The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects Spring 5-19-2015 Expanding Hope in Payatas Rhea Cristine S. Bautista University of San Francisco, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.usfca.edu/honors Part of the Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis Commons, Environmental Design Commons, Other Architecture Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Recommended Citation Bautista, Rhea Cristine S., "Expanding Hope in Payatas" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 2. This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXPANDING HOPE IN PAYATAS HANA MORI BÖTTGER RHEA CRISTINE BAUTISTA JAY GONZALEZ HONORS IN ARCHITECTURE & COMMUNITY DESIGN SETH WACHTEL DEPARTMENT OF ART + ARCHITECTURE JOHN ZAROBELL Table of Contents Expanding Hope In Payatas By, Rhea Cristne S. Bautista Introduction-7 A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the Poverty + Population-9 requirements for the Honors in Architecture and Community Design What is an Informal Settlement?-11 in the Department of Art + Architecture Why it Matters-13 in the College of Arts & Sciences Payatas-15 of the University of San Francisco Strengths Within the Community-17 Approved by: How to Approach Communities When Desiging-19 What Stood Out-20 _____________________________________________ Professor Hana Mori Böttger, Dept. of Art + Architecture Precedent Case Study-21 Design Guidelines-25 _____________________________________________ Conceptual Design + Conclusion-27 Assistant Professfor John Zarobell, Dept. of Urban Studties Work Cited-28 Spring 2015 Special Thanks To-29 Introduction other. These public and communal spaces would provide resources, assistance, and community training programs to raise awareness within the Visualize community, and eventually lead to larger steps Imagine living in one room with your whole toward improving health conditions, sustainable family; parents, children and grandparents. Your living, and then the end of poverty. house is made out of garbage scraps, such as recycled cardboard, bits of wood and plastic, and Thesis Statement has little ventilation, no running water or electricity. In the informal settlement of Payatas, Visualize your home next to a railroad track, a many residents are living in unsafe and poor flood prone marshland or river, or a dumpsite. conditions, which lack basic infrastructure. The growth of population in urban cities is causing Instead of relocating and redesigning an informal many families to live in these poor conditions, settlement, designers need to view these informal known as informal settlements, squatter settlements as an architectural landscape and settlements, shantytowns, or slums. The challenge work to identify and reinforce the strong elements is to provide a better quality of life, both physically that bring the community together. By identifying and socially. the positive elements that strengthen the An ideal solution might be to redevelop communities and by building upon them to develop the entire settlement by designing sustainable social impact, the physical and social quality of life housing with solidly planned infrastructure. While can greatly improve. this would make a real impact on the quality of life, it could only happen when it is economically Why I picked this topic and my objectives during feasible. It would also displace the residents of my trip to Payatas these informal settlements, destroying community, As a Filipino American student, I am livelihood and the richness of place present in continuously learning more about my own culture. many informal settlements. Instead, we should I learned that family and giving back are highly consider ways of building and improvement that important values of the Filipino people. This trip preserve these communities through smaller, gave me a better understanding of what it truly incremental changes that strengthen the existing means to dig back in your roots and to find ways to cultural and physical urban fabric. help your community. This topic was challenging In this essay, I am focusing on an informal since it is hard to grasp the reality on the ground settlement called Payatas, which I was able to not having seen an informal settlement before. visit in March 2015, through the generosity of the I was fortunate to be able to visit Manila Dean’s Office, College of Arts and Sciences, at during my spring break of 2015, in order to work USF. Payatas is located in the district of Quezon with the community of Payatas. My goal was City, which is in Metro Manila, Philippines. In this to collaborate with the community of Payatas area, informal settlements are very dense and and learn how I could be useful to them. It was are located in undesirable and dangerous zones beneficial to utilize community participation in near flood zones, highways and garbage dumps. my research by talking to individuals because I These communities are known to have the most learned what strengths and issues the community vulnerable populations, especially during rises in has. Immersing myself helped me get a better water level, and extreme weather events. understanding of their culture and social issues. Enhanced public spaces in the informal My other main objective for this trip was to settlement such as parks, community centers, and physically document the neighborhood to get a community gardens would enable people to better better understanding of their living conditions. My gather with one another. Having these centers main concern was to find a way to map out Payatas, would also help these people feel less vulnerable focusing on the community’s gathering spaces and since it would strengthen their support for each types of land use. 5 n billio 65 .9 6 : Poverty + Population n o ti la u p o P l a t o T million .7 96 The Rapid Growth in Cities n: tio Metro Manila’s population has been la booming throughout the 20th century. The u p population increased four-fold from 1948 to 1980, o P l from 1.5 million to 6 million people (Martin Marco a t 8). By 2014, the population had grown dramatically o T and reached 14.6 million people (Davis 4). It is so dense because Metro Manila is the center of all Source: An Issue Throughout the World politics, economics, and social activities in the World Bank 2011 Poverty is massive and growing issue Philippines. The cities in the Philippines are rapidly throughout the world. According to the World growing because of the immigration from the rural million .6 Bank’s poverty research in 2011, out of the world areas. Many are moving from the province to the 11 n: population of over seven billion people, 14.5% city in order to find jobs and earn some sort of tio live with or below $1.25 per day. In developing income. Even though earnings may be less than la u countries, 17% of people live in poverty. The a dollar a day, it is better than earning nothing at p o percentage may not seem as high, but that means all. The cities are attracting many families because P l there are over one billion people living in poverty. In Manila started to develop major industries, culture a t Design With the Other 90% Cities, author Cynthia and education. The city has better transportation o Source: T on Smith estimates the population of people living and communication systems and many services milli World Bank 2012 17 in poverty will double in the next twenty years (4). such as schools, hospitals, and clinics. The people 2. Mike Davis states in his book Planet of Slums, from the countryside are moving to the city in n: tio there are more than 200,000 slums across the order to seek new opportunities. According to la u planet (26). These statistics represent a serious Marie Aquilino in Beyond Shelter: Architecture and p o and growing global problem that needs to be Human Dignity, there are 4,748 people per square P l addressed. mile in Metro Manila. By this year, she suggests a t 68% of the Philippines’ population will live in cities o T Philippines and Metro Manila Context of Poverty (142). In the Philippines of 2012, 19% of the City populations will continue to grow even population lived in poverty. This means out of the faster because they are perceived as a better place Source: 96.7 million people, about 18.4 million people lived to live. As of 2009, there are over 400 cities with Philippines in poverty (World Bank). If we focus on the capital one million residences (Smith 15). Davis proposes Statistics of the Philippines, Metro Manila, in 2014, out of that by 2015 throughout the world, there will be Authority 2014 the population of 11.6 million, nearly a third live in at least 550 cities with a population of more than poverty (World Population Review). In the district of one million people (1). Although many choose to Quezon City, in which Payatas is located, 35% of the move and stay in the city because of the many population lives in poverty. That is a total of almost opportunities, there is a challenge of economic 1 million people out of the 2.7 million people living inequality. Most people do not find fair paying in Quezon City. Quezon City is actually the largest jobs, leaving them no choice but to live in informal Source: district in Metro Manila (Ragragio 9).