The Social History of Housing in Manila, the Philippines, 1898-1946

Principal Investigator

Ian MORLEY

Total Fund Awarded

HK$446,281

Funding Source

RGC General Research Fund
(2025/2026)

Abstract of Project

The inquiry probes the evolution of housing in Manila during the American colonial era (1898-1946). Analyzing the political, legal, economic, cultural, and architectural contexts that shaped the development of housing, the study explains the relationship between the physical forms of accommodation and the social life they contain.

In December 1898, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the United States commenced its colonization of the Philippine Islands. Even though historiography has done much to clarify the nature of transition within local society after 1898, the written history of Manila’s housing has been a neglected topic. Accordingly, the study will expand knowledge of life within the Philippines’ capital city during a time when, first, the American colonizer’s implemented policies to ‘uplift’ and ‘civilize’ the local population, and, second, important political-legal advancements transpired. In 1916 and 1917, for example, Acts were passed to permit Filipinos employed as colonial bureaucrats new opportunity to shape national and municipal governmental operation.

By means of surveying the number, location, and supply of residences in Manila, the investigation illuminates the alliance between house provision, housing design, and the evolving Filipino way of life. A principal goal of the inquiry is to know the types of housing in Manila, as well as to measure and evaluate changes in built form over time. To comprehend the determinants of urban form the research will assess matters that include the occurrence of building cycles and their relationship to shifts in patterns of investment, cultural change, e.g. the move to suburban living, and new laws passed to permit subdivisions, regulate public health, improve road and transport infrastructure, and safeguard well-being.

The investigation, ultimately, is established to enlarge knowledge of the American Empire in Asia. It shall present original findings re the association between societal transformation, the housing of a rapidly expanding urban population, and the Filipino way of life. The project will be of interest to persons investigating the cultural and environmental impacts of ‘progress’ within Philippine society, and it will be of relevance to those interested in urban culture and modernity within the frame of imperialism in Asia. Evidently, owing to the nature of the inquiry with its focus upon housing, the findings will be of significance to persons studying the connection between built fabrics and culture. The project findings will result in peer-reviewed journal papers, and a monograph.