HYPER-DENSE PUBLIC HOUSING SINGAPOREAN NEIGHBOURHOODS 2030 URBAN INFILLS AS A SUSTAINABLE DESIGN FOR HYPER DENSIFICATION

Abstract

Singapore is well known for its “affordable” public housing scheme whereby a large majority of its citizens dwell in government housing. Since the 1960s, when housing was in short supply, the government stepped in to ensure that the nation always have a roof over its head. In 2013, the government released the Population White Paper, intending to increase the population from 5.3million to 6.9 million by 2030. Singapore will gave to further increase its density of residential neighbourhoods or create more land to meet the demands. These existing government built high-rise residential flats built today are observed to lack social coherence, making it disconnected with the existing neighbourhood as they are being upgraded through the years to conform to new social demands. New residential flats are created fully divorced from the existing urban fabric and are an oasis by themselves. Since the 1960s, the planning approach to create more residential neighbourhoods in Singapore is through tabula rasa, to flatten existing land as a clean slate to redevelop it into new homes. In the recent years, where land is scarcer, the government chose selective en-bloc to increase an existing neighbourhood’s density further. This piecemeal approach creates an imbalance of the amenities and facilities required for the sustainability of increased density within the neighbourhood. This thesis aims to address these main challenges. 1. To create a sense of coherence between the new and old neighbourhood urban fabric. 2. Not to redevelop existing residential blocks to address the densification process 3. Integrate the required facilities and amenities required for the new 2030 neighbourhood in Singapore. A strategy for new neighbourhood design that binds on to an existing neighbourhood to meet the density required for Singapore 2030 would be encompassing the principles researched in this thesis. Eventually the design will be translated onto the chosen site of the existing Teban Gardens neighbourhood at the south west of Singapore.