INFRASTRUCTURE INTERSECTION AS URBAN LINK

Abstract

With 46% of the world’s population living in urban areas, 75% in the case of more developed nations and as high as 100% in Singapore1, there is an increasing concern in how cities are planned and built, and the quality of life a enjoyed by the urban dweller.

Existing and conventional mindsets of urban design have been motivated more by economical efficiency. This results in the setting up of systems of land parceling and valuation that is very much the result of a top-down planning process. This might result in economic prosperity for the city dwellers but the more humane needs have often been neglected. Attempts to address such needs have been made, but with limited success given the polarised framework within which such attempts have been conceived.

In the local context, land scarcity has also given urban planning a new task of maximising land use efficiency.2 The need to balance various land uses, prevent urban sprawl and provide a healthy and enjoyable environment makes a necessary but difficult task under the mentioned conventional conceptions.3

By reviewing the notion of infrastructure that enables urban development and the demands of the citizen in subscribing to urban life, the thesis attempts to formularize a new framework for urban development that would allow more enjoyable urban conditions.