The blending of old and new as a development strategy - case studies in Singapore

Abstract

Projects blending old and new are studied as a stream of Singaporea??s urban renewal in this dissertation. Blending here mainly indicates combining conservation and new construction into one project. When conservation started to gain prominence in Singapore from the mid-1980s, market demand also stimulated new developments. Decisions have to be made when conservation buildings confront new development. In such situations, projects blending old and new may be the solution. By incorporating old with new, the historical value of the old part could be partially kept while the requirement of the market could be fulfilled.After the first project of this kind appeared in Singapore around 1991, blending of old and new as a methodology was quickly applied in many other projects, which gradually formed a trend. In this dissertation, five projects of blending old and new are studied. Their production processes are examined individually and lessons are drawn from those processes. The performances of the authority, the developers and the architects of each project are also analyzed. It is hoped that by drawing lessons and distilling experiences from the past practice, this dissertation could provide some references for other developments; help to avoid similar mistakes in future practice and contribute to rational construction of the city.