High-rise Living in Singapore Public Housing

Abstract

Summary. In recent years, amid the debates of sustainable development and urban compactness, there has been a widening interest to reintroduce high-rise living in cities. Several European cities including London and Manchester are once again building high-rise housing as part of their urban housing strategy. Elsewhere, in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are distinguished by their high-rise public housing developments. With nearly half of the world's population living in urban areas, the unfolding trend is towards a more urban-style development with taller buildings included as an inevitable housing solution. Drawing on findings from a study of Singapore public housing residents' living experience, this paper aims to look at the increasingly important question of the liveability of high-rise living by discussing the occupants' appreciation and concerns of high-rise.

Towards sustainable urban development: the social acceptability of high-rise buildings in a Ghanaian city

“…Thus, contrary to the findings of Yuen et al (2006), which revealed that households in Singapore were more willing to live on higher floors, residents in Kumasi metropolis are generally repulsive to high-rise living. Indeed, in the case of Singapore, the abovementioned study highlighted the high value attached to high-rise living, where households, owing to attractions such as, nice aerial view, privacy, etc., found reason in paying extra for higher floors (above 30 storeys).…”

“…Vertical developments became a prominent feature of many cities in the twentieth century. Early conceptual development by Le Corbusier, and later by Wright and Soleri made a significant contribution to the development of highrise buildings in the early decades through to the middle part of the twentieth century (Wong 2004;Yuen et al 2006). The latter period of the century saw major advancement in construction technology, which together with booming population, urbanisation, and land scarcity, especially, in Asia, accelerated the development of high-rise buildings (Lee et al 2011;Mahgoub and Abbara 2011).…”

“…Afterwards, in the 1970s, many of the criticisms of vertical development emerged (Yuen et al 2006). Most of the criticism were centred on the social effects of high-rise living (Costello 2005;Gifford 2007).…”

“…Similarly, many city authorities have embraced the iconic view of tall buildings (Tavernor 2007). Indeed, a study in Singapore has shown that owing to special scenic view, people pay extra price to occupy higher floors (Yuen et al 2006). …”

“…This evolution normally occurs at the expense of surrounding environment in terms of land cover. Stemming from these trends, the quest for sustainable urban development is fast gaining patronage at the global level (Yuen et al 2006). In addition to occupying critical policy attention, many city managers have in diverse ways, largely through the promotion of high-rise developments, pursued compact urban form (Wong 2010;Healy and Birrell 2006).…”