June 3, 2010

Jam-packed

The district of Binondo is Manila's Chinatown. It is a densely populated area, with more than twelve thousand people crammed into its .66 square kilometer (.26 square mile) land, according to the 2007 Philippine population census. Despite its narrow, crowded and oft-dirty streets, Binondo has one of the highest land values in the metro. No houses here, just cheek by jowl office and apartment buildings which are all at least three stories high. No matter what the building is, the street level spaces are all eateries, retail stores and commercial enterprises.

Binondo office buildings


About the only thing that distinguishes an office building from an apartment building in Binondo is the laundry drying in the balconies of the latter.

Binondo apartment building

10 comments:

Lowell said...

I cannot imagine that many people living in such a small area! Not for me...I like the wide-open spaces. But then, I also know a lot of folks don't really have a choice.

Anonymous said...

What a challenge it must be living there. Reminds me of the saying, that one bares to life every HOW if one has a WHY.

daily athens

Chattahoochee Valley Daily said...

I would expect that would a very interesting place to visit. I love the vitality of the 'big' city.

brattcat said...

Do people grow cross sometimes, living so close together? Or do they love the sense of tightly knit community?

Kim said...

How interesting to see Binondo buildings and read about the district. I guess Chinatowns around the globe have similar attributes of that tight spaced feeling, dense populations, and the ever-present laundry hanging from the balconey :-).
-Kim

Louis la Vache said...

hee hee!
«Louis» was going to write what Kim wrote!
He recently saw a photo of Chinatown in Havana, Cuba. Even after 50 years of Castro, the Havana Chinatown could be interchanged with the New York or San Francisco Chinatowns.

Cezar and Léia said...

So busy place, I think they would be stressed all the time there.
Léia :)

Washington said...

It seems stifling to live in that location. All wires in the pictures pass a feeling of a densely populated place.

AB said...

很有意思!

Gabby Malcuit said...

Wow. I remember when we visited, the traffic in Manila was so bad! I'm an open space kind of person. Even living in just the suburb of a major US city is too crowded for me.