What makes: Singapore?
There is nowhere like Singapore when it comes to sense of place. This city-state, perched on an island on the equator, feels at once other-worldly and familiar. A European outpost; yet authentically Asian. Forward-thinking and innovative; yet residually colonial.
This city harbours some of the most distinctive places in the world: Raffles Hotel, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, the HDB estates, the hawker markets – the list goes on. All are imbued with meaning, emotional connection, and visual recognition.
What’s clear from these case studies, is that the city and its people have cultivated a specific and very successful formula for placemaking here. Place in itself is a statement of pride for the people of Singapore, and through our studies, we might distil the city’s ‘sense of place’ into three core ingredients:
Status
Singapore is a nation that measures itself scientifically, always reaching for and justifying its rightful place in the world order.
It may be a small country – just a city, in fact – yet in its 200 years, Singapore has carved out a global reputation for itself in world-class urban planning, uncompromised liveability, and forward-thinking placemaking.
Both residents and the government wear their Singaporean identities with pride. Any taxi driver will point out landmarks within the city and tell you why they’re better than those in London; any long-term local will baulk at the idea of ever moving away from Singapore.
Perhaps it is due to a combination of Singapore’s colonial heritage and the long reign of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, but this is a city state that anxiously guards its high status and strong reputation on the global stage. ‘Best’, ‘most’, ‘highest’ and ‘biggest’ carry weight here – and it’s a mentality that filters through from the government to everyday city life.
Harmony
Low crime rates, strong community integration, and next to no homelessness. These are not just statistics to be thrown out in support of Singapore’s liveability; they make a tangible difference to how the city feels on the ground.
There aren’t many places in the world where a newcomer can feel so safe, so welcome, and so surrounded by friendly faces. So it’s no wonder that nearly a third of Singapore’s population are expats: this is an easy place to get along and settle in.
In part, this culture of harmony stems from Singapore’s heritage as a melting pot of the East. Since its founding as a global trading port in the nineteenth century, the city’s population has been one made up of ‘newcomers’: Chinese, Indians, Europeans, Australians – all settling here in a sort of Singaporean Dream.
Today, however, the culture of harmony is also enforced. Indeed, the one group who may not feel like newcomers in pursuit of a dream are Malays, who have a quite different interpretation of Singapore’s origins. Yet any suggestion of tensions that bubble under the surface are always prevented from boiling over. By carefully engineering racial demographics and community behaviours, the government promotes a programme of harmonious integration.
If the methods are questionable, the outcome – to an observer at least – is effective.
Order
Singapore is a city ruled by order. The streets are kept clean, the buses run on time, the public spaces are heavily invested in and well cared for.
And from dress-sense to smoking etiquette, there is also a set way to behave in this city.
There is no escaping that these behaviours and cultures come from the top. The government of Singapore is an efficiency machine, capable of churning out ambitious plans with big budgets to match. For this reason, it is difficult to see that the Marina Bay project could have been as successful if placed anywhere else in the world – and one wouldn’t bet against the government as it unveils its newest plans for forest towns and high-tech neighbourhoods.
There is of course a dark side to this order. In Singapore, there is no room for dissent or non-conformity, and anyone who expresses disobedience can find themselves in an especially vulnerable situation. The death penalty still exists here.
However, what is unsettling about Singapore is that it provides a persuasive case for authoritarian government. When the government operates conscientiously, efficiently, and for the right reasons – and when it brings people’s needs and safety into its decision-making – the formula is compelling.
