Sir Liwanag's Powerpoint Presentations

1. Chapter 17
Urban
Communities

2. What is city and urban? 11
Hawley 1971
In social science literature, urban is used to
refer to a quality of life that is typically found
in cities. In reality, urban is both a process and
a place, as the urban process cannot occur
without the resources, population and
economic base. Ur ban embraces the whole of
the organization that is based upon a
settlement which may be a city or something
closely resembling a city.

3. Louis Wirth 1938:124
He defines city as a relative large, dense,
and permanent settlement of socially
heterogeneous individuals.
Some urban sociologists’ say that the city
is a place of specialists and secondary
institutionalization; that is, development
of social institutions from the basic social
institutions.

4. Martindale (in Iverson 1984:9)
defines city as a geographic area designated by a special name,
comprising a large aggregation of people engaged in non-
agricultural pursuits, and recognized by its inhabitants and its
chartering authority as a city. It is legally chaptered sub-unit for the
contemporary nation state and is characterized by the political,
legal, and police powers granted to it.
Raymundo 1983: 64
Used the concept urban as a function of the relative growth of rural
and urban areas and as a population in which the rate of urban
growth is greater than that of the rural population

5. In the Philippines….
NCSO (National Census Statistic Office)
-Has given definitions of urban based on size and density of population. In 1970,
aside from size and density of population, the NCSO included such criteria as distinct
street patterns, non-agricultural occupation, and the presence of public and
economic establishments.
Local Government Code (1991)
-Refers urban areas as highly urbanized cities and government centers in
municipalities labelled as poblaciones in the Philippines.
A poblacion is an area of not less than 5000 square meters where the government
centers is located. The municipal hall, government buildings, marker site, schools,
plaza or park, and cemetery that conforms to prescribed requirements are located in
the poblacion.
* A city may either be a component or highly urbanized one. A component city has
(a) an average annual income of at least 20,000,000. (b) a population of not less than
150,000 and (c)
* A contiguous land area of at least 100 square kilometers certified by a designated
office.

6. Urbanization in Historical Perspective
The first cities appeared about five to six
thousand years ago in the Middle East in
Mesopotamia ( now Southern Iraq) and Egypt. In
Asia, cities were formed in Northwest India in the
Indus River Vallet (present- day West Pakistan)
about 2500 B.C. and 1900 B.C., with Rome as the
greatest city. In the New World, cities arose about
300 B.C. and were formed in Central
Mexico.
As pointed by Davis(1980:143), the appearance of
cities marked a revolutionary change, the
beginning of civilization, as these cities laid the
foundation of later- day civilization.

7. The story of cities is the story of civilization
Martindale 1984:14
The ancient and medieval cities served as defences and refugee
centers as well as trading centers. These cities might probably have
been the product of war and violence.
From the tenth century on, the urban settlements were more or less
self- governing cities controlled by feudal lords. They did not resume
their function as centers of trade and manufacturing until the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries with the onset of the industrial revolution and
the growth of modernization state.
Urban development was marked in the west, especially in England.
Several factors brought this about, namely: (1) improvements in
transportation, roads, and canals; (2) agricultural innovations and
commercialization; (3) the emergence of the factory system with the
industrial production derived from steam power.

8. As result, contacts between urban centers and their
hinterlands were improved, markets were expanded,
activities became highly specialized, and migration to the
cities were encouraged.
The innovations necessitated a change in the structure of
social organization which had to extend beyond that of family
and kin.
More complex social organization and efficient social and
political mechanism were put up: effective working
arrangements, some form of exchange among the emerging
specialists and increase in the division of labor and
specialization.
In the twentieth century, urban growth was further hastened
by more technological development. Travel form rural to
urban areas was facilitated, population and industry were re-
re-concentrated, and metropolitan communities have
emerged.

9. Urban Culture and Social Structure
As we mentioned earlier in the chapter, urban communities
have high densities and a socially heterogeneous populace.
They have a complex social structure which influences social
behaviour and the values of their inhabitants. Much
theorizing and researching have been under taken on urban
society and culture. Prominent among the researchers were
Robert E. Park, E.W. Burges, R.O. McKenzie, and Louis Wirth
from the University of Chicago. To them a city is a natural
ecological system consisting of “natural areas” or sun-areas,
such as central business district, residential areas, industrial
zones, ethnic neighbourhoods, slums, and shanty towns
which are in dynamic interaction with each other.

10. Louis Wirth 1938:1
Dwelt on urbanism as way of life characterized by a complex of traits,
such as a high degree of cultural heterogeneity predominance of secular
values, impersonals and extreme division of labor. He held that the size of
the population affects the character of urban social relationships. The
bonds of kinship, neighbourliness, and intimacy decline, making the city
potentially alienating. He went on to say that in a large populated place,
the social world of person become segmented and fragmentary. Relations
become impersonal, superficial, transitory, and segmental. Pronounced
segmentation is accompanied by a high degree of individualization.
Urbanites tend to manifest a reserved indifferent, a blasé outlook which
may be regarded as a device of protecting oneself against the
expectations of others.
Sociologists have also criticized Wirth’s view. Studies revealed that many
cliques and social networks involving close kinships and personal ties
are formed in the cities….

11. Ley 1983:190; Brikerhoff and White 1988:542; Giddens
1989:559
These groups are composed of kin, neighbours, and friends
whose affinities enable them to be oriented and adapted to
the urban setting. In many cases, these groups are formed
outside of one’s immediate neighbourhood. Thus, in the
urban areas, people have many intimates as ruralities. One is
able to rely on parents, children, siblings, and other relatives
or friends, and they see them often. These reduce loneliness,
alienation, and estrangement.
Arcinas and Angangco 1971:72-19
Their study show that migrants consulted relatives and
friends regarding family, financial, and employment
problems. Family matters are regarded as too personal and
too private a matter to discussed even with family
counsellors or social workers who are regarded as strangers.

12. Marsella and Escudero 1970:69-75
A study of interpersonal stress among the
urban males in Sampaloc, Manila show high
frequency of interpersonal stress, and most
frequently reported stress is not being
understood by the family. Among the lower
class males, the situation causing stress is the
inability to meet family obligations, while
among the upper class it saying things one
wished he or she did not say to the family.

13. Urban Ecological Processes
Discernible in the growth of the cities are certain ecological
processes. Urban ecologists have observed the physical
changes in the city and the way an individual adapts the
changing urban environment which influences the
functioning of the ecological process.
Concentration – occurs with the growth of towns and cities.
A concentration is the increase of population in a given area
which is determined by density of population. People tend to
cluster at certain areas to satisfy some of their needs or
interest to fulfil a certain designated social economic
functions. All cities are functions of population
concentration. The opposite tendency is the dispersion or
the outward spread of population to the outlying sections, as
seen in the movement of the upper and middle classes to the
suburbs.

14. Gradient – refers to the condition of receding degrees of
dominance from a selected dominant center. Usually found in
the city is a high value residential area with downward trend
of prices in the adjoining areas. The same may said of the
central business district. Adjoining it may be a business area
where prices of land are lower.
Centralization – along lines of transportation and
communication, various institutions and establishment are
drawn together. People performing the same function reside
together in given area. Specific types of institution and
business such as theatres, drugstores or stores specializing
in certain commodity, or centers of entertainment, service, or
education tend to cluster along the same street or the same
area.

15. Decentralization – because of the lower land values in the
suburbs, some of these activities are being dispersed to
those areas. As land value goes up and competition becomes
keen in the central district, some of these business
establishments are pushed toward the outlying areas. The
alter in of functions from the main business districts to the
outlying districts. Such facilities as banks, department
stores, insurance companies, schools, and movies house
transfer to the suburbs as a response to economic and social
needs.
Invasion – occurs when new types of people, institutions, or
activities enter an area previously occupied by a different
type.
Segregation – arises from the fact the people differ from one
another according to the ethnic grouping, religion, social

16. The Metropolitan Region
An urban phenomenon emerging in places in the world is the
metropolitan area. The widespread and mass marketing of
cars and buses was largely responsible for the expansion of
the cities to the surrounding areas.
As a city spreads out, it coalesce with other towns and cities,
altogether they become a region composed of a central city
with outlying areas linked to it socially and economically. The
central city is the integrating and dominating force although
it has no power to dictate to outlying districts. Among the
world’s most populous metropolitan areas are New York, Los
Angeles, Chicago, Tokyo, Paris, London, Mexico City, Buenos
Aires, Sao Paulo, Calcutta, and Moscow.

17. Fava 1956:34-37
Characterizes the suburbs as areas with a low
population density, a predominance of private
homes, and an abundance of open space. A high
degree of neighbourliness exist because of selected
demographic and ecological characteristic as well
as selective migration to the suburbs. There is a
large proportion of young married couples, and their
children, showing the dominance of the reproductive
and child socialization functions. The population is
made up largely of upper and middle class families.
However, squatters have also invaded the fingers of
the suburbs of Manila.

18. The Growth of Metropolitan Manila
Manila was formally founded by the Spaniards as the seat of
government in 1571, its original site being the walled city
called Intramuros. It grew by a process of accretion
southward and northward. Lying at the mouth of the Pasig
River and fronting Manila Bay, it enjoys aa vantage position
as a trading, industrial, and commercial center. It has also
become the seat of education and religion. As the cliché
goes, it is the meeting ground of the East and the West,
showing the fusion of various cultural influences.
Since the bay area has been reclaimed, the population has
steadily grown in a case of concentration and un controlled
urban sprawl. The population increase is due in part to
natural causes, but a significant portion is due to migration.
The growth of Manila may be gleaned from the following
table:

19. Year Population
1903 219,928
1918 285,306
1939 623,492
1948 983,9061
1960 1,138,611
1970 1,330,788
1980 1,630,00
1990 1,587,000
Growth of population in Manila
Eventually, the central city became congested, pushing the upper
and middle classes to leave and set up income and status
residential units; and causing the proliferation of “villages” and
upper class subdivisions. Some plush elitist communities like
Forbes Park, Urdaneta Village, Dasmarinas, Ayala Alabang, La
Vista, Valle Verde, Greenhills, Corinthian Garden and others soon
sprang up. Middle class subdivisions were also built.

20. In a referendum held on February 27, 1975, the people of Metropolitan
Manila opted for an integrated manager-commission type of government.
Such a proposal was made as it felt that with an integrated from of
government, better services could be effected, and political and pretty
bickering, patronage, and graft could be curbed.
President Marcos then issued P.D. 824 which created the Metropolitan
Manila Commission headed by a Governor, a Vice-Governor and three
Commissioners.
The problem of metro Manila, foremost of which are garbage disposal
traffic congestion, squatting, drug addiction and pollution, continue
unabated causing discontent among residents. Garbage and refuse line
streets, and a telling monument to the government’s inability to dispose
garbage is the infamous Smokey Mountain in Tondo Manila.
On January 9, 1990 Executive Order No.392, constituting the Metropolitan
Manila Authority, was issued by Pres. Aquino in accordance with
constitutional mandate. This provide for the devolution of the powers of
the Metro Manila Commission in order to carry out its function of
delivering basic urban services. The Authority is governed by the
Metropolitan Manila Commission Composed of the four cities and thirteen
municipalities.

21. A feature of the urban complex which h been observed and
studied by William H. Whyte in New York, Hidetoshi Kato of
Tokyo and Randolf David in Manila (1978), is that of street life.
David (1978) cities certain interesting and fascinating uses of
Manila’s streets. For one, the street is a market, a place for
sidewalk vendors and street hawkers. Items like clothes,
processed foods, cold drinks, and manufactured products are sold
by stationary vendors. Ambulant vendors sell cigarettes,
sweepstakes tickets, candies and other food items. These
sidewalk vendors may be licensed, like those selling magazines,
and newspapers or unlicensed. The latter are often apprehended
by the police. The street is also used as bank vis-à-vis black
market foreign exchange transaction. Money changers are
ubiquitous in Quiapo, Sta. Cruz, and the vicinity of the post offices
and banks.

22. The Urban Family
An effect of urbanization and industrialization is social changes which, in one way or
another, are reflected in the family. The literature on urbanization and industrialization
in the United States and the Philippines show that these have affected the structure
and functions of the family. A change noted is in the family structure, from the
extended to the nuclear type.
Eslao (1966:199-208)
A study of households in Malate, Manila, an urban setting, found an overwhelming
proportion of extended households and a low proportion of the nuclear type as
families had to accept relatives, ritual kin, friends and acquaintances from the barrio
who found it expensive to rent a place of their own.
Mendez and Jocano (1970:262-264)
A study of Project 2 also revealed the prevalence of the extended family. The reason
for this is the difficult of housing. The larger kinship network also as a kind of
stabilizing influence.

23. Arcinas and Angangco(1971-72:19)
They found out in their study of migrants in Pobres Purok, Quezon
City, the migrants consulted relatives and friends regarding family,
financial, and employment problems. In their study of Barrio
Escopa, a slum community in Quezon City. Rolda saw that the
extended families persisted on account of the economic
convenience derived from such a familial structure. Observation
revealed through that the younger members of the community
preferred the nuclear families because of the valued
independence.
Arce and Hollnsteiner (1970)
They point out that industrialization and modernization have
consequences on the functions of the family. The economic,
political, religious, and educational functions are being taken by
other entities. The socialization function diminished as children
are sent to day care centers and nursery schools.

24. ‘
Change in norms of courtship and marriage practices have been noted in
urban areas.
• A trend among young people is to choose one’s mate on the basis of
romantic love, although parental approval is sometimes considered.
• Chaperoning has declined.
• With girls going off to colleges and universities and parent going off to work,
the children are removed from watchful eyes of parents and are introduced to
sophisticated ideas of individual freedom, sex, love, and marriage.
• Courtship and engagement become shorter; a girl or boy tends to play the
field before going steady with a partner.
• Engaged couples decide on the wedding arrangements and reception and at
times share in the expenses to be incurred.
• The reception is usually held in a restaurant or hotel.
• A trend also noted among the urban family members is for them to do things
together and share in the domestic chores and baby care.

25. (Medina 1991:245) , (1991:227-228)
In the urban areas, especially Manila, there has been an Increasing number of
“live-ins” and extramarital births over the last few decades. Marital infidelity is
on the rise on account of the increasing permissiveness, availability of
contraceptives devices, and the presence of hotels and motels where illicit
relations may take place.
Traditional value pattern which has changed in the urban areas is the attitude of
the children toward their aged parents and grandparents. Medina says that
despite some decline in the closeness of parent-child relations in the urban
areas, the care and support of aged parents is still accepted as moral obligation
and responsibility.
Chen (1985:263-271)
Regarding the attitude of children towards their grandparents, found that
majority of high school students in Metro Manila still has strong positive attitude
toward them and still hold on to the traditional value orientation of love and
respect for the elderly. A great member of respondents though considered
these grandparents to be members of the family but are not prepared to have
the old people live with them.

26. Bautista (1977:2-22)
Studies reveal that there are more working wives in the rural
areas compared to those in urban areas. Bautista disclosed that
contrary to the popular belief that urbanization and economic
development provides a liberation from household work, the
urbanization of society has relegated women more and more to
the home.
Poething (1968:377)
Disclosed that the reality in Philippines society is that the family
still occupies central position even in urban areas. The family
continues to play a role in determining the member’s behaviour
and provides the mechanism for the guidance of its members as
they enter into the processes of socialization in urban society.
Nearly 90 percent of all Filipino corporations are family owned.

27. Work in the Industrial Urban Life
Of the 24,525,000 workers composing the labor force in 1990, 15,185,000 or
61.9 percent were in the rural areas and 9,339,000 or 38.1 percent in the urban
areas (National Statistic Coordinating Board, 1991). Of those in the urban labor
force 8,258,000 or 88.4 percent are employed and 1,081,000(11.6 %) are
umeployed.
Characteristics of work in the urban areas:
• Great diversification of occupations which attracts a number of able bodied
men and women.
• With advances in science and technology.
• White collar jobs have expanded.
• Automation and computerization have speeded into the industries
• Requiring specialization vis-à-vis knowledge
• Skill and attitudes
• A new work ethic characterized by industry, thrift, frugality, and
innovativeness has emerged; consumer behaviour has been altered as
factories produce goods and moderate prices which are within the reach of
the masses.
• Various types of banks and credit and financial facilities have developed.
• Business establishments have become more democratic.

28. • With the rising cost of living, the so-called underground
economy has developed.
• Also known as informal economy, it is manifested in the selling
commodities like foodstuffs, clothes, imported items, jewelry or
any Knicks knacks, insurance, education and memorial plans in
offices and schools.
• Along streets, a number of fast stall have sprouted.
• The ubiquitous sari-sari store has now been replaced by
groceries, supermarkets, fast food centers, and restaurants.
• Trade, both domestic and foreign, has been enhanced and
expanded.
• Labor has become more organized and cooperatives have been
formed.
• Social security programs are being provided for the retiring
members and those who get sick or maimed in the course of
their employment.

29. Age Groups Rural
(1985)
Urban Rural Urban
(1988)
15-19 44.9 30.2 47.2 32.2
20-24
25-34
64.8
72.o
58.8
74.6
67.6 63.7
72.2 75.7
35-44 78.1 76.7 79.2 77.7
45-54 80.0 72.9 80.9 73.3
55-64 72.9 61.5 75.0 61.1
65 and over 44.6 30.7 49.2 29.7
Not Reported 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Labor force participation rate by age, urban, rural, 1985 and 1988
It may be gleaned from this table that in years, 1985
and 1988, the prime working age group 25-54 had the
highest participation rates. In the age group 25-34, the
labor force participation rate is higher in the urban area
than in the rural area. A reason for this may be that
those in this age group have higher schooling or
training and find the jobs in the urban areas more
attractive (DOLE 1988:13).

30. Major industry Total number
29,918,000
Percent
100
Agricultural, fishing, and forestry 39,000 1.43
Mining and Quarrying 2,000 .07
Manufacturing 550,000 20.24
Electricity, gas and water 23,000 .85
Construction 186,000 6.84
Wholesale and retail trade 556,000 20.46
Transportation, storage, communication 237,000 8.72
Financing, insurance, real estate, and
business services 201,000 7.39
Community, social and personal services 924,000 34.07
Industry, not adequately reported 0 0
Employed persons by major industry (National Capital Region, 1990)
In this table shows employment by industry in the National Capital
Region. The table reveals that the bulk of the employment of wage
and salary workers in the National Capital Region were in the
community, social, and personal services (34%), followed by
wholesale and retail trade (20.46%), manufacturing (20.24%), and
transportation, storage, and communication. Mining, quarrying,
electricity, gas, and water, agriculture, fishing, and forestry has
the least share.

31. Urban Social Problems
Manila has aged and become decrepit, what with the
unabated migration and the tremendous strains placed
on public services like housing, water supply, garbage
disposal, sewerage utilities, not to mention education
and health.
The city is likewise a focal point of social disorganization
and social problems. Crime and juvenile delinquency,
drug trafficking and drug abuse, alcoholism, poverty and
pauperism, prostitution and mental sickness, pollution,
not to mention the housing, educational, political or
transportation problems,.

32. Squatters and Slums
Squatters are persons who occupy vacant lots owned by the government or
private persons even without legal rights to do so. What exacerbates the
problem is the activity of “professional” squatters who make a living out of
squatting. In 1987, according to the National Housing Authority, Metro Manila
squatters constituted about 32 pecent of the total population. In 1992, the
estimate was that they constituted about 40 percent of the total number of
households.
Squatter areas have proliferated along river banks, railway tracks, esteros, and
the periphery of residential areas. Squatters build shanties or baron-barong
with makeshift materials such as used hardwood, scrap iron, second- hand G-I
sheets, and other cast-off materials. Some live in pushcarts, which they use for
earning a living during the day and as sleeping squatters during the night. They
park under the trees, on sidewalks, and other vacant spaces.
Squatter areas generally have the following characteristics:
Congestion, squalor, filth, and a lack basic facilities and services like light,
water, sewage and garbage disposal systems. These areas are called “ shanty
towns”.

33. There are more enterprising and better-off families who have organized to
invade public and private lands in the name of “people power”. These form the
new squatter communities which came after the EDSA Revolution of 1986. The
problem of evicting the new squatters is made more difficult because they are
better organized, more aggressive, and more indifferent to law and order.
Because of the lack of opportunities for employment, they refuse to vacate the
area and resist even resettlement (National Housing Authority).
Some squatter areas have developed into slums. “Slums” is the term applied
to residential areas characterized by overcrowding, filth and squalor. Oscar
Lewis, an American anthropologist, calls the style of life in the slums “culture of
poverty.” Slums are blighted areas, eyesores with houses falling into ruin and
lacking in facilities for healthful and comfortable life. In this study of Mexican
slums, Lewis described the culture of poverty as a way of life characterized by
economic deprivation where there is a tendency of parents to pass such a view
to their children. To them the slums is like a dead-end to one’s mobility.

34. In a study of one of Manila’s largest squatter settlements, Pinches (1985) found that the
people who live in this area, whom he called the urban poor, made up Manila’s cheap
labor force. The upper and middle classes associate these people with crime, gang
warfare, prostitution, begging, scavenging, and other unsavoury or dangerous activities
of maids, drivers, workers, utility man factory workers, and suppliers of the commodities.
Guerrero (1973:215)
Who studied three low income neighborhoods in Metro Manila, found that majority of
hthe residents were below forty years old and had limited schooling. Hence, they lacked
work skills and were fit only for service oriented jobs.
• One fourth were unemployed. Of those unemployed, about one third were self-
employed; they had very low incomes. Life was miserable for them as they led a
hand-to-mouth existence (isang kahig, isang tuka as the Tagalogs would say).
• Two-thirds did not specify any desire for a better life, but a few aspired for such things
as owning a house, being able to send their children to good schools having better
paying jobs, and attaining physical and emotional well-being. Some of them would like
their children to become professionals.
• Almost one-half expressed optimism about the future.

35. David (1977:147-149)
Slums are part of a large social system which is linked to wider
international economic and political system. The roots of slums
and squatter communities are found outside the society and are
“adaptation of a particular social system trying to cope with some
contradictions arising from the system itself without having to
radically alter the existing socio-economic structure.”
Urban Planning and Renewal
Attempts at urban planning and renewal designed to direct the
physical and social growth of the city and provide a wholesome
environment have been made but have never been fully carried
out. The task is enormous and necessitates a holistic approach as
well as the whole-hearted cooperation of the social planners with
the various sectors of the community.

36. Prepared by:
Maristel L. Meneses &
Aaron James Ordonez
BSIE 2-A