At the 2026 Anthology festival in Manila's historic Intramuros district, ASEAN architects and planners converged on a concept with profound implications for tourism: shared ground. The festival's theme, championed by founder William Ti Jnr, reframes architecture as territorial responsibility, where every building alters the ground it touches—affecting groundwater, pedestrian flows, and access to light and air.
For travel professionals, this principle translates directly into how destinations are conceived, built, and managed. Instead of isolated luxury enclaves, the focus shifts to interconnected environments that embrace local communities, ecosystems, and regional geography. As Ti notes, architecture does not end at the property line; in Southeast Asia, the ground is layered, productive, and ecological.
From national competition to regional ecosystem preservation
In a hyper-globalised region, environmental and economic impacts cross borders freely. A coastal development in one country alters capital flows, labour patterns, and water systems in another. Shared ground thinking demands that cross-border corridors—such as the Mekong sub-region—be planned collectively. Building a cruise terminal or high-speed rail link must consider regional supply chains and migratory realities, shifting from national competition to regional ecosystem preservation.
This approach does not signal the end of privatisation. Mega-resorts and gated communities have long sealed off local communities, but shared ground promotes porosity—edges where the ground level remains a democratic layer. Designs encourage civic exchange, with open communal hubs, public pathways, and shared backyards where tourists and locals interact over food, recreation, and culture. Kernel Design's The Ground Bangkok exemplifies this, operating as a dynamic community hub that supports life throughout the day.
Climate resilience as a design imperative
Asia's ground is increasingly friable, with brutal droughts, heavier monsoons, super-typhoons, and tidal surges. Architecture must act as territorial responsibility, not static visual statement. Firms like WOHA Architects—behind Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali and Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore—and VTN Architects in Vietnam prioritise blending built forms with topography, water retention grids, and local flora. Tourism structures thus participate in climate resilience rather than draining local resources.
A senior Filipino interior designer, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed functionality over aesthetics: “The simpler the better. Instead of wasting space with plants, put benches so that it won't be wasted. There should be trees, not shrubs. In Italy, along public walkways, you have orange trees which provide shade and those walking by can pick the fruit; nothing is wasted. Spaces, especially green spaces, must not be hard to maintain after a while.”
Heritage and authenticity through shared ground
Shared ground offers relief—though not a panacea—to the effects of rapid urbanisation and commercial tourism. Heritage sites in Yangon, Jakarta, and Penang have suffered from demolition and ill-conceived development. Applying shared ground honours historical layers: colonial grids, indigenous typologies, and sacred spaces. Instead of flattening regional identity into standardised modern facilities, the concept champions adaptive reuse of cultural landscapes. Filtering vernacular architecture through contemporary design counters the commodification of local culture, giving travellers an authentic sense of place rooted in collective memory.
For tourism stakeholders, this signals a shift toward more sustainable, community-integrated projects. As climate pressures mount, shared ground planning offers a framework for resilience and authenticity—lessons that extend beyond Southeast Asia. The region's approach could inform global practices, particularly in destinations facing overtourism. For more on how other regions are tackling similar challenges, see Spain's off-peak tourism push and ethical wildlife travel gains ground.
As Southeast Asia grapples with climate and overtourism, shared ground planning offers a path forward—one that integrates local ecosystems and communities into the very fabric of tourism development. The region's architects and planners are leading the way, and the travel industry would do well to follow.
