Chapter 17

Urban Communities

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.

Louis Wirth 1938:124He 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.

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

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.

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.

The story of cities is the story of civilization Martindale 1984:14The 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.

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.

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.

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….

Ley 1983:190; Brikerhoff and White 1988:542; Giddens 1989:559These 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 1971:72-19Their 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.

Marsella and Escudero 1970:69-75A 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.

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. 

 

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.

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 class, or occupation.

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.

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.

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: 

Year Population1903 219,9281918 285,3061939 623,4921948 983,90611960 1,138,6111970 1,330,7881980 1,630,001990 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.

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.

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.

The Urban FamilyAn 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. 

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.

‘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.

(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.

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. 

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.

• 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.

 

Age Groups   Rural (1985)

Urban 

Rural Urban (1988)

15-19   44.9 30.2 47.2 32.220-2425-34

  64.872.o

58.874.6

67.6 63.772.2 75.7

35-44   78.1 76.7 79.2 77.745-54   80.0 72.9 80.9 73.355-64   72.9 61.5 75.0 61.1

65 and over   44.6 30.7 49.2 29.7Not 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).

Major industry

Total number29,918,000

Percent 100

Agricultural, fishing, and forestry 39,000 1.43Mining and Quarrying 2,000 .07Manufacturing 550,000 20.24Electricity, gas and water 23,000 .85Construction 186,000 6.84Wholesale and retail trade 556,000 20.46Transportation, storage, communication 237,000 8.72Financing, insurance, real estate, and business services

 201,000

 7.39

Community, social and personal services 924,000 34.07Industry, 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.

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,. 

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”.

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. 

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.

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 RenewalAttempts 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.

Prepared by:Maristel L. Meneses & Aaron James OrdonezBSIE 2-A