Mitigating climate change through smart urban governance and climate-resilient urban development: linking policy, governance, and design in highly urbanized cities of Metro Manila, Philippines

Rapid urbanization and increasing climate risks pose significant challenges to highly urbanized regions such as Metro Manila, Philippines. While the existing literature on climate-resilient cities highlights the importance of governance and policy innovation, few studies examine how these mechanisms translate into concrete urban design and development outcomes. This study addresses this gap by investigating how smart urban governance can be operationalized at the architectural and development scale to mitigate climate change impacts and enhance sustainable urban development. Anchored in the concepts of smart urban governance and the principles of the four phases of community adaptation—fortification and defense, accommodation, retreat, and clean-up - the research explores how governance systems shape climate-responsive decision-making from policy formulation to on-the-ground design. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, the study analyzes selected urban development projects in Pasig City and Makati City, representing high-rise residential, commercial and office, and mixed-use typologies. Data were gathered through policy and document reviews, semi-structured key informant interviews, and on-site observations, enabling a multi-scalar analysis across macro (policy and institutional), meso (institutional coordination), and micro (design and development) levels. The findings reveal that smart urban governance functions most effectively when inter-agency coordination, regulatory coherence, and stakeholder participation converge across these levels. The four-phase community adaptation framework emerges as a practical governance tool that structures progressive planning, design, and management responses to climate risks. Results demonstrate that national and local policies, when supported by collaborative institutional arrangements, can be translated into climate-resilient urban and architectural design features such as green infrastructure, disaster risk reduction measures, and adaptive spatial configurations. Variations across urban typologies highlight the need for context-sensitive governance and design strategies. Overall, the study proposes a governance-oriented framework linking smart city principles with climate-responsive urban design, offering empirical insights into how smart urban governance can strengthen resilience and sustainability and inform planning for highly urbanized cities in Metro Manila.