NEGOTIATING DIFFERENCES IN PUBLIC SPACES WITHIN LITTLE INDIA: A STUDY OF FACILITATED NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT USER GROUPS

Abstract

Singapore has depended on vast numbers of foreign workers from India and Bangladesh, to fill the labour gaps within low-skilled industries for a long time. With more than 300,000 foreign workers residing in Singapore by 2016, it is not surprising to observe their spatial presence within the city, particularly in Little India. In 1989, Little India has been gazetted as an ethnicised neighborhood by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), and is well known for the throngs of Indian and Bangladeshi foreign workers occupying the space on weekends. The master planning by the URA has created a forced composition of mixed land use in Little India, allowing for residential, tourism and commercial development in this place. Hence, Little India upholds several identities concurrently: (i) a gathering space for foreign workers - an ethnic enclave serving the Indian community; (ii) a touristic space for tourists; (iii) a lived-in space for the residents and shop owners in the neighborhood. The convergence of different types of spaces, each meant for a different user group, have brought about stirring undercurrents of tension within Little India. The influx of foreign workers into the city has sparked much discontentment amongst Singaporeans because they are forced to face with cultures and attitudes of foreigners that are contradictory to theirs. This sense of unfamiliarity results in anxiety and irritation which prompts many Singaporeans to desire for a community of ‘sameness’ and intentionally separate themselves from the strangers. Tension in Little India is exacerbated with mixophobic sentiments among the local population, resulting in spatial segregation within the city and the contestation of public spaces. However, deeper inspection reveals that it is possible for different user groups to negotiate with one another and co-exist harmoniously within the compact confines of Little India. Drawing upon Bauman’s concept of mixophobia and mixophilia, this dissertation aims to examine the different types of spatial negotiations happening between different user groups in Little India. Ethnography method will be used to analyze which is most effective in prompting mixophilia in small instances.