SPATIAL IMAGES AND PERCEPTION OF RESIDENTIAL DESIRABILITY IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The field of environmental perception in human geography has been growing in importance in recent years. It is believed that human spatial behaviour is the result of how an individual perceives his spatial environment. The resultant mental map of a person (or a group of people) would play an important role in deciding whether a place is attractive or repulsive. Consequently, these images will influence the decision making process, as in where to move, stay, work or take a holiday. Geographers have tried to measure these mental maps in order to understand their underlying spatial processes and how these would affect human behaviour in space and time. Therefore, it was decided to interview residents living in four distinct house types which correlate with the different socioeconomic groups. The residents were required to answer a questionnaire with reference to their knowledgeability of places/routes in Singapore together with the plotting of such places/routes on a blank map. They were also asked to rank a list of residential sectors in terms of residential desirability. On the basis of the survey data, the residents' perceptions of Singapore in terms of their familiarity with the places/routes and residential desirability are discussed in this study.