Kaya Today: A System of Scalable Solutions for EDSA

The challenge of revitalizing Metro Manila’s busiest highway is a tall order. EDSA has long served as the primary artery of the metropolis, shaping patterns of movement, work, and daily life across multiple cities, yet its current form leaves persistent gaps in safety, accessibility, and the everyday experience of the people who use it.

RebuildEDSA, a crowdsourced design initiative organized by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, AltMobility PH, and the Move As One Coalition, challenged designers and commuters alike to offer ideas for transforming this stretch into a people-centric, inclusive, accessible, and safe corridor rather than just a high-capacity road for vehicles. 

We accepted this call, developing our own grounded solution that responds to the lived realities and aspirations of those who depend on EDSA every day, through an approach that balances practical intervention, yet aims to realize the fullest potential of EDSA as a people-centered corridor.

Client \  Metro Manila

Location \ EDSA, Metro Manila, Philippines

Building Area \ Various

Program  \ Transportation

Status \ Completed, Finalist

Problem

How do we fix EDSA without stopping it?

It cannot be traced to a single cause, but rather to the web of issues that have accumulated over time. The situation is less about cars alone, and more about a transit system that has continually adjusted to the shifting demands of housing, commerce, governance, and public life—layers added over time that now call for major intervention.

Many visions of a perfect EDSA have been drawn and attempted, yet few have been fully implemented or realized; opting for solutions that are faster and provide immediate results. While most see these as band-aid measures, they also reflect a deeper cultural reality: the Filipino’s innate practicality and improvisational spirit. We are a people who find ways—whether through shortcuts, workarounds, or compromises—to keep things moving. This sense of improvisation is at the heart of our identity.

As a result, EDSA has become a patchwork of ideas, a kind of living organism that mirrors both the resilience and chaos of Filipino life. It resembles “Frankensteined” interventions layered over time—fragments of unfinished visions stitched together that, although often add to the chaos, allow the problem to be resolved temporarily. That’s when we realized: EDSA simply cannot be rebuilt from scratch.

Approach

A ‘better EDSA’ requires one to not only create a utopian version of it, but also one that humbly accepts the fact that we require feasible, attainable, and immediate solutions first. There lies the paradox: quick fixes often add to the problem, but the path to solving the problem begins with those same quick fixes.

We want things now; and we want them to feel as if they’re within arm’s reach. This does not mean settling for patchwork interventions seemingly disconnected from one another, but rather embracing flexibility and compromise—finding progress in pieces. You can’t build a linear park overnight, but you can start with pockets of greenery, small building blocks that gradually shape a bigger picture.

Solution

This project builds on that same principle through a system of scalable solutions, focusing on the primary factors that contribute to the challenges of EDSA. Rather than treating the highway as a single, isolated issue, it acknowledges the many overlapping conditions—transportation, land use, governance, and social dynamics—that shape its current state. By breaking the problem down into smaller  and more manageable parts, the project identifies opportunities where targeted interventions can create visible and lasting improvements.

It is not intended as a one-size-fits-all template. Instead, it presents a menu of solutions that can be applied selectively, each one tailored to address specific issues at varying scales and levels of complexity. Some measures may resolve immediate operational concerns, while others set the foundation for long-term structural change. Together, they form a layered approach flexible enough to adapt over time.

This framework emphasizes empathy as a principle in master planning. It recognizes the realities of limited resources and competing priorities, and allows both local governments and users the autonomy and flexibility to implement changes at their own pace. In doing so, it avoids rigid prescriptions and instead offers a leveled roadmap that is both realistic and aspirational.

Application

While the whole stretch of EDSA needs attention, the RebuildEDSA Challenge focuses on three areas: Roosevelt, Cubao, and Guadalupe, which will serve as starting points to test ideas that can be improved and expanded in the future. These pilot sites were chosen for their role as key feeder routes, their high daily foot traffic, and strategic importance in improving accessibility and multimodal integration along EDSA.

To see how we carefully applied this framework to each of these nodes:, check our official competition boards at: https://sites.google.com/altmobility.ph/edsaredesign/peoples-choice-awards-voting?authuser=0#h.uhtlvkwpnckf, as well as entries from our co-finalists.

Synthesis

Revitalizing all of EDSA demands more than isolated fixes. It requires solutions that acknowledge its existing complex, interwoven challenges. This proposal embraces scalable solutions that are immediately achievable, proving that meaningful change doesn’t have to wait for grand gestures. Designed to accumulate, these interventions allow small but realistic steps to grow into a cohesive framework malleable enough to fit into diverse sites of varying local conditions along this expansive highway. By layering improvements that reinforce each other, today’s modest changes become the foundation for tomorrow’s comprehensive transformation. From plug-in solutions to more ambitious, high-impact interventions—we provide a future-ready framework where each action builds upon the last, constantly adapting to an evolving context. 

By creating a plan that is both empathetic yet optimistic, we can create an attainable roadmap toward our version of EDSA: an uncompromising vision we can truly call—

Kaya Today.

Competition Team    

Supervising Architects  \  Jason Buensalido, Ems Eliseo

Competition Lead  \  Aramis Corullo

Research  \  Ish Natanauan, Patricia Lomeda

Planning  \  Miel Aquino, Ygima Bay

Production \  Jose Concha, Hannah Rivera, Carlo Delos Angeles, Darren Vergara