Makati Central Business District
The Makati Central Business District (Makati CBD) is a financial and central business district in the Philippines located in the heart of Makati in Metro Manila. It is politically known as "Central Cluster" in the West District of Makati. It is different from the Makati civic center known as "Makati Poblacion" which is situated at the northeast portion of the district. It is bounded by EDSA, Amorsolo Street, Ayala Avenue, Gil Puyat Avenue, Osmeña Highway, Zobel Roxas Street, Ocampo Street, Metropolitan Avenue, Nicanor Garcia Street, Kalayaan Avenue, Makati Avenue, Anza Street, Polaris Street, Orion Street, Mercedes Street, Amapola Street and Estrella Street. The whole district occupies barangays of San Antonio, San Lorenzo, Bel-Air, and Urdaneta.
Makati Central Business District
Many of the skyscrapers in Metro Manila are in this area. The business district is also considered one of the most vibrant commercial districts in Southeast Asia. It contains the Ayala Center, one of the region's major shopping centers.
The financial district is managed by two groups—the Makati Commercial Estates Association (MaCEA)[1] and the Ayala Property Management Corporation (APMC).[2]
History[edit]
Pre-war period[edit]
Downtown Makati started out as part of the wide municipality of Santa Ana de Sapa (part of the City of Manila today)[3] and became a town of its own in 1670, then as San Pedro de Macati in honor of its patron, Saint Peter.
In 1851, Don José Bonifacio Roxas (a member of the Ayala-Roxas family) purchased the farm estate of "Hacienda San Pedro de Macati" from the Jesuits for 52,800 pesos. The western portion of the estate is now what is called the downtown.[4] Since then, Makati and its development remain close to the Zobel de Ayala family.[5]
Facilities[edit]
Healthcare[edit]
The Makati CBD is the location of the Makati Medical Center, a private hospital and the largest healthcare company in the country and a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation. The district also contains the Makati Life Medical Center.
Downtown Makati is the one of the most easily accessed business districts in the Philippines. Public transportation within the city is facilitated mostly using inexpensive jeepneys and buses for commuters working in the district. Most of the buses and jeepneys come from EDSA, the main thoroughfare in Metro Manila. Buses plying the avenue from the south Metro Manila and Laguna pass through the central business/financial district daily. Ayala Center is the main public transport terminal inside the district, where various jeepneys, UV Express, and buses stop. This can also accommodate the vehicles of passengers riding the MRT. There are also various point-to-point bus stops especially in Legazpi Village, Glorietta, and One Ayala.[33] There are also available intercity bus in downtown that plies routes from Ayala Center to Bonifacio Global City via McKinley Road operated only by the Bonifacio Transport Corporation, called BGC Bus. In 2015, the city's new transport hub called the McKinley Exchange Corporate Center, which is also along EDSA outside downtown, was opened. People enter and leave the city through this new central transport hub, which serves buses, taxes and jeepneys and is a walking distance from the MRT Ayala station.[34]
There are several parking buildings for car-owned people working in downtown. Taxis are also available for people working in downtown. Because it is the leading business district in the metropolis, it sometimes experiences traffic congestion. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is responsible for traffic regulation in the metropolis. In 1995, they implement road space rationing called Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program to reduce the traffic congestion. Makati's traffic enforcement implement the full number coding scheme to all road vehicles from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. without window hours from Monday to Friday except on holidays. The rule applies except on expressways, where it is not implemented, and on EDSA and Osmeña Highway that follows MMDA's number coding scheme on the same days from 7:00 am to 10:00 am and from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
The downtown district is served by major roads and expressways. The following are:
It is also accessible through some train stations of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT) and Philippine National Railways (PNR). The following are:
The Central Business District will be serviced by the future Makati Intra-city Subway, which is currently under construction. Two stations will be built at Mile Long–Amorsolo in Legazpi Village and Buendia in Barangay San Antonio.