CREATING A “CITY OF ART”: EVALUATING SINGAPORE’S VISION OF BECOMING A RENAISSANCE CITY by LEE, Wai Kin Bachelor of Arts (Honors) Geography National University of Singapore, 2000 Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2003 © 2003 LEE, Wai Kin. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Signature of Author:________________________________________________ Department of Urban Studies and Planning August 19, 2003 Certified by:_______________________________________________________ J. Mark Schuster Professor of Urban Cultural Policy Thesis Supervisor Accepted by:______________________________________________________ Dennis Frenchman Chair, Master in City Planning Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning CREATING A “CITY OF ART”: EVALUATING SINGAPORE’S VISION OF BECOMING A RENAISSANCE CITY by LEE, Wai Kin Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on August 19, 2003 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Urban Studies and Planning ABSTRACT The arts have been used by many cities as a way to regenerate their urban environments and rejuvenate their economies. In this thesis, I examine an approach in which city-wide efforts are undertaken to create a “city of art”’. Such attempts endeavor to infuse the entire city, not just specific districts, with arts and cultural activities and to develop a strong artistic inclination among its residents. Singapore’s recent plan to transform itself into a “Renaissance City” is an example of such an attempt to create a “city of art”. I conceptualize urban cultural policies used to create “cities of art” as having two possible policy orientations. An externally-oriented policy is used to project a city’s cultural achievements into the international arena, often with the intention of generating economic growth and enhancing the city’s image. An internally-oriented policy, on the other hand, is focused on cultivating cultural growth within the city and is more directed at achieving local socio-cultural advancement. While some cities may adopt urban cultural policies that are either strongly externally- or internally-oriented, other cities may have urban cultural policies that endeavor to balance both orientations. For Singapore, I will show that the urban cultural policy adopted to transform itself into a “Renaissance City” tries to be simultaneously externally- and internally-oriented. Despite the attempt to address both policy orientations, I argue that the Singapore government has inappropriately placed undue emphasis on external at the cost of internal strategies for arts and cultural development. To evaluate Singapore’s vision of becoming a “Renaissance City”, I will compare its recently proposed strategies under the two policy orientations to those of two other cities, Glasgow and Chicago, which have implemented their urban cultural policies since the 1980s. While Glasgow’s urban cultural policy is strongly externally-oriented, Chicago’s policy is more internally-oriented. Through this comparative analysis, I propose recommendations that will help to enhance Singapore’s strategies to develop a “Renaissance City”. Thesis Supervisor: J. Mark Schuster Title: Professor of Urban Cultural Policy 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Mark Schuster, who agreed to be my advisor even before we met and then guided me all the way beyond the normal semesters throughout the summer months. Many thanks also to my reader, Lois Craig, who took time to go through all my drafts despite her busy schedule. Both of them have provided invaluable insights, comments, suggestions and resources. Thanks for always pushing me to take that extra step to make this final product as best as it can be. I am grateful to my sponsor, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, for giving me time and financial support to pursue my postgraduate studies. I am thankful to my interviewees who readily shared their opinions with me. Their unreserved views have provided more depth to this research. I would like to thank my family for their care and concern as well as my friends for their support and encouragement. Special thanks to Hwee Hwa and Marjorie for their most wonderful company and the many beautiful memories of my stay here. I am indebted to Sophie for her love and sacrifice. Thanks for enduring the separation. I could not have lasted the year without her always being there for me. Finally, my gratitude goes out to everyone else whom I fail to mention here, but who are equally important in making this thesis possible. Thank you so much!! LEE, Wai Kin August 2003 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………….. 5 Chapter 1 Introduction – Arts, Culture, City & Planning 1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 9 1.2 Cities, culture and the arts – a literature review…………………………. 10 1.3 Defining the “city of art”…………………………………………………….. 16 1.4 Cultural plans & policies for creating a “city of art”……………………… 18 1.5 Research methodology…………………………………………………….. 22 1.6 Thesis organization…………………………………………………………. 25 Chapter 2 Singapore – Envisioning a “Renaissance City” 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………...... 27 2.2 Singapore’s road to renaissance………………………………………….. 28 2.3 Motivations for developing a “Renaissance City”……………………….. 37 2.4 Strategies & financial resources…………………………………………... 44 2.5 Institutional framework……………………………………………………... 53 2.6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………... 60 Chapter 3 Re-Imaging Glasgow through the Arts – Post-Industrial Glasgow as a European City of Culture 3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 63 3.2 Historical context……………………………………………………………. 64 3.3 Key agencies & resources…………………………………………………. 66 3.4 Positioning Glasgow as a European City of Culture……………………. 71 3.5 Impacts of the European City of Culture event………………………….. 79 3.6 Lessons for Singapore……………………………………………………... 88 Chapter 4 Arts & Cultural Development in Chicago – An Internally- Oriented Development Approach 4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 99 4.2 History of arts & cultural development in Chicago.……………………… 100 4.3 Institutional setup & funding for the arts………………………………….. 105 4.4 Strategies for arts & cultural development……………………………….. 114 4.5 Impacts of the arts development initiatives………………………………. 125 4.6 Lessons for Singapore……………………………………………………... 132 Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1 Reflections…………………………………………………………………… 147 5.2 Summary of findings………………………………………………………... 150 5.3 Looking back & beyond……………………………………….................... 162 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………… 167 References………………………………………………………………………… 173 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION – ARTS, CULTURE, CITY AND PLANNING 1.1 INTRODUCTION The arts and the city have always had a strong and close bond. The earliest cities in the Middle East were temple cities that owed their existence to religious ceremonies in which songs, dances, music and theater were all part of the religious rituals. While the arts served to connect man with nature and the divine in these ancient cities, the profanation and professionalization of these religious rituals throughout the ages have led to the arts taking on a different role in the modern city. Increasingly, the arts have been used by many cities as a way to regenerate their urban environments and rejuvenate their economies. The approaches taken to incorporate the arts into urban development, however, vary from city to city. Some cities choose to develop downtown arts districts while others cities focus on the preservation of historical and cultural assets. In this thesis, I examine an approach in which city-wide efforts are undertaken to create a “city of art”’. Such attempts endeavor to infuse the entire city, not just specific districts, with arts and cultural activities and to develop a strong artistic inclination among all its residents. I am interested in studying this particular approach because more and more cities that used to be indifferent to the arts and cultural development are attempting to remake themselves in this way. Unlike places like Paris, London or New York, which have an established reputation in the arts, the cities I have decided to examine attempt to reconstruct themselves as vibrant cultural centers through various urban cultural strategies that are based on a weaker artistic foundation. Hence, the title of this thesis: Creating a “City of Art”. In this way, Singapore, which has recently envisioned itself becoming a “Renaissance City”, is a case in point. Having come from Singapore and having been actively involved in the local arts scene myself, I am interested in studying 9 the urban cultural policy proposed by the Singapore authorities to accomplish this goal and in finding out how Singapore compares to other cities that have made similar attempts to remake themselves as “cities of art”. This thesis is an opportunity for me to take a critical look at arts and cultural development in my country, particularly with respect to the recently released Renaissance City Report. Through an examination of Singapore’s urban cultural policy and a comparison to urban cultural policies elsewhere, I hope to provide a critical yet constructive point of view on Singapore’s effort to remake