Abstract

Abstract

Singapore is a global city known to planners for its quality planning and development. Over the years, there have accumulated a large volume of literature on the various aspects of urban planning in Singapore, revealing the guiding principles, strong government will and intervention, and forceful market influences in shaping the economic and cultural landscapes and the urban physical environment of this city-state. In this manuscript, I discuss the planning and management of Singapore in the context of global city making, which is an innovative concept for planners to grasp in the era of globalization. Emphases are placed on the creation of the downtown, planning, development: and management of the industrial and business parks: and the production and consumption of housing. A real estate perspective is adopted so that global city making is discussed in terms of the tangible and intangible aspects. In four main chapters, I show that the Singapore government has developed the necessary institutions for applying a developmental state approach in urban development. Evolution of the downtown, the industrial and business estates, and the housing system reveal a pragmatic and progressive planning and development system which include flexibility and firm control in planning and plan implementation; mechanisms for land acquisition, allocation, and development control; pro-business policies in industrial estate management; sociopolitical engineering in public housing maintenance and consumption; and land intensification programs for industrial and residential developments. The Singapore experience in global city making highlights the comprehensive process of urban development in a city-state that has been constantly looking for niches to integrate its economy into the global economic system. Other cities can learn from Singapore on two scales associated with institutional overhaul and/or operational know-how. © 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.