PHILIPPINE

URBANIZATION
TRENDS
Prepared By: John Edward V. Bertillo
Student: MSc in Environmental Science
DLSU-Dasmarinas
Scope of Presentation

 Definition of “URBANIZATION”
 Conversion of Barangay/Municipality into a City
 Introduction
 Key Topics
 Cities
 Population
 Recommendations
 Urbanization Definition

 The United Nations Department of Economic and Social

Affairs, UN DESA (2019) defined urbanization as a complex
socio-economic process that alters the built environment,
converting formerly rural into urban settlements with
consideration to population distribution from rural to urban
areas.
 Urbanization also leads to changes in the lifestyle,
employment, and culture which can alter the social and
demographic structure.
 Introduction
 City competitiveness
Urbanization
The Philippines is one
is a of is fastest
driving
the anforce
important part of
for growth
urbanizing countries insuccessful
and poverty
the East
Asia and Pacific
urbanization.
reduction. region.
A
Globally, In the80
competitive
over pastpercent
five
city decades the urban
facilitates
of economic its population
firms
activityand is
grew by overto50create
industries
concentrated million people,
jobs,and
in cities, and cities
raisebyproductivity,
2050, approximately
are 102
for million
and increase
essential the
lifting
people will reside in cities. Urban density overall is high, particularly in
incomes
millions ofofpeople
citizensout overof time.
poverty through the opportunities that
Metro Manila.
 density
At the and agglomeration
same time, it is not can bring
possible to with jobs,these
achieve
Urbanization is correlated with economic efficiency and growth in the
services, and
objectives
innovation.
without strong
Philippines, as hasinstitutions,
been found socialin otherinclusion,
countries. resilience,
The economic and
 environmental
However, if not sustainability.
benefits of urbanization carefully managed
are realized and plannedeconomies
through agglomeration for, the
 based
benefits
All
on the
of
of these
high and increasing
urbanization
elements are density
not
are important
of cities which
realized and
to harnessing
provides
can muchin
result
the benefits
opportunity for structural transformation of
congestion, slums, pollution, inequality and crime. the economy
of urbanization and must be enabled by both national and local
governments.
 Conversion of Barangay/Municipality
into a City
 Along with the increase in the number of urban dwellers is
the rise in the number of cities throughout the country over
the years.
 From 24 cities in 1950, the number has ballooned to 146 as
of 2019, with General Trias and Santo Tomas, both in Region
IV-A, being the most recent municipalities to join the rank of
cities.
 Conversion of Barangay/Municipality
into a City
As provided for in the Local Government Code of 1991 or
Republic Act (RA) No. 7160, as amended by RA 9009, a
municipality or a cluster of barangays may be converted into a
component city upon a Congressional Act and subject to the
results of a plebiscite, if:
 It has an average annual income of at least PhP100 million in the last
two consecutive years based on year 2000 constant prices;
 It must also have either a population of at least 150,000 or a
contiguous territory of 100 square kilometers (km2), as certified by
designated government agencies.
Cities
 Cities
 Cities, in the Philippines and elsewhere, are widely considered to be the
key engines of economic growth. Their density and agglomeration
facilitate job creation, flow of goods and services, and increased
productivity.
 The National Capital Region (NCR), which consists of 16 cities and one
municipality, historically contributes not less than 30 percent of the
country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2018, for example, it
accounts for 36 percent of the GDP, while its GDP per capita was
almost three times the national figure (PSA, 2018).
 Overall, Philippine cities are historically responsible for more than 70
percent of the country’s GDP.
 Cities
 The importance of cities in national development is expected to increase
as the country continues to urbanize.
 As of 2015, 51.2 percent of Filipinos were already residing in urban
areas. They are spread in over 7,437 urban barangays out of the
country’s then total of 42,036 barangays. Overall, 67.12 percent of the
population in all cities throughout the country are considered to be living
in urban areas.
 Outside of NCR, the average urbanization level is highest in Region XII
(79.08%), Region IV-A (78.21%), Region III (72.04%), Region XI
(71.62%), Region VII (70.45%), and Region VI (69.99%).
 The collective population in NCR’s 16 cities is generally considered to be
100 percent urban by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Cities

Number of Additional Cities in the Philippines by Region,

https://psa.gov.ph/classification/psgc
 Cities
 As of 2019, the top regions with the greatest number of cities are Region
IV-A with 20 cities, followed by NCR, Region VI and Region VII with 16
cities each, and Region III with 14 cities. Three regions have the least
number of cities at two each, namely, Region IV-B, BARMM, and
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
 Overall, the total number of cities in the country increased five times
from its 1950 level. Currently, the island group of Luzon, where NCR is
located, has about twice the number of cities (74), compared to
Mindanao (33) and Visayas (39).
Cities

Estimated Population Density of Philippine Cities by Region,

as of 2020 PSA’s 2020 population data
 Cities
 As can be expected, the population density among cities is higher than
the national and regional averages. As of 2020, Philippine cities have an
average population density of 4,690 persons per sq.km., almost 13 times
higher than the national average of 363 persons per sq.km. reported by
PSA (2021).
 The pattern is the same for all regions except in Region IV-B where the
average density is a little lower at 356 persons per sq.km.
 Outside of cities in the NCR (26,267 persons per sq.km.), the densest
cities, on average, are located in Region IV-A (5,221 persons), CAR
(3,272 persons), Region VII (2,915 persons), and Region III (2,902
persons).
Population
 Population

Annual Percentage of Population Residing in Urban Areas in Southeast Asian Region (UN DESA 2018a)
 Population
 Philippines is an urbanizing nation with rapid urban population growth
rate higher than the national growth rate (ADB, 2014).
 It was projected that more than 60% of the population will be living in
urban settlements by 2050 (UN DESA, 2018a).
 Among the Southeast Asian countries, Philippines ranked 6th in urban
population with highly urbanized Singapore topping the list.
 The Philippine urbanization rate is predicted to increase by 14% in 2050.
 Due to rapid urbanization coupled with migration to urban settlements,
Philippines is leading to a highly dispersed population and urban sprawl.
Peri-urban areas in the Philippines will also experience development
and high population growth rate (ADB, 2014).
 Population

Total Urban Population and Percentage of Urban Population of Philippine regions (Philippine
Statistics Authority, 2019)
 Population
 Data
Although
fromthethePhilippine
Philippine population
Statistics Authority,
is predominantly
PSA (2019a),
urban,revealed
majoritythat
of
51.2%
the regions
of theinFilipino
the country
population still are
haveresiding
lower than
in urban
50 areas
urban inpopulation
2015
from 45.3% in 2010. The number of urban barangays, the smallest
percentages.
 administrative
This situation category,
caused increased
very high from 5,697densities
population in 2010 toin7,437
Among the cities in NCR, City of Manila is the densest with 71,263 urbanin areas
2015.
 than
Highest
in rural
percentage
people/square regions.ofThe
kilometerurbanPhilippine
population
followed bypopulation
belongs density
Mandaluyongto theandNational
rose from
Pasay Capital
255
cities
Region
persons orper
(PSA, 2019b).NCRsquare
with 100%
kilometer
figure inin2000
yearsto2010
337 and
individuals
2015. NCRper has
square
an
 kilometer
urban population
in 2015.of 12.9 million in 2015.
This urbanization characteristics of the Philippine population cause
 The
Regions
National
regional 4A andCapital
XI have
inequalities Region
and high
urban is
percentages
the densest
disparity ofregion
that urbantopopulation
need ofbethe country
withwith
addressed.
66.4% and
20,785 persons
63.5%, per
respectively.
square kilometerIlocos Region
which isisthe
60most
timesrural
higher the
Philippine
national data.
region with 20.5% followed by Administrative Region of
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Bicol regions both with 23.3% urban
percentages. The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has the
lowest urban population of 524,672 among the 17 Philippine regions.
 RECOMENDATION
 The Philippines Urbanization Review by World Bank (2017) outlined
some areas for sustainable management of urban regions in the
country. According to this report, reforms must be done on the urban
density management, land use planning and infrastructure development
with inclusion of efficient and affordable mass transportation within
cities.
 Job creation, local economic development and creating opportunities for
the urban poor should be enhanced to create urban growth and
competitiveness.
 RECOMENDATIONS

 To mitigate the compounding impacts of deprivation and disasters,

social protection, health, education, and other sectoral interventions
must be localized and targeted to address the unique needs of specific
cities or groups of cities.
 Such would require a closer investigation of the actual condition of
certain cities, starting with those that have relatively high poverty
incidence, poor social protection, and multiple exposure to natural
hazards, as discussed previously.
 Building up institutions and governance will help in the efficient delivery
of social services and improving land management will address land
tenure concerns.
END
Thank You
and
Good Afternoon