Running head: SINGAPORE: HOUSING AND THE ENVIRONMENT
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Singapore: Housing and the Environment in Southeast Asia Peggy A. Anderson University of Minnesota-Twin Cities College of Design
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Abstract This report takes an objective look at how environmental and urbanization issues have affected housing conditions in Southeast Asia using Singapore as a specific case study. Singapore’s housing history serves as an excellent example of what is happening in Southeast Asia’s housing sector in response to environmental changes and urban growth, and the possible reactions governments may take to provide safe, affordable housing for residents. The traditional form of self-built housing, still common in certain areas of Southeast Asia, was at one point typical of Singaporean homes until the rising population threatened to degrade healthy living conditions. To prevent the takeover of slums and to mitigate effects of global warming such as rising sea levels, Singapore’s government used a policy-sensitive model framework to build sustainable, affordable public housing for the growing population. The steps Singapore has taken to improve their situation in the face of a catastrophic situation can be mimicked by other Southeast Asian countries that face similar catastrophes brought on by global warming and growing populations.
Keywords: housing, environmental issues, global warming, Singapore, Southeast Asia, government intervention, slums, urban renewal, public housing, immigrant labor, policysensitive model of the housing sector
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Singapore: Housing and the Environment in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is twice as economically vulnerable to climate change as compared to the rest of the world (Stern & Kuroda, 2009). This is a serious issue, as many economies in Southeast Asia are growing, and set to become world leaders. Indeed, a few countries already have. The major problem with global climate change is largely due to the fact that the vast majority of Southeast Asia’s population lives and works on costal land. Costal lands are eroding as climate change is causing the sea-levels to rise. According to the Asian Development Bank’s report on the Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia, “countries that invest now in climate change adaptation will better protect their people, economy and environment” (Stern & Kuroda, 2009). Taking the lead in the challenge towards climate adaptation and mitigation is the independent Republic of Singapore. For any country, a major element to consider when discussing issues of economy and environment is housing, especially for a globally powerful “dragon economy” of which Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the Republic of Singapore happen to be. A dragon economy is an economy of a Southeast Asian country which has experienced rapid industrialization and has become a pillar of the modern industrialized world (Vogel,1991, p. 1). Housing is an especially important consideration for the Republic of Singapore which has a population of over 5 million people and growing, all living on an island the size of New York City. The Republic of Singapore is the third most densely populated country in the world with a population density of 19,863 people per square mile (Singapore Government, 2012). This is almost 20 thousand more people per square mile than the next most densely populated country in
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Southeast Asia. With a growing population, shrinking land mass, and status as a dragon economy, how has Singapore dealt with its issues of housing? Recognizing that the Republic of Singapore was in a unique position, the government took the initiative to promote the use of “green” technologies to lure foreign financial and technical investment while simultaneously improving the quality of life for its citizens. The framework through which the government guided the development of Singapore’s urban image was that of economic and environmental constraints. Similarly, economic and environmental constraints can be used as a conceptual framework through which the policy-sensitive model of housing may operate; and during the development of the modern Republic of Singapore, the government has used public housing as a tool for positive growth. This paper seeks to develop a clear understanding of what environmental, and economic issues affect Southeast Asia and how these affect the housing sector in particular. Using the Republic of Singapore (from now on I will use Singapore in place of the Republic of Singapore) as a case study, this report will demonstrate what can be done to protect the Southeast Asian population from environmental climate changes and rapid industrialization through government control and improvements in the housing sector. General Background of Housing Issues in Southeast Asia Global Climate Change Global climate change is creating many problems for communities in Southeast Asia, including housing problems and problems with the built environment. Most of the population and industry in Southeast Asian countries are located on coastlines, which tend to suffer the most negative impacts from global climate change. Because there exists such disparity between the
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more industrialized and more undeveloped countries in Southeast Asia, a vast majority of the population suffers proportionally greater than the few, wealthier, industrialized regions. Some climate change issues faced by the poorer populations in Southeast Asia deal with the following: Water. The main concern with global climate change deals with water, and in particular rising sea levels. It has been noted that the issue of rising sea levels is not so much the average hight that the waters have risen, rather it is the variation of average changes spread throughout Southeast Asia that is causing problems (Munslow & O'Dempsey, 2010, p. 1347). Each region is experiencing different levels of costal erosion due to rising sea levels and this is making it difficult to predict and prevent future damages. Drinking water and water for domestic and agricultural uses are another issue. Water is important for the wellbeing of all lifeforms, humans notwithstanding, and having clean and reliable sources of drinking water is something that a community must have access to in order to be sustainable for any period of time. If urban communities are not designed to efficiently manage clean and waste water sources, which most poor communities in Southeast Asia are not, increases in the prevalence of diseases which thrive in Asia’s warm wet conditions, could grow out of control. Temperature change. Rising ambient temperatures can be a serious health concern for those with compromised immune systems, the elderly, and very young children. Housing needs to be able to adequately protect its inhabitants from the elements. Traditional Southeast Asian homes have been designed and built to regulate air-flow and sun exposure in order to control indoor temperature, and these adaptive design solutions are something which have been overlooked in new, urban construction and in the cramped slums in poor communities (Izikowitz and Sørensen, 1982, p. 2).
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Loss of Forest Land. Loss of forest land is particularly concerning for costal regions because forests and vegetation act as natural buffers to storms and protect the land from erosion. Forests also aid in climate stabilization, provide clean, fresh air, and provide sources of raw material for building homes. Another aspect of trees and greenery which often gets over looked are their aesthetic ability to calm and soften the rough, hard lines of the urban environment. People tend to be more relaxed and at peace when surrounded by nature, versus noisy busy streets and hectic landscapes. Urbanization & Industrialization Many countries and cities in Southeast Asia have transformed from a predominately rural and agriculturally based society to that of industry and urbanization. Both urban and rural traditional Southeast Asian homes have typically been self-built using natural and sustainable materials. Over time, as resource supplies become limited, these homes, primarily located in urban areas, tend to lack sufficient sanitary facilities and eventually become slums. This is not sustainable. Rural areas of Southeast Asia tend to be more agricultural based and aren’t as susceptible to the pressures of urbanization, but urban residents in the lesser developed countries of Southeast Asia are impacted by unclear tenure rights which they must deal with if and when the government decides to develop the area. Examples of this problem can be found in the “beautification” process of a city before a major global event, such as the Olympics. In 1996. an event titled “Visit Myanmar 1996,” 1.5 million slum dwellers, with no title to their land, were evicted from the city in preparation for this event (Davis, 2006, p. 116). These residents
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constituted 16% of the total population, and none of them received fair compensation for their loss (Davis, 2006, p. 116). The situation is better in Singapore where the government has the right to compulsory land acquisition. With this power, the government may forcibly evict residents from areas where they deem there is a better use for the land, as long as that land use benefits the community as a whole. In exchange for this land, residents are to receive fare compensation (Yuen, 2007, p.7). Sometimes instead of monetary compensation the resident will be rewarded with a flat in the new public housing tower as a resettlement benefit. This will be discussed in a later section. Conflicting Information The main issues with reliable information stems from varying definitions of poverty, property rights, etc., and the issue of culture and religion which may conflict with one another on how to deal with societal issues such as housing. Because poverty is so closely linked to issues of global climate change and quality of housing in crowded cities, the definitions of poverty and global climate change should be carefully observed. The World Bank sets the global poverty line, the daily income under which it is virtually impossible for a human to live a healthy, meaningful life, at $1.25 a day (Ravallion, 2008) This definition is not unanimously used across all governments for policy generating purposes. For instance, in Singapore and Hong Kong, poverty is not defined (Yuen, 2007, p. 2). Therefore, any comparison between countries, past and present, to try to understand if there has been any progress in reducing poverty becomes challenging. Additionally, how a country views the responsibility of caring for it’s poor is another consideration. This is where Singapore stands out from the rest of the countries in Southeast Asia as will be talked about in a later section.
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Case Study Analysis: Singapore Overview of Singapore Long before Singapore began to industrialize, it was well established as a major international port destination offering services in financing, shipping, information and insurance (Vogel, 1991, p. 66). This was largely due to the city was occupied by a British colony and was thusly exposed to the English language and western ways of thinking and business (Vogel, 1991, p. 66). Before Singapore’s industrialization which happened after WWII, the area was engaged in farming with agriculture as a main source of equity. In 1959, Singapore gained independence to govern itself as part of a British settlement, and seven years later, in 1965, gained total independence (Yuen, 2007, p. 4). At this point, the area became known as the Republic of Singapore, and officially deemed a sovereign city state. The city began to grow in earnest in the 1970s and 1980s, pushing out agriculture and causing the city to rely on food from across it’s boarders, typically from other more rural Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia (Vogel, 1991, p.67). Additionally, as farm families continued to loose their income from agriculture, they were essentially forced to move into government housing in urban areas, as that was the only affordable option for them (Yuen, 2007, p. 16). Before its independence, Singapore had one of the world’s worst slums. This was partly caused by the loss of agricultural jobs and land and the families which were employed in this line of work having to adapt to urban lifestyles. Additionally, due to damage from WWI and generally low construction rates, Singapore was severely under-supplied with proper housing (Yuen, 2007, p. 3). To solve this problem, the government of Singapore, which is basically a
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totalitarian government, was able to quickly and effectively establish a large scale public housing program to house Singapore’s urban poor. Solutions to Problems Caused by Urbanization Because of a shortage of land space, the government is faced with the overwhelming challenge of planning and building infrastructure for its large population. A happy and wellmaintained community is also a sustainable community. Several studies have indicated a positive correlation between homeownership and the quality and degree of home care and maintenance exercised, so the government has taken the initiative to promotes homeownership as part of its public housing program. To help protect the city state from degradation due to rapid population increase, the government realized that it needed to take control to mitigate economic issues and issues with housing. Of the four tiger economies, Singapore was different because of the dominate role the government played within the city state. Not only did Singapore’s government have a hand in the city state’s economic development, but it also played a big role in managing Singapore’s social development, which included public housing (Vogel, 1991, p. 68). To deal with issues of housing development in Singapore, the government set up the Housing Development Board (HDB) in 1959 at the beginning of Singapore’s self-governance phase (Yuen, 2007, p. 4). To do this, the government had to first get rid of the slums and traditional houseboats to make way for more modern development. Other countries in Southeast Asia tend to view housing for the poor as the people’s problem, and has little government intervention. Singapore is unique in that the government takes center stage in the care and housing of its poor. The 1964 Home Ownership for the People
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Scheme promotes homeownership through various mortgage financing programs with favorable terms as well as supplying the physical housing (Singapore Government, 2013). An imposed income ceiling for applicants is a must (Singapore Government, 2013). Without an income ceiling, higher income families would be able to compete with low income earners for affordable housing resulting in an under-supply for the poor. The Married Child Priority Scheme has also been enhanced from March 2012 with HDB further increasing ballot chances for parents and married children who apply to live together under one roof (Housing Development Board [HDB], 2013). From March 2012, the MultiGeneration Priority Scheme gives priority allocation to parents and their married children who submit a joint application to purchase paired flats in the same project (HDB, 2013). Applicants have the option to select from a pool of pre-identified flats spread across various housing estates (HDB, 2013). The process of prefabricating individual components of a public housing high-rise off site and then putting it together on site greatly reduces the need for labor and thus promotes affordability. Technologies that improve energy efficiency, such as green roof insulation and solar panels reduce the operating costs of the housing adding to affordability. Design and aesthetics are also very important for the wellbeing of residents, who tend to take better care of their property if it is beautiful as well as functional. The huge demand for infrastructure requires a massive construction force which cannot be wholly meet by native Singapore population. Due to an aging population and low birth-rate, the number of of native Singaporeans available for this type of work has decreased, and an influx of foreign, mostly Chinese, workforce becomes necessary.
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Unfortunately Singapore has a strict immigration policy that favors the more wealthy working class migrants over the poorer construction labor force. To add to this barrier, the native population has developed a prejudice towards low-income construction laborers, often complaining that they are noisy and trash their surroundings. That being said, the ration of nonnative to native Singaporeans rose from only 14% in 1990 to 36% in 2010. Solutions to Problems Caused by Global Climate Change To help put Singapore on a sustainable course, and to help reduce the city state’s own contributions to global climate change, the government of Singapore has created several programs and development criteria to aid its builders to achieve these goals. A collaboration between government agencies, industry representatives, NGO’s and academic institutions known as the Singapore Sustainability Alliance was established to aid businesses in developing programs to help their manufacturing practices become as sustainable as possible; implementing such things as sustainable water use, waste management and recycling as well as energy efficiency (Huffman, 2013). Other companies who call Singapore their home include Hewlett-Packard Co. who has worked closely with the government to establish benchmarks for low energy use and to use this achievement as a model for other businesses; the Asian Centre of Excellence which is involved in smart-grid technology and renewable energy; Hanergy, a Chinese solar array manufacturfer; Saferay, another solar company from Germany; and DHI a Danish water and environment research consultancy (Huffman, 2013). Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) has a division called Cleantech which monitories economic progress in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart grids, green buildings, electric mobility and water conservation and said
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that business is booming in these areas (Huffman, 2013). With the help of the Holland government, Singapore is planing to build dikes along the coastlines to help buffer any proposed damage that might be done to infrastructure due to rising sea levels from global climate change (Huffman, 2013). This is important because, in an effort to increase the available land space for development, Singapore has been importing sand and rock from Malaysia to fill in some of the shoreline that has been lost as part of the land reclamation project (Huffman, 2013). This effort has negatively affected the wetlands and coral reefs that lie in this area so to help mitigate these negative effects, the government has established a coral nursery and rebuilt mangrove swamps (Huffman, 2013). These efforts put forth by the government and industry leaders help ensure that there will be land available for building housing for all classes of citizens and that the housing stock will not contribute to global climate change. For example, Singapore receives almost half of its water from Malaysia delivered via pipes, and is looking to establish self sufficiency through technologies such as retention reservoirs, desalination plants and waste water reclamation (Huffman, 2013). Some of the measures that Singapore has taken to reduce it’s carbon footprint and make the city more sustainable include motion-activated lighting, recycling, public transit, restoring manmade canals to meandering streams, consolidating utility conduits, sewer and water lines and having their garbage removal systems travel through underground tunnels (Huffman, 2013). Implications Even though it is exceedingly difficult to fully understand the full impact of global climate change, and the implications it has on the environment now, let alone in the future, it is
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beneficial for countries to do all they can to protect their people form possible harm. It is also important for countries to acknowledge and assist the poorest of their citizens to be able to live a healthy and meaningful life. Southeast Asia is growing in population and economic wealth very rapidly. The area is also contributing more and more to global climate change, and is overall resistant to taking steps to mitigate their impact on global climate change. It is hard to say what makes a country forgo it’s responsibility to be good stewards of the environment, especially at the expense of its own citizens. Perhaps it is more of a shifting of blame, or a denial that they are really loosing sight of their environmental future. Singapore has demonstrated how a developing region can rise up to become a global super power, but do so in a way where they are conscious about the future of the planet and without losing economic and industrial growth. I believe that Singapore’s efforts can be mimicked by other developing countries in Southeast Asia to their benefit, and, depending on how quickly the environment begins to degrade, they will be following suite very soon.
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References Davis, M. (2006). Planet of slums. Verso. London & New York. Housing Development Board (HDB). (2013). Promoting strong family ties. Public Housing in Singapore. HDB InfoWEB. Retrieved from <http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10320p.nsf/w/ AboutUsPublicHousing?OpenDocument#ties> Huffman, A. (2013, Dec. 20). Singapore Is Green: Southeast Asian city-state uses environmental sustainability to lure business and investment. International Business Times. Retrieved from <http://www.ibtimes.com/singapore-green-southeast-asian-city-state-usesenvironmental-sustainability-lure-business-1511842> Izikowitz, K.G., and Sørensen, P. (Eds.). (1982). The house in East and Southeast Asia: Anthropological and Architectural Aspects. Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series No. 3. London and MalmÜ. Cruzon Press Ltd. Munslow, B. and O'Dempsey, T. (2010). Globalisation and climate change in Asia: the urban health impact. Third World Quarterly, 31(8), 1339-1356. Ravallion, M., Chen, S., and Sangraula, P. (2008). Dollar a day revisited. Policy Research Working Paper 4620. Development Research Group, World Bank. Washington D.C. Singapore Government. (2013). Public Housing. Official Singapore Government Website. Society. Housing. Retrieved from <http://app.singapore.sg/society/housing> Singapore Government. (2012). The lion city, Singapore info-graphic. Official Singapore Government Website. Retrieved from <http://app.singapore.sg/about-singapore/sg-facts> Stern, N. & Kuroda, H. (2009, May 5).Why global warming could make or break south-east Asia. The Guardian. Retrieved from <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/cifgreen/2009/may/05/climate-change-recession-nicholas-stern> Vogel, F. (1991). The four little dragons: The spread of industrialization in East Asia. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. Yuen, B. (2007). Squatters no more: Singapore social housing. Global Urban Development Magazine, 3(1), 1-22.