The politics of urban-rural relations: land use conversion in the Philippines

By examining the process of land use conversion in Manila's extended metropolitan region, this paper suggests that rural-urban relations must be seen as intensely political. The conversion of rice land into industrial, residential and recreational uses represents a political process in two senses: first, policy choices are made relating to the use of land that reflect a particular set of developmental priorities; and second, the facilitation of conversion involves the use of political power relations to circumvent certain regulations. These points are made at three different, but interconnected, levels: at the national level of policy formulation; at the local level of policy implementation and regulation; and at the personal level of everyday power relations in rural areas. The paper draws upon fieldwork in the rapidly urbanizing province of Cavite to the south of Metropolitan Manila.