RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FENG SHUI AND URBAN PLANNING: EXAMINING COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION PRICES IN SINGAPORE DOWNTOWN CORE

Abstract

Feng Shui can create an environment that is aesthetically pleasing to occupant and strives to achieve functional, economic growth and environmentally sustainable urban space. Urban planners are also exploring innovative methods for rising urban challenges. Due to lack of empirical evidence to show embeddedness of Feng Shui and urban planning, it limits the integration of traditional wisdom and contemporary knowledge. Hence, this dissertation explores whether there is a relationship between Feng Shui and urban planning with the focus on commercial property prices. The study begins with the studying of Feng Shui theories from classical texts with the support of modern books. Feng Shui principles are condensed into five checklists based on five key elements, Mountain (山), Water (水), Bright Hall (明堂), Xing Sha (形煞) and Qi (气).). These checklists evaluate sample buildings to determine whether there is good Feng Shui and translated as dummy variable for statistics testing. Findings revealed that good Feng Shui is significant in affecting commercial transaction prices. As commercial transaction prices are used as indicator for urban planning from the economic perspective, it is derived there is relationship between Feng Shui and urban planning. However, correlation is relatively weak. Overall, this dissertation argues that there is a relationship between Feng Shui and urban planning, and statistics have shown a degree of embeddedness between the two. It is necessary to enhance Feng Shui’s scientific integrity to facilitate Feng Shui principles into mainstream, urban design practice.