LANDSCAPES OF DISAPPROPRIATION: THE ROLE OF ILLEGIBLE SPACES OF NEW TOWN CENTRES IN IMPEDING THE FORMATION OF CIVIC IMAGE FOR PARTICIPATION

Abstract

In Singapore, the authority of the state is most apparent in the physical landscape; over 80% of its population is housed in satellite New Towns conceptualized and built by the Housing & Development Board (HDB)1. This massive national undertaking produced a new (social) space: new representations of space, new representational space and new spatial practices of life in Singapore. While users of space have had little to do with its initial production, they are continuously active agents crucial to its reproduction. Lefebvre states that, “[…] new social relations demand a new space, and vice-versa.” With the gradual withdrawal of the nanny-state approach in recent years, this paper puts forth the notion that civic participation – as antithesis to hegemonic, top-down social domination – in Singapore New Towns is hindered by the continued reproduction of the existing (social) space; one that excludes civic symbolism from the image of life in New Towns thereby restricting civic identity and place-making essential to participation. This study thus examines the planning and design methodologies of selected satellite New Towns and their respective Town Centres, focusing on the spatial configuration of ‘civic’ spaces that are illegible in signalling their significance to the image of New Town living. Historical, literary and field research conducted will ultimately suggest that this urban disjoint appears to be yet another strategy of domination, i.e. the abstraction of meaningful spaces.