Yet people want to live in the cities, where there is much less space.

Living rurally is cheap and easy in Norway, since it's a stated political goal to have rural settlements (in contrast to Sweden, where large rural areas are downright abandoned). When I was a student, I actually had enough money to buy an old house rather than renting an apartement. I own quite a bit of acreage, actually! If I'd went a little further out, I could have had a farm, no trouble.

In Oslo, I would have needed more than twice the amount of money to buy even the tiniest room, even if it hadn't been painted since 1940. Yet more people live there.

Space and mobility matter, but they're not the whole picture by far. I think that opportunity is what people crave most of all once their basic needs for sustenance and companionship are met. They may be happy in the Phillipines (my impression is that they are very good at the companionship bit), but they are moving out by the millions. When I've had the occasion to talk to filipinos about it, they say the same: they miss their families and communities, but they saw no future there for them, nor for their families unless they could support them from abroad. Especially those with little education are deeply pessimistic about the lives in store for them if they stay.