Issues and Dynamics: Urban Systems in Developing East Asia Philippines Level and Rates of Urbanization

The Philippines is 52% urbanized (ADB figure, the UN estimate is 59%), this percentage is expected to increase to 60% in 2010. The urban population grew very rapidly at an annual rate of close to 5% from 1960 to 1995, but has since slowed to approximately 3% annually. Given relatively slow economic development over the last three decades (relative to East Asian norms), the level of urbanization in the Philippines is quite high – demographic and urbanization dynamics are more similar to the Latin American situation than East Asia. (In both the Philippines, and many Latin American urban systems, urbanization has preceded rapidly based on both high rates of natural increase in urban populations and rural-urban migration driven by rural push forces (e.g., rural land distribution), faster than employment creation, resulting in slums, significant levels of urban poverty, etc.) In particular, natural population growth is rapid (and rising – a rare situation in today’s world), a source of demographic pressure not experienced to anywhere near the same degree in other East Asian urban regions. Since the late 1960s, urban regions have had difficulty absorbing migrants, in terms of productive employment, and provision of adequate housing and services. This does not mean that the policy response should be to slow the rate of urbanization; rather the performance of city systems needs to be improved to more productively handle the rapid demographic growth. The Extended Metro Manila area is home to over 12 million people and accounts for 36% of the total urban population. An additional 10% of the urban population live in the next four largest metropolitan regions. These are Davao City and Metro Cebu, both with over one million residents, plus Metro Angeles and Zamboanga City, with over half a million inhabitants each.