Mandaluyong used to be a forestral agricultural town with rolling terrain, vast grasslands, and marshlands. Its inaccessibility to Manila and adjacent municipalities due to absence of connecting roads rendered Mandaluyong then the most backward amongst municipalities now comprising Metropolitan Manila.

Urbanization gradually began halfway through the 20th Century with the construction of the Sevilla Bridge connecting to Manila, and the improvement of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue or EDSA, then called Highway 54, as well as Shaw Boulevard. Very few open spaces remained by the late 1980’s as industrial sites, commercial strips and residential subdivisions developed.

By 1990, Mandaluyong was about 39.35% Residential, 7.88% Commercial, 12.92% Industrial, 9.50% Institutional, and 30.29% open space (a combination of parks, road networks, cemeteries, and vacant idle land).

Now centrally located in the major transport network in Metropolitan Manila, Mandaluyong suddenly became an ideal location for large business and commercial establishments of global standards. This led to commercialization of land strips along prominent roads such as Ortigas Avenue, Martinez, San Francisco, Sgt. Bumatay, Barangka Drive and Pioneer Streets.

Classification of Mandaluyong into a highly urbanized city in 1994 led to further intensification of land uses. By 1995, commercial activities, mostly in the form of medium to high rise structures, covered about 13.30% of the city land area. Planned development of the area bounded by Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong-Pasig boundary, the Pasig River, and EDSA from a Medium Intensity Industrial Zone into a Central Business District came about in 1997 as the city’s response to major redevelopment projects in prime areas in the Metropolis. Expansion of Ortigas Center and development of Fort Bonifacio CBD have the most considerable influence as these areas are in the immediate vicinity of the Mandaluyong CBD. Gradual dispersal of industries from this area to areas outside Metro Manila was manifested by the rise of towering structures such as the Pioneer Highlands, City Square Pioneer, the Legend Villas, restaurants, furniture shops and other commercial and residential establishments.

Elsewhere in the city proliferated multi-level residential and office condominiums as well as middle-class residential subdivisions, further reducing industrial areas by 1.97% in 1998.

At the turn of the century, commercial activities originally confined to strips along prominent roads appeared in random with institutions and industrial activities, within large expanse of residential areas.

While residential use remained the dominant use in the city, parks and open spaces for public use were in short supply, despite the presence of two large open spaces, one in Brgy. Wack-Wack in the northern part of the city which is actually the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club and exclusively private, and the other in Brgy. Addition Hills, a Planned Unit Development area.

As reflected in the 2001 Land Use Map (Map 08), one can reasonably conclude that development of the city is directed towards full commercialization, not only due to attracting more investors, but also with the tendency of the residents to engage in more economically productive activities as manifested by the proliferation of commercial activities within residential zones.

By the year 2004, Mandaluyong is 36.84 percent Residential, 17.55 percent Commercial, 7.18 percent Institutional, 5.33 percent Industrial and 33.09 percent open space and others (Map 9 / Table 3.01).

Each of the 27 barangays in the city has its own share of commercial areas as these generate additional income to the barangay.

It is evident that development of the city has been solely influenced by externalities such as market forces and development trends in other prime areas, not just in Metro Manila but in the entire country as well. With the newly implemented Land Use Plan, the city has started to put into order mechanisms that promote the general welfare of the people and the environment.

However, there are still problems such as:

-A large portion of the city has a very high population density.
-Presence of squatter settlements/urban blight.
-There are consistent traffic choke areas. This condition worsens during heavy rains and flood.
-Incompatible land uses co-existing in the same area wherein the lower intensity uses are exposed to additional environmental -hazards caused by the neighboring higher intensity uses. This condition also results in unequal access to services most specifically -road usage and water supply.

Map 10 illustrates the city’s Land Use Related Problems.

With the approval of the Comprehensive Development Plan of the City by the Housing and Regulatory Board on April 16, 2001, it is expected that the aforementioned problems will be minimized and in some areas avoided. As can be observed, the approved Land Use Map (Map 38) is somewhat a reflection of the Zoning Map save for the absence of color variations indicating the varying degrees of each land use.

Furthermore, the map clearly defines areas for specific uses (e.g. residential, commercial, institutional, parks and open spaces) allocating more spaces for commercial developments. As can be seen in Table 3.02, there is a considerable increase in area allocation for commercial uses from the 210.56 hectares as originally proposed at the time of preparation of the Comprehensive Development Plan in 1996 to 221 hectares as finally approved in April 16, 2001. This is mainly due to the reclassification of the area bounded by EDSA, Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong-Pasig boundary, and the Pasig River from a Medium Intensity Industrial Zone (I-2) to a Central Business District in 1997.

Moreover, the Pasig River shoreline is highlighted in green indicating the planned and on-going development of linear and pocket parks along the 10-meter river easement which, although legally proclaimed as parks and preservation areas in existing laws and regulations, is currently occupied by industrial establishments.

It is worth noting that the 2004 Land Use Map does not reflect much change in Land Uses from those shown in 2001 Land Use Map, except for nearly full commercialization of Boni Avenue and Shaw Boulevard However, in less than three years since the plan has been implemented, the city’s skyline has changed considerably as property owners and developers opted to take full advantage of the present trend in vertical development as allowed in said Plan. Idle properties with particularly demolished structure proliferated as business establishments mostly industrial in nature relocate elsewhere outside the city. Moreover, passers-by can easily be deceived by innocent looking residential structures that actually hold micro-enterprises and office of profession practitioners.

These changes are well with in the concept of the Plan and it can be said that in its early stage of implementation, the Plan has been successfully instrumental in guiding the development of the city.

On the conservative point of view, the efficiency of the Plan is still under observation as there have been isolated cases wherein pragmatism and other technical considerations led to the granting of appeals to zoning variances and exceptions. These, and changes in people’s lifestyles and beliefs, government policies and global influences will determine future amendments and revisions to the Plan.

To effectively implement the Land Use Plan, the City of Mandaluyong has formulated its own set of regulations embodied in Zoning Ordinance 238, Series of 2000. This came about with the realization that MMC Ordinance 81-01 which is currently in effect in Metro Manila is no longer attuned to the prevailing development practices in highly urbanized areas, what with the worsening problems as a result of intensive land activities putting immense pressure on infrastructure, utilities and the environment.

In effect, City Zoning Ordinance 238, S-2000 integrates, together with new provisions, certain provision of MMC Ordinance 81-01, City Ordinances 128, S-1993 and 164, S-1997. Major changes introduced by this Ordinance are as follows:

Inclusion of a new residential classification, R-4 exclusively for Socialized Housing Projects;

Specification of the ten-meter easement along Pasig and San Juan Rivers and three-meter easement along creeks as areas reserved for linear parks and beautification projects.

The area bounded by EDSA, Shaw Blvd., the Mandaluyong-Pasig boundary, and the Pasig River from I-2 Medium Intensity Industrial Zone to Central Business District;
The area at the corner West of EDSA and north of Shaw Boulevard from C-3 (Metropolitan in scale) to C2 (Quasi-trade activities) Commercial Zone
The C2 Block deep along EDSA from Shaw Boulevard to Ortigas Avenue is subdivided into two lot deep zones: the lot deep along EDSA is maintained as C2 Zone while the lot deep along Harvard St. is reclassified as R1 Zone;
The area behind the Palladium Summit Building was reclassified from C3 High Intensity Commercial Zone to R1 Low Density Residential Zone;
Areas in Brgys. Vergara, Old Zaniga and Namayan previously classified as I1 (Industrial) Zone and presently occupied by residential subdivisions are reclassified into R2 Medium Density Residential Zone.

R2 Zone is sub-classified into R2 Four Storeys only and R2 Four to Seven Storeys;
A special classification of R2 Four Storeys only shall cover the portion of Brgy. Addition Hills north of Shaw Boulevard limiting heights of residential buildings up to four storeys only while the rest of the city under R2 Classification has the option to expand up to seven storeys; R4 Zones are for medium-rise (walk-up) socialized housing.

Parking requirements are higher than the minimum prescribed under PD1097 (National Building Code)

Specific road setback or easements are required for each type of road and zone classifications.

Emphasis on the submission of Environmental Compliance Certificates prior to issuance of Locational Clearances for Environmentally Critical Projects and Projects located in Environmentally Critical Areas.

Mandatory requirement of Locational Clearance prior to issuance of all building permits and business licenses applied for in the City of Mandaluyong.

The ordinance also provides for the creation of the Office of the Zoning Administrator with appropriate duties and responsibilities and staff holding plantilla items subject to the 1997 Revised Qualification Standards of the Civil Service Commission.

This is confirmed by Ordinance No. 273, S-2003 which officially adopted the OZA as a division of the City Planning and Development Office with functions specifically “to implement ZO 238, s-2000 and act on all zoning applications and correspondingly issue Locational Clearance, Zoning Certificate and Certificate of Non-conformance.”