Slums of Southeast Asia: The Case of Manila, Philippines

Year 2021, Issue: 77, 171 - 182, 30.06.2021

Adem Yulu

https://doi.org/10.17211/tcd.797581

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Manila is a former colonial capital where people live together by working in informal trading businesses within a quite unfavourable ambience. Manila, which is the focus of the country's political, economic, and cultural life, has recently grown spatially and demographically, especially with new migrations from different parts of the country. The lands in Manila, which were once vacant, are today largely filled with different urban areas. At the beginning they were slums which were used for housing and informal commerce. These areas, classified as unfavourable and unhealthy for human settlement, emerged with the support of certain political and economic forces using administrative gaps. The government of the Philippines is also incapable of dealing with uncontrollable urban problems. This paper focuses on slums in Manila, which are in one of the main metropolises of Southeast Asia. Its purpose is therefore to reveal the occurrence of slum districts and the dynamics that were effective in their recent demolition. During the study, an ethnographic method which was predominantly based on observation was used. Primary data collection tools used for the purposes of this study were participant observation, ethnographic interviews and documents. In the light of the data obtained from this research study, the fact that there is a significant relationship between migration from the countryside to Manila and internal migration flows resulting from urban transformation projects and the rapid demographic and spatial growth of Manila was revealed. It also revealed that the demand of the society for luxurious residential areas, shopping malls, entertainment venues, hotels, and business centres has increased since the 2000s and this situation caused the removal of slums in Manila as part of "urban transformation projects”.

Keywords

slum, manila, philippines, Urban transformation projects

Thanks

I am grateful to Anson YU for his contributions to the fieldwork in Manila as well as the support he provided for writing this paper.

Güneydoğu Asya’nın sefalet mahalleleri: Manila örneği, Filipinler

Abstract

Manila; oldukça elverişsiz çevre şartlarında enformal-kayıt dışı ticari işlerde çalışarak geçinmeye çalışan yüzbinlerce insanın bir arada yaşadığı eski bir sömürge başkentidir. Ülkenin siyasal, ekonomik ve kültürel hayatın odağını oluşturan Manila, özellikle farklı bölgelerden aldığı göçlerle mekânsal ve demografik yönden büyümeye devam etmektedir. Manila’da bir dönem boş olan araziler bugün büyük ölçüde farklı şehirsel arazi kullanışlarına sahne olmuştur. Bu kullanışların başında ise ağırlıklı olarak konut ve enformal ticari işlerin bir arada yürütüldüğü slum alanları gelmektedir. İnsan yerleşimi için elverişsiz ve sağlıksız olarak sınıflandırılan bu slum alanları ise yönetim boşluklarına dayanan çeşitli politik ve ekonomik güçlerin desteklenmesiyle ortaya çıkmıştır. Filipinler hükümeti ise kontrolsüz olarak ortaya çıkan şehirsel sorunlarla başa çıkmakta çoğu zaman yetersiz kalmaktadır. Bu çalışma, Güneydoğu Asya’nın başlıca metropollerinden biri olan Manila’daki slum alanlarına odaklanmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı slum semtlerinin ortaya çıkışı ve bunların yakın zamanlarda kaldırılmasında etkili olan dinamikleri ortaya koymaktır. Etnografik yöntemin kullanıldığı çalışmanın başlıca veri toplama araçlarını ise katılımcı gözlem, etnografik görüşmeler ve dokümanlar oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmanın sonuçları göstermektedir ki kırsal alanlardan Manila’ya gerçekleşen göçler ve kentsel dönüşüm projelerinden kaynaklanan iç göçler ile Manila'nın hızlı demografik ve mekânsal büyümesi arasında önemli bir ilişki vardır. 2000’lerden itibaren toplumun lüks yerleşim bölgelerine, alışveriş merkezlerine, eğlence mekanlarına, otellere ve iş merkezlerine olan talebi artmıştır. Bu durum, Manila’nın göçlerle yapılaşan alanların yeniden yapılandırma planlarının bir parçası olarak slum alanlarının ağırlıklı olarak “kentsel dönüşüm projeleriyle” kaldırılmasına zemin hazırlamıştır.

Keywords

slum, Manila, Filipinler, Kentsel dönüşüm projeleri

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