How has the university sector in the Philippine capital City of Manila led to the studentification of the area? A research poster tracing the historical formation and studentification of the capital won the npj Environmental Social Sciences Poster Award in the International Conference on Planetary Actions for Sustainability 2025 held from October 31 to November 4, 2025. The poster was presented by College of Architecture Asst. Prof. John Clemence Pinlac, MS, who is studying in the University of Tokyo. Pinlac’s co-authors are Ichiro Watanabe, Kojiro Sho, and Hideki Koizumi.
The explanatory case study investigated why there has been an acceleration of studentification in Manila and used mapping, analysis of historical records, university data, and policy documents vis-a-vis review of related literature. With a focus on the privatization of education and land use changes, the study showed how Manila’s urban fabric has changed due to this phenomenon.
The poster revealed that urban governance frameworks and private sector-led developments around Manila’s educational institutions “unintentionally produced uneven developments, disrupting neighborhoods and communities.” The poster pushed for equitable urban planning to address the negative effects of studentification in the similar student-dense neighborhoods among Global South countries. Among the study’s recommendations is the development of a planning foresight on the growth of the student population and the involvement of stakeholders in areas such as the University Belt.