GEK2001/SSA2202/GES1003

Changing Landscapes of
Singapore
Bicentennial Version
(2019 only)
LECTURE 6: PUBLIC HOUSING
LANDSCAPES

DR . KAMALINI RAMDAS
Outline
 Mini Quiz 6
 Recap –arts landscapes
 Today’s objectives
 Taking Stock of Public Housing @ Bicentennial
 Public housing during colonial times
 Urban Renewal through public housing development
 Building a nation – sense of place, pride and belonging
 Building a global city – SMART nation and more…
 Recent issues in Public Housing Landscapes
 Summary
Recap Arts Landscapes
 What is art? Why geographers interested in the
arts: tourism/creative cities; nation-building;
resistance
 Conceptualising arts spaces: Spaces for the Arts
and Spaces of the Arts
 Arts: Scalar Analysis (Global, Regional, Local)
 Arts: Power (top-down/bottom-up): government
plans and censorship laws vs efforts to resist (e.g.
through theatre, cartoons, performance arts etc.)
 Today’s Objectives
 Historical development of public housing landscapes
 Public housing as a strategy for political legitimacy after
independence
 Key concept linked to geography: sense of place  building
homes, promoting family life and community.
 Power: How does the state project Singapore as a modern city-
state through public housing landscapes?
Taking Stock of Public Housing
@Bicentennial
 Provision of public housing  political legitimacy for new
government after independence.
 Historical development of public housing in Singapore: ‘roof
over your head’ to something more?
 Public housing as a tool for nation-building: promoting shared
values around which the nation is built (e.g. multi-racialism)
 Contestations over public housing: right of every citizen? Is it
every citizen? Should it only be for citizens?
First Storeys
1 Mar - 10 Mar 2019
300 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee
First Storeys interrogates the “kampung
to metropolis” narrative, focusing on the
period of large scale resettlement in
Singapore from the 1950s to the 1990s.
Through a speculative theatrical
installation, the piece will surface lesser
known stories surrounding the process
of resettlement.
Step into the former Bukit Ho Swee
Community Center and join our officers,
as we weave stories, artefacts, and
performance to figure out what exactly
happened between ‘kampung’ and
‘metropolis’.
Organised by
Yale-NUS College
 Other themes at First Storeys
Singapore’s public housing programme benefits nuclear families – usually a
heterosexual married couple, and their children, if any. But there are other family
typologies that exists within Singapore, which includes but is not limited to
single-parent family, and elderly living alone. Join us as we discuss and question
the current housing policies regarding non-nuclear families, and attempt to
envision a more inclusive Singapore.

Singapore’s public housing programme started with the British administration,

and today more than 80% of Singapore’s population live in HDB (Housing and
Development Board) flats. The panelists have been involved in the early
developments and research around HDB. Join us as we explore the housing
history of Singapore from multiple perspectives, and discuss the future of public
housing in Singapore.
Housing in the Colonial Period
What were some of the most
predominant housing landscapes to be
found in Singapore during colonial times
(1819 - early 1900s)?
Slums, Kampongs, SIT Flats
What were some of the challenges?
 Housing in the Colonial Period:
Crisis of Habitability
 Neither the colonial government, the
municipality nor the private sector
were prepared to shoulder the
responsibility for providing housing
for the immigrant labouring classes.
 In 1917, 877 people lived in 305
cubicles carved out from 16 rooms
found in 25 houses in Pagoda Street
in the heart of Chinatown.
 Many died from health problems
 Housing in the Colonial Period:
Singapore Improvement Trust
(SIT)
SIT set up in 1927: responsibility of
condemning houses unfit for human habitation
and the eradication of slum property in the city.
However… SIT was not very
successful…
SIT lacked power (and funds) to build houses;
produced about 23 000 units in 32 years

Lack of effectiveness and distrust of high rise

housing type amongst the population

Many people condemned the SIT (weak

enforcement role)
 The Housing Development
Board
Public Housing Authority
www.hdb.gov.sg

Established in 1960 – to replace SIT

Statutory board under Ministry of
National Development  legal
powers
Primary role to solve the nation’s
housing crisis (overcrowding in city
centre, break out of fires)
Bukit Ho Swee Fire, 1961
HDB and Urban Renewal
“The public housing programme [of the 1960s] is rooted in
the state policy of ‘deliberate urbanisation’ to create,
through urban renewal and the systematic relocation of
population to outlying public housing estates, a modern
efficient city centre premised on rationality of land use, in
keeping with the broader goals of nation building” (Choe,
1969 in Teo, 1996: 279)

Public Housing as a strategy for development, part of

urbanisation plan (connect to Lecture 2)
Public Housing in the 1960s
 Affordable housing for the masses to encourage home
ownership
 Basic but well-planned living environments – externally
and internally
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=-
VosvrTlw7c&gl=SG
 Result: large scale urban renewal in the congested city
centre displaced persons resettled into new flats
within easy reach (6-8 km) of the city centre, e.g.
Queenstown, Whampoa, Kallang.
Public Housing in the 1960s
First 5-year Plan (1960-
1965): Standardised 1-,
2- and 3-room flats
built.

Second 5-yr plan (1966-

1970):
3-room improved, 4-
room, and ‘point block’
flats built.
Aerial view of Queenstown. At that
time, Queenstown was the largest
HDB estate with 17,500 units and
125,000 persons.
 Public Housing in the 1960s:
Encouraging Home Ownership
 Home Ownership Scheme
◦ 1964 – Home Ownership Scheme introduced to encourage
Singaporeans to buy their flats
◦ 1968 –purchasers permitted to use CPF savings to pay for
downpayment and monthly instalments.
◦ Rentals & selling prices further minimised by government
subsidies to keep rentals to 15% of the average household’s
income.
 Other important policy initiatives
◦ 1967 – Land Acquisition Act enacted to give government power
to compulsorily acquire private land for public housing or other
development programmes.
 Public Housing in the 1960s:
Basic but Well-planned Living
Environments
 Those resettled were mainly low income
◦ Housing costs had to be kept low
◦ Achieved by building basic flats
◦ Amenities not neglected
 In terms of external living environment  neighbourhood
principle of British New Town planning adopted from the start
◦ Minimise travel outside the neighbourhood
◦ Provide each neighbourhood with essential amenities, e.g. shops,
clinics, playgrounds, landscaping, sports facilities, etc. as well as
employment opportunities
In terms of interior  basic but clean, comfortable and modern
“By the late 1960s, therefore, the
concern was not only to put a roof over
people’s heads but also to pursue the
provision of living conditions suited to an
age of modernity”

- Kong and Yeoh, 2003: 101

Building a Nation with the Help of Public
Housing
 As a tool to instill pride in the nation and strengthen
stakeholdership and belonging
 The HDB landscape as a repository of key ideologies of
nation-building  promoting acceptable social values
(see Chua, 1991) and prohibiting undesirable behaviour
 KIV for lecture on familyhood and community
“The best stake we can give to Singaporeans is a
house or a flat, a home. It is the single biggest
asset for most people, and its value reflects the
fundamentals of the economy”

- PM Goh Chok Tong (cited in

The Straits Times 27 August 1995)
Encouraging Stakeholdership
 Periodic revision of the household income ceiling for
eligibility to buy flat
 Grants and legislations to encourage people to buy and
own flats
 Single Singapore Citizen Scheme (SSC)
 A helping hand for lower income families
 Better provisions for the elderly through studio flats
Visit HDB website for details!
Inculcating Pride & Belonging
 From the late 1970s onwards….
 Physical and architectural design to enhance sense of
pride for estate and community bonding
 Precinct concept: 600 to 1000 units linked by
pedestrianised walkways, common amenities etc
 International accolades and awards  housing quality
aligned with the global city vision
Singapore’s Global City Vision

“Our city must be full of life, energy

and excitement…It must be a place
where people want to live, work and
play, and where they are stimulated
to achieve, be creative and enjoy
life”

- PM Lee Hsien Loong

National Day Rally, 2005
Reflect on…
What are some distinctive features of
your HDB estate and do these help
to promote a sense of place?
Building a global city with ‘smart
homes’
Global city: population increase as more people migrate to Singapore.
Need for sustainable and affordable housing that also meets the
aspirational needs of residents.
Encompasses:
◦Smart planning: e.g. environmental modelling (e.g. wind flow,
temperature, shadow) used to decide where to place outdoor
amenities.
◦Smart living: e.g. monitoring systems for energy consumption and
elderly care.
First batch in Punggol Northshore on sale in May 2015 BTO exercise,
to be completed by 2020.
“The high-tech distribution boards in
Punggol Northshore Residences will
also come embedded with smart
energy meters to allow residents to
monitor the energy consumption of
every household appliance.
In its ongoing effort to build an
"urban kampung", HDB will use
human-traffic data collected by
motion sensors placed along common
corridors in Punggol Northshore
Residences to strategically build
community networking spaces and
amenities where footfall is high.
The data set will be merged with
social behavioural survey data to help
with better town planning.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sm
art-designs-in-punggol-northshore-residenc
es
 Building a Global City: Liveable
and Sustainable Public Housing
“…carefully designing the height and
proportion of buildings in relation to
one another. Dr. Liu Thai Ker, the
legendary Singaporean urban planner,
compares this to a chess board where
no two pieces are of the same height.

Buildings are also interspaced with

high quality green open spaces. Since
the very beginning, Prime Minister Lee
Kwan Yew laid the highest emphasis
on Singapore being a garden city.”
https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainabl
ecities/what-about-singapore-lessons-
best-public-housing-program-world
Building a Global City: DBSS
Scheme – Pass or Fail?
 Launched by the Housing Board (HDB) in 2005, the Design, Build and
Sell Scheme (DBSS) was designed to bridge the gap between private
and public housing.
 This satisfied a class of buyers who wanted a more luxurious flat than
the usual Build-To-Order (BTO), but may not be able to afford (or
want to pay) for private housing or HDB’s Executive Condominiums.
 HDB gets private developers such as Sing Haiyi Group, Kay Lim
Holdings and ELD to build and sell these premium flats.

https://
www.homeanddecor.com.sg/articles/94155-property-dbss-flats-are-they-worth-paying-premiu
m
Sources:
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/mps-renew-calls-scrap-tweak-dbs
s-scheme
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/bto-flat-quality-has-improved-ov
er-last-11-years-desmond-lee
 Reflect on…

How the changing public housing landscapes

symbolize Singapore’s growth from newly
independent developing city-state to global city
where residents have aspirations beyond basic
needs fulfilment?
Meeting aspirations of
Singaporeans and also
Landscape of Political Patronage

 “Opposition” estates given lower priority for maintenance

 “If you want your blocks and precincts to be upgraded
earlier, you know what to do at the next election. The
answer is in your hands” (Abdullah Tarmugi, MP, 1996)
 Today is this the case? If we compare opposition public
housing estates what do we see? Is there a difference?
 https://www.todayonline.com/ge2015/town-leaves-rustic
-label-dust-leaving-some-anxious
Recent Issues:
Boost for first-time home buyers
 Higher Grants and increased income ceiling for first time
home buyers: Making flats more affordable
 More choices of size and location of flats for “for example,
some couples might want to buy new flats in mature
estates to live near to their parents, while others may want
larger flats because they intend to have more children in
the future, or accommodate their family members”-
Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development
(Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/more-first-time-hdb-flat-
buyers-to-get-higher-grants-income-ceiling-for-eligible
)
 Recent Issues: HDB Design
Innovations to Meet
Contemporary Needs
New Punggol BTO housing estate: Fishing Village
and Zoo themed estate breaking the homogenous
HDB landscape. Highlights local history and
character of the area
(Source:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hdb-to-launch-bto-projects-in-punggol-inspired-b
y-early-zoo-11861836
)

Integrating Smart solutions and Cooling

construction material to beat the heat: HDB
undertakes research in collaboration with German
industrial company Evonik to study the possible
incorporation of cooling material and smart
temperature control system in HBD flats to beat
rising temperature due to climate and reduce
dependency on Air-cons.
(source:
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hdb-working-on-building-cooler-flats-with-more-smart-soluti
ons
)
Reflect on…
Do you think the public housing
landscape in Singapore has been
effective in promoting stakeholdership
and a sense of community amongst
Singaporeans?
How might we use this landscape to also
understand the divided nature of
community?
Next week: switch lectures around,
landscapes of familyhood and community
followed by landscapes for the elderly.
 Power: How does the government make use of public
housing to promote hegemonic values
 Power: How does the state prohibit undesirable
behaviour in public housing estates?
 Last two points covered in Lecture on Landscapes of
Familyhood and Community where we revisit public
housing landscapes
Summary
 Evolution and distinctive characteristics of public housing
in Singapore
 Public housing as a tool for nation-building and gaining
political legitimacy
 Landscape of nation building
 Fulfilling the global city vision through public housing