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Overcrowding: Manila
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Why is Metro Manila very densely populated compared to other ASEAN/Asian cities? In fact, why are Philippine cities small in size, yet heavily populated?
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If a city is very dense, it is either highly populated or most of the population have limited access to transportation or the access to developable land is very limited. For Manila, all probably play a factor. If Manila had a well-developed mass transit system, or if the population were rich enough to afford cars for each adult and a super highway system, then the city could afford to sprawl more, or at least become more decentralized. For smaller cities, if they stay dense, it is usually due mostly to limited access to transportation. Most people need to travel on foot, or use one of the limited sources of transportation (eg, tricycles or motorbikes). If they are relatively poor, then they cannot even use these that much. Jeepneys will tend to travel between nodes and centers, and people will live in areas grouped around those nodes. Even in Manila, jeepneys serve fixed routes, and people need to cluster around the route terminuses. People compensate for less access to reliable transportation by living more densely (where they are likely to find more reliable transportation, or can access destinations by walking). Another factor could be demographic. Filipinos tend to have children young, and have more children than needed for population replacement. In the 1960s, the median age was barely 16, but now has crept up to about 23. By contrast, the US median age is about 38 and Japan and Germany are about 47. With a larger number of young people, the need to live near accessible transportation, or within walking distance is even more important.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
First of all, the whole country is overly populated at 100 million residents, which is already equivalent to 1.39% of the world’s population (as of 2018). It is not just in specific locations. A large portion of the population is concentrated in cities, particularly Metro Manila, because this is where (office) jobs can be found. Locations in other provinces offer limited opportunities (or none at all) and lower salaries (since standard of living is also lower). There are attempts to create IT or business districts in places other than Metro Manila but usually face challenges over lack of talents in the area, available infrastructure, etc.