City Profile: Manila, Philippines
Gamboa, Mark Anthony M.
City Profile: Manila, Philippines - Sage, 2019. - Vol 10, Issue 2, 2019 ( 331–358 p.)
Manila is a primate city with national and international significance. Unlike any other city in the Philippines,
Manila has the mandate of serving not just its local constituents, but also a clientele of national and even
global scale. Recognizing that the localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at sub-national
levels is a key element in meeting the targets by 2030, it is important to look at how cities have been
confronting local challenges relating to the development goals. Focusing on SDGs 3, 4 and 11, this city
profile shows that Manila has performed reasonably well against key national and regional benchmarks
on health, education and urban sustainability. However, as the city continues to lag behind many of its
regional counterparts, key reforms must be undertaken in the areas of local policymaking, targeting
of resources, scale of public participation and engagement of national government agencies. Heading
into the first four years of the SDGs, the aim of this profile is to recognize and contextualize Manila’s
existing urban conditions, best practices and pressing challenges—which would all have a significant
implication on how Manila stands to attain SDGs 3, 4 and 11.
City of Manila,
urban service delivery,
Sustainable Development Goals,
localization of SDGs,
health service delivery,
education service delivery,
sustainable cities,
local policy framework
City Profile: Manila, Philippines - Sage, 2019. - Vol 10, Issue 2, 2019 ( 331–358 p.)
Manila is a primate city with national and international significance. Unlike any other city in the Philippines,
Manila has the mandate of serving not just its local constituents, but also a clientele of national and even
global scale. Recognizing that the localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at sub-national
levels is a key element in meeting the targets by 2030, it is important to look at how cities have been
confronting local challenges relating to the development goals. Focusing on SDGs 3, 4 and 11, this city
profile shows that Manila has performed reasonably well against key national and regional benchmarks
on health, education and urban sustainability. However, as the city continues to lag behind many of its
regional counterparts, key reforms must be undertaken in the areas of local policymaking, targeting
of resources, scale of public participation and engagement of national government agencies. Heading
into the first four years of the SDGs, the aim of this profile is to recognize and contextualize Manila’s
existing urban conditions, best practices and pressing challenges—which would all have a significant
implication on how Manila stands to attain SDGs 3, 4 and 11.
City of Manila,
urban service delivery,
Sustainable Development Goals,
localization of SDGs,
health service delivery,
education service delivery,
sustainable cities,
local policy framework