Sustainable Urbanisation in ASEAN - Stories from the ground

International Women’s Day – Gender & Housing

Advancing Gender-Responsive Green and Affordable Housing in Caloocan City

Women around the world are struggling with housing due to rapid urban growth, which can lead to growth in informal settlements in high-risk areas. An increasing number of families spend more than 40 per cent of their income on housing – this threshold is referred to as the “housing cost overburden rate”. Residents in Caloocan City, located in Metro Manila, continue to grapple with housing pressures. While social housing projects have been developed to address displacement, some sites remain only partially operational due to pending permits and coordination gaps among authorities. As a result, many potential beneficiaries are unable to occupy units that were intended to provide stability and security for them.

AMCA Residences: Challenges and Community Strength

One such site is AMCA Residences in North Caloocan. Developed under a national housing program, the project continues to face regulatory and technical barriers, and families are not able to fully settle in. Yet, amidst these challenges, a powerful story of community leadership has emerged. 

Of the 303 beneficiaries at AMCA Residences, nearly two-thirds, are women. The Homeowner’s Association (HOA) is led by Virginia Lorica, under whose leadership residents have organized their community and also pursued livelihood opportunities, including the production and sale of knitted crochet cleaning rags.

A Pilot for Green and Affordable Housing

Recognizing both the challenges and the potential of the site, the Caloocan Local Government Unit, under the leadership of the City Mayor Hon. Dale Gonzalo Malapitan and in coordination with the Housing and Resettlement Office,  is developing a technical proposal, with support from UN-Habitat, under the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanisation Strategy (ASUS) Project Phase II to support AMCA Residences as a pilot green affordable housing project. 

The proposal focuses on three interconnected pillars: 

• Institutional Coordination: Strengthen collaboration between national agencies, utility providers, and beneficiaries to resolve compliance and occupancy barriers that have stalled the project.
• Green Infrastructure: Integrating practical, feasible solutions such as graywater treatment systems, rainwater harvesting, and solar-ready retrofitting to improve site performance and affordability.
• Community Ownership: During consultations, the HOA expressed its willingness to position AMCA Residences as a model, ensuring improvements are driven and sustained through the community itself.

“We are open to becoming a pilot site for green and affordable housing in the city,” Ms. Lorica said. “We believe this initiative can improve the lives of our beneficiaries and help make our community more sustainable.”

Gender and Housing: An Inseparable Connection

AMCA Residences offers a compelling illustration of how gender and housing intersect in urban communities. With women at the forefront of leadership and comprising the majority of beneficiaries, the site demonstrates that women are not merely passive recipients of housing support, they are agents of governance, livelihood and community resilience, explained Alyosha Mallari, Local Project Officer of UN-Habitat Philippines. 

“AMCA Residences has the potential to become a replicable model for gender-responsive, green and affordable housing in Caloocan City,” he said.

ASEAN and UN-Habitat, with the support of the Government of Australia, continue to work to strengthen communities through women-lead organizations, demonstrating their commitment to building cities where every woman has the right to live, lead, and thrive.