Iloilo City is highly urbanized and is the government center of the Western Visayas region, providing an important function in trade and commerce, education and research, and tourism. All barangays (districts) in Iloilo have been classified as urban.

Since this intermediate city is a fast-growing one, a planned city extension (PCE) approach plays a crucial role in managing its anticipated growth and urban development, making it more livable, attractive, competitive, and sustainable.

UN-Habitat’s Achieving Sustainable Urban Development (ASUD) programme seeks to address urban development issues affecting today’s cities. It integrates three pillars—governance and legislation, finance and economy, and planning and design—in developing planned city extensions (PCEs). PCEs represent an alternative to unplanned urban expansion characterized by sprawling, segregated, and poorly connected developments.