The contrast between vernacular andtransnational Urbanism gives us a better understanding of the local Filipino inhabitantsand their lives prior to colonization and globalization. In Manila, the grasshuts of the indigenous Filipinos stand on stilts and are an example of vernaculararchitecture prior to the colonization by Spain in 1565 (Wikipedia,2018). Many of the structuresthat we see today in manila are an eclectic mixture of Spanish architectureinfluenced by 330 years of colonization.When we view the buildings of the past we might mistake these edificesfor vernacular, they are however transnational in form, as the pieces of thepast flow together from centuries of colonization to new global formsrecognizable as symbols of the new global city. These architectural andeconomic changes are evident in the segregation of Manila, where we can walkalong a river and find both extreme poverty and ostentatious wealth.

   Today the global city of manila is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. 13 million people call the Manila Metro area home and approximately four million live in severely compressed areas know as slums (Sescon, 2014). I begin my walk at the Edge of the Pasig river where shanties are precariously perched over water ways that are clogged with refuse and fecal matter. I see women and children bathing and washing clothes  in this same contaminated river, while others sift through the flow of garbage looking for anything that can be collected and sold. The urban poor that inhabit these slums live in extreme poverty with no running water, poor sanitation, precariously self-built housing and the knowledge that eviction and displacement is very real.

   Approximately 6 miles from the city of Quiapo and the Pasig river is the area of metro manila called Makati city where I can walk through luxurious shopping malls, with high rise residential living, high quality restaurants, ornamental parks and the key to wealth and exclusivity. The disparity in compression and urban development in these two closely linked areas is the ultimate evil paradise, compressing the local living space of the urban poor while participating in exclusionary practices to ensure that international developers can restructure the city of Manila into an urban oasis intended for the international elite.

   Surprisingly the tourists and international business men do not notice that just outside of their private and exclusive space millions of people live in impoverished squalor. In the video of Makati, (YouTube,2015) we see the splendor that has transformed this area of the city in to a lively night life and glamour zone. The tourists in the video talk about how Manila has transformed and has become an urban metropolitan city, no longer aplace of poverty and inequality. The lack of infrastructure is surprising to anyone who leaves the upscale areas with their private roads and ornamental gardens. Roads clogged with jeepneys, busses, street vendors and cars on narrow streets all fight for space, while the humid smog that accompanies this urban landscape threatens the health of those that live there.

 As Metro Manila spreads and sky-scrapers invade the city, luxury gated communities and private enclaves like Fort Bonifacio spread to the outskirts , rehabilitating what was once an American military base into a private area for the wealthy elite , leaving behind the smog and poor infrastructure of the city center.

   Metro Manila’s residents and international elite are at war for their city, where public -private partnerships continue to compress the local living spaces and eliminate public spaces for the urban poor. The local inhabitants of Manila fight for the rights to their city, joining local community groups to fight displacement and eviction. Filipinos have been fighting for the rights to there city since 1565, when the city center housed the Spanish military and government, and again in 1898 when they were colonized by the united states. In the last 72 years manila has restructured and become a global city, still fighting for the rights to their city, only this time it is the partnerships between governments and international conglomerates that are displacing and creating local space-time compression.

   Manila a global city that is inundated with divided neighborhood’s, poverty and untold wealth is also a city of warmth and a kaleidoscope of culture and tradition. The diversity that can be found when a merging of cultures has been occurring for thousands of years is reflected in almost everything you encounter in Manila. Filipinos were initially descendants from Negritos, Malay’s, Indonesian, Chinese and Muslims (Wikipedia, 2018)prior to Spanish colonialism, making it difficult to know where traditions originated from and how they have changed over time. One example is the Filipino love for Christmas, a Christian holiday which reflects Spanish colonization and encompasses the Filipino importance of family bonding and celebration. The two main languages of the Filipins are English and Tagalog the native language, both are used for business and education, however according to Northern Illinois University’s SEAsite project, there are 75-150 languages spoken in the Philippines,reflecting their diverse cultural heritage. The most poignant lesson I learned from Manila and its local inhabitants is that regardless of the poor infrastructure, local compression and abject poverty the Filipino people are a warm and diverse people who continue survive and overcome in spite of continues adversity.