What is a city?

SUBMITTED BY: TAN, ANNA JANE P.

SUBMITTED TO: AR. ROBERTO S. DURAN
PLANNING 02/ MWF 10:0-11:00 AM
DEFINITION

 A large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have extensive systems for
housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, land use, and communication. Their density
facilitates interaction between people and businesses, sometimes benefiting both parties
in the process.
 An inhabited place of greater size, population, or importance than a town or village

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

Urbanization

Urbanization is the process of migration from rural into urban areas, driven by various
political, economic, and cultural factors. Until the 18th century, an equilibrium existed
between the rural agricultural population and towns featuring markets and small-scale
manufacturing. With the agricultural and industrial revolutions urban population began its
unprecedented growth, both through migration and through demographic expansion. In
England the proportion of the population living in cities jumped from 17% in 1801 to 72%
in 1891. In 1900, 15% of the world population lived in cities. The cultural appeal of cities
also plays a role in attracting residents.

Infrastructure

Urban infrastructure involves various physical networks and spaces necessary for
transportation, water use, energy, recreation, and public functions. Infrastructure carries
a high initial cost in fixed capital (pipes, wires, plants, vehicles, etc.) but lower marginal
costs and thus positive economies of scale. Because of the higher barriers to entry, these
networks have been classified as natural monopolies, meaning that economic logic favors
control of each network by a single organization, public or private.
LAWS THAT DEFINE WHAT A CITY IS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Cities of the Philippines

A city is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are
chartered cities, whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by
their own specific municipal charters in addition to the Local Government Code of 1991,
which specifies their administrative structure and powers. As of December 12, 2015, there
are 145 cities.
Cities are entitled to at least one representative in the Philippine House of Representatives
if its population reaches 250,000. They are allowed to use a common seal. As corporate
entities, cities have the power to take, purchase, receive, hold, lease, convey, and dispose
of real and personal property for its general interests, condemn private property for public
use (eminent domain), contract and be contracted with, sue and exercise all the powers
conferred to it by Congress. Only an Act of Congress can create or amend a city charter,
and with this city charter Congress confers on a city certain powers that regular
municipalities or even other cities may not have.
Despite the differences in the powers accorded to each city, all cities regardless of status
are given a bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) compared to regular
municipalities, as well as being generally more autonomous than regular municipalities.
Creation of cities
Congress is the lone legislative entity that can incorporate cities. Provincial and municipal
councils can pass resolutions indicating a desire to have a certain area (usually an already-
existing municipality or a cluster of barangays) declared a city after the requirements for
becoming a city are met.

AS PER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9009, THESE REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE:

• LOCALLY GENERATED INCOME OF AT LEAST ₱100 MILLION (BASED ON CONSTANT
PRICES IN THE YEAR 2000) FOR THE LAST TWO CONSECUTIVE YEARS, AS CERTIFIED
BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, AND
• A POPULATION OF 150,000 OR MORE, AS CERTIFIED BY THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS
AUTHORITY (PSA);
• OR A CONTIGUOUS TERRITORY OF 100 SQUARE KILOMETERS, AS CERTIFIED BY THE
LAND MANAGEMENT BUREAU, WITH CONTIGUITY NOT BEING A REQUISITE FOR
AREAS THAT ARE ON TWO OR MORE ISLANDS.

Members of Congress (usually the involving representative of the

congressional district to which the proposed city belongs) then draft the legislation
that will convert or create the city. After the bill passes through both the House of
Representatives and the Senate and becomes an Act of Congress, the President
signs the Act into law. If the Act goes unsigned after 30 days it still becomes law
despite the absence of the President's signature.
The creation of cities before 1983 was solely at the discretion of the national
legislature; there were no requirements for achieving 'city' status other than an approved
city charter. No income, population or land area requirements had to be met in order to
incorporate cities before Batas Pambansa Bilang 337 (Local Government Code of 1983)
became law. This is what made it possible for several current cities such as Tangub or
Canlaon to be conferred such a status despite their small population and locally generated
income, which do not meet current standards. The relatively low income standard
between 1992 and 2001 (which was ₱20 million)also allowed several municipalities, such
as Sipalay and Muñoz, to become cities despite not being able to meet the current ₱100
million local income standard.

Before 1987, many cities were created without any plebiscites conducted for the residents
to ratify the city charter, most notable of which were cities that were incorporated during
the early American colonial period (Manila and Baguio), and during the Commonwealth
Era (1935–1946) such as Cavite City, Dansalan (now Marawi), Iloilo City, Bacolod, San Pablo
and Zamboanga City. Only since 1987 has it been mandated under the Constitution that
any change to the legal status of any local government unit requires the ratification by the
residents that would be affected by such changes. Therefore, all cities created after 1987
– after meeting the requirements for cityhood as laid out in the Local Government Code of
1991 and Republic Act No. 9009 of 2001 – only acquired their corporate status after the
majority of their voting residents approved their respective charters.
REFERENCES
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/city
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_of_the_Philippines#Creation_of_cities