A Walking-Centric Urban Livability Assessment of Baguio City using Open-Source GIS Data

Abstract. Urban livability measures how well a city can support the well-being of its residents. In population dense, rapidly urbanized cities, assessing livability while considering walkability is important in policy making and urban planning. Baguio City conducts its own livability assessment but doesn’t fully consider the 4 dimensions of livability recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This study assessed Baguio City’s urban livability on a grid and barangay level based on the 4 dimensions: convenience, amenity, health, and safety, with 15 indicators adapted from Fu et al. (2019). Open-source data was used for the livability indicators and priority values per indicator were provided by experts and scored using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Results showed that moderately livable areas are in the city center and lower city zones are of declining livability, and that no barangays were classified as fully or least livable. A paired two-sample T-test between the computed Urban Livability Index (ULI) and the city governments’ own assessment suggest that ULI from both methods are not significantly different despite dissimilarities in the factors considered. The results of the study provide alternative insights for Baguio City that are useful in crafting policies concerning the well-being of its residents. The methods used are replicable and scalable, enabling evidence-based decisions across various urban locales.