Local Governance, Children and the Physical Environment

The Payatas in the Philippines

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the Child Friendly City initiative in Quezon City in the Philippines. It examines progress in Barangay Payatas, the dump site of the city and the location of the infamous collapse in 2000 that took the lives of hundreds of people who lived and worked nearby. The paper describes the attention given to living conditions in Payatas by the larger Quezon City government, as well as the efforts of the local barangay council on behalf of children. It considers specifically the concern for children's interests shown by various stakeholders during a gas extraction project at the dump, part of a more general attempt to respond thoughtfully to the dump slide disaster.