Also known as: Manila, Maynila
City of Manila is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila (NCR), National Capital Region (NCR). Population 1.90M (PSA 2024 census), 897 barangays, land area 42.88 km².
City of Manila is in the National Capital Region (NCR), also called Metro Manila.
Yes. City of Manila is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, officially the National Capital Region (NCR).
The City of Manila is the First District of the National Capital Region, also known as the Capital District, and the only city in it. The Philippine Statistics Authority groups Metro Manila's cities and its one municipality into four such districts. They are a statistical and administrative grouping, not congressional districts.
City of Manila had 1,902,590 residents in the 2024 census (PSA 2024 Census of Population (POPCEN 2024), reference date July 1, 2024). That is the most recent official count. There is no 2026 census result, so any 2026 population figure is an estimate.
City of Manila covers 42.88 km², per the PSA Philippine Statistical Yearbook figure used on this page.
City of Manila has 897 barangays.
Manila is the densest large city in the Philippines (44,000+ persons/km²) and the most exposed to climate hazards — storm surge from Manila Bay, flooding in Tondo and Sampaloc, subsidence in reclaimed coastal areas, and earthquake risk from the West Valley Fault to the east. The CLUP must address heritage preservation in Intramuros + San Nicolas, post-disaster reconstruction patterns in Tondo (which contains some of the largest informal settlements in Asia), and ongoing reclamation projects at Pasay-Manila boundary. Mobility planning interlocks with LRT-1, LRT-2, the planned Metro Manila Subway, and Manila Bay tourism infrastructure.
Key industries: Government, Port + maritime logistics, Tourism, Education, Wholesale + retail
With a population density approaching 44,000 people per square kilometer, Manila consistently ranks among the most densely populated cities on Earth — a figure that dwarfs even Tokyo and Mumbai on a per-km basis. The ongoing Pasig River rehabilitation program, which aims to reduce biological oxygen demand levels and restore navigability for a commuter ferry system, directly intersects with waterfront barangay zoning from Paco to Santa Ana. The walled city of Intramuros falls under the conservation mandate of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, creating a heritage overlay that every CLUP amendment in the area must respect. Across 897 barangays — more than any other Philippine city — the coordination burden on Manila's planning office is unmatched.
Officials managing Manila's zoning challenges can compare approaches with other NCR cities profiled in the LGU directory, including neighboring Pasig and Taguig. Given Manila's unique density constraints, the city represents an ideal candidate for Nova Gov's block-level land-use intelligence. Planning teams evaluating digital compliance tools can explore the pilot program or schedule a consultation tailored to high-density urban environments.
More on the regulatory framework: CLUP compliance (RA 7160 / EO 72 / DHSUD) · SGLG explainer (RA 11292) · full glossary.
Manila's 897 barangays are the largest barangay count of any LGU in the country, creating the heaviest coordination burden for citizen-report routing. Nova Gov's automated routing + SLA escalation engine, coupled with the heritage and disaster overlays in the AIOS ontology, addresses the specific operational pain Manila's planning office reports.
No other Philippine city carries Manila's coordination load — 897 barangays plus the Intramuros heritage overlay and Manila Bay flood risk. The demo runs on sample data; see how block-level land-use data from every barangay could roll up into one view, in place of the spreadsheets that slow the densest planning office in the country.
See the demo (sample data) →We build custom software around CLUP, CDP and zoning work, for LGU planning offices and for the planning firms LGUs hire. Free 30-minute workflow call, then a fixed written quote.
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