HDB - Housing Development Board
In March 1960, soon after Singapore gained self-government, the Housing Development Board (HDB) was established as a statutory body. However, It took over from SIT the pressing task of providing proper public housing for the entire population. It was considered the only realistic means of housing the masses and at the same time extracting the inner city slums and unhealthy living conditions. In 1965, the HDB managed to build 53,777 residence places and today over 85% of Singapore's population lives in HDB apartments, compared to only 9% in 1960.Further, In 1964, a home ownership scheme was established, and in 1968, the Central Provident Fund allowed savings to be used for monthly repayments: as a result, in 1985, 76% of Singaporeans lived in apartments they owned.3 The Land Acquisition Act, set up in 1967, provides the HDB with the legal basis to acquire private lands for public housing or other development programs. Together with sensitive resettlement policies, this Act enabled HDB to clear slum areas smoothly and in their place, to build new and comfortable HDB apartments. Supplying the general population with modern apartments should give it a greater sense of stability and security, substantially improve the environment, and create political stability for a firm economic growth.
The HDB apartments' design addresses some basic constraints in Singapore, such as land shortage, an expanding population and reasonable prices. The large-scale development of high-rise, high-density, low-cost, standardized constructions is the most logical solution. Usually, the HDB apartment is very functional, simple in shape and plan. It could be conceived as the realization of a simplified version of Le Corbusier dream of La Ville. The course of residence blocks, position of courtyards and balconies, are carefully considered to achieve climatic responsive buildings.
The invalid space in every HDB block allows the free flow of pedestrians and nature, although it is does not quite resemble the spaces. Small-scale social spaces are created within a bunch of several housing blocks, containing playgrounds and a senior citizen corner. Next on the grouping scale is the neighborhood center, consisting of small shops, markets, nursery schools, clinics, and other public facilities for about 6,000 residents. The size of a neighborhood has been reduced since the 1970s to increase the sense of community. However, the neighborhood group is the town center with bigger markets, supermarkets, banks, health centers, post offices, schools, and other community facilities. The district space standards in the HDB New Towns are quite high, as only around a third of the land is used for residential purposes, while the rest is dedicated to community support and service facilities.
The government’s recent intention to increase Singapore's population up to six million has accelerated the demolition-and-rebuilding process, which provides existing neighborhoods with taller and higher density housing blocks. This means Singapore's earlier built heritage of modern mass housing typology has been decreasing very quickly.
Moreover, several HDB New Towns, with a population of about 250,000 to 300,000, were built and planned as self-reliant cities with their own social, administration, commercial, and employment facilities. Moreover, to break the repetitive tedium of type design and to give a certain sense of identity, the portico, rooftop, floor arrangements, and detailing of a group of buildings in a neighborhood are presented with a particular theme or expression. This sense of identity and design innovation is currently being given more attention, especially in the latest re-development programs and new housing projects. Renovation of older housing estates means the demolition of some earlier blocks, such as the emergency one-room apartments of the 1960s.
Billy Chen
billy@billychen71.com
Tel: (+65) 88689999
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