16. The Growth of Greater Manila

Manila is one of the largest megacities in the world. It has grown from the original settlements at the mouth of the Pasig River and the walled Spanish city of Intramuros. The American period saw major plans drawn by architect/planner Daniel Burnham to transform Manila in a US-style capital city, while the Commonwealth saw new plans to create a capital, Quezon City, also largely inspired by American models such as Washington DC. Those plans were only partially implemented. Today, Manila has become a complex metropolis, with several business centers taking over from downtown Manila. Among them, Makati, Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City appear as the true engines of economic growth in the country and islands of modern high-rise urban development in a sea of low-level constructions. The transport network organized around radial boulevards and two main ring roads (EDSA and C5) and three elevated rail lines, tries to organize the circulation flows in the city, which is now spreading much farther than the official limits of Metropolitan Manila.