Polytechnic University of the Philippines

College of Architecture and Fine Arts

Department of Architecture
Anonas St. cor. Pureza St. Sta. Mesa, Manila

FINAL ACTIVITY:
Social Inequality in Urban Planning

Presented to Ar. Rey S. Gabitan

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Course Planning 3

BEA NICOLE V. TORRALBA

BSARCHI 4-1

MARCH 10, 2022

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Social Inequality in Urban Planning………………………………………………….…………………3

Urban Planning Concerns and Issues Arising from Social Inequality………………………………4

Potential and Successful Urban Planning Solutions to Social Inequality…………………..………4

References………………………………………………………..…………………….…………………3

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 Social Inequality in Urban Planning

Providing a large population with basic human needs like food, water, education, shelter,
health and job opportunities, is a role given to cities or towns, where these basic needs are easily
accessible compared to rural areas. Cities have greatly contributed to a country’s economic
growth that attracts both locals and foreigners for its opportunities as well as its well-developed
circumstances in terms of livelihood, technology, and modern resources that attract more people
to live and contribute to the area’s development, or at least that was the aim of cities and towns,
because reality says otherwise.

As population rapidly increases, urbanization around the world reveals significant

differences among the groups and members of its community. According to Schreiber (n.d.), cities
serve as a center for people with differing cultural backgrounds, religions, interests and social
statuses, however, the diversity found in most cities causes a greater division, rather than a
shared development, wherein improvement of one’s lifestyle is dependent upon their status in
society in terms of religion, ethnicity, income, and other classification that would divide the people
living in it. The synthesis report of the World Resources Report entitled “Towards a More Equal
City”, supports this idea that:

“The quality of life for urban residents, and the extent to which they have
opportunities to thrive and be productive, depends on their level of access to affordable,
reliable, and safe core urban services such as land use, housing, water and sanitation,
energy, and transportation.” (2016)

In the Philippines, social inequality is seen through residential and business

establishments as well as public and private transportations, and availability of water and
electrical resources, wherein there is a clear separation between social classes. The country may
look like it offers a lot of opportunities and livelihood benefits at the surface, because of its rapid
urban growth for the past decades, especially when you look at highly-urbanized areas in the
Philippines such as Bonifacio Global City in Taguig; Quezon City, Makati City, as well as those
outside of Metro Manila such as Davao City and Cebu City. However, these cities are merely
facades to cover the social inequality and poverty that is still actively present in the Philippines,
and only those with the means can experience the benefits of urbanization.

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Urban Planning Concerns and Issues Arising from Social Inequality

Social inequality is present around the world for centuries and has yet to be solved
amongst the urban community. The unfair advantages of one social class to another has created
problems in urbanization, wherein a city’s growth is centered and defined around the high-income
earners, especially those in the private sector, and those who are greatly affected by this selective
growth are the individuals, families, laborers, and residences belonging to the middle- and low-
income classes.

Sonia Roitman, a Senior lecturer in Development Planning, narrates the “Gated

Communities” in Indonesia in 2018, wherein the poor residences lack the proper structural
conditions for housing, have no access to sanitation and basic services, and experience issues
of overcrowding as compared to the upper classes, that have better quality materials, proper
security and spacious housing conditions which are located in enclosed communities that are
reduces chances of criminality and to avoid what they call “unwanted” people, also known as the
people in poverty. The urban division has limited human interaction between classes, and could
only co-exist through business means rather than as their simple friendly neighbors.

(Left) People sit in front of makeshift living quarters, as a commuter train passes through, near a slum area in Jakarta,
Indonesia September 12, 2017. (Right) Gated Community in North Jakarta.

The problem with the growth of urbanization, which the student of this assignment has
perceived, is that the large percentage of a city’s population are usually the ones who are more
likely to be ignored, and the minority, the upper class, are the only ones benefitting from urban
development. The more the community ignores those in the lower-income classes, the more its
urbanization will face dilemma in the future in terms of availability of resources because of
overpopulation. The World Resources Report, shows evidence that there is a rise in people from
the poverty line living urban areas.

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 Source: World Resources Report. Towards a More Equal City: Framing the Challenges and Opportunities

The WRR (World Resources Report), also added that population of people living in cities
all over the world may increase by 2.5 million in 2050, mostly suspected in Asia and Africa. Instead
of economic growth, “urbanization of poverty” is more likely to happen because of the large share
of the world’s poor are living in cities. In other parts of the world, like OECD countries, according
to Benjamin Clayton (2018) around 70% of its population will be living in cities by 2050 like Asia
and Africa and will experience income inequality higher than any point over the past half century.

As mentioned earlier, social inequality is very much present in the Philippines, and it is not
looking great for its economic growth if the public continues to ignore social differences. The
following images show the societal gaps in the Philippines and its effects in urban planning.

(Left) Spazio Bernardo (Photo source: https://9k.gg/uihdv).(Right) Ang iba’t-ibang mukha sa Brgy. Sauyo sa Quezon City –
taken by Akira Liwanag (Photo source: https://9k.gg/EqdMX)

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 (Left) Manila Skyline, 2022 (Right) Tondo, Manila. 2018 from https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/

(Left) Private vehicles along EDSA (Source: CNN Philippines, 2018); (Right) Filipinos struggle with public
transportation. (Source: Philstar, 2018)

(Left) Bel-air Village, a gated community in Makati (Source: http://www.dasmarinasvillagemakatiforrent.com/explore-

other-places-in-makati/); (Right) Informal settlers near the towering offices of Makati (Source: Philstar, 2021)

Just by these images, differences in social standing are visible through urban planning.
While the upper and high-middle class live and function in a more organized community, those in
lower-income and poverty class remain to have limited access to proper resources that is
expected of highly-urbanized areas wherein it should accommodate the large population. In the
Philippine’s case development is a struggle and based on the reports of the WRR earlier the
Philippines may be one of those countries to face “urbanization of poverty” instead of improving
and acquiring the means for equal treatment and livelihood in urban areas.

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Potential and Successful Urban Planning Solutions to Social Inequality

In order to solve social inequalities, urban planners play a huge role in narrowing the gap
between different groups of the community, not only in terms of housing, or for the sake of
economic growth, but being allowing co-existence with one another.

Meave Weaston and Robin King of Word Resources Institute (2021, October), discusses
seven (7) Major Transformations to solve Urban Inequality, in which the student of this assignment
finds to be helpful and can be a potential solution to urban areas that struggle with social
inequality. The seven solutions that they provided were: prioritizing vulnerable groups, partnering
with alternative service providers, community engagement, recognizing and supporting informal
workers, increasing investment, promoting and expanding access to services, and creation of
diverse coalitions and alignment.

Prioritizing vulnerable groups

The vulnerable groups, who have limited access to basic services such as water,
transportation and health, especially in informal settlements, have always been excluded in urban
planning. It is not enough that cities will relocate these settlements, because they are merely
transferring them to a different location. Cities should be able to address and further recognize
what these settlements lack in order to help its residents, as well as their living conditions.

Medillin, Columbia invested 35 million dollars to build the Metrocable’s K Line, a circulating
releasable single-rope gondola system that benefits 150,000 Medillin residents, which reduced
commutes from 2 hours to 30 minutes, that became beneficial for the hillside communities to
travel to the city. It also solved other urban problems such as pollution and congestion residents
and reduced informal settlements

Metrocable’s K Line (Medillin, Colombia)

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Partnering with alternative service providers

With a proper system and support from its local authorities, alternative service providers
such as independent vendors, and drivers are helpful in providing services if public services are
unable to provide accordingly. Acquiring resources from a single or popular service provider have
its disadvantages in terms of sole dependency of consumers. It is not 100% of the time that they
are readily available.

Weaston and King, highlighted in this article about the Kampala case study, wherein the
city government successfully cooperated with small business and different community groups and
the national water and sanitation utility to improve fecal sludge collection from pit latrines, that
was able to provide livelihood opportunities for the informal workers.

Community engagement

It takes one to know one. A city should be able to recognize the problems of its urban
status that is not solely based on statistics and papers, but on the ground experiences of its
population. Without knowing the true source of the city’s problems, it will be difficult to provide a
solution, and community engagement is one of the simplest and easiest ways to collect a more
realistic data of the city.

A recent seven-year study of informal settlements in Bengaluru, India, showed a total of

only 600 informal settlements according to government records, in contrast to the study that
recorded 2,000 informal settlements. Knowing the conditions of the city, will help cities better
understand and deliver the needs and services of these settlements.

Recognizing and supporting informal workers

Like the first solution to urban inequality, overpopulation could cause a decline in job
opportunities, or that many of the population do not meet the standards of jobs being asked in the
city, so these individuals settle for informal work to earn for a living. According to Weaston and
King, 2 billion workers operate in the informal economy, which represents 50% to 80% of the
urban workforce in the global south.

During the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines has seen the convenience
and importance of these informal workers like food delivery riders, and those in the food and
agriculture industries. It is about time that the Philippine local authorities stop ignoring these
informal workers and support their means of labor by providing accessible public space, services,
customers, and social safety, which could potentially lower poverty rates in the country.

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Increasing investment

Core services such as sanitation and health are important for a sustainable city. The World
Health Organization suggest that investing for clean water is cheaper than remedying health
complications to cities arising from unsafe and inadequate sanitation. Investing for better services
should be the aim of cities for a better urban development.

A federal program in Mexico, PROTRAM, is a good example of a good urban investment.

They offer grants to city, state and regional government agencies for up to 50% of the
infrastructure cost of urban mass transit projects. These investments resulted in improved mass
transit, that increased access for middle- and lower-income people who do not own private
vehicles.

Promoting and expanding access to services

Transparent, well-regulated land and housing markets, and integrated spatial planning
are central to delivering services equitably and managing growth sustainably. Local authorities
should be maintained in order to prioritize public interest rather than make it inclusive only to
private landowners.

The Mukuru slum outside of Nairobi is home to more than 100,000 families, divided among
230 different owners. The municipal government designated Mukuru as a “special planning area”
that required a comprehensive development plan in partnership with the community before any
new resources could come to the area. Together with the local government, NGOs worked
together to create an eight-sector development plan that prioritized water and sanitation due to
their immediate impact on public health. This collaborative process shows how cross-sectoral
spatial planning can meet the needs of under-served communities.

Creation of diverse coalitions and alignment.

Cities do not always have control over the people living in it, so it is important that rules
are implemented accordingly, and equally to settle existing problems in the community. Aligning
national and local policies around a shared vision can reduce costs, prevent inefficiencies and
help cities achieve strategic objectives.

Towards a More Equal City includes case studies on Guadalajara, Mexico; Pune, India;
and Kampala, Uganda, that show that collaborations of different groups and its local authorities
are key to the improvement of cities for better transportation and solid waste management.

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 REFERENCES

Schreiber, F. (n.d.) Why urban planners make a difference in achieving social cohesion in times
of diversity. Retrieved March 10, 2022 from https://www.adelphi.de/en/in-focus/why-
urban-planners-make-difference-achieving-social-cohesion-times-diversity

World Resources Report (2016) Towards a more equal city: framing the challenges and
opportunities. Retrieved March 9, 2022 from https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-
public/WRR_Framing_Paper_Final.pdf

Roitman, S. (2018) How to use the power of urban planning to tackle inequality. Retrieved March
9, 2022 from https://theconversation.com/how-to-use-the-power-of-urban-planning-to-
tackle-inequality-91010

Weston, M. & King, R. (2021) 7 major transformations to solve urban inequality. Retrieved
March 9, 2022 from https://www.wri.org/insights/transformations-to-solve-urban-
inequality

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