CHAP 1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

            The Pasig River system runs through five cities and four municipalities and it connects two large, important bodies of water in the Philippines namely, Manila Bay in the west and Laguna de Bay in the east (the largest freshwater lake in the country and connects 30 suburban towns to the metropolitan center). Before the colonial period, the Pasig River was the main point of entry for international trade into what is now the City of Manila. Advancements in land transportation have changed the river and the landscape noticeably.

            Before pollution killed the aquatic life, the whole 25km of the Pasig River between Laguna de Bay served as a habitat for 25 varieties of fish and 13 different types of aquatic plant. Today, there are only six species of fish and two types of plants left that can tolerate the polluted water. The situation, however, is not irreparable. During the rainy months of June to December each year, fish from Laguna de Bay are carried by floodwaters to the Pasig River. The flushing effect of the increased water levels in Laguna de Bay increase the dissolved oxygen content of the river to a level that increases its potential for some aquaculture activities. Unfortunately, during dry summer months of March to May, the river is virtually dead because the water becomes stagnant with the much reduced flow.

            The banks of Pasig River are lined by informal settlers consisting of roughly 12,000 households. About 2,000 live in houses on stilts or under bridges, in sub- human conditions, where they present a danger to themselves and to the vessels using the river. The settlements have no sanitary facilities and their liquid and solid wastes are discharged straight into the river.

            The various subcultures existing in Metro Manila result in many problems that reflect the socio economic characteristics of the city. With the continuous dumping of wastes, the riverbed has become more and more silted with organic matter and non- biodegradable rubbish. This results in serious flooding along the river, affecting nearby communities and carrying polluted water to the households living close to the river.

            The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) handles the entire development of the area. Since the year 2002 until the present, the PRRC has housed 10,000 informal settlers. They have been relocated to areas like Rizal, Cavite and Taguig. There are around 2,000 households left in the banks of Pasig River and the PRRC persistently pursues the resettlement action plan.

Background of the Study

            Urbanization and Population Growth in the Philippines

            Metro Manila is the total urban area that is composed of different cities and the surrounding urban parameter. The proper city Manila is only one of the big cities of this urban mass. Metro Manila, or the 'National Capital Region' as they say in the Philippines, is a real metropolitan area. On 636 square kilometer live more than 10 million inhabitants.

            As the nation’s capital becomes more and more highly urbanized, it also experiences unpleasant effects. The city is surrounded of human desolation and deterioration, endless miles of slums, and more slums ----- there are 526 slum communities located in all its cities and municipalities. Many in-migrants are unable to find adequate work or shelter; they become part of Manila’s continuous population growth of “Urban Poor”.

            Slum communities are detrimental for the growth and development of Manila and Philippines as a whole. This trend of population concentration in Metro Manila creates a problem in meeting basic daily needs, and coping with the fast pace of life that results to social cultural, political and economic poverty.

            Urban Poverty and Major Issues

            The Philippine government is confronted with major challenges posed by the growth of urban poor communities, especially as land, basic services, and livelihood opportunities are becoming less sufficient. Various administrations have sought to address the illegal occupation of land by the urban poor. In the 1960s, the government’s strategies largely involved relocation and on-site development through the provision of housing and opportunities for land acquisition.

            Many of these initiatives failed to fulfill the needs of their target beneficiaries. Relocation sites were far from clustered commercial areas where people could obtain employment, and lacked the basic services that would have encouraged the people to stay (Viloria and Williams 1987). Government also discounted the importance of providing the beneficiaries of its low-cost housing projects with livelihood opportunities to enable them to support their basic daily needs, as well as to pay the amortization of their acquired housing units. In many cases, beneficiaries were forced to sell their land and houses to generate money, and ended up returning to the city, more often, to squat again. Meanwhile, on-site development could accommodate only a small number of people because of limited budget and space. Funds allocated for housing were low, as housing did not figure among the priorities of government. Fewer land parcels were available, since public real estate properties had already been used for infrastructure and other facilities. Private landowners often disapproved plans to use their properties for socialized housing.

             Government-funded housing projects, such as the Philippine Homesite and Housing Corporation and the Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Settlements (BLISS), and indirect provident fund schemes, such as Pag-IBIG, had had negligible impact on overall housing provision because these generally favored middle income groups, especially government employees (Storey 1998; Goss 1998).

            The growth of local organizations and government’s realization of the difficulties in providing housing to its growing urban poor population have led to a radical change in government’s mass housing policy. Beginning in the mid-1970s, government paid attention to slum upgrading—the observance of the maximum retention policy in informal settlements—as an alternative to the resettlement or relocation program (Mendiola, 1983). After the 1986 “People Power” Revolution, socialized housing policies have shifted from the state-centered development approach to a people centered and aided self- help approach (Aberia, 1997). In this strategy, the role of the state is changed from that of provider to facilitator as a way of bringing the nongovernment sectors to the provision of housing and utilizing their creative capacities and resources (Porio, 2003).

            In the past fifty years, the Philippines has experienced what can be called “the urbanization of poverty.” This process describes the shift in the concentration of poor people from the village to the city, bringing about various social problems, such as massive unemployment and the proliferation of slums. Beyond the movement of poor people, this concept pertains to the various historical and social factors that have led to the poverty of many urban dwellers (Pablo & Douglas, 2002).

            The housing landscape of Metro Manila shows extreme division.  Numerous upscale housing development projects are once in a while emerging across the metropolis alongside the continuous escalation of small towns and slum dwellings all over the city. Continuous massive influx of migrants from different provinces to Metro Manila intensified the demand for settlement space.

            The poor in cities suffer from various deprivations such as lack of access to employment; inadequate housing and infrastructure; social protection and lack of access to health education and personal security. There is a possible growth in issues like poor public transport, uncoordinated infrastructure provision, bad housing, low levels of public health, and improper waste management.

Nature of the Study

            Resettlement projects focus on providing basic services to improve the well-being of low income communities, including a range of infrastructure interventions frequently undertaken in conjunction with social interventions, such as the regularization of areas with insecure tenure.

            Other infrastructure improvements include water, sanitation, waste collection, housing, access roads, footpaths, storm drainage, lighting, public telephones, schools, health posts and community centers. Social improvements can include better provision of health and education services, day care, training, and social protection programs. With the projected increases in slum population, the demand for urban upgrading interventions is expected to grow.

            Given the trends in urbanization and slum populations, slum upgrading interventions may be an important component of the development process. Investing resources in slum upgrading projects should ideally be based on clear evidence of which specific interventions are more effective.

            Similarly, policymakers need to understand which specific interventions are more effective than others. These questions can be answered by carrying out appropriate impact evaluation studies. However, because of the many facets of upgrading interventions and the difficulties faced in implementation, evaluating there impact can be complex. Comprehensive evaluation involves focusing on a multitude of potential impacts measured at the community, household and individual levels. This report addresses some of the complexities involved in monitoring and assessing the effect of slum upgrading projects, and provides some recommendations for designing impact evaluations (Field & Kremer, 2006).

Statement of the Problem

            The revival of Pasig River is led by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRCC). One of its programs is to provide housing facilities to the informal setters alongside Pasig River. There are about 2, 000 households left along the banks of the river that is detrimental in improving the condition of the area. This program would help the organization make best use of its agenda in improving the natural environment.

            The informal settlers are considered to earn very low at a day to day basis and the government sponsors or needs to subsidize the funding of the shelter provision in order to develop their lives and to improve or revive Pasig River as well.

            The project calls for a housing facility for the informal settlers that would provide them shelter and at the same time improve their lives in their own community. A housing facility also includes infrastructures (roads, housing units, drainage systems, etc.) utilities (water and power) and common facilities (open spaces, schools, health centers, market) accessible to their needs.

Project Objectives

            Relocation site for the informal settlers along the banks of Pasig River are needed as the PRCC would pursue their programs in reviving the Pasig River. The project calls for a housing facility for the informal settlers that would provide them shelter and at the same time improve their lives in their own community and addresses the following concerns:

a) To provide a decent and humane living facility for the affected families

b) To propose changes in regulatory framework to better suit the needs and opportunities available to the poor

c) To provide a living facility that is responsive for the climate of the available area

d) To improve the lives of the affected families in terms of financial stabilities after they will be relocated to a different area

Significance of the Study

            Pasig River is a major river of national significance in the historic, cultural and commercial life in the Philippines and has become heavily polluted through the uncontrolled and indiscriminate discharge of untreated municipal and industrial wastewater and solid waste. The relocation program for the informal settlers along the banks of Pasig River is essential in order to improve both the river and the quality of life of the affected families.

Project Scope and Delimitations

            In order to point out the strategies of housing provision, the research is narrowed down to the basic and standard requirements: the strategic planning and sustainability— (1)  required coordination of social, economic and social requirements; (2) embodiment of approaches to issue which can operate over time scales set at short, medium and long term; (3) involvement of a wide group of stakeholders, particularly including local communities; (4) inclusion of assessment of performance, targets and goal settings; and (5) searching issues of: built environment, energy, transport, water and wastes.

            Limitations of the traditional bioclimatic design approach

The approach of the typical climate regions with related design guidelines, outlined in the previous subsections, although clear and easy to transmit and apply, often have two serious disadvantages:

• The solutions are often presented without the explanations, indicating what to do rather than why, emphasizing results as the product, rather than the process.

• The approach does not provide useful guidance for the many intermediate climates found with conditions and characteristics between rather than within the typical regions.

 Methodologies to overcome these two fundamental aspects will be presented in Chapter 2 and 3, while the method explained in the following chapter also responds to this situation.

Definition of Terms

The origins, implications and associations of these terms are therefore explained as follows in order to clarify their specific meaning in the development of this thesis.

                        Bioenvironmental Architecture: The term bioenvironmental is applied to identify an architecture that relates to its physical context, climate in particular. In Spanish, the term bio-ambiental is often used as a synonym of bioclimatic; for example, ‘Zonificación Bioambiental’ is the Argentine National IRAM Standard 11.603 (1998). In other Latin American countries both terms are used with the same meaning. However, in this thesis the term implies a wider meaning as it includes related aspects such as landscape, soil and other environmental aspects of the surroundings, in addition to the implications of the key relationship climate comfort- architecture. It is considered that the integration of all these factors can contribute to sustainability, energy efficiency and thermal comfort, as well as a qualification for environmental quality of the built environment.

                        Bioclimatic Architecture: Olgyay defined the term bioclimatic in 1953 (Szokolay, 1995) to define the architecture that responds to its climatic environment and achieves comfort for the occupants through appropriate design decisions.

                        Naturally Conditioned Architecture: The expression natural conditioning implies the successful modification and improvement of indoor thermal conditions through passive design decisions, such as form, orientation, materials, color and vegetation, with little or no dependence on mechanical conditioning installations with conventional and nonrenewable energy. It is sometimes currently mentioned to avoid the use of the term bioclimatic, considered slightly out-dated in certain circles.

                        Low Impact Architecture: The harmful environmental impact of architecture include the emissions of greenhouse gases that arise from energy use for heating and cooling, the impact of raw material extraction, transformation into building materials, transportation and construction impacts as well as impacts of materials on building users. Buildings also channel waste, rainwater and sewage, as well as creating impacts at the demolition stage at the end of their useful life. Therefore, this denomination applies to the architecture that consciously aims to reduce or minimize these impacts.

                        Ecological Architecture: The science of ecology studies the relationship between living entities and their environment.

However, ecological architecture or eco-architecture often includes examples of hi-tech architecture (Slessor, 1997a and 1997b). For example, ‘Eco homes’ is the denomination which was then applied to the environmental assessment system to evaluate sustainability issues of housing in the United Kingdom (BRE, 2002), while ‘Eco-house’ is the title of the book by Roaf (2001 and 2003) on ecological housing with a strong emphasis on energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in architecture.

                        Bio-architecture: Sometimes used as a synonym of ecological or eco-architecture, with connotations of architecture as a living organism.

                        Energy Efficient Architecture: It implies certain emphasis in the efficiency of installations for artificial conditioning, illumination, heating, cooling and ventilation, although in this thesis it is considered that the truly energy efficiency mainly depends on appropriate design decisions for the building and not simply the efficiency of the heating, artificial lighting and cooling installations.

                        Organic Architecture: This refers to architecture that reflects or copies natural forms, textures and plant materials, in some cases related to the theories of Rudolf Steiner (2003), and covering zoomorphic architecture

(Hugh Aldersley-Williams, 2003), where buildings ted forms inspired by animals. In both cases, examples invoke a symbolic relationship with nature, as well as a possible functional or environmental response.

                        Natural Architecture: This denomination, also used by Pearson (1994), emphasises the impact of materials on the indoor environment. It also covers natural ventilation, energy efficiency and the GAIA concept to achieve planetary harmony, with a certain tendency to promote a ‘back to nature’ approach, although the Gaiana House example (Pearson, 1994, p 41) includes many bioclimatic design resources and strategies.

                        Passive Architecture: This expression, coined by Arthur Bowen in 1984 (Szokolay, 1995) implies the capacity of buildings to achieve comfort through design decisions rather than dependence on ‘active’ mechanical plant with high-energy demand. Appropriate design choices include building form, orientation, thermal characteristics of materials, form and location of openings, colours, landscape and design of outdoor spaces. However, passive buildings may require the active participation of users to achieve optimum comfort in rooms by opening windows, closing blinds or changing positions of specific building elements.

                        Solar Architecture: The energy crisis of 1970 produced a wave of new designs to optimize the use of solar energy in architecture. Active solar systems require energy to move heat from the point of collection, usually flat

plate collectors, to the point of use inside the building. The expression passive, previously defined, is strongly associated with passive solar, where the systems for collection, storage and distribution of solar energy are the

building fabric, without dependence of external auxiliary energy (Mazria, 1983).

                        Sustainable Architecture: The term sustainable (du Plessis, 1998; de Schiller, 2004) includes the economic and social aspects as well as the ecological related to environmental sustainability. However, it is generally applied to architecture as a design quality related to projects achieving low environmental impact. The term architecture emphasises the role of the design process, a wide approach that includes the initial design guidelines through all project stages, from post-occupancy assessment, durability and life cycle performance including deconstruction, recycling and recovery procedures.

                        Sustainable Building: Denomination that covers all aspects of sustainability, coined by a research network meeting at a series of influential world congresses (CIB, 2000; de Schiller, 2002; Du Plessis, 2002) held in Maastricht 2000, Oslo 2002, several regional meetings in 2004, and Tokyo 2005.

                        Green Architecture: A rather popular term (Hall, 2005) used to indicate both natural and sustainable architecture, although it is often associated with certain specific features such as organic and recycled or recyclable materials, and the use of functional vegetation for green roofs and green facades.

                        Vernacular Architecture: The traditional and popular architecture of specific regional features or local character which integrates near-by materials and resources with design solutions developed over time through a process of trial and error to achieve adequate levels of comfort in relation to user expectations (Oliver, 1973; 1987;2004)