing part of Uptown CdO is already a thriving community of businesses, commercial districts, bars & restaurants, schools, residential and commercial housing developments, stylish mixed-use green condominium developments with retail, commercial, office and residential spaces designed by renowned international architects, hotels, Xavier University, a brand new hospital under construction, the regional trial court, an 18-hole first class golf course, an SM Mall and a PEZA accredited Special Economic Zone like the Pueblo de Oro I.T. Park that offers a superior location for I.T. and BPO locators. On top of SM's expansion plans the home-grown mall operator Gaisano has also just recently announced its intention to build a 5-storey mall in Lumbia, just across Gran Europa. Such a development will add great value to the already existing commercial facilities in Uptown and will create new jobs. Even the city's well known white water rafting or kayaking adventures, one of the city's prime tourism activities is located along Cagayan de Oro River in Uptown.
The fact that Cagayan de Oro Port has just recently opened the Philippine's biggest port passenger terminal makes it clear why the city is being classified as a strategic and prime development hub of the South, a major gateway and trans-shipment hub to/for Mindanao, especially through the access to the fertile lands of Bukidnon, part of which is now also included in Metro Cagayan de Oro. While downtown has been prone to natural disasters especially during the past 10 years Uptown instead has remained free from calamities and is definitely considered one of the safest places to live. With the upcoming Opol-Canitoan diversion road that will allow traffic going to Uptown to bypass Iponan and Bulua you can truly say that “all roads lead to Uptown”.
