Building Communities through Neighbourhood-based Participatory Planning in Singapore

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the community-building potential of neighbourhood- based participatory planning processes, based on a non-profit organization’s experiences in Singapore’s Neighbourhood Renewal Programmes (NRPs). The NRP is a key government framework for resident participation in the revival of middle-aged public housing estates. Using a strategic-relational institutionalist approach, this chapter highlights how the capacity of the NRP to build relationships, and thereby enable local residents to take collective action and influence decision-making, is shaped by the dialectical interactions between various actors and institutions. It concludes that these actor-institution dynamics, as seen in four instances of the NRP, privilege the fostering of social cohesion and the observance of rules and procedures, over the empowerment of residents.