PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN ARCHITECTURE - ADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS

Abstract

Increasingly cities around the world face difficulties in balancing between its economic growth and social growth. This is especially for the developed and developing cities. In order to be in par with the country's economic growth, the government needs to invest on pubic infrastructure and amenities which often require colossal funding and taking high investment risks. An increasing trend of seeking the help from the private sector to share the cost and risk to provide public amenities. This is done through a collaboration between the public and private sector. The public sector agrees to provide financial incentives to developers to launch developments but in exchange, the development has to include its benefits to the public. This might sound like a win-win situation for both public sectors and private developers but upon deeper investigation, the outcomes might not be as beneficial. This collaboration implicates architectural design as it tries to prioritize the commercial needs demanded by the private developers but at the same time claiming to appeal to the public good. Singapore struggles to be globally competitive with its long-term economic growth while at the same time not neglecting issues of social equity. Government has the responsibility to provide sufficient public amenities and spaces in order to be in par with its economic growth. Facing this challenge, Singapore has also taken the approach of collaborating with the private sectors to develop its public spaces and to share the risk involved in the developments. Acknowledging that it is inevitable to seek financial help from the private sector, it is therefore important for us to identify the benefits and implications on the collaborations on the resultant spaces as well as on the public users of that space.