THE EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC SPACES IN SHAPING SENSE OF PLACE AMONG HDB RESIDENTS

Abstract

The physical planning of public spaces in HDB estates has evolved over the years, from having large void deck spaces below housing blocks in mature and middle-aged estates, to the sharing of communal spaces among a cluster of housing blocks through the provision of precinct pavilions in young towns. Serving as sites of sociability, these public spaces shape residents’ personal attachment and create opportunities for community bonding, thus evoking a sense of place to their living environment.

The comparative analysis revealed that the differences in size areas and spatial layouts of public spaces have influenced the role and usage of public spaces. The ambiguous nature of void decks in mature and middle-aged estates encourages multiplicity of uses which spurs the vibrancy of HDB estates. On the other hand, void deck spaces in young towns are one-dimension and functional in context, while precinct pavilions adopt the role of gathering nodes. Despite the regular size of precinct pavilions and provision of ventilation facilities, the demarcation of boundaries has resulted in their uninviting nature.

The inferential analysis of quantitative results, obtained from the same sample in two different groups of estates, showed that residents spent more time and used public spaces more often in mature and middle-aged estates compared to young towns. In addition, the correlation analysis suggested that higher frequency of usage and longer duration spent in public spaces shaped a stronger sense of place among residents. Lastly, the findings revealed that after controlling for length of residence, residents living in young towns had weaker place identity, place dependence and social bonding as compared to living in mature and middle-aged estates.