“Humanizing Socialized Resettlement Housing Programs: A Challenge Towards Sustainability Practices in Urban and Rural Communities"
There is an urgency to address the needs brought about by urbanization: rapid growth of the city driven by high population growth and an influx of rural migrants attracted by the economic opportunities available in metropolitan cities, Metro Manila being a case in point, whose urban poor have increased considerably in the last few decades starting from the 1960s due to the deficiency of job opportunities in the rural areas. Out of the Philippines’ 1.4 million informal settler families, Metro Manila has a large 51% share of them: they settle by the riverbanks, along the walls of Manila Bay, under bridges, in parks and along railroad tracks. At least 85,000 families live here informally due to the pull of the city and poverty in their hometown. Many have organized themselves into slums that have withstood pressures from local government units and rightful landowners, in many cases constituting a strong political will.
In the absence of secure shelter, a large proportion of these migrants have embanked along the Pasig River which acted as a magnet due to its physical assets, e.g. livelihood, affordable settlement and transport, as it traverses the major cities of Metro Manila. Various attempts have been made at relocating these slum dwellers, at times becoming an abrupt extraction from the riverbanks, without proper transition, adaptation or integration of the urban renewal programs to serve the human needs of these informal settlers.
Through case studies from housing community program models, an assessment is made on the quality of life that specific relocation sites provide, measured in terms of space allocation and provision of amenities vis-à-vis the minimum standards set by the National Building Code and assessing its appropriateness. Results of studies done by urban planning experts from the Asian Development Bank on the integration of these resettlers into their host communities and LGU participatory management with public-private partnerships are reflected. Further, an analysis is drawn on the effectiveness of these resettlement housing programs in the hope of having better living conditions, identifying the problem areas and bringing out the best practices in this regard. Background data through desk research are taken from pertinent websites. Excerpts from the UN Habitat Agenda and Millennium Goals serve as the backdrop for the intent to “humanize” these housing programs, with focus on sustainability measures and “harmonious urbanization” principles. Interviews with key persons directly involved in the resettlement housing issue (from the National Housing Authority and the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission), focused group discussions with the heads or representatives of the informal settler groups were conducted as well as ocular inspection and in-depth study of a rural relocation site as well as in-city urban resettlement communities in Manila.
It is a challenge to architects and urban planners to provide their services to humanize socialized housing with a view towards encouraging participatory management in the relocation sites, respecting the rights of each family as the basic structure of society by considering the socio-cultural and economic factors which go into their lifestyle, thereby implementing effective measures of sustainability and fostering growth towards harmonious urbanization.
Seminar 14 Slides
Seminar 14 Discussion Paper
SGRA is a non-profit, non-government organization. We need your help by properly acknowledging any benefit you might have obtained from downloading materials from this website. SGRA E-MAIL .
Stephanie Gilles is currently a graduate student taking Masters in Urban Design and is a teaching associate at the College of Architecture of the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus. She is the Principal Architect of SNG Design Enterprise and is an active member of the United Architects of the Philippines, the Philippine Green Building Council and the Green Architecture Advocacy of the Philippines. She has presented papers in seminars and conferences in the Philippines and in other countries, e.g., Italy (Rome), Japan (Tokyo and Kitakyushu) and China (Beijing). Her email address is: [email protected]. She has a Linked-In and Facebook account as well.