## 1 Introduction
### Study Area  
This paper describes the first and second of three fieldwork studies in the context of the research project \"Grassroots GIS (geographic information system). Development of low cost mapping and publishing methods for slums and slum-upgrading projects in Manila\". Metro Manila is one of the icons of Asian megacities in developing country context. The greater urban area of Manila with a population at around 21 million people is the world's 5 th largest urban agglomeration [8]. Metro Manila contains the city of Manila, national capital of the Philippines, as well as sixteen surrounding cities and municipalities. Metro Manila is a rapidly growing \"endless city\" [9] with all imaginable characteristics of urban affluence as well as of bitter urban poverty. Vast parts of Metro Manila-an estimated 40% portion-have to be attributed to urban informal settlements or slums. The project follows from preparatory work and the first investigative fieldtrip by the authors in 2010 [3]. The research is conducted in combination with special landscape design studios in the context of the Master of Landscape Architecture program (MLA), National University of Singapore. These studio projects are related to and organized in cooperation with the Philippine grassroots movement Gawad Kalinga (GK). The mission of Gawad Kalinga - meaning _to give care_ - reads as follows: \"Building Communities to End Poverty\". Their method is baldly: \"Land for the Landless. Homes for the Homeless. Food for the Hungary\" [5]. Beneficiaries work hand-in-hand in _bayanihan_ (Filipino term for teamwork and cooperation) with GK volunteers in building the infrastructure and structures of the community. The _kapitbahayan_ (association of GK homeowners) composed of the beneficiaries themselves, take on multiple roles and undergo various leadership trainings. The beneficiaries learn to take ownership of their community and are empowered to help themselves and help others [5]. The GK slum-upgrading project areas are denoted as _villages_, and that is exactly what they reminded us: Children playing on the streets, pets and livestock in between and sometimes very, sometimes less successful attempts of ornamental gardening and urban farming. Landscape architectural design in slum areas is facing a categorical scarcity of space. Therefore, large projects as parks or other representative big outdoor spaces are out of place [3]. It is the small, unimposing micro-plot that counts in a slum and there are uncounted possibilities of designing essentials as an outdoor designer. In 2010, the students worked on the topic \"Needle in a Haystack Gardens - Manila\" [10], focusing on microdesigns of urban gardens or garden elements that contribute to a healthy environment and to improved living conditions in two selected GK villages (Figure 1). Figure 1: Metro Manila. Study sites **(1)** GK Baseco; **(2)** GK Espiritu Santo; **(3)** GK Concepcion; **(4)** GK Telus. (Screenshot [13], September 19, 2011, modified). The first one is situated within a notorious slum called _Baseco_, situated at the estuary of Pasig River and the most central harbor front area of Manila City. The second site is the GK village _Espiritu Santo_, surrounded by a vast slum area with the euphemistic name _Sitio Pajo_ in Quezon City (Metro Manila). The students had been asked to specialize on productive forms of gardens that can provide precious food for the table [5]. This year, 2011, the \"designs for the real world\" [11] of the students focused urban farming and livelihood ideas for two other selected GK villages in Metro Manila - _Concepcion_, Barangay Buayang Bato (administrative district) in Mandaluyong City and _Telus_ in Quezon City [12] (Figure 1). Only half of the GK villages that the authors have visited with MLA students could provide a lot plan, which means a creasy laminated hard copy of a rough hand drawing - without georeferencing (Figure 2).