The Retail Pattern of Manila

Abstract

THE pattern of retail structure in Manila reveals that combination of Eastern and Western influences which pervades nearly all aspects of the city. Historical associations with Spain and the United States are reflected again and again, yet the city retains the flavor of an Asiatic metropolis. Reconstruction of the war-devastated sections, plus a postwar growth of the urban population to more than two million persons, has placed a severe strain on the pre-existing retail facilities. The resultant expansion in retail structure tends to follow long-established patterns. A street-by-street survey reveals three distinctive patterns or combinations of patterns. Scattered through the city are I4 public markets, selling mainly foodstuffs, each market tending to be the core of a compact retail district. Along certain principal streets, retail stores are concentrated in a linear pattern, and throughout the residential areas there is a widespread scattering of tiny neighborhood stores. In a few places the three patterns blend; the most important is a zone of heavy retail concentration in the vicinity of the Escolta and Rizal Avenue midway between the Quinta, Central, and Divisoria Markets. This is the central retail district of Manila (Fig. i).