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    Breaking News: New concepts in Slum Architecture

    Slum Weekly2010 September 01 to 05

    MA ISD PROPOSAL BY KAREN ISABEL S. SORIANO

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    For over 20 years,

    I resided in a quiet

    neighbourhood

    conned within

    concrete walls,

    in the bustling

    metropolis that

    THE PHILIPPINES AND

    FLOODS

    Introduction

    is Manila. Shanties no bigger than my bedroom

    were braced against this wall, rising vertically,

    orming crude, little almost inhabitable

    dwelling places. The stream that runs alongside

    the wall used to be clear and owed reely

    but now it is no more than a brown creek that

    overows when it rains. What used to be only

    a handul o people living in squalor became

    a community o inormal settlers with more

    moving in each day searching or opportunities

    and a better lie in the city. These people, living

    in such conned spaces, are examples o how

    to survive in todays urban conditions in Metro

    Manila.

    Urban lie today holds a promise to its

    inhabitants, both bitter and sweet. It is

    no wonder that there is a prolieration

    o immigrants rom the countryside in

    underdeveloped and even developed countries

    every year. It is in their cities, where many

    diverse streams o people, commodities, ideas,

    images, inormation, and cultures overlap

    and intersect, producing in close proximity,

    a multitude o oten conicting images o

    urban reality and real city lives. Majority o

    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 hal the population

    o the largest cities o underdeveloped and

    the developing world are in unplanned and

    oten illegal squatter colonies.[ ] One o these

    countries is the Philippines.

    According to a recent report by the

    Metro Manila Inter-Agency Committee

    (MMIC) to the Philippine Supreme Court,

    inormal settlers in Metro Manila account

    or 21 percent o the 2.6 million population

    o the metropolis. Majority o the inormal

    settlers reside in dangerous areas, which

    are not suitable or human habitation and

    natural calamities. Manila is a natural ood

    basin, bordered by three rivers and subject

    to torrential rains, typhoons and oods. As

    early as 1898, under the American regime,

    eorts were made to address and solve

    the perennial problem o ooding in thecity. Over the years, however, these eorts,

    in the orm o inrastructure planning and

    development, proved inadequate against

    the upsurge o 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 o waste dumped into drains and

    esteros (dredged tidal channels); subsidencedue to over extraction o ground water; the

    deorestation o the Marikina and Montalban

    watersheds; and, most o all, by the ceaseless

    encroachment o shanty housing into

    wetlands. The housing crisis, in other words has

    transormed both the character and magnitude

    o the ood problem, with the poorest th o

    the population exposed to regular danger and

    property loss. In November 1998, or example,

    ooding damaged or destroyed the homes o

    more than 300,000 people, and on anotheroccasion, the squatter colony o Tatalon was

    drowned under more than 6 meters o water. In

    July 2000, moreover, a typhoon deluge caused

    the collapse o a notorious garbage mountain

    in Quezon Citys Payatas slum, burying 500

    shacks and killing at least 1000 people.

    MAP 6 METRO MANILA FLOOD MAP (NATIONAL MAPPING AND RESOURCE INFORMATION AUTHORITY)

    2 SLUM WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

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    On September 26, 2009, Typhoon Ketsana (locally known as Ondoy)

    hit the Philippines and dumped enormous amounts o rainall in

    one day in Metro Manila causing massive

    oods that destroyed more than 2 millionhouses and properties, not to mention

    roads and bridges and other inrastructure

    acilities, and resulted in the loss o 246 lives.

    Ketsana dropped 17.9 inches o rain, which

    is equivalent to about a months worth o

    rain in the area surpassing the last recorded

    average rainall 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 landall.

    Rivers and lakes surrounding Metro Manila

    overowed, orcing the authorities to open

    the ood gates to two major dams and to

    gradually release the water in order to avert

    another major ooding in the city. One lake

    in particular, the Laguna de Bay, rose to almost two meters deep

    ooding the houses o more than 100,000 squatter amilies living

    at the edge o the lake. Six weeks ater the typhoon, the squatter

    community closest to the lake, the Lupang Arenda, was still knee-

    deep in water.[ ] In times o calamity, people look around or someone

    to blame, and the ngers were pointed at the slum

    and lakeside dwellers like those living in LupangArenda 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

    o the lake to clear the waterways o garbage and

    drain the oodwaters. But relocation would be

    placing them in a location that is away rom their

    livelihoods and accessible public service. Erhard

    Berner writes: Metro Manila [is] one o the most

    densely populated areas in the world. The price o

    one square meter near the commercial centres ar

    exceeds the annual income o any jeepney driver or

    security guard. Yet, the very nature o the income-

    generating possibilities requires one to stay close

    to where the action is, because distance rom

    place o work means prohibitive costs in time and

    money...The logical result is wide-spread squatting. Virtually all the gaps

    let open by city development are immediately lled with makeshit

    settlements that beat every record in population density.

    SLUMS IN PERILA

    ter the destruction that Typhoon Ketsana let 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 rst place. And the plan to

    re-locate all o them, including those rom the Lupang Arenda,

    to of-city locations is too expensive or a country that is deeply

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

    million pounds yearly or the next 10 years or 650,000 amilies),

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

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

    o 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 o utopian ideals. Tim Rieniets

    describes a city as such; I there were a city devoid o the ob-

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

    that could provide all o its inhabitants access to the concentrated

    multitude o 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 or the urban poor?

    SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010 SLUM WEEKLY 3

    In times o calamity, people look around or someoneto blame, and the fngers were pointed at the slum and

    lakeside dwellers

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    4 SLUM WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

    present urban landscape. But what soci-ety ails to notice is that, while each indi-

    vidual in the lower end o society earns

    (or spends) too little an amount to bear

    a signicant impact on the Philippine

    economy, as a demographic proportion

    o the nation, these people are ironically

    considered the driving orce behind the

    growth o the nation as a whole.

    They constitute 63% o the Philippine

    labour orce and they subsist throughmenial work or occasional paid labour;

    they orm what is known as the inormal

    sector. Those who are without, or, can-not nd work are resigned to begging,

    salvaging rom garbage dumps, ped-

    dling, and more oten than not, steal-

    ing, drug-pushing and other criminal

    activities.

    Signicantly, there are 2 groups o

    people who live in the slums: the urban

    poor and the proessional squatters. The

    ormer is identied as individuals or ami-

    lies residing in urban and urbanizable ar-

    eas whose income or combined household

    income alls below the poverty threshold.

    The latter are individuals or amilies with

    sufcient unds or legitimate housing but

    occupy land illegally. The term is also used

    to reer to people or squatters awarded lotsor housing by the government, but have

    either leased it to others or used it or other

    purposes and then go back to where theywere beore or move to another place still

    as illegal settlers.

    POLITICAL OR PRIVATE : What are theactors that shape the slum community?

    To what extent are government projects

    contributing to the betterment o the slum

    community? How do they aect society?

    Most squatters are long-time residents

    who ound a way o coping with their eco-

    nomic problems. The eorts o the gov-ernment in the late 1980s to beautiy and

    modernize Manila led to conict and orcedeviction o squatters and the demolition o

    their shanties in order to give way to the

    development o urban properties, public

    or private. In deence o their rights, two

    types o organizations have thrown their

    support or the squatters: these are non-

    governmental organizations (NGOs) and

    private syndicates.

    The NGOs are advocates o civil, hu-

    man and political rights. Over the last t wo

    decades, NGOs have increased their e-

    ectiveness through networking and co-

    alition building, campaigning or policy

    reorms, adopting good practice standards

    and advancing sustainable development.

    Private syndicates on the other hand (alsoreerred to as Proessional squatting syn-

    dicates), are inormal and illegal organiza-

    tions that encourage the prolieration o

    Slum Cities are complex as theirgrowth relies on human ingenuity

    and availability o materials, there is

    no planning involved, and their every

    movemnet is challenged. To be able

    to ully develop a design concept that

    is eective, our designer came up with

    our aspects that answers respective

    questions related to Slum Design

    SOCIAL: Who are the people living

    in the slums? How is their importancerecognized by society?

    Current social classication, on the

    other hand, is divided into three (3)

    groups, i.e., according to wealth, edu-

    cation, proession or degree o social/

    commercial/political power; hence, the

    upper, middle and lower classes. Inthese three social classes, people liv-

    ing in slums do not t in, and this is

    reected in the shanties one sees in the

    At the center o Metro Manila,

    is Mandaluyong City, the Shop-

    ping Mall Capital o the country.

    It is bordered by Manila, the coun-

    trys 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 or business and com-

    merce, on the South. The land has

    a granular clay and loam surace

    lying on a oundation o compact

    and massive adobe. Mandaluyong

    City is best described as mostly

    gentle rolling slopes, partially at

    in the southwest and higher at the

    northeast. The lowest point is lo-

    cated inland and mostly afected

    by fash foods. It has 2 major rivers

    running through it: Pasig River and

    San Juan River, and has six creeks

    traversing inland. In terms o geo-

    hazards, it has a very low risk ac-

    tor or earthquakes, but is greatly

    afected by ash oods caused by

    heavy rains and typhoons.

    A newconcept toInner City

    SlumCommunityDevelopmentthat aimsto give theUrban poor

    permanencein the city

    Mandaluyong City, Philippines

    SLUM CITY

    There are 4 Aspects were considered in the formulation of this Design

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    SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010 SLUM WEEKLY 5

    Mandaluyong is a bustling commercial

    and business centre with headquarters or

    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-

    anio 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 or Social Welare

    and Development (DSWD), along with the

    National Centre or Mental Health and the

    Womens Correctional Institute, are located

    here. It is a city that has everything and

    anything and it is in a location that is at-

    tractive to a number o citizens.

    One such particular set o people that

    reside here are the legal slum residents

    o Wellareville in Brgy. Addition Hills.

    In 1980, the government established land

    or use by the DSWD in Mandaluyong or their

    various programs and projects. But in 1986,

    shanties began to sprout all over the area. In

    2008, the DSWD pushed or the sale o the

    land with 20% o the prots to be allocated

    or the illegal settlers, but this was vetoed by

    the President o the Philippines. The area is

    aptly called Welareville as it is where most

    o the DSWDs programs are situated. The site

    is approximately 100 hectares divided into 45

    blocks and houses thousands o urban poor in

    each block.

    Given the inormation above, Welareville is

    the perect site or my proposal as it is govern-

    ment owned with practically no threat o evic-

    tion, central to the city and the Metropolis and

    has access to all the things that the urban poor

    have came or. With this in mind, I narrowed the

    Concept to allow for a better understanding of Slum Communitiessquatters by occupying and appropriat-ing vacant lands and holding them out to

    the homeless or squatters or rent or sale

    and/or engage in various orms o illegal

    activities.

    Eorts have been made by the govern-

    ment to ensure national housing or the

    people. In act, the Urban Development

    and Housing Act o 1992 (UDHA) seeks to

    provide social housing to the marginalized

    sector by addressing their access to landand housing. The law also mandates local

    government units to provide shelter toqualied beneciaries and to undertake

    measures to curtail the activities o proes-

    sional squatters and squatting syndicates.

    All government projects are geared to-wards land tenure, minimal construction

    assistance or housing especially or reset-

    tlement projects, but with limits to water,electricity, livelihood and basic services.

    In the private sector, there are a number

    o organizations or clubs that perorm out-reach programs to slum communities, be

    it values education or livelihood develop-

    ment. To be sure, there is never a shortage

    o 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 communitywithout any ormal interventions? When

    and how do design and planning comeinto play?

    Urban slum dwellers are a sign o a seri-

    ous problem; they are an indication that a

    city has grown in size aster than existing

    acilities or inrastructure could provide.

    They are orced to live under that situa-

    tion because o economic actors, mainly

    joblessness and poverty.

    Selecting a dwelling is airly simple.

    The frst step is the appropriation o 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-

    nished or abandoned buildings, etc. The

    next step is to build their shanty or anything

    that will protect them rom the elements. In

    this regard, there are 3 kinds o slum hous-

    ing: (1) temporary shelter made o salvaged

    materials; (2) semi-temporary shelter; and(3) permanent shelter. For a small group

    o amilies, housing starts with temporary

    shelters made out o materials either picked

    up or salvaged or stolen. Where no threat

    o eviction exists, the structure is slowly

    upgraded to a semi-temporary shelter andlater to a more permanent dwelling. This

    triggers an expansion o the communitydepending on how much land and space

    can be occupied.

    The growth o a community may be throughan organic process or an induced process. An

    organic process is when the community relies

    on its own resources like building materials,labour, etc. or the expansion and develop-

    ment o the community. An induced process is

    when an organization outside a community in-

    tereres and operates with projects, objectives

    and goals or the development o the whole

    settlement.[ ] Water supply and electricity are

    tapped or bought, usually illegally. Water, i not

    coming rom a deep well, would be pumpedout rom the ground by attaching lines rom

    the water mains, or at times rom 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, mostutility companies have to raise their poles to

    almost 10 meters o the ground.

    The inside o a slum community is a myr-iad o alleyways, steps, houses and people.

    Most o their public walkways, i not commis-

    location o my site to one triangular block along F.

    Martinez Avenue which is one o the busiest streets

    running along Welareville. I chose a triangular

    block because it best describes the kind o awk-

    ward space that is normally occupied by illegal

    settlers and it best displays their ability to grow

    and adapt according to what is available to them.

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    6 SLUM WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

    sioned by the local Mayor, is

    unpaved and muddy when

    wet. Local businesses con-

    centrated in their commu-

    nity are usually located nearpublic streets or avenues

    and occupy the ground ooro houses. The second oor

    is usually reserved or pri-

    vate use. For a small house,

    a room would normally have

    multiple unctions, either as

    dining area, living area and

    sleeping area. These spaces

    are usually shared by a am-

    ily o 5 or more, and at timesextend to relatives and close

    personal riends who have

    no place to stay and have justmoved in rom the province.

    Some houses also have roo

    decks that unction as laun-

    dry area or unction area

    or gatherings. I the privatespaces are insufcient, these

    are converted into another

    living space. This explains

    why most expansions o thestructures are upwards. Most

    materials used in building

    are mainly recycled materials

    rom demolitions, abandoned

    structures, garbage dumps or

    anything picked o the road.

    The ability o inormal settlers

    to put these together to orm

    shelter is amazing as they rely

    on basic hand tools such as a

    hammer, saw and nails.

    HAZARDS: The geographi-cal defnition or a slum settle-

    ment is one that is haz ardous,

    unattractive, health-threat-ening and protected against

    rising land values. These sites

    are the rst victims o oods,

    typhoons, earthquakes, land-

    slides etc. But what concerns

    them the most is the ever-

    present threat o re. The

    regular use o cooking gas,

    candle, exposed electrical

    wirings, and sometimes even

    leaky pipes, make their dwell-

    ings virtual fretraps. A fre can

    start rom a simple cooking

    accident or rom intense heat

    during summer where tem-

    peratures can sometime soar

    as high as 38 degrees Celsius,

    or it could be intentional.

    Slum res are also hard tocontrol because otentimes,

    re trucks have no way to

    manoeuvre inside the snak-

    ing alleyways. The same canbe said or ambulances when

    there are emergencies. People

    have to be carried out o their

    dwellings to where an ambu-

    lance is parked usually more

    4 Aspects

    Continuation...

    The best way to approach the growing slum issues in thecity is to guide the settlers and not to attack them. I theywere given oundations to build upon and be treated as

    THE PROPOSAL

    By introducing to them a system that improves their

    way o lie, housing issues can be resolved. Looking

    back at the 4 aspects that I have enumerated, the

    one basic problem they have is the provision o basic

    utilities. According to Maslows hierarchy o needs,

    while humans have a wide range o needs, they must

    rst meet very basic survival needs like ood, shelter

    and water. Since housing is more expensive to

    provide and would require a bigger budget rom the

    government, and housing loans may not be viable

    or the urban poor because o lack o paying capacity,

    why not start o with providing them access to basic

    utilities.

    I would start by building them the oundations that

    are necessary or them to have sae inrastructures

    in their community. By rst placing a simple 1 sqm.

    main structural post made o concrete and steel

    with plugs or the water and electricity line that

    can be shared by 4 households at the most, so that

    they immediately have provisions or the necessary

    utilities. The next step is to add 4 structural posts thatare imbedded in the ground or additional support.

    In this way, the growth o the community would

    be still within their own methods and processes.

    By locating these posts in a manner that does not

    control but guide the growth o the community,

    the development can be organized, allowing wider

    streets and better paths or the movement o people

    and small vehicles especially emergency vehicles.

    Also, I recommend the elevation o their residences

    to at least a minimum o 1.00 meter o the ground

    to protect them rom oods during the rainy season.

    ...by locating these

    posts in a manner thatdoes not control butguide the growth othe community, thedevelopment can beorganized, allowing

    wider streets and betterpaths or the movemento people and smallvehicles especially

    emergency vehicles...

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    SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010 SLUM WEEKLY 7

    LEGEND SITE PLAN

    Main concrete structuralpost, weight bearing withprovision or electrical,

    cable, Tel and water lines

    Sub-structural postCut Bamboo (pre-treated)elevated rom the groundwith metal caps and livebamboo bound together with

    a triangular block best de-

    scribes the kind o awkward

    space that is normally occu-

    pied by illegal settlers

    and it best displaystheir ability to grow

    and adapt according

    to what is available to

    them

    POSSIBLE OUTCOME OF HOUSING LAYOUT

    What is good about squatter cities is that they improve the appearance otheir structures steadily and gradually by themselves.[ ] It is almost an organicprocess in a way as there are no drawings or plans drated beore they aredeveloped. And the ability o the settlers to recycle materials makes theirplace a green community. To contribute to the development o a greencommunity, I propose, the use o coconut bre boards and bamboo as primarybuilding materials. I there is also a way that live bamboo can unction asoundation sub-post, the ability o the community to expand upwards willnot be hindered since bamboo grows rapidly.

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    8 SLUM WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 1-5, 2010

    The proposal is a combination

    o an organic and induced process

    o orming the slum community.

    In this process, both the residents

    and the government share control

    in the growth o 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 thisin mind, they somehow regain

    their political rights especially

    rights to house and home, and

    elevate their status rom inormal

    to ormal settlers. Permanence

    is the key or them to be able to

    improve their stature in society

    and in lie. I the government

    abides by this, and end out-o-city

    relocations and orced evictions it

    may contribute to urban progress.

    The government can spend less

    in housing construction and

    more on health and livelihood

    or the urban poor. In terms o

    Inrastructure, they will be better

    equipped in surviving the usual

    hazards that they ace. Though

    there is not much intervention in

    the appearance o their homes,

    except or the recommendation

    o economical materials, this is

    due to the act that what they

    have at present is enough and it is

    what gives their community that

    unique adaptive quality. Though

    in terms o population, they willbe overcrowded but the density

    o a community in a conned

    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 o energy and natural

    resources hopeully causing a chain

    reaction o bringing the city into

    a more sustainable environment.

    And to think this is all due to the

    slum communitys ingenuity and

    practicality. Hopeully it could also

    trigger a wave o 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 ear and hardship every single

    day and is capable o earning a

    decent living, maintain a stable lie

    and live peaceully with the rest

    o the people in the city as just a

    community.

    PROJECTEDCOMMUNITY GROWTH

    PERSPECTIVE RENDERING OF THE

    COMMUNITY AND THEIR RESPECTIVE

    INTERIOR SPACES. With the proposal, livingconditions are less cramped and there is

    a better ree owing access all around the

    community. And comunalitive spaces are

    created in between.