Three teams were recognized for their conceptual design proposals promoting a people-centric, accessible, and inclusive EDSA during the culmination of the Rebuild EDSA Challenge, held as part of the 2025 Philippine Mobility Summit on September 15 in Makati City.

 

Organized by the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), AltMobility PH, and Move As One Coalition, and co-presented by Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Quezon City Local Government Unit, the Rebuild EDSA Challenge is a crowdsourced design competition which aims to gather people-centered ideas to make EDSA safer and more inclusive.

 

Launched on July 26, the challenge ran for a month and received 143 submissions, from which eight were shortlisted. Each entry underwent three blind scoring rounds evaluated by 11 esteemed judges composed of transport experts, government officials, urban planners, and mobility advocates.

 

The design criteria was shaped through a public Facebook poll to public aspirations and priorities for a more walkable EDSA. These were centered on five key elements:

• comfort and walkability, creating a safe and pleasant environment for people walking or biking;

• inclusive and seamless access, ensuring that everyone, regardless of age or ability, can move freely and without barriers;

• safety and security, building confidence for users at any time of day;

• context-aware and implementable design, reflecting local realities and practical feasibility; and

• user amenities, enhancing daily street life with features that invite people to pause, connect, and enjoy the space.

“These entries are a powerful testimony that people want better for our commuters. They show that there is so much more that can be done and that countless opportunities exist to improve public transport for the hardworking Filipinos who rely on [EDSA] every day,” stressed Arielle Celine Tabinga, ICSC Manager for Urban Development.

 

To honor the lived experiences of daily commuters by redefining EDSA as not just as a roadway, but as a space that is safe, accessible, and humane, the winning designs were:

• First Place: “In-Habiting the In-Between” by Aldrich D. Remot, Carl Bryan M. Valdez, and Adrian Justine A. Guce
  “In-Habiting the In-Between” takes inspiration from the classic Filipino elevated house, where the upper areas or bulwagan become light-filled, breathable zones for circulation and greeneries, while the silong or spaces beneath provide shaded protection and opportunities for adaptive use.

• Second Place: “#PatokEDSA – A New Chapter for the Philippines’ Most Iconic Avenue” by Aaron Rellon and Eleazar Talabong
  Drawing from the iconic Patok jeepneys, #PatokEDSA reintroduces vibrancy into the country’s most important avenue. Not only does the team envisions reducing traffic, but also wants to restore life, identity, dignity, safety, and joy to millions of daily commuters by “recoloring” EDSA.

• Third Place: “Urban Corridor in Motion” by Ar. Robert Lance R. Salas, together with Ar. Jasmin Mae Garcia, Principal Architect, and Felino ‘Jun’ A. Palafox, Jr
  The team identified three core barriers along EDSA: unrealized land value, gaps in connectivity, and transport over experience. “Urban Corridor in Motion” redesigns an EDSA that puts pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport users at the top of the mobility ladder. This means unlocking station areas for mixed-use hubs, creating seamless and safe connections for active mobility, and designing transit spaces that go beyond movement, to prioritizing human comfort and dignity.

During its launch in July, DOTr affirmed its commitment to develop and implement projects that will make EDSA a comfortable, safe, and accessible corridor for the Filipino people.

 

“As the government examines its rehabilitation plans, the Department welcomes this opportunity to listen to the public and have a collaborative design idea to ensure that the infrastructure we will build will work for everyone,” said Director Joshua Joseph Rodriguez of DOTr Office of the Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure.

 

ABOUT

 

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities is a Philippine-based non-governmental organization that advances climate, energy, and low-carbon solutions to enable fair and climate-resilient development at the national and international levels.

 

AltMobility PH is a transport reform organization committed to making transport in the Philippines sustainable and inclusive.

 

Move As One is a broad civil society coalition of 140 organizations and over 77,000 individuals advocating for safer, more humane, and more inclusive public transportation system in the Philippines.