LIVING LARGE IN A SMALL SPACE: COMPACT HOUSING IN SINGAPORE AND ITS FUTURE

Abstract

Having one of the highest population densities in the world, housing has always been an issue in the metropolitan city of Singapore. The influx of foreigners, limited land and rising land prices has resulted in higher housing prices and thus decreasing home sizes. Due to these factors there is an exponential increase in the supply of compact units in the housing market in recent years. This sudden proliferation of compact housing in the heartland of Singapore is a growing concern to the government. Furthermore, Singapore is also facing an impending ageing population and housing for the elderly would also become a problem in the future. Hence, this dissertation will investigate on the issues of compact housing in Singapore and how they can then be modified to cater to elderly occupants, thus solving the problem of future demand for compact housing and also accommodating for the ageing population. The issues and strategies involved in compact living will be examined and also how Universal Design can also be incorporated into compact housing, as space-saving strategies in compact housing could sometimes work together with Universal Design. An investigation of the reasons of the rise in compact housing and its potential issues in Singapore will also be made and a study of the population trend will also help to justify the need for compact housing in future and why there is a need to integrate Universal Design. Local case studies on compact housing will then illustrate the space-saving strategies used and the similarities that they share with existing compact elderly housing thus showing that with a few modifications, they can be suitable for elderly occupants too.