Establish a New and Living Town in Singapore’s Chinatown

The core communities of Singapore’s Chinatown were the Chinese early immigrants, but they have been resettled since the mid-1960s when the urban renewal schemes started. Living, working, communicating and entertaining, most of these communal activities were lost, so Singapore’s Chinatown is actually a dead heritage. Therefore, we are going to recreate a new town and bring back the new communities, instead of replicating the old Chinatown.

To create a living town in Singapore’s Chinatown and solve a series of problems, we proposed five steps to achieve our goal:

Step 1: In order to ensure the sustainability and harmlessness of the urban regeneration and protection process, we use the Historic Urban Landscape Approach (HUL) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the main guideline to guide the entire regeneration and conservation process.

Step 2: To establish new core communities and break the dilemma where commerce dominates, we encourage changing the function of the second and third floors to different types of living, which can be long-term rental rooms, personal living and hotels. The people who live here can be new immigrants who like the local convenient service, good location, proper rental, Chinese atmosphere and lovely historic buildings. Or, they can be the modern coolie-employers who work in the nearby CBD. The different kinds of people living here allow us to create a complex and organic social network and re-establish a new community.

Step 3: After ensuring a sufficient number of living spaces, it is important to ensure that these new residents can have good and suitable living conditions. Therefore, we are calling for improving facilities and infrastructure within Chinatown, providing public and half-public spaces, and improving accessibility.

Step 4: As an important historical site in Singapore, the new living town should enhance the cultural and historical narrative of the site to promote a sense of belonging and identity. A good place reflects and embraces its heritage, culture and identity that developed over time. It feels authentic and relates well to its context in terms of its distinctive natural and urban qualities. It draws from its past and present to bring out the values and essence of the place and people feel connected to it.

Step 5: In order to avoid Singapore’s Chinatown becoming an enclave in the city and let it adapt to contemporary modern life, it is necessary to create a relationship with the surrounding environment through tangible and intangible ways. Establishing a close connection between Singapore’s Chinatown and the surrounding environment can improve the convenience of transportation, allowing residents in this new community to go to surrounding areas for work, study and entertainment more easily, which will improve the quality of life of residents. At the same time, Singapore’s Chinatown is a place full of culture and history. By creating a connection with the surrounding environment, the history and culture of this area can enter the surroundings and enrich the cultural life of nearby people.