Managed Retreat as Adaptation Option: Investigating Different Resettlement Approaches and Their Impacts—Lessons from Metro Manila

Hannes Lauer, Mario Delos Reyes and Joern Birkmann
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Hannes Lauer: Institute of Spatial and Regional Planning (IREUS), University of Stuttgart, 70049 Stuttgart, Germany
Mario Delos Reyes: School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP), University of the Philippines, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Joern Birkmann: Institute of Spatial and Regional Planning (IREUS), University of Stuttgart, 70049 Stuttgart, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-24

Abstract: Managed retreat has become a recommended adaptation strategy for hazard-prone coastal cities. The study aimed to improve considerations for the contextual factors that influence the success of managed retreat and resettlement projects in Metro Manila. Data were collected through a mixed-method approach consisting of a screening of relevant literature, a qualitative case analysis of resettlement projects, and a workshop series with Philippine stakeholders. It turned out that the resettlement of informal settlers is a central element of urban development. Though in-city resettlement is preferred, the majority of existing and planned projects are developed in off-city locations. The findings present a nuanced view of different retreat approaches. Not all in-city resettlements are successful, and the unpopular off-city projects have a potentially important role for urban and regional development. A strategic planning thread to develop concepts for qualitative off-city settlements that counteract uncontrolled urban sprawl with monofunctional residential areas for urban poor people was deduced. The other thread asks for pathways for inner-city development with innovative, vertical, in-city projects. A final observation was that climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are worsening the situation in informal settlements, thus strengthening the argument for the planned decentralization of Metro Manila’s congested urban areas.

Keywords: managed retreat; resettlement; climate change; hazards; informal settlements; urban development; COVID-19; Metro Manila (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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