PLACEMAKING LEGISLATION: REMODELLING SINGAPORE’S GOVERNANCE OF PUBLIC SPACES

Abstract

The design and support systems of a city make it liveable, but what makes it appealing are the lively streets and public areas. Placemaking and the energy it creates in business districts promote the exchange and flow of ideas and have grown to be crucial components of the innovation economy. Now more than ever, people are concentrating on the benefits that placemaking offers. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate and improve the placemaking system in Singapore by comparing it to Australia New South Wales, here on known as New South Wales. Interviews were conducted with individuals with placemaking knowledge and expertise. The collated responses were consistent in establishing the absence of legal legislation for placemaking related activities in Singapore. A comparative study analysis was also carried out between Singapore’s Planning Act 1998 (2020 Rev. Ed) (“PA”), New South Wales’s Place Management NSW Act 1998 (“PMNSWA”) and Place Management NSW Regulations 2017 (“NSWPMR”). New South Wales is advanced with their placemaking legislation, therefore potential application adapted to Singapore’s context will be discussed. Through the comparative analysis, it is established that Singapore’s PA is lacking in providing provisions to govern placemaking and can be further improved. Recommendations to improve the current PA were provided after considering feedback and suggestions provided by the interviewees and using NSW’s PMNSWA and NSWPMR as reference. Hence, this dissertation aims to provide suggestions for improvements to refine Singapore’s current PA and highlighting points which can be learnt from NSW’s Act and regulations.