The city of Super trees. Super buildings. Super stores. And super wealth.
As soon as I booked my solo adventure to Singapore I knew that I would want to write about it… It is a city (and country) who’s sheer geography, political system and history sets it apart from all others. My planning background had educated me on the radical car taxes (up to 180% on car price, plus other road and license expenses) and of their astonishing housing system (revolutionary or verging on socialist – depending on how you view these things).
Within Singapore, the government has acquired and developed a whopping 90% of all housing (known as HDB Housing) in an effort to provide affordable homes for citizens. Citizen diversity within each complex is tightly controlled to ensure all age groups and socio-economic backgrounds are represented and integrated. There is even an Ethnicity Integration Policy with enforced racial quotas to minimise racial tensions. As Singapore does not have superannuation, it is considered a necessary pillar of retirement to be a home-owner and the HDB system allows a very high home-ownership rate within Singapore. With the housing affordability concerns and aging population that Melbourne is experiencing, I considered Singapore to be a beacon of hope and a place to learn from.
Unfortunately, my visit to Singapore made me question its deficiencies and woes more than its exemplary ways.
A Futuristic Utopia or Dystopia?
Singapore is spectacular. There is no doubt about that. Garden’s by the Bay is a vision of a kind of sustainable green super city of the future – but wander outside this tourist hub and you will find yourself in a soulless Chadstone on steroids. Completely up some people’s alley, but as a Melbournian I missed the culture; the life in the details.
It highlights the incredible balance that is required with policy and government intervention (and $$$). Thanks to the bold (and severe) Singaporean Government, the streets are beautiful, green and eerily safe. But when the punishment for graffiti is a lashing, you will also find the environment quite sterile.
For the Urban Planning Nerd’s out there, it is the exact opposite of the vision Jan Gehl had in Life Between Buildings. Traditional streets arguably only exist for the cars and the smokers and public spaces are designed around wealth and consumerism. A prime example being that it is becoming redundant to cross streets via pedestrian crossings; rather you must descend into underground passes and navigate yourself through the labyrinths of Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
And what about the housing system I had frothed over in my studies… I unfortunately had little experience with any. HDB apartments were not found in central locations; an inkling that not all is as equitable as it seems. Moreover, the argument of that HDB ownership is a pillar of retirement becomes a moot point when considering the poorer liquidity of housing assets. There are certainly benefits from the trickle down effects of wealth – the city’s public transport is efficient and highly affordable, crime is almost inexistent, disease is kept at bay due to stringent management at a macro level. However, costs are heightened elsewhere. I learnt from struggling taxi drivers, that they are not exempt from the excessive car tolls. Food prices are on par with Melbourne, forcing locals to travel over the border to Malaysia on weekends to do the weekly shop. Despite all efforts from government, the citizen-held property market is swelling due to pressure on neighbourhoods from international investment and the complete lack of a welfare safety net or retirement plan cannot bode well for the less fortunate.
For myself, the flaws of the Singaporean city at a physical level are reflected in the design of Melbourne’s Docklands – forced direction and growth from Government hindering organic use or cultural flow. A lack of building integration at street level and a hella lot of concrete. However, I do believe there are still lessons to be learnt from Singapore when regarding their vision for an equitable housing system. They have built solid foundations to ensure high home-ownership and there is something to be said for a government that views a house as not only a home but a human right.
