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Borrowed Home: An exploratory study on the implications of the National Botanical Garden development project on the lives of the informal settler community in the UP Arboretum

Using an exploratory approach, the study looked into the informal settling issue in the UP Arboretum, the last remaining urban forest in Metro Manila. With development of the Arboretum into the proposed National Botanical Garden underway, the study focused on the dynamics between the Pook Arboretum community and the UPD Administration, specifically, on how the university will address the unmonitored influx of informal settlers in the Arboretum, as well as how the development project will affect the community.

By recognizing the community—its existence and the rights of its members—the UPD Administration was able to foster a good working relationship with the community which gave way to the progression of the proposed project.

However, in the absence of the actual master plan and with the unexpected change of the university’s leadership, uncertainty over the future of the Arboretum community remains despite the agreements and compromises that have been reached.

In the end, the community’s fate will be decided by how its members will face and assert themselves to the UPD Administration.

The findings are contained in a four-part, long-form journalistic report, accompanied by a photo essay.

Galauran, A.J.M. & Hidalgo, L.A. A. (2014). Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Keywords: UP Arboretum, Arboretum, Pook Arboretum, Informal Settlers, Informal Settling, Community

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