Pockets of Change
Flood Resilience Strategies in Dense Low-Income Neighborhoods in Metro Manila
K.C. Dy (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
M. Lub – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
M.Z. Voorendt – Mentor (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
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Abstract
Flooding in Metro Manila is driven not only by meteorological events but by decades of urban expansion, spatial inequality, and fragmented institutional responses that fail to operate at the neighborhood scale. Despite government investments in regional flood infrastructure, informal communities continue to experience seasonal flooding and bear disproportionate impacts. This study investigates the potential for building flood resilience at the neighborhood scale and examines its practical implementation.
Barangay Tatalon in Quezon City serves as the pilot case. This neighborhood is located in a low-lying basin adjacent to the San Juan River and experiences compound flooding from both rainfall accumulation and river backflow. It lacks an organized drainage system. The informal settlement, home to around 3,000 households, is surrounded by formal communities and grey infrastructure that directs runoff into the area without increasing the area's drainage capacity. Through fieldwork, spatial analysis, and a research-by-design approach, the study maps the environmental, spatial, and social factors contributing to the neighborhood's persistent vulnerability.
A catalogue of formal and informal practices was identified and then evaluated in relation to these conditions, resulting in a prioritized selection that informs a spatial design proposal centered on the concept of the layered basin. Rather than resisting the site’s topography, the proposal works with it by organizing water, movement, and community life across four interdependent layers. A co-production model defines the relationship between government and the local community: the formal sector constructs and maintains the ground level, while the community builds and adapts above.
The project concludes with a replicability framework, suggesting that the conditions observed in Barangay Tatalon are not unique and that the proposed approach can inform interventions in similar flood-prone settlements across Metro Manila.