Introduction

In contrast to the other major cities in Southeast Asia, Singapore is a city-state, that is, both a nation–state and a city. Being a unitary state, the advantage it would appear to have over the other city governments in the region, is that the single-tier government structure can expedite policy decisions and implementation. Most city governments in Southeast Asia would have to contend with national interests that can overwhelm localized or urban needs.

In terms of urban housing, Singapore's housing landscapes also contrasts sharply with those in other Southeast Asian cities. Public housing dominates. Some nine in ten people in Singapore live in public housing. This comprises largely high-rise and high-density apartments. Not only has the state developed the public housing units, it has allocated such housing and until the late 1980s, managed all the public housing estates as well. The majority are located in new towns or planned neighbourhoods provided with a range of basic services including shops, banks and public transport. Studies have highlighted that while Singapore has been an independent nation–state for only the last four decades, it had basically solved much of its housing problem within the first two decades, that is, in the 1980s.

Relationships between housing provision, urban planning and economic development in the economy as well the national savings system have been attributed with the success of public housing in Singapore. The successful public housing policy has also been linked to the political hegemony of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) which has been in power since Singapore gained independence. Not only does the state play the dominant role in development in Singapore, it has provided the planning framework and regulates all land-use options and choices in the city-state.

If there is scepticism about whether the success of Singapore's public housing programme can be replicated elsewhere, there should be far more agreement about the range of larger economic and political objectives that the public housing agenda has met. In Singapore, the public housing policy reflects a programme of wealth distribution which should be more seriously considered. The policy has in turn contributed to the cooptation of the labour force into the economic development plans and political agenda set by the state.