HDB LIFT UPGRADING PROGRAMME IN SINGAPORE � IMPACT ON SOCIAL CAPITAL

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to find out whether residents whose block has undergone the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) utilise the new lift to increase their social interactions with other residents and hence benefit in terms of social capital. Social capital refers to the social support and improvements to the social standing that residents gain through knowing others in the estate. The LUP was introduced in 1990 by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) with the main objective of improving the convenience and lifestyle of residents living in public blocks built before 1990, where lift access on every floor was not offered. This is in line with the strategic thrusts set out by the Ministerial Committee on Aging (MCA) to allow aging-in place for the elderly community. The study carried out 240 surveys to compare the level of physical mobility, social interactions and social capital of residents before and after the LUP. Five interviews were done to uncover the reasons behind some of the survey findings, as well as to further substantiate the survey analyses. It was found that the LUP improved residents’ physical mobility, which removed the need for elderly to change their place of residence and risk losing their existing social ties. Although this means that the LUP achieved its objectives, the study discovered that residents’ social capital is inadequate. Few residents initiate to interact with new people in the estate, thus facing lower social support network when neighbours move out of the estates. There is also a lack of social capital in the form of emotional support. These suggest that more policies can be targeted at expanding residents’ social network, increasing the depth of neighbourly ties, and strengthening trust among them. A key limitation of this study was that it could not cover all the factors that may affect social interactions and social capital, such as respondents’ income and nationality, field of employment and social networks they possess outside the estate.