Naga City secures P6.79M grant for AI-powered urban planning system

Naga City becomes the first ever city in the country to have a city planner using artificial intelligence (AI) after the approval from the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) for the 2025 Innovation Grants. 

The approved government proposal grants P6,793,000 to fund a pioneering artificial intelligence–based urban planning and monitoring system.

Endorsed through Project Development Officer III Trish-Marie O. Albeus, the proposal introduces AI tools aimed at improving mobility systems, monitoring development, and supporting evidence-based policymaking in the city.

“This brings us closer to our goal of an open, digital, and participatory Naga by 2028,” Robredo said in her Facebook post.

According to DEPDev, the proposal has the potential to “unlock new opportunities and advance the objectives of the National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document 2023–2032.”

The AI City Planner, through compiling project information, data, and maps, intends to bring people-centric planning onto a single platform.

Delays in ongoing projects, examinations of potential development sites for dangers, assessments of traffic flow, and tasks that typically take days or weeks for local offices and LGUs to complete by hand are some features that the technology can monitor.

With the new funding, Naga City embarks on becoming one of the leading adopters of AI in local governance

The approval was signed by Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon, Chairperson of the National Innovation Council–Executive Technical Board.