Breaking News: New concepts in Slum Architecture

Slum Weekly 2010 September 01 to 05

MA ISD PROPOSAL BY KAREN ISABEL S. SORIANO

2  SLUM WEEKLY  SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

Introduction

For over 20 years,

I resided in a quiet

neighbourhood

confined within

concrete walls,

in the bustling THE PHILIPPINES AND

FLOODS
metropolis that

is Manila. Shanties no bigger than my bedroom

were braced against this wall, rising vertically,

forming crude, little almost inhabitable

dwelling places. The stream that runs alongside
the wall used to be clear and flowed freely
but now it is no more than a brown creek that
overflows when it rains. What used to be only
a handful of people living in squalor became
a community of informal settlers with more
moving in each day searching for opportunities
and a better life in the city. These people, living
in such confined spaces, are examples of how
to survive in today’s urban conditions in Metro
Manila.
Urban life today holds a promise to its
inhabitants, both bitter and sweet. It is
no wonder that there is a proliferation
of immigrants from the countryside in
According to a recent report by the
Metro Manila Inter-Agency Committee
(MMIC) to the Philippine Supreme Court,
informal settlers in Metro Manila account
for 21 percent of the 2.6 million population
of the metropolis. Majority of the informal
settlers reside in dangerous areas, which
are not suitable for human habitation and
natural calamities. Manila is a natural flood
basin, bordered by three rivers and subject
to torrential rains, typhoons and floods. As
early as 1898, under the American regime,
efforts were made to address and solve
the perennial problem of flooding in the
city. Over the years, however, these efforts,
in the form of infrastructure planning and
development, proved inadequate against
the upsurge of squatter colonies in the city. As
aptly observed by Mike Davis a noted author
on the subject: Improvements in the system
over recent years have been counteracted by
vast volumes of waste dumped into drains and
“esteros” (dredged tidal channels); subsidence
due to over extraction of ground water; the
deforestation of the Marikina and Montalban
watersheds; and, most of all, by the ceaseless
encroachment of shanty housing into
wetlands. The housing crisis, in other words has
transformed both the character and magnitude
of the flood problem, with the poorest fifth of
the population exposed to regular danger and
property loss. In November 1998, for example,
flooding damaged or destroyed the homes of
more than 300,000 people, and on another
occasion, the squatter colony of Tatalon was
drowned under more than 6 meters of water. In
July 2000, moreover, a typhoon deluge caused
the collapse of a notorious “garbage mountain”
in Quezon City’s Payatas slum, burying 500
shacks and killing at least 1000 people.

underdeveloped and even developed countries

every year. It is in their cities, where many

diverse streams of people, commodities, ideas,

images, information, and cultures overlap

and intersect, producing in close proximity,

a multitude of often conflicting images of

urban reality and real city lives. Majority of

the settlers are poor migrants settling under

bridges, beside railroad tracks, streets or

on privately-owned lands putting them in

constant vulnerable eviction by authorities. In

turn, these cities expand to accommodate all

the people such that up to half the population

of the largest cities of underdeveloped and

the developing world are in unplanned and

often illegal squatter colonies.[ ] One of these

countries is the Philippines.

MAP 6 METRO MANILA FLOOD MAP (NATIONAL MAPPING AND RESOURCE INFORMATION AUTHORITY)
 SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010  SLUM WEEKLY  3

“In times of calamity, people look around for someone

to blame, and the fingers were pointed at the slum and
lakeside dwellers”
On September 26, 2009, Typhoon Ketsana (locally known as Ondoy)
hit the Philippines and dumped enormous amounts of rainfall in
one day in Metro Manila causing massive
floods that destroyed more than 2 million
houses and properties, not to mention
roads and bridges and other infrastructure
facilities, and resulted in the loss of 246 lives.
Ketsana dropped 17.9 inches of rain, which
is equivalent to about a month’s worth of
rain in the area surpassing the last recorded
average rainfall brought by another
destructive typhoon 42 years ago at 13.2
inches.[ ] Two days later, another strong and
equally devastating typhoon named Parma
(locally known as Pepeng) made landfall.
Rivers and lakes surrounding Metro Manila
overflowed, forcing the authorities to open
the flood gates to two major dams and to
gradually release the water in order to avert
another major flooding in the city. One lake
in particular, the “Laguna de Bay”, rose to almost two meters deep
flooding the houses of more than 100,000 squatter families living
at the edge of the lake. Six weeks after the typhoon, the squatter
community closest to the lake, the “Lupang Arenda”, was still knee-
deep in water.[ ] In times of calamity, people look around for someone
to blame, and the fingers were pointed at the slum
and lakeside dwellers like those living in Lupang
Arenda who have the propensity to irresponsibly
dump their garbage and waste materials in lakes
and rivers.
Action has been taken to move these people out
of the lake to clear the waterways of garbage and
drain the floodwaters. But relocation would be
placing them in a location that is away from their
livelihoods and accessible public service. Erhard
Berner writes: Metro Manila [is] one of the most
densely populated areas in the world. The price of
one square meter near the commercial centres far
exceeds the annual income of any jeepney driver or
security guard. Yet, the very nature of the income-
generating possibilities requires one to stay close
to where the action is, because distance from
place of work means prohibitive costs in time and
money...The logical result is wide-spread squatting. Virtually all the gaps
left open by city development are immediately filled with makeshift
settlements that beat every record in population density.

SLUMS IN PERIL
A
fter the destruction that Typhoon Ketsana left in the

Philippines, it is not enough that the urban poor have

lost everything, but they are also being evacuated to

out-city locations. Proximity to the city is important to the urban

poor; it is what drove them there in the first place. And the plan to

re-locate all of them, including those from the “Lupang Arenda”,

to off-city locations is too expensive for a country that is deeply

in debt. Indeed, at approximately 3.225 Billion Pesos (about 47

million pounds yearly for the next 10 years for 650,000 families),

the government is in no financial position to absorb the cost. The

better alternative is in-city relocation, which is cheaper in terms

of providing housing, livelihood and related services; it is also

less time consuming. But to actually go through with this is not

as simple as it sounds. Social and political ideals will have to be

challenged. To design an urban city wherein social classes can

coexist in harmony is reminiscent of utopian ideals. Tim Rieniets

describes a city as such; “If there were a city devoid of the ob-

stacles that are impeding the urban livelihood of so many, a city

that could provide all of its’ inhabitants access to the concentrated

multitude of opportunities they have at their disposal, it could be

called an Open City.” Is it possible then to draw upon this theory

and create an open city for the urban poor?

SLUM CITY
4  SLUM WEEKLY  SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010
There are 4 Aspects were considered in the formulation of this Design
Slum Cities are complex as their
growth relies on human ingenuity
and availability of materials, there is
no planning involved, and their every
movemnet is challenged. To be able
to fully develop a design concept that
is effective, our designer came up with
four aspects that answers respective
questions related to Slum Design
SOCIAL: Who are the people living
in the slums? How is their importance
recognized by society?
Current social classification, on the
other hand, is divided into three (3)
groups, i.e., according to wealth, edu-
cation, profession or degree of social/
commercial/political power; hence, the
upper, middle and lower classes. In
these three social classes, people liv-
ing in slums do not fit in, and this is
reflected in the shanties one sees in the
present urban landscape. But what soci-
ety fails to notice is that, while each indi-
vidual in the lower end of society earns
(or spends) too little an amount to bear
a significant impact on the Philippine
economy, as a demographic proportion
of the nation, these people are ironically
considered the driving force behind the
growth of the nation as a whole.
They constitute 63% of the Philippine
labour force and they subsist through
menial work or occasional paid labour;
they form what is known as the informal
sector. Those who are without, or, can-
not find work are resigned to begging,
salvaging from garbage dumps, ped-
dling, and more often than not, steal-
ing, drug-pushing and other criminal
activities.
Significantly, there are 2 groups of
people who live in the slums: the urban
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
At the center of Metro Manila,
is Mandaluyong City, the “Shop-
ping Mall Capital” of the country.
It is bordered by Manila, the coun-
try’s capital on the west, San Juan
City on the North, Pasig City and
Quezon City, the largest city, on
the east and Makati City, the ma-
jor centre for business and com-
merce, on the South. The land has
a granular clay and loam surface
lying on a foundation of compact
and massive adobe. Mandaluyong
poor and the professional squatters. The
former is identified as individuals or fami-
lies residing in urban and urbanizable ar-
eas whose income or combined household
income falls below the poverty threshold.
The latter are individuals or families with
sufficient funds for legitimate housing but
occupy land illegally. The term is also used
to refer to people or squatters awarded lots
or housing by the government, but have
either leased it to others or used it for other
purposes and then go back to where they
were before or move to another place still
as illegal settlers.
POLITICAL OR PRIVATE : What are the
factors that shape the ‘slum’ community?
To what extent are government projects
contributing to the betterment of the ‘slum’
community? How do they affect society?
Most squatters are long-time residents
who found a way of coping with their eco-
A new
concept to
Inner City
Slum
Community
Development
that aims
to give the
Urban poor
permanence
in the city
City is best described as mostly
gentle rolling slopes, partially flat
in the southwest and higher at the
northeast. The lowest point is lo-
cated inland and mostly affected
by flash floods. It has 2 major rivers
running through it: Pasig River and
San Juan River, and has six creeks
traversing inland. In terms of geo-
hazards, it has a very low risk fac-
tor for earthquakes, but is greatly
affected by flash floods caused by
heavy rains and typhoons.
nomic problems. The efforts of the gov-
ernment in the late 1980s to beautify and
modernize Manila led to conflict and forced
eviction of squatters and the demolition of
their shanties in order to give way to the
development of urban properties, public
or private. In defence of their rights, two
types of organizations have thrown their
support for the squatters: these are non-
governmental organizations (NGO’s) and
private syndicates.
The NGO’s are advocates of civil, hu-
man and political rights. Over the last two
decades, NGO’s have increased their ef-
fectiveness through networking and co-
alition building, campaigning for policy
reforms, adopting good practice standards
and advancing “sustainable development”.
Private syndicates on the other hand (also
referred to as Professional squatting syn-
dicates), are informal and illegal organiza-
tions that encourage the proliferation of
 SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010  SLUM WEEKLY  5

Mandaluyong is a bustling commercial

and business centre with headquarters for

the Asian Development Bank and other ma-

jor banks and corporations. It is home to

UniLab, a prominent pharmaceutical labo-

ratory. Major events in Philippine history

occurred here such as, the “Edsa Revolu-

tion” in 1986 which was staged along Epi-

fanio Delos Santos Avenue, a major high-

way that stretches across the city. It has

27 barangays (the smallest government

administrative unit). Residents have access

to good hospitals, churches and reputable

schools. The Department for Social Welfare

and Development (DSWD), along with the for use by the DSWD in Mandaluyong for their location of my site to one triangular block along F.

National Centre for Mental Health and the various programs and projects. But in 1986, Martinez Avenue which is one of the busiest streets

Women’s Correctional Institute, are located shanties began to sprout all over the area. In running along “Welfareville”. I chose a triangular

2008, the DSWD pushed for the sale of the block because it best describes the kind of awk-

land with 20% of the profits to be allocated ward space that is normally occupied by illegal

for the illegal settlers, but this was vetoed by settlers and it best displays their ability to grow

the President of the Philippines. The area is and adapt according to what is available to them.

aptly called “Welfareville” as it is where most

of the DSWD’s programs are situated. The site

is approximately 100 hectares divided into 45

blocks and houses thousands of urban poor in

here. It is a city that has everything and each block.

anything and it is in a location that is at- Given the information above, “Welfareville” is

tractive to a number of citizens. the perfect site for my proposal as it is govern-

One such particular set of people that ment owned with practically no threat of evic-

reside here are the legal slum residents tion, central to the city and the Metropolis and

of “Wellfareville” in Brgy. Addition Hills. has access to all the things that the urban poor

In 1980, the government established land have came for. With this in mind, I narrowed the

Concept to allow for a better understanding of Slum Communities

squatters by occupying and appropriat-
ing vacant lands and holding them out to
the homeless or squatters for rent or sale
and/or engage in various forms of illegal
activities.
Efforts have been made by the govern-
ment to ensure national housing for the
people. In fact, the Urban Development
and Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA) seeks to
provide social housing to the marginalized
sector by addressing their access to land
and housing. The law also mandates local
government units to provide shelter to
qualified beneficiaries and to undertake
measures to curtail the activities of profes-
sional squatters and squatting syndicates.
All government projects are geared to-
wards land tenure, minimal construction
assistance for housing especially for reset-
tlement projects, but with limits to water,
electricity, livelihood and basic services.
In the private sector, there are a number
of organizations or clubs that perform out-
reach programs to slum communities, be
it values education or livelihood develop-
ment. To be sure, there is never a shortage
of people who want to help or sponsor a
community.
INFRASTRUCTURE: What are the strat-
egies adopted and resorted to by slum
dwellers when building their community
without any formal interventions? When
and how do design and planning come
into play?
Urban ‘slum’ dwellers are a sign of a seri-
ous problem; they are an indication that a
city has grown in size faster than existing
facilities or infrastructure could provide.
They are forced to live under that situa-
tion because of economic factors, mainly
joblessness and poverty.
Selecting a dwelling is fairly simple.
The first step is the appropriation of a va-
cant land to settle on, sometimes done by a
‘slum’ lord and sold or rented to a slum com-
munity. The sites are usually either private
or government-owned empty lots, or, un-
finished or abandoned buildings, etc. The
next step is to build their shanty or anything
that will protect them from the elements. In
this regard, there are 3 kinds of slum hous-
ing: (1) temporary shelter made of salvaged
materials; (2) semi-temporary shelter; and
(3) permanent shelter. For a small group
of families, housing starts with temporary
shelters made out of materials either picked
up or salvaged or stolen. Where no threat
of eviction exists, the structure is slowly
upgraded to a semi-temporary shelter and
later to a more permanent dwelling. This
triggers an expansion of the community
depending on how much land and space
can be occupied.
The growth of a community may be through
an organic process or an induced process. An
organic process is when the community relies
on its own resources like building materials,
labour, etc. for the expansion and develop-
ment of the community. An induced process is
when an organization outside a community in-
terferes and operates with projects, objectives
and goals for the development of the whole
settlement.[ ] Water supply and electricity are
tapped or bought, usually illegally. Water, if not
coming from a deep well, would be pumped
out from the ground by attaching lines from
the water mains, or at times from a hydrant.
Wires are connected to electric poles to tap
into electricity and even TV cable and phone
lines. This explains why, in the Philippines, most
utility companies have to raise their poles to
almost 10 meters off the ground.
The inside of a slum community is a myr-
iad of alleyways, steps, houses and people.
Most of their public walkways, if not commis-
6  SLUM WEEKLY  SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

4 Aspects
Continuation...
sioned by the local Mayor, is
unpaved and muddy when
wet. Local businesses con-
centrated in their commu-
nity are “usually located near
public streets or avenues
and occupy the ground floor
of houses. The second floor
is usually reserved for pri-
vate use. For a small house,
a room would normally have
multiple functions, either as
dining area, living area and
sleeping area. These spaces
are usually shared by a fam-
ily of 5 or more, and at times
extend to relatives and close
personal friends who have
no place to stay and have just
moved in from the province.
Some houses also have roof
decks that function as laun-
dry area or function area
for gatherings. If the private
spaces are insufficient, these
are converted into another
living space. This explains
why most expansions of the
structures are upwards. Most
materials used in building The best way to approach the growing ‘slum’ issues in the
are mainly recycled materials
from demolitions, abandoned city is to guide the settlers and not to attack them. If they
structures, garbage dumps or
anything picked off the road. were given foundations to build upon and be treated as

THE PROPOSAL
The ability of informal settlers
to put these together to form
shelter is amazing as they rely
on basic hand tools such as a
hammer, saw and nails.

HAZARDS: The geographi-

cal definition for a slum settle-
ment is one that is hazardous,
unattractive, health-threat-
ening and protected against
rising land values. These sites
are the first victims of floods,
typhoons, earthquakes, land-
slides etc. But what concerns By introducing to them a system that improves their
them the most is the ever-
present threat of fire. The way of life, housing issues can be resolved. Looking
regular use of cooking gas, back at the 4 aspects that I have enumerated, the
candle, exposed electrical one basic problem they have is the provision of basic
wirings, and sometimes even utilities. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
leaky pipes, make their dwell-
ings virtual firetraps. A fire can
“while humans have a wide range of needs, they must
first meet very basic survival needs like food, shelter
...by locating these
posts in a manner that
start from a simple cooking
accident or from intense heat and water”. Since housing is more expensive to
during summer where tem- provide and would require a bigger budget from the
does not control but
peratures can sometime soar
as high as 38 degrees Celsius,
government, and housing loans may not be viable
or it could be intentional. for the urban poor because of lack of paying capacity,

Slum fires are also hard to

control because oftentimes,
fire trucks have no way to
manoeuvre inside the snak-
ing alleyways. The same can
be said for ambulances when
there are emergencies. People
why not start off with providing them access to basic
utilities. guide the growth of
the community, the
I would start by building them the foundations that
are necessary for them to have safe infrastructures
in their community. By first placing a simple 1 sqm.
development can be
main structural post made of concrete and steel

have to be carried out of their
dwellings to where an ambu-
lance is parked usually more
organized, allowing
with plugs for the water and electricity line that
can be shared by 4 households at the most, so that
they immediately have provisions for the necessary
wider streets and better
utilities. The next step is to add 4 structural posts that
are imbedded in the ground for additional support.
In this way, the growth of the community would
be still within their own methods and processes.
paths for the movement
By locating these posts in a manner that does not
control but guide the growth of the community,
of people and small
the development can be organized, allowing wider
streets and better paths for the movement of people vehicles especially
and small vehicles especially emergency vehicles.
Also, I recommend the elevation of their residences emergency vehicles...
to at least a minimum of 1.00 meter off the ground
to protect them from floods during the rainy season.
 SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010  SLUM WEEKLY  7

LEGEND SITE PLAN

a triangular block best de-
scribes the kind of awkward
Main concrete structural space that is normally occu-
post, weight bearing with
provision for electrical,
cable, Tel and water lines
pied by illegal settlers
and it best displays
their ability to grow
and adapt according
Sub-structural post
Cut Bamboo (pre-treated) to what is available to
elevated from the ground
with metal caps and live
bamboo bound together with
them

What is good about squatter cities is that they improve the appearance of
their structures steadily and gradually by themselves.[ ] It is almost an organic
process in a way as there are no drawings or plans drafted before they are
developed. And the ability of the settlers to recycle materials makes their
place a “green community”. To contribute to the development of a “green
community”, I propose, the use of coconut fibre boards and bamboo as primary
building materials. If there is also a way that live bamboo can function as
foundation sub-post, the ability of the community to expand upwards will
not be hindered since bamboo grows rapidly.

POSSIBLE OUTCOME OF HOUSING LAYOUT

8  SLUM WEEKLY  SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

The proposal is a combination

of an organic and induced process
of forming the slum community.
In this process, both the residents
and the government share control
in the growth of the community.
Socially, the people will have
more security in terms that the
site is primarily in government
lands and they have permission
to inhabit the space. With this
in mind, they somehow regain
their political rights especially
rights to house and home, and
elevate their status from informal
to formal settlers. Permanence
is the key for them to be able to
improve their stature in society
and in life. If the government
abides by this, and end out-of-city
relocations and forced evictions it
may contribute to urban progress.
The government can spend less
in housing construction and
more on health and livelihood
for the urban poor. In terms of
Infrastructure, they will be better
equipped in surviving the usual
hazards that they face. Though
there is not much intervention in
the appearance of their homes,
except for the recommendation
of economical materials, this is
due to the fact that what they
have at present is enough and it is
what gives their community that
unique adaptive quality. Though
in terms of population, they will
be overcrowded but the density
of a community in a confined
area reduces cost in piped water,
sewers, drains, roads, electricity,
garbage collection, transport,
health care and schools. In this way,
they are slowly contributing to the
preservation of energy and natural
resources hopefully causing a chain
reaction of bringing the city into
a more sustainable environment. PROJECTED
And to think this is all due to the
slum community’s ingenuity and COMMUNITY GROWTH
practicality. Hopefully it could also
trigger a wave of design solutions
to other urban problems.
I believe that through this
process, the urban poor will no
longer be considered as social
outcasts, rather they will be
citizens that no longer have to live
in fear and hardship every single
day and is capable of earning a
decent living, maintain a stable life
and live peacefully with the rest
of the people in the city as just a
“community”.

PERSPECTIVE RENDERING OF THE

COMMUNITY AND THEIR RESPECTIVE
INTERIOR SPACES. With the proposal, living
conditions are less cramped and there is
a better free flowing access all around the
community. And comunalitive spaces are
created in between.