Militarization of the City

Abstract

This essay addresses a gap in the planning and architectural history of Manila, and offers a different perspective of American colonial policy. Using Lefebvre's theory, it investigates early twentieth century social engineering in the Philippines through two distinct but complementary spaces. On one hand, Daniel Burnham's 1905 Plan of Manila provided an abstract space of ideals; on the other hand, the inhabitants intentionally or unintentionally subverted the aims of the insular government in the concrete space of the city. The respective agents are the state as a concealed subject as opposed to individual soldiers, prostitutes, insurgents, colonial officials, and early planning specialists. By superimposing the relationship between these bodies in space, it becomes possible to trace the ways in which state political power was enforced and resisted. Militarization and the related task of pacification are tied directly to urban change, infrastructure development, and the worsening of an ongoing health crisis. These processes expose early planning experts' lack of engagement with the realities of colonial intervention.