WB urges focus on inclusive growth across PH

THE HUGE number of Filipinos flocking to more developed cities to seek greener pastures has made Philippine urban areas, specifically Metro Manila, the second most densely populated in East Asia, according to study released by the World Bank on Monday.

World Bank economists said in a video conference that given the segmentation of Metro Manila and surrounding urban areas into a number of local government units (LGUs), the government must come up with a governance model that promote inclusive growth across the country.

“The urban landscape of the Philippines is polarized, with one megacity urban area, Manila, and a number of much smaller urban areas. There is a ‘missing middle,’ an absence of medium-sized competitors to the capital,” according to the World Bank report titled “East Asia’s Changing Urban Landscape: Measuring a Decade of Spatial Growth.”

The World Bank noted that “Manila” as an urban area is not limited to the capital city but could as well refer to the expanse of 85 cities and municipalities in seven provinces that are closely “involved in its governance.”

Data as of 2010 showed that the Philippines had the fifth biggest urban population in East Asia, which jumped from 17 million people in 2000 to 23 million five years ago.

“The average population density in urban areas in the Philippines was 10,300 people per square kilometer as of 2010. It was the second highest in the region,” just lower than South Korea’s, the World Bank said.

But unlike South Korea’s stable urban population density, the Philippines has seen its average population density in urban areas rise from 9,500 people per square kilometer 15 years ago.

Manila, in particular, is the “undisputed primate city” in the country with 16.5 million residents in 2010. This made Manila among the region’s megacities with population of 10 million or more.

“The Manila urban area is also one of the densest in the Philippines and it is becoming denser. Its population density increased from 11,900 people per square kilometer to almost 13,000 between 2000 and 2010,” according to the World Bank.

While a vast urban center, the report noted that Metro Manila, composed of 17 LGUs having different leaders and set of local laws, showed “metropolitan fragmentation.”