The growth of urban areas is one significant development that has characterized our times. A phenomenon in which cities serve as focal points in the economic and social organization of countries has definitely emerged. Related to this trend is the continuing movement of people from the countryside to urban centers.
Such a trend has important implications for the social and economic development of the country as a whole. A controversy has grown in this regard. On one hand, there are those who picture large urban areas as ugly, dangerous and unpleasant. It is pointed out that the problems of such areas are so great that their growth should, therefore, be restricted. On the other hand, a growing number of scholars view the growth of cities and urban areas as being the key to the development of the country. These scholars argue that urban areas serve as centers for the development of ideas and activities which are vital to the building of the nation.
Participants in this controversy are, however, agreed on the fact that large urban areas are growing, and at a very rapid rate. In the Philippines, as in other countries, the urban population is increasing at a much faster rate (in excess of four percent) than the country as a whole, and this has been attributed to the massive rural-to urban migration of people. Such massive migration has in fact, been viewed as also the main reason behind such urban difficulties as inadequate government services, unemployment and underemployment, and generally less comfortable and satisfactory physical conditions.
More recently, however, some experts are beginning to advocate a "keep the slums" policy. These experts point out that squatting and slum dwelling is actually a self-help effort to solve the housing problem. Such effort must not, therefore, be wasted, especially in the absence of a better and more comprehensive method of approaching the problem. Laquian even goes further in the development of this idea as he sees the slum and squatter areas as actually contributing to metropolitan and national development by serving as "transitional way stations" in which the transformation of the rural person to a truly urban man is more easily achieved. The argument is based on the research finding that slum and squatter communities are human settlements where social norms and behavior possess both rural and urban characteristics.