CONTESTATION OF PUBLIC SPACES IN A HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETY - THROUGH A CASE STUDY OF LITTLE INDIA

Abstract

In a city, the inhabitants are made up from different socio-cultural backgrounds and with different agendas of using public spaces. Under such a circumstance, a public space will not be solely be used by a certain group or for an event all the time. With the current population in Singapore reaching just over five million (a staggering jump from four million in Year 2000), this research paper is intrigued by the phenomenon of mass congregation of people in the city, and as a result how are public spaces mutated to suit the needs of different people and different times. This phenomenon occurs in several parts of the city-state of Singapore, most particularly in the Central Area. Weekend is a valuable period of the week when most people enjoy themselves as an urbanite in the city. Different user groups are present in the city. With the presence of housing estates in the city, there is a different set of purposes in how residents perceive and use spaces in their day-to-day living, which is different from the urbanites who arrive from the heartlands. First and foremost, the urbanites also includes locals who arrive from other parts of the city, and also urbanites who are tourists staying in the city in a matter of days or weeks. The next group of urbanites is the migrant workers who live in the city for a few months to years, seeking a realm in our urban districts for respite. The migrants are an interesting user group. Over the recent years, Singapore has seen the influx of foreign workers into many local industries. For most of them, their dormitory or rented flats are shared spaces with colleagues or newly made acquaintances. During weekends as most of them have their day offs, they can be often spotted on certain parts of the city seeking respite with their fellow countrymen, friends and relatives. The premise of this research will be based in Serangoon Road, popularly known as 'Little India'. A perimeter of the site will be drawn up for closer observation. The spatial conditions will be examined and this includes public and semi-public spaces. The user groups in focus will be the locals, tourists and South Asian migrants. The analysis will consist of two parts. The first part will be observation of the challenge of using spaces by the public in the presence of different user groups and under different periods of time, what solution is used to contest the spaces for one's use. The second part will be, after the various analysis, a critical review of how these challenges of using public spaces has an urban impact on the city.