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From Colonial Neglect to Post‐Independence Heritage: the housing landscape in the central area of Singapore
Author(s) -
Yeoh Brenda S.A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
city and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1548-744X
pISSN - 0893-0465
DOI - 10.1525/city.2000.12.1.103
Subject(s) - chinatown , independence (probability theory) , architecture , colonialism , tourism , economy , cultural heritage , political science , geography , history , economic history , archaeology , economics , statistics , mathematics
PUBLIC HOUSING ASSUMED AN IMPORTANT place in the modemization of Singapore since independence in 1965. With establishment of the Housing and Development Board, modem, state–subsidized, high‐rise flats have become the norm for over 85 per cent of the Singaporean citizenry. At the same time, the remnant old housing stock in the form of pre‐war shophouses in the Central Area also underwent several re‐inventions. In the 1960s and 1970s when the need for rapid development dictated the planning agenda, a “demolish and rebuild11 philosophy prevailed and much of the shophouse fabric was excised. With the affluence of the 1980s and 1990s, there also occurred a re‐valorization of the historic past both as a tourism asset and a means to rediscover the city's roots. [Singapore, housing, heritage, vernacular architecture, Chinatown]