URBAN CONSERVATION : BEAUTY OR BEAST?: A STUDY OF THE EVOLUTION AND IMPACT OF CONSERVATION IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

For the put few decades Singapore's keen modernization and industrialization programmes had resulted in rapid demolishing of substantial puts of the old city. Conservation of the country's historic building and areas was regarded as standing in the way of progress and hence accorded low priority. Yet in the 1980s, there was a turnabout in policy and conservation became firmly rooted in the urban renewal plan. In the first part of this Academic Exercise, the evolution of conservation in Singapore is traced as a movement. The role of various key actors such as the state, the media, architects, developers, journalists and others are examined. The role of tourism and other significant events that played a part in bringing about the change in policy are abo explored. Finally, the conflicts and tensions which existed between the advocates of conservation and their opponents are also brought to attention. The second part of this Academic Exercise evaluates as to whether the desired goals of conservation had been achieved by examining the impact of conservation on the imageability of the three ethnic historic areas i.e. Chinatown, Little India and Kampung Glam. As symbolic areas representing important cultural values and sentiments, these three areas were conserved in the initial phase of the Conservation Master Plan. By eliciting the elements constituting the imageability of Chinatown, Little India and Kampung Glam in the eyes of locals and tourists, and comparing the way in which the imageability of the three areas has been affected with the advent of conservation, the success of the conservation movement is evaluated.