Soaring land prices driven by rapid urban redevelopment are increasingly pushing low-income families out of Metro Manila, deepening the housing divide despite years of economic growth, a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) found.
In its report, Urban Revitalization and Shelter Inadequacy: A Geospatial Analysis, PIDS said residential expansion from 1990 to 2020—fueled by the rise of multiple commercial hubs—has come with steep trade-offs. Land values in revitalized districts climbed by as much as 500 to 600 percent, pricing out lower-income households from central areas.
The study said this trend has pushed affordable housing to the outskirts, leaving many families to relocate to areas with limited infrastructure and services. It warned that such “spatial inequities” are displacing vulnerable communities and concentrating wealth in high-value zones.
Researchers also highlighted a growing mismatch in housing supply, noting that “most economic and socialized housing projects continue to be built outside Metro Manila… while new construction in the capital is dominated by residential and commercial condominium projects that usually cater to higher income groups.” This imbalance, they said, “indicates a gap between urban growth and housing affordability.”
At the same time, the study observed pockets of urban poor communities still embedded within high-value districts, describing this as “market dualism, whereby a housing market in poor or undeveloped settlements coexists with speculative market from business development firms.”
PIDS warned that without targeted policy interventions, the benefits of urban growth will continue to bypass low-income sectors, further entrenching inequality in the capital.