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Urban Community in the Philippines
Urban community in the Philippines often refers to the most dominant city of the country, which is Metro Manila, where all the major social, political, economic events in the country are often concentrated. As the primate city, Metro Manila is responsible for roughly half of the country’s gross national product. It is where the headquarters of the major businesses and institutions in Philippines are located as well as the central city where the affluents converge. Other marked characteristics of urban community is the plethora of business establishments in the city as well as the immense traffic in its thoroughfares for accommodating around 80 percent of the country’s total vehicles.
Metro Manila is actually comprised of different cities and urban areas that are proximate to each other namely, Manila, Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Pateros, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela. It may have been called Metro Manila being adjacent to the capital of the country which is Manila. The capital of Manila historically centered around the Intramuros, a walled city created by the early Spanish colonizers. Hence, Manila per se is not really representative of modern urban living because many of its infrastructure are old. Urban communities the reflect the modern lifestyle are particularly located in Makati city, Pasig City (Ortigas) and Taguig (The Fort). These are centers of development for urban communities as reflected in high rise buidlings.
Apart from Manila, two other Metros are emerging as a central urban communities in the Philippines. One is the Metro Angeles which is composed of Angeles, Bacolor, Mabalacat, Porac, San Fernando in Pampanga and other is Metro Cebu, which is centered in Cebu city known as the queen city of the south. Metro Angeles is another highly urbanized city in the Philippines whose urbanization may have been fueled by the Clark and Subic bases of the US Military. These bases were now converted into Freeport zones that houses many businesses and factories. Conspicuous in Metro Angeles particularly in Angeles city is the large population of foreigners and expats living in the city, mostly Americans and British. Lately however, Koreans and Japanese are dominating the migration of expats in the country.
Metro Cebu on the other hand is another urban community in the Philippines. Cebu is the first capital of the country and had been originally the home for centers of trade and commerce. Today, Cebu has become the gateway for the development of the south as a center of transportation. Cebu has also become a prime tourist destination among many foreigners that’s why the population of tourists in the city is also noticeable.
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