Quezon City, National Capital Region, Philippines

🇵🇭 Quezon City, also known as the City of Quezon and abbreviated as Q.C., is the most populous city in the Philippines. The city is known for its ethnic and cultural diversity, Philippine entertainment industry, government edifices and its sprawling metropolitan area. It has a diverse and robust economy, and hosts businesses in a broad range of professional and cultural fields.

The city was intended to be the national capital of the Philippines that would replace Manila, as the latter was suffering from overcrowding, lack of housing, poor sanitation, and traffic congestion. To create Quezon City, several barrios were carved out from the towns of Caloocan, Marikina, San Juan and Pasig, in addition to the eight vast estates the Philippine government purchased for this purpose. It was officially proclaimed as the national capital on October 12, 1949, and several government departments and institutions moved out of Manila and settled into the new capital city. This necessitated the expansion of the city northwards, carving out Novaliches from Caloocan which divided it into two non-contiguous parts. Several barrios were also taken from San Mateo and parts of Montalban. However, on June 24, 1976, Presidential Decree 940 was enacted, which reverted back to Manila the status of being the national capital while the whole of Metro Manila was designated as the seat of government.

Quezon City is known for its culture, entertainment industry and media, and is aptly called the "City of Stars". Major broadcasting networks have their headquarters and studios in the city. It is also known for its commerce, education, research, technology, politics, tourism, art and sports. Several national government branches including the Batasang Pambansa Complex, the seat of House of Representatives of the Philippines, calls the city home.

Quezon City is a planned city. It covers a total area of 161.11 square km (62.20 sq mi), making it the largest city in Metro Manila in terms of land area. It is politically subdivided into Six Congressional Districts, which represents the city in the Lower House of the Congress of the Philippines. The city has 142 barangays under the City Government. National government departments and agencies are mostly situated at the National Government Center I (NGC I) in Diliman, and the National Government Center II (NGC II) in Batasan Hills, where the Lower House of the Philippine Congress is located. Most of the city's northern part lies at the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range, including the La Mesa Watershed Reservation, the largest watershed in Metro Manila and a designated protected area.

Economy Quezon City is a hub for business and commerce, as a centre for banking and finance, retailing, transportation, tourism, real estate, entertainment, new media, traditional media, telecommunications, advertising, legal services, accountancy, healthcare, insurance, theater, fashion, and the arts in the Philippines. The National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines which annually publishes the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), ranks the cities, municipalities and provinces of the country according to their economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure. Quezon City was the Most Competitive City in the country from 2015 to 2019 assuring that the city is consistently one of the best place to live in and do business. It earned the Hall of Fame Award in 2020 for its consecutive top performance. There are about 86,000 registered business in the city. As of 2019, Quezon City is the second richest city in the Philippines after Makati. The city's total asset stood at ₱96.4 billion, while it has the biggest liability at ₱21.624 billion.

Information and communications technology Quezon City bills itself as the ICT capital of the Philippines. Quezon City was the first Local Government Unit (LGU) in the Philippines with a computerised real estate assessment and payment system, which was developed in 2015 that contains around 400,000 property units with capability to record payments. The city has 33 ICT parks according to PEZA, which includes the Eastwood City Cyberpark in Bagumbayan, the first and largest IT Park in the country.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Philippines has its headquarters in the city.

Media and entertainment Quezon City is known as the "Entertainment Capital of the Philippines" and the "City of Stars", since it is where major studios located and most Filipino actors and actresses reside. To support the film industry, the city established the Quezon City Film Development Commission (QCFDC). The city also holds its own film festival, the QCinema International Film Festival, every October or November and showcases local and international films, documentaries, and short films, and gives grants to their creators.

Quezon City is home to the Philippines' major broadcasting networks. There are 11 local television networks, 6 cable TV, 7 AM radio stations, and 4 FM radio stations in the city. Major commercial broadcast network in the Philippines such as ABS-CBN and GMA Network have their headquarters in the city. From 1992 to 2013, TV5 had its headquarters in the city. It moved to Mandaluyong in 2013 although TV5's former Novaliches headquarters still serves as its alternate studios. Its transmitter in Novaliches is still being used and operated by the network. State-owned media and television network such as RPN, IBC and PTV also have their headquarters in the city.

Minor/religious broadcasting companies in the city include CEBSI (formerly CBS), DZCE-TV and EBC (Net 25), which are all affiliated with Iglesia ni Cristo. UNTV is another minor/religious broadcasting network affiliated with Members Church of God International. Major broadcasting facilities in the city include the Net 25 Tower, the tallest communications tower in the Philippines standing at 907 feet (276 m), RPN's South Tower (492 ft; 150.0 m), GMA's Tower of Power (777 ft (236.8 m)), ABS-CBN's Millennium Transmitter (720 ft (219.5 m)), the ABS-CBN's ELJ Communications Center, GMA Network Center, and the UNTV Broadcast Center. Formerly, the Broadcast City in Matandang Balara was once home to Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Radio Philippines Network (RPN) and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC).

Education: University Quezon City, along with Manila, is the centre for education in the Philippines. There are two state universities within the city limits: the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Quezon City (PUPQC). The city-run Quezon City University (QCU) has established three campuses around the city: San Bartolome, San Francisco and Batasan Hills.

Private universities include the AMA Computer University, Central Colleges of the Philippines (CCP), Far Eastern University – FERN College, Kalayaan College, National College of Business and Arts (NCBA), the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP).

Quezon City hosts prestigious Catholic educational institutions such as the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), Immaculate Heart of Mary College, St. Paul University Quezon City, Saint Pedro Poveda College, Siena College of Quezon City and the UST Angelicum College. It is also the home to other sectarian colleges and universities such as the Evanglical Grace Christian College, Episcopalian-run Trinity University of Asia, and the Iglesia ni Cristo founded New Era University (NEU).

The presence of medical schools has made Quezon City a centre of healthcare and medical education. These include Our Lady of Fátima University, FEU Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, St. Luke's College of Medicine, Capitol Medical Center Colleges, and the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC).

Transport Transportation in the city is purely land based. As of 2006, the MMDA Traffic Operation Center revealed that the most dominant type of transport in the city is private transportation, accounting for 82.49% of the total volume, while public transport such as buses, and jeepneys and taxis make up 13.72%, followed by industrial and commercial vehicles (such as trucks and vans) at 3.79%. The Metro Manila Skyway is the only elevated expressway passing through Quezon City, serving as a tolled connector between the North and South Luzon Expressways. The proposed Southeast Metro Manila Expressway (C-6 Expressway) will connect parts of Quezon City and will have its northern terminus in Batasan Hills.

Famous modes of transportation in the city to get around are the jeepney, city buses and the UV Express, which follow fixed routes for a set price. All types of public road transport plying Quezon City are privately owned and operated under government-issued franchises. As of September 2020, the city has distributed 276 e-trikes in selected barangays in hopes of promoting energy efficient and clean technologies in the transport sector.

In 2021, the city government began operating eight city-wide bus routes under the Quezon City Bus Augmentation Program. The service is also referred to as City Bus and the QCity Bus Service. On April 28, 2023, the service was made permanent through Quezon City Ordinance No. SP-3184, series of 2023, or the "Q City Bus Ordinance", placing the program under the Quezon City Traffic and Transport Management Department.

Transport: Rail Quezon City is served by LRT Line 1 (LRT-1), LRT Line 2 (LRT-2), and the MRT Line 3 (MRT-3). LRT-1 runs along the northern portion of EDSA (AH26/C-4), and ending at the North Triangle Common Station where it connects to Lines 1, 7 and the Subway. LRT-2 runs through Aurora Boulevard (R-6/N59/N180), connecting Quezon City to Manila, San Juan, Marikina, Pasig, Cainta and Antipolo. MRT-3 runs through EDSA (AH26/C-4), linking Quezon City to the cities of Mandaluyong, Makati and Pasay. Railway lines that are under-construction within the city are the MRT Line 4 (MRT-4), MRT Line 7 (MRT-7) and the Metro Manila Subway (MMS). The North Triangle Common Station, which will link Lines 1, 3, and the Metro Manila Subway, which is currently under construction at the intersection of EDSA and North Avenue.

Transport: Air The city is served by Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the south and Clark International Airport to the north. In the future, it will also be served by the upcoming New Manila International Airport located in the adjacent province of Bulacan. All are located outside the city limits.

Water supply, power and telecommunications Water services is provided by Maynilad Water Services for the west and northern part of the city and Manila Water for the south-eastern part. The Novaliches-Balara Aqueduct 4 (NBAQ4), constructed by Manila Water, is the largest water supply infrastructure project in Metro Manila. NBAQ4 measures 7.3 km (4.5 mi) long and 3.1 meters (10 ft) in diameter, and the aqueduct has a capacity of 1,000 MLD (millions of liters per day) or 1,000 kL (35,000 cu ft) per day. The La Mesa Dam and Reservoir is situated at the northernmost part of the city, covering an area of more than 27 square km (10 sq mi). The reservoir contains the La Mesa Watershed and Ecopark.i

Electric services are provided by Meralco, the sole electric power distributor in Metro Manila. As of December 2009, Meralco has a total of 512,255 customers within the city: 461,645 (90.1%) residential, 49,082 (9.6%) commercial, and 1,110 (0.2%) industrial. Street lights have 418 accounts. As of October 2019, the city has 26,776 LED streetlights.

With the liberalization of the telecommunications industry, the city benefitted by having more firms that offer telephone and internet services. Notable telecommunication companies operating in the city include PLDT/Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Dito Telecommunity, Multimedia and Eastern Telecommunications Services, Inc.

Domestic solid waste The Payatas dumpsite was the largest landfill in Metro Manila. It was established in the 1970s on the barangay of the same, located at the north-east part of Quezon City. The area where the landfill is situated used to be a ravine surrounded by farming villages and rice paddies. When the Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila, was closed in 1995, people who resided and worked as scavengers there migrated to the Payatas dumpsite, establishing a squatter colony around the dumpsite. On July 10, 2000, the deadly Payatas landslide occurred, when large heaps of garbage dump collapsed on a nearby informal settlers' community and burned, killing between 218 and 700 people. Following the tragic collapse, Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 was passed, which mandates the closure of open dumpsites in the Philippines by 2004 and controlled dumpsites by 2006. In 2004, the Payatas dumpsite was reconfigured as a controlled disposal facility but it was closed down in December 2010. A separate dumpsite was established near the old open dumpsite in January 2011. The newer dumpsite closed in December 2017.