Metropolitan Arrangements - Philippine Institute for Development ...

256 ManagingUrbanizationUndera DecentralizedGovernanceFramework
in the west, and the provinces of Cavite and Laguna in the south.
With a land area of 636 square kilometers, Metro Manila is comprised
of the cities of Manila, Caloocan, Las Pifias, Mandaluyong, Makati,
Marikina, Muntinlupa, Parafiaque, Pasay, Pasig, and Quezon, as well
as the municipalities of Malabon, Navotas, Pateros, san Juan, Taguig,
and Valenzuela.
Oemogmphy
In 1995, the total population of Metro Manila reached 9.5
million, accounting for 13.8 percent of the country's population and
some 25.1 percent of its urban population (Table 1). The primacy of
Metro Manila has been declining continuously after reaching a peak
of 34 percent in 1970. The diminishing primacy of the metropolis is
partly attributed to the deceleration of the rate of growth of its
population from a peak of 4.9 percent annually in the 1960s to 3.0
percent in the 1980s (Pernia and Israel 1994).1 Still another factor
that helps explains primacy reversal is the decline in the contribution
of net migration to the growth of the metropolis. To wit, the
proportion of migrants in Metro Manila's population in 1975-1980
was 18.2 percent compared to only 11.5 percent in 1985-1990.
The population density of Metro Manila in 1995 is estimated at
14,865 persons per square kilometer, 65 times the national average
of 229 persons per square kilometer. Congestion in Metro Manila is
more glaring if one looks at the individual cities and municipalities
in the region. Congestion, as measured by population density, is more
evident in Manila, Makati, Pasay, Navotas Pasig and Caloocan.
Although population growth in the first three local government units
(LGUs) has slowed down in 1990-1995, the same cannot be said for
the last three LGUs.
Metro Manila's population is young and a substantial portion is
at the peak of their productive years. While the metropolitan
population is not as young as that of the entire country with only 4g
percent of its population below 20 years of age compared to the entire
country's 49 percent, the proportion of the population between 20
and 35 years of age is higher in Metro Manila (30.7 percent) than in
the rest of the country (24.6 percent).
t However, the population growth rate of Metro Manila rose to 3.3 percent yearly in 1990-1995,
almost 50 percent higher than the national average of 2.3 percent-