UNCOVERING THE URBAN ROLE OF GEYLANG IN SINGAPORE THROUGH THE LENS OF MICHEL FOUCAULT �S DISCOURSE OF THE HETEROTOPIA

Abstract

Geylang today presents itself as an alternate urbanscape in Singapore. Its spatial dialectics are an amalgamation of years of mutation and perpetuation. In Geylang, traditional shophouses and bungalows line the roads with modern HDB blocks forming its backdrop while lorongs (Malay word for lane) cut through the entire site on regular intervals. Geylang is synonymous with food, a gastronomic haven where Singaporeans from all walks of life conglomerate and feast. It is also a designated red-light area (DRA), where brothels are rife and wanton prostitutes strut along the lorongs, soliciting the next customer. Together with the flourish of various niche industries, this juxtaposition of overt elements gives Geylang its unique urban character.

This dissertation examines the spatial characteristics of Geylang through the discourse of the heterotopia as a deciphering lens. Heterotopias are broadly defined as spaces of alternate ordering. First introduced by French historian and philosopher Michael Foucault, this post-modern theory on space premised itself that a site is defined by its relations between elements in proximity. Heterotopias are then sites of “Otherness”, such that its relationship with all sites around it either provides an unsettling or an alternative representation of spatial and social relations. Geylang is postulated to be a site of “Otherness”. Its intrinsic qualities underscore a subverted intent to resist the urban relations of the sites around itself. Similarly, Geylang’s emergence point towards a triumph of a power struggle by marginalized entities. As such, Geylang is hypothesized to be an urban heterotopia.

Under the notion of the heterotopia, issues of concern to Singapore and dominant in Geylang will be discussed. In the end, this dissertation seeks to unravel the role that Geylang plays and its underlying contribution to the urban city of Singapore. The urban and social conditions of Geylang have always been a controversial topic. Thus, the opportunity to decode Geylang presents itself in the paper. Also, by understanding Geylang, one hopes to unveil a different angle that urban designers can recognize and adapt to planning and design.