Baguio City is situated high up in the Cordillera Central Mountain Range of Luzon, and is both situated in and around similar mountainous terrains. Despite it’s high position, it doesn’t make the area any less prone to typhoons; in fact, from it’s location it is actually one of the more prone areas to typhoon related natural disasters, such as flooding, degradation of crops, and landslides. In fact, one of the most unfortunate taglines of disasters such as these in relation with the city is 'Dark Tourism', wherein the accidents that have happened in the area are also promoted towards those with a more macabre interest in things. With Baguio constantly trying to catch up to the increasing number of people that wish to stay there, both as tourists and as residents, they struggle to make enough buildings in the city alone to house the high number of people that visit. However, as evident by a recent inspection of the City’s government, more often than not the houses are not able to match up to the proper safety and integrity that houses should usually have, with a prime example being a recent discovery of over 15 boarding houses lacking in not only structural integrity, but also in other related areas of concern such as a lack of efficient emergency exits, cramped living quarters, improper drainage systems, and general dilapidated facilities. Another issue regarding SDG #9 is how due to their overreliance on tourism, they are constantly trying to find new ways to bring in tourists for them to earn a profit, but in doing so they have also started to stagnate in the actual maintenance of their city.

To rectify this, what Baguio can do is instead of focusing on the constant rise in population, is to instead focus on the maintenance of their already existing infrastructures instead. Both their residentials and their business based buildings have started to see a decline, and in order to maintain it’s image of an ideal tourist attraction, they should also be able to maintain the businesses and areas they already have.

 

Designed by and named after premier American architect and urban planner, Daniel Hudson Burnham, who also designed the original plan for Baguio City. Burnham Park remains, to this day, one of the Philippines' most well-known and best-loved parks. The park retains much of Daniel Burnham's original design and layout a century ago, with a few features added, in true Filipino fashion, to make it a vibrant center of activity for everyone to enjoy.

 

It used to be called Benguet Road before it was named after Col. Lyman W. Kennon who inherited the project from two consecutive leads in 1903. He succeeded in leading 4000 men of 46 nationalities in constructing the road that eventually led to Baguio and the other parts of Benguet.

Technological advancements can improve public services and governance, and with this in mind, a Smart City needs to be able to collect data and use insights to manage resources, assets, and services effectively. The previously envisioned Integrated Command and Control Center of Baguio City finally came to fruition and combined the functions of a coordination office and a monitoring center for Baguio City. An integrated team from the CDRRMO, Police, Fire Services, Health, and EMS Departments will run it, and with these offices assisting the governance of their area, Baguio City will eventually be able to closely monitor and respond to community issues, enhancing peace, order, and safety for its residents.

The city is now suffering from poor air quality, garbage woes, polluted rivers, traffic congestion, and the proliferation of informal settlers and illegal structures. The National Economic Development Authority Cordillera (NEDA-CAR) started to conduct a study about this and they have indicated that the most critical urban carrying capacity indicators that are needed to be considered in Baguio City are road length and area, urban land for construction, water supply, liquid waste treatment capacity, forest cover, and solid waste collection.

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has stated that the city needs to take drastic measures to be able to create change in the city. Especially with air pollution, which in the year 2014 the city was placed at the top of the list of the World Health Organization (WHO) Study on Ambient Air Pollution and was said to be the most polluted air in the Philippines. 

Officials are still working their way up into improving the city’s state, Cimatu has discussed the rehabilitation of Balili and Bued rivers and the conversion of the Irisan dumpsite into an ‘Environmental-Friendly Eco-Park.’ He has also ordered to conduct a research on the ecosystems of the city. The purpose of this study was to extend the life of the Benguet pine tree species. The Benguet Pine Tree plays a significant role in keeping areas of the city safe, it stabilizes the soil to avoid soil erosions in the city, which is very important because the city always tends to have more rainy days than sunny ones. Those trees are also big contributors to reducing pollution and creating more breathable air for people.

Baguio City has gone through many challenges and they have a very well-informed constituency, with diverse experiences and expertise, those little changes may be good for the city but they have to follow a goal that could help direct the city to a better and cleaner place. The local government needs to enforce rules and policies that could promote the improvement of the city. If they continue to follow through with their plans for the city then we might be able to see some improvement in the city sooner than they initially planned. 

There are studies where it is said that Benguet people believe in the existence of unseen beings that originated from the sky world and the underworld. They say that these unsees beings are described as spirits that are thought to have power over man. But they also believe that spirits can be influenced by man as well. Through that, the people struggle to win the favor of the spirits with the use of prayers and material offerings in a ritual.

The festival features parades such as the Grand Float Parade, where they would present various designs of floats that are composed mainly of the vibrant flowers the city is known for, and the Grand Street Parade. This event features a marching band and dance competition between the city’s various elementary schools.