PRECINCT DEMARCATION FOR UPGRADING RESIDENT'S VIEWPOINTS

Abstract

Back in the 1960s, the main focus of the public housing policy was to provide affordable housing for the population at large. Having met this aim, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has changed its emphasis towards providing better quality public housing to meet the rising aspirations of the Singaporeans. However, it is not enough to always provide better choices and facilities for only the new estates. It is essential to give equal emphasis to the older estates to narrow any possible gap between the two. The Main Upgrading Programme has hence been implemented to improve the facilities and the overall standard of old public housing in Singapore. The concept of precinct was adopted in the late 1970s as the basic planning tool for the new towns. Recent development of the precinct takes the form of geometrical arrangement of flats that encircles all the precinct's recreational comer. This creation of semi-enclosed space encourages close-knit communities and provides a sense of exclusivity. However, the precincts in older estates lacked this form of designs and layout. They take the form of traditional parallel layout which does not encourage a close-knit community. One of the objectives of upgrading the precincts is to instil a greater sense of belonging and community. This study attempts to find out whether upgrading works carried out on the precincts of the conventional layout have actually achieved its aim of promoting a sense of exclusivity and recognition. It was found that majority of the respondents in the two case study precincts have little understanding of the demarcation of their precinct boundary. Findings from the survey indicate that the residents preferred: exclusive design and colour to demarcate the precinct, ideal size of precinct to be six to seven blocks and ideal focal point to be a landscaped garden. Finally, recommendations are made as to how to make upgrading of older precincts achieve better results.