In Manila, like many regions in the global south, the steady march towards urbanisation has generated an intensive urban landscape of high-rise buildings and large patterns of unplanned and often illegal settlements. Although the Philippine government has formulated several programmes to control the irregular growth of its territory, none of these initiatives has fully addressed the challenge of urban informality. This article examines the initial outcomes of a long-term research plan focused on the development of an upgrading strategy for the informal community of BaSECo in Manila. It describes the preliminary stages of the socio-spatial analysis of the district as well as the participatory process, carried out through a series of studies and fieldwork activities that involved students, NGOs and the community itself. The results of the upgrading strategy suggest that ‘action research’ can become a strategic tool for experimenting with alternative strategies in the revitalisation of informal settlements. At the same time, this study highlights the importance of using on-site academic activities to develop an integrated approach that blends architectural education and research with raising students’ awareness of the socially responsible application of architecture and urban design.

在马尼拉，与全球南部的许多地区一样，城市化进程的稳步推进已经产生了密集的高层建筑城市景观和大量无规划且通常是非法的定居点。尽管菲律宾政府制定了多项计划来控制其领土的不规则增长，但这些举措都没有完全解决城市非正规性的挑战。本文考察了一项长期研究计划的初步成果，该计划侧重于为马尼拉 BaSECo 的非正式社区制定升级战略。它描述了该地区社会空间分析的初步阶段以及通过一系列研究和实地考察活动进行的参与过程，这些研究和实地考察活动涉及学生、非政府组织和社区本身。升级战略的结果表明，“行动研究”可以成为试验非正规住区振兴的替代战略的战略工具。同时，本研究强调了使用现场学术活动开发一种综合方法的重要性，该方法将建筑教育和研究与提高学生对建筑和城市设计的社会责任应用的认识相结合。