By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
URBANIZATION outside Metro Manila is expected to drive demand for building modernization and elevator and escalator solutions, according to Finland’s KONE Corp.
“The megatrends are all positive, like urbanization, gross domestic product growth, the relatively young population, and how it’s driving people to the cities,” KONE Managing Director for the Philippines Petteri Kyrklund said on the sidelines of KONEct 2025 on Friday.
“There’s the trend that digitalization is also something that is helping the smart city initiatives. Many cities have already existing initiatives to make the cities smarter, greener, and sustainable. So all the megatrends are supporting long-term growth,” he added.
In particular, KONE projects the size of the Philippines’ elevator and modernization market to hit $52.6 million by 2030.
However, Mr. Kyrklund said he expects developments outside Metro Manila to drive growth for companies like KONE.
“I think it’s going to be more and more outside. Of course, most of the projects are still in Metro Manila. Modernization is 90% probably in Metro Manila, but the new-building growth will be more and more outside,” he said.
“This makes sense to me because why would you want to over-congest one place over others? So we already see massive growth in Bacolod, Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao. There are many places where the growth is going to be more and more,” he added.
He estimated the urbanization rate in the Philippines at about 49%, indicating that about 50 million people living in cities.
“By 2050, it is estimated to double, so it is going to be over 100 million. So, obviously this will put a lot of pressure on urbanization and the need to build taller and to have smart cities,” he said.
“The Philippines is a sizable market. It is a good market to be in because there are opportunities, and there is growth. The modernization market, I think, after Singapore, is very big here because there are also a lot of old buildings here,” he added.
He said that residential projects remain the industry’s biggest market.
“That is not specific to the Philippines. I think that is everywhere. So then we have office, retail, and hotels. And one that is growing very fast is medical. But residential continues to be the biggest,” he said.
He said most developers have been moving towards retail and hospitality but noted that the trend might be short-lived.
“In the long term I expect all of these residential buildings will bounce back. There is a lot of need for residential buildings in the Philippines, especially outside Metro Manila,” he added.
On Friday, the company introduced its KONE High-Rise MiniSpace DX elevator, which is designed for new and existing buildings over 150 meters.
