Rebuilding Capital Cities: A Case Study on Manila’s Urban Grid Through Post-War Reconstruction

Abstract

The twentieth-century crises between American and Philippine interests were a catalyst for a new political order, a turning point in the aftermath of the Battle of Manila paved the way for decolonizing urban design. Historical mapping and urban planning have contributed to the configuration of Manila’s urban layout. The failures of its contemporary configuration may be traced back to planning practices employed during the American colonial period. This study investigates mapping and planning through history, colonial legacies, and urban development, and how they influenced spatial design through generations of social and political actors. Using a critical lens, this study analyzed Manila’s case of urban development using maps to demonstrate their impact on perpetuating power structures and conceptualizations. Maps, as a tool for knowledge generation, are often seen as scientific and objective. However, maps are impacted by the process of their creation and the context of their conception. The study reveals the subjective nature of maps and how it is significant in their application in the planning process. Data from historical maps, urban plans, and government archives are triangulate the findings on the critical framework of cartography: abstraction, visualization, planning, and imposition. Ultimately, the sources analyzed reveal a clear and evident correlation between planning practices and the subjectivity of map creation. The findings indicate that colonial ideology has a significant role in regulating Philippine urbanization. Boundaries demarcated through maps are used in planning as a key determinant of scope and, consequently, as a source of identity.