Expanding the concept of cities

When we think of "cities," we immediately refer to those established by state orders: the city-municipalities. But the reality is far more complex: most cities that ever exist in the world are run by private institutions. A private city is a dedicated or permanent human settlement that is administered, curated, or ruled by a private institution rather than by the state. Cities under the state, called municipalities, are a rare category; as very few dedicated human settlements would think about having a distinct government. Heller: business districts, gated communities, lifestyle destinations, mixed-use developments, and townships. Broadly, a city consists of at least a residential quarter and a commercial quarter. It is an incorporated city when it has state recognition in the form of business permits or registration certificates. When attempting to spot private cities, state-curated registration documents are effectively legal technicalities that may not accurately reflect the reality of the private enclaves. Most city politics documentation and news deals with city-municipalities. That leaves us naive about cities that are outside the state's direct intervention.

SM format

The SM Group of Companies, founded by Henry Sy, Sr., is a de facto political organization operating as de jure commercial enterprise. It has the ambition to construct something called lifestyle cities, which feature an SM mall and several development projects under the administration of several SM companies. By building lifestyle cities, the SM group is establishing nonstandard polities without ever having to file a bill. When you are near an SM mall, it is safe to assume that you are in a private city under the jurisdiction of the SM Group. The National University serves 2 fuctions for the SM format: general higher education and recruitment of potential SM employees. Sometimes, you can see a National University campus beside an SM mall. SM intends its lifestyle destinations to be walkable polities, where their constituents can live and work without ever having to leave SM territory.

Gated communities

Gated communities, also called subdivisions, are an extremely common category of private city: they consist of a highly curated cluster of residences and commercian buildings within a defined and guarded perimeter. Camella is the best-known political organization that curated gated communities. Unlike the SM format, gated communities are require less resources and less state-curated permits to construct. This explains why you can see gated communities even in rural localities. Entry to gated communities is notoriously stringent: at the entrance, you have to tell the border guard the exact code of the house you are going to visit.

Townships

A township closely resembles an open city, except for its private administration. Araneta City and Davao Global Township are prominent examples of townships. Let's talk about the Davao Global Township, which is completely surrounded by Matina territory. The Global Township has a city center for shopping, a cultural center for showcasing Davaoeño culture, and an east village for living. The Global Township is situated deep within the Davao City proper.