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Slum upgrading revisited : an evaluation of the Tondo Foreshore urban development project

University of British Columbia

In the 1970s, the slum upgrading approach was embraced by the Philippine government in response to the shelter dilemma facing the urban poor. Twenty years later, policy makers and planners continue to draw on many of the assumptions informing this approach as they grapple with the ongoing challenge of ensuring that the urban poor have access to shelter and services in the face of rapid urbanisation and population growth. The Tondo Foreshore in Manila, Philippines was the site of a comprehensive slum upgrading project undertaken in the mid-1970s. This research undertakes an ex post evaluation in order to assess the impact of the project on the community over time and to test the theoretical underpinnings of the slum upgrading approach. Specifically, the state of the physical environment; the extent to which improvements in the housing stock have been realised; the impact of the project on the target beneficiaries; and the degree to which the project engendered a sense of community and a strengthening of civil society toward the goal of total community development are discussed. The findings reveal that the project has yielded mixed results. In the short term, the reblocking process was effective in rationalising the physical environment, introducing basic urban services and inducing improvements in the housing stock. Over time, however, population pressures and lack of maintenance have taken their toll so that now aspects of the project are on the verge of reverting back to their original state. Further, as a result of the granting of tenure, 'upward filtering' has occurred due reasons which include property speculation and the lack of affordability of the project. Still, many of the project beneficiaries have remained in place without maintaining the required monthly amortisation payments toward the purchase of their lots. The result is a government which has not been able to recover its investment as anticipated and a community of residents which were granted tenure but not title. Finally, the 'people-centered' approach to community development has not had a lasting and pervasive influence toward the strengthening of the community. While the community does exhibit a sense of cohesiveness, a decline in the propensity for residents to be involved in organising has occurred. This finding is attributable to the regularisation of the community as a result of the project.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-03-27

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6582

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University of British Columbia

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