In parts of northern Manila, the sound of traffic never fully stops. Beneath elevated expressways where thousands of vehicles pass each day, there are narrow settlements built into the shadows of concrete pillars and drainage channels. Families cook meals there, children sleep there, laundry hangs beside cracked support beams, and daily life continues within metres of constant movement overhead.
Some residents have spent years living underneath sections of motorway infrastructure in Manila because formal housing remains financially out of reach. What appears temporary from the outside has gradually turned into something more settled. Entire routines exist beneath the roads. Makeshift shelters built from plywood, tarpaulin and scrap metal line the spaces between pillars, creating tightly packed communities hidden beneath the highway system. Despite the difficult conditions, residents continue working, studying and raising families there while dealing with flooding, pollution, heat and the constant noise of traffic above.
