Arnisson Andre C. Ortega, University of the Philippines, Population Institute
In recent decades, neoliberal restructuring has facilitated dramatic urban-rural transformations in Manila’s peri-urban fringe. Vast tracts of land have been converted into ‘profitable’ uses such as gated residential subdivisions, industrial estates, and other developments involving public-private partnership agreements between the state and the market. Concomitantly, the region has attracted throngs of migrants, not just from Metro Manila or other parts of the Philippines but also returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who invest and purchase housing units. This study examines the multiple spatio-temporalities of urban change in the region as it analyzes interrelated issues of housing, migration, urban development and displacement, and the ways in which these processes reconfigure the actual terrains of everyday life. Using a mixed-methods approach, the project will run for two years and has just finished a survey of 2,000+ respondents, field interviews and archival work. We are currently in the data processing stage and we target to release a series of monographs and a website that will contain results of the project by the end of 2015.
Email address: arnisson@gmail.com
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