Metropolitan Manila Slum Upgrading Background Memos: Housing Institutions, Policy, Financing, and Data Gathering

Under a public sector decentralization process in the Philippines, Metro Manila's seventeen independent Local Government Units (LGUs) have been mandated with the challenge of addressing the needs of the sizeable slum populations living within their jurisdictions. City officials and local government agencies alike found them­selves with increased financial, technical, and taxation responsibilities, but with insufficient authority to effectively execute their expected duties. While the National Urban Development & Housing Framework (NUDHF) provides an approach to shelter policy based on long­term poverty allevia­tion and economic growth objectives, the severe lack of housing continues to be a problem with few short­term solutions. The Capstone team assisted the World Bank in developing background material for its support of a Metro Manila­wide slum upgrading policy. Using a document review and field interviews, the Capstone team prepared a series of policy memos on institutions and stakeholders, national housing policies, financing schemes, data gathering strategies, and international case studies of slum upgrading.