HIGH DENSITY DEVELOPMENT : THE STUDY OF A WALK-ABLE NEIGHBORHOOD

Abstract

For the past decades, researchers looked at negative effects of high density on the quality of life such as pollution, traffic congestion, heat effect, crime, disease, poverty, and so forth rather than its positive sides like land saving, affordable housing, efficient use of resources, and efficient public transport. In recent years, high density development is a common phenomenon in urban planning. It affects directly environmental quality. In Singapore, high density has become an important issue for urban planning. This dissertation involves critical reviews of current debates of high density and its positive aspects in the contributions to form a sustainable community in the city. The most important thing that the dissertation explores is the concept of walk-able neighborhood and answers the question why this concept is important to a city. In addition, through case studies, the paper examines whether high density urban planning has been carried out to form the walk-able neighborhoods effectively in Singapore, and then suggests the design strategies to make walk-able neighborhoods more feasible.