Limin Hee Constructing Singapore Public Space Advances in 21St Century Human Settlements
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Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements Limin Hee Constructing Singapore Public Space Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements Series editor Bharat Dahiya, Bangkok, Thailand More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13196 Limin Hee Constructing Singapore Public Space 123 Limin Hee Centre for Liveable Cities Singapore Singapore ISSN 2198-2546 ISSN 2198-2554 (electronic) Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements ISBN 978-981-10-2385-9 ISBN 978-981-10-2387-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2387-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949630 © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #22-06/08 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Foreword Some years ago, I was taken aback by discussion about redevelopment of China Square, a venerable area of Singapore, with authorities from the nation’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. According to them, the very idea of a square, plaza or similar spatial device was immediately dismissed as being inappropriate. Why? I asked, naively. The area is called a ‘square’ after all. From this more than momentary befuddlement on my part, it became clear that real understanding of public space in Singapore, despite appearances often to the contrary mostly from colonial days, would require work and interpretative practices outside the way I, as a westerner, normally regarded urban circumstances. This occasion also made me reflect upon similar experiences with public space in Tokyo which had also remained largely incomprehensible to me until I read Augustin Berque’s brilliant account of fundamental differences in spatial appreciation in the Japanese ecumen from those in the West. What the author, Limin Hee, does in this volume is to admirably perform a similar service for the more subtly differentiated case of Singapore. To be sure the Singaporean experience is unique, particularly through its emergence as an inde- pendent meritocratic state in the post-colonial era from otherwise difficult and often appalling conditions, alongside the inchoate development of democratic citizens, despite early deep racial divisions. So too, of course, are many other places in the world for different reasons, arguing for equal and equally attentive treatment of their public spaces and beyond mere ‘production of space’, accounts of somehow ‘fin- ished space’, and references to familiar yet often moribund ‘archetypes’ of space. In defining another way of looking at this world, this book also aims to provide readers with a profound understanding of public space in Singapore and from that, to suggest manners of formulating and reformulating innovative possibilities for future public spaces. The approach, though, is crucial, well substantiated and, again, very welcome. In it, notions of physical and metaphorical space, always present, are maintained in the same order or level of priority. This is important as too often, discussion of public space drifts in one direction or the other and ultimately impoverishes both. Public space here is also seen to be ‘constructed’ and not simply v vi Foreword a matter of ‘production’ emanating from economic, social and technological con- ditions and dynamics. Moreover, construction also coincides with the present– future state of being ‘in the making’, as the author puts it, and not solely an outcome. Overlaps of what are sometimes referred to as ‘aesthetic’ and ‘ethical’ considerations are maintained wherever and whenever possible. Most important, though, all the case materials about places within Singapore, like Orchard Road, Little India, and the Housing and Development Board estates, involve interpretation through what the author defines as ‘ground-up construction’. Contrary to assumptions about relatively fixed categories that might come from the social sciences or areas of aesthetic judgment, this form of construction engages with a wide assemblage of material from a wide variety of sources. It embraces, for instance, maps, photographs, written accounts, newspaper articles, interviews, blogs and so on. Furthermore, use of this material is not directed towards trying to simplify explanation and discernment of current or underlying trends. Rather, it is directed, as it should be, towards complicating or thickly layering up interpretation with nuance, subtle reference, surprising moments and uncommon acuity. Finally, at the end of the day, so to speak, Singapore’s public realm comes through by way of quotidian reference, day-to-day experience, and the give and take of citizenry on the way to their version of a good life. This applies whether it is the skate boarders on Orchard Road or the storekeepers on Kampong Kapor Road in Little India. New York Peter G. Rowe June 2016 Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Acknowledgments This book would not have been possible without the support of Mr. Khoo Teng Chye from the Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore, who understood the value of putting this book out in print, and granted me help in the form of research assistants who interned with the Centre. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude for his kind encouragement and his continued belief in the project. I cannot express enough thanks also to Prof. Peter Rowe, from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, for being my mentor and advisor for many years, and his unwavering support for my work, which was based on my original doctoral thesis at Harvard. I am grateful for his continued collaborations on research in Singapore, even though we are halfway across the planet. My thanks also to the two talented research interns at the Centre, who worked meticulously to help bring take the book to its final form—Subhas Nair and Wong May Ee. Your hard work and inputs have been greatly appreciated. Finally, deepest gratitude to Thomas Schroepfer, my wonderful husband, for giving me the fortitude to get the work published, and inspiration by example in having published his own books. June 2016 Limin Hee vii Contents 1 Introduction to Study ...................................... 1 1.1 Contextualizing Singapore, a Developmental City-state ......... 1 1.1.1 Singapore’s Urban Landscape and Public Space ........ 2 1.2 Framing the Study ..................................... 5 1.2.1 Objectives ..................................... 6 1.2.2 Dimensions of Analyses .......................... 6 1.3 Definitions and Ways of Thinking About Public Space ......... 8 1.3.1 Ethics and Aesthetics of Public Space................ 9 1.3.2 The ‘Ethics’ Discourse ........................... 10 1.3.3 The ‘Aesthetics’ Discourse ........................ 14 1.3.4 Situating Singapore Public Space ................... 16 1.4 Towards a Methodology ................................. 17 1.4.1 A ‘Constructed’ Notion of Public Space .............. 18 1.4.2 Situating Spatial Practice .......................... 19 1.4.3 Summary: Framework and Methodology for the Study ................................... 21 2 The State, People and the History of Urban Public Space in Singapore.............................................. 23 2.1 Shaping the Singaporean Public ........................... 23 2.1.1 Occupations and Influx: Colonial Singapore, Immigration, and the Japanese Occupation ............ 24 2.1.2 Rough Times and Independence .................... 26 2.1.3 Lee Kuan Yew, Values and Culture ................. 27 2.1.4 ‘The Next Lap’: The 1990s, 2000s and Beyond ........ 35 2.1.5 Political Trajectories ............................. 38 2.1.6 Cultural and Social Trajectories..................... 38 2.2 A Brief History of Urban Public Space in Singapore ........... 42 2.2.1 Public Space in Singapore: A Short History ........... 42 2.2.2 Urban Trajectories ............................... 56 ix x Contents 3 Case Studies.............................................. 59 3.1 Selection of Case Studies ................................ 59 3.2 Orchard Road as Conduit: Between Nostalgia and Authenticity ....................................... 61 3.2.1 Framing Orchard Road ........................... 64 3.2.2 Orchard Road—A Brief History .................... 65 3.2.3 Compression of Time and Images ................... 68 3.2.4 Compression of People and Practices