Tessa Maria Guazon, is the international Principal Investigator of Case study 5: Escolta Santa Cruz district, Manila, Philippines. Prof. Tessa Maria Guazon is an art historian based in Manila. Her research interest is contemporary public art practice in cities in Southeast Asia with comparative focus on the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. She considers the many platforms and complex economies of public art production: the state and local agencies, private and corporate entities, and artist collectives and initiatives. This span covers a wide spectrum of forms and practices including monuments and permanent works, installations, site-specific art, ephemeral forms, performances and participatory engagements. Her writings and field work examine ways public art forms and practices enable interaction, participation and involvement. This situates contemporary art in the nexus of the city, asking whether art practices and creative strategies enable new and emancipatory ways of defining city life through novel modalities of agency in urban contexts. Email: ttguazon@up.edu.ph