Social effects of the provision and distribution of daily service shops in HDB new town in singapore

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN HDB NEW TOWN IN SINGAPORE --- using case studies of Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan, Sengkang and Punggol New Towns SUN HONGYU M.A. (Architecture), NUS A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF M.A. ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE AY 2013 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and it has been written by me in its entirety. I have duly acknowledged all the sources of information which have been used in the thesis. This thesis has also not been previously submitted for any degree in any university. Sun Hongyu August 11, 2013 Acknowledgements In my Master’s program with Research Scholarship at the National University of Singapore in this past two years, I feel so blessed and grateful to have met many people who have helped me along my journey. My experiences with them have been very enriching. I am indebted to: Professor Heng Chye Kiang, who guided me not only in the direction and context of my research study, but also on how to carry out effective research work. Under his professional supervision, I was able to finish my dissertation in time and enjoy the process. Ho Leong Lai Koon, whose words gave me the experience of GOD as my Bible study tutor. She also assisted in the development of my dissertation with her own critical thinking and English language. How Jun Sim, Ching Sia, Zhang Beiyu and Lin Jinbin, who gave me a lot of help with my written English, and usage of computer software. Han Jie, Wang Liangliang and Huang Daxin, who were always there for me and helping me to expand my ideas for research. You Mingliang, Wen Xianyun, Qi Yingjie, Zhu Ruolei and Zhanyi, my dear friends, who lifted up my spirit when work becomes too tough. My dearest family-, my mom and dad who sacrificed much more than just missing me; my younger brother, who is always ready with a funny story to cheer me up. I My special friend Gong Yimin, who patiently and faithfully gave me much encouragement and support during my dissertation writing. And last but not least, My Holy Father - GOD, who had kept me safe cycling around the island and protected me from storm and sunshine when I did the field work; He gave me the wisdom to be “poor in spirit” to develop my research and to be “peacemaker” to handle various kinds of respondents when I was doing the questionnaire survey. II Summary The success of Singapore new town development during the past fifty years is impressive and world renowned. Even with the limitation of land and natural resources, HDB new towns have been able to provide housing for over 80% of the population in Singapore, providing not only shelter from the elements, but also an increasingly higher standard of living. However, since the implementation of HDB new town concept in Singapore over the last five generations, little academic work had been done to critically analyze this HDB new town development in terms of the changing paradigm of amenities and commercial offerings. This research intends to assess the provision and distribution of service shops, as well as their urban typology within township fabric. Five different generations of township in Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan, Sengkang and Punggol have been selected for this study. Data has been collected via site visits, mappings and residents’ responses via a questionnaire. By doing so, this dissertation attempts to explore the social impact of service shops on the interaction among neighbors and their attachment to the community. Based on the comparative study on these five different generational cases, the results illustrate the changes of service shops within new town planning from the perspective of provision, distribution and urban typology. Both the total amount of service shops and the data by per dwelling unit decrease from the early generational new towns to the recent ones. In addition, the traditional first floor shopping streets are replaced by III modern shopping mall gradually via Singapore new town development. The social impact of such changes have been demonstrated by the results of questionnaire survey. The survey about the satisfaction degree to the service shops and their social lives within new town was conducted on the resident samples of each town. The residents’ satisfaction level with the service shops declined from Bedok, Bishan, Jurong East, Sengkang and Punggol in such order. At the same time, the residents in Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan new towns have a higher satisfaction on their social lives compared to those residing in Sengkang and Punggol new towns. It is my hope that this study will be useful for promoting a more holistic and socially cohesive development of new towns in Singapore and that the evolving Singapore model would continue to be a leader among the rapidly developing cities in Asia. Key words: Singapore, New town, Town planning, Service shop, Social impact Word account: 33,911 IV Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. I   Summary ........................................................................................................... III   Contents .............................................................................................................. I   Figure Contents .................................................................................................. IV   Table Contents .................................................................................................. VII   Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................... 1   1.1   Background .......................................................................................... 1   1.1.1   Success of Singapore New Towns Development since 1960 .............. 1   1.1.2   Facing Political Challenges............................................................. 3   1.1.3   Facing Residents’ Requirements ..................................................... 4   1.1.4   Academic Gap ............................................................................... 5   1.2   Study Objectives ................................................................................... 6   1.3   Research Approach and Methodology ..................................................... 7   1.4   Study Scopes and Limitations ................................................................ 7   1.5   Structure of Dissertation ........................................................................ 8   Chapter Two: The Contextual Framework ........................................................... 10   2.1   Definition of Terms............................................................................. 10   2.1.1   New Town Definition .................................................................. 10   2.1.2   New Town Self-containment ........................................................ 14   2.1.3   Singapore New Town................................................................... 15   2.1.4   Quality of Life............................................................................. 22   2.1.5   Public Space ............................................................................... 26   2.1.6   Shopping Facilities ...................................................................... 28   2.1.7   Pedestrian Shopping Street and Plaza, and Shopping Malls.............. 29   2.1.8   Service Shops .............................................................................. 30   2.1.9   Social Cohesion ........................................................................... 31   2.2   Relevant Study and Practice in Asia ..................................................... 33   2.2.1   Asia Studies and Practice in Korea ................................................ 34   2.2.2   Asian Studies and Practice in Hong Kong ...................................... 35   I 2.2.3   Singapore Studies and Practice ..................................................... 37   Chapter Three: Survey Methodology ................................................................... 42   3.1   Objective Indicators ............................................................................ 42   3.2   Subjective Indicators ........................................................................... 43   3.2.1 Design of the Questionnaire Survey ..................................................... 44   3.2.2 Data Collection and Analysis .............................................................. 45   Chapter Four: Singapore New Town Development and Case Studies ..................... 48   4.1   Singapore Planning System.................................................................. 48   4.1.1   Concept Plan ............................................................................... 48   4.1.2   Master plan ................................................................................. 53   4.2   HDB New Town Development ............................................................ 54   4.3   Five New Town from Different Generations as Case Studies .................. 60   4.3.1   Bedok New Town Planned in the Early 1970s ................................ 62   4.3.2   Jurong East New Town Planned in the Late 1970s .......................... 71   4.3.3   Bishan New Town Planned in the 1980s ........................................ 80   4.3.4   Sengkang New Town Planned in the 1990s .................................... 89   4.3.5   Punggol New Town Planned in the 2000s ...................................... 97   Chapter Five: Analysis and Discussion .............................................................. 106   5.1   Comparative Analysis on the Provision of Service Shops ..................... 107   5.2   Comparative Analysis on the Distribution of Service Shops .................. 113   5.3   Comparative Analysis on the Urban Typology and Building Forms of the Service Shops .................................................................................. 116   5.4   Summary and Discussion on the Provision, Distribution and the Urban Typology of Service Shops in Five New Towns. ................................. 120   5.5 Questionnaire Results and Discussion ...................................................... 124   5.5.1 Results ............................................................................................ 124   5.5.2 Analysis and Discussion ................................................................... 135   Chapter Six: Conclusion .................................................................................. 140   6.1   Summary of Findings ........................................................................ 140   6.1.1   The Findings on the Provision, Distribution and Urban Typology of Service Shops in Five Generational New Towns .......................... 140   II 6.1.2   The Findings on the Social Impact of Service Shops ..................... 141 Bibliography..................................................................................................143   Appendix One: English Version of Questionnaire ........................................ 153   Appendix Two: Chinese Version of Questionnaire ....................................... 155   Appendix Three: Samples of Questionnaire ................................................. 157   III Figure Contents FIGURE 2 - 1 A 1902 DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING EBENEZER HOWARD'S CONCEPT FOR THE GARDEN CITY .............................................................................................. 11 FIGURE 2 - 2 THREE MAGNETS TOWN, COUNTRY AND GARDEN CITY IN LETCHWORTH ..................................................................................................... 13 FIGURE 2 - 3 LOCATION OF HDB TOWNS THROUGHOUT SINGAPORE ........................ 16 FIGURE 2 - 4 INITIAL STRUCTURAL MODEL OF SINGAPORE NEW TOWN ................... 17 FIGURE 2 - 5 ADVANCED STRUCTURAL MODEL OF SINGAPORE NEW TOWN ............ 18 FIGURE 2 - 6 LAYOUT OF PRECINCT, NEIGHBORHOOD AND NEW TOWN ................... 18 FIGURE 2 - 7 TOP QOL FACTOR RANKS FOR JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, UNITED KINGDOM, CANADA AND GERMANY .................................................................................... 25 FIGURE 4 - 1 1971 CONCEPT PLAN STRUCTURE ......................................................... 49 FIGURE 4 - 2 1991 CONCEPT PLAN STRUCTURE ......................................................... 51 FIGURE 4 - 3 2001 CONCEPT PLAN STRUCTURE ......................................................... 52 FIGURE 4 - 4 THE BISHAN PARK BETWEEN BISHAN AND ANG MO KIO NEW TOWNS 57 FIGURE 4 - 5 PITCHED ROOF FLATS IN BISHAN NEW TOWN ...................................... 57 FIGURE 4 - 6 23 NEW TOWNS IN SINGAPORE ACCORDING TO CONSTRUCTION PERIOD ............................................................................................................................ 60 FIGURE 4 - 7 FIVE GENERATIONAL NEW TOWNS AS CASE STUDIES .......................... 61 FIGURE 4 - 8 LOCATION OF BEDOK NEW TOWN ......................................................... 62 FIGURE 4 - 9 PLANNING STRUCTURE OF BEDOK NEW TOWN ..................................... 63 FIGURE 4 - 10 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF BEDOK NEW TOWN ............................... 65 FIGURE 4 - 11 PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BEDOK NEW TOWN .................................................................................................................. 67 FIGURE 4 - 12 TYPICAL WET MARKET IN BEDOK NEW TOWN ................................... 69 FIGURE 4 - 13 SERVICE SHOPS LOCATED IN BEDOK TOWN CENTER.......................... 70 FIGURE 4 - 14 SERVICE SHOPS LOCATED IN BEDOK NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER ......... 70 FIGURE 4 - 15 LOCATION OF JURONG EAST NEW TOWN ............................................ 71 FIGURE 4 - 16 PLANNING STRUCTURE OF JURONG EAST NEW TOWN ........................ 72 FIGURE 4 - 17 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF JURONG EAST NEW TOWN .................... 74 FIGURE 4 - 18 PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN JURONG EAST NEW TOWN ......................................................................................................... 76 FIGURE 4 - 19 TYPICAL HAWKER CENTER LOCATED IN JURONG EAST NEW TOWN . 78 FIGURE 4 - 20 SERVICE SHOPS LOCATED IN JURONG EAST TOWN CENTER ............... 79 FIGURE 4 - 21 SERVICE SHOPS LOCATED IN JURONG EAST NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER ............................................................................................................................ 79 FIGURE 4 - 22 LOCATION OF BISHAN NEW TOWN ...................................................... 80 IV FIGURE 4 - 23 PLANNING STRUCTURE OF BISHAN NEW TOWN .................................. 81 FIGURE 4 - 24 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF BISHAN NEW TOWN .............................. 82 FIGURE 4 - 25 PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BISHAN NEW TOWN .................................................................................................................. 85 FIGURE 4 - 26 SERVICE SHOPS LOCATED IN BISHAN NEIGHBORHOOD ...................... 88 FIGURE 4 - 27 SHOPPING CENTER - JUNCTION 8 LOCATED IN BISHAN TOWN CENTER ............................................................................................................................ 88 FIGURE 4 - 28 LOCATION OF SENGKANG NEW TOWN ................................................ 89 FIGURE 4 - 29 PLANNING STRUCTURE OF SENGKANG NEW TOWN ............................ 90 FIGURE 4 - 30 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF SENGKANG NEW TOWN ........................ 91 FIGURE 4 - 31 PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN SENGKANG NEW TOWN .................................................................................................................. 93 FIGURE 4 - 32 COMPASS POINT SHOPPING MALL LOCATED IN SENGKANG NEW TOWN CENTER ............................................................................................................... 95 FIGURE 4 - 33 RIVERVALE MALL LOCATED IN SENGKANG NEIGHBORHOOD ............ 96 FIGURE 4 - 34 RIVERVALE PLAZA LOCATED IN SENGKANG NEIGHBORHOOD ........... 96 FIGURE 4 - 35 LOCATION OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN................................................... 97 FIGURE 4 - 36 PLANNING STRUCTURE OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ............................... 98 FIGURE 4 - 37 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ........................ 100 FIGURE 4 - 38 PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ................................................................................................................ 103 FIGURE 4 - 39 PUNGGOL PLAZA IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ....................................... 104 FIGURE 4 - 40 SERVICE SHOPS IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ......................................... 105 FIGURE 5 - 1 SERVICE SHOPS PER DWELLING UNIT IN FIVE GENERATIONAL NEW TOWNS .............................................................................................................. 108 FIGURE 5 - 2 HAWKER CENTRE, FOOD COURT AND RESTAURANT PER DWELLING UNIT PROVIDED IN FIVE NEW TOWNS .............................................................. 110 FIGURE 5 - 3 HAWKER CENTER IN BEDOK NEW TOWN ........................................... 113 FIGURE 5 - 4 FOOD COURT IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN .............................................. 113 FIGURE 5 - 5 400M-RADIUS ACCESSIBILITY TO SERVICE SHOPS IN FIVE DIFFERENT GENERATIONAL NEW TOWNS ........................................................................... 115 FIGURE 5 - 6 PLACE AND ENVIRONMENT OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BEDOK NEW TOWN .......................................................................................................................... 117 FIGURE 5 - 7 PLACE AND ENVIRONMENT OF SERVICE SHOPS IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN .......................................................................................................................... 117 FIGURE 5 - 8 URBAN TYPOLOGY AND BUILDING FORMS OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BEDOK, JURONG EAST, BISHAN, SENGKANG AND PUNGGOL NEW TOWNS ..... 118 V FIGURE 5 - 9 PLACE AND ENVIRONMENT OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BISHAN NEW TOWN .......................................................................................................................... 119 FIGURE 5 - 10 COFFEE SHOP IN SENGKANG NEW TOWN ......................................... 121 FIGURE 5 - 11 PROPORTION OF RESIDENT POPULATION AGED 65 YEARS AND OVER BY PLANNING AREA.......................................................................................... 122 FIGURE 5 - 12 COFFEE SHOP IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ............................................ 123 FIGURE 5 - 13 STATISTICS FOR DINING PLACES IN FIVE NEW TOWNS ..................... 127 FIGURE 5 - 14 STATISTICS FOR GROCERIES IN FIVE NEW TOWNS ............................ 128 FIGURE 5 - 15 STATISTICS FOR SHOPPING FOR DRESSING IN FIVE NEW TOWNS ..... 128 FIGURE 5 - 16 STATISTICS FOR SHOPPING FOR ELECTRONICS/JEWELRY.................. 129 FIGURE 5 - 17 STATISTICS FOR PLACES FOR LEISURE/ENTERTAINMENT IN FIVE NEW TOWNS .............................................................................................................. 129 FIGURE 5 - 18 STATISTICS FOR MEDICAL/DENTAL SERVICE IN FIVE NEW TOWNS .. 130 FIGURE 5 - 19 FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE OF RESPONDENTS .............................. 131 FIGURE 5 - 20 STATISTICS ON TRAVEL TIME IN FIVE NEW TOWNS ......................... 131 FIGURE 5 - 21 STATISTIC ON WILLINGNESS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN FIVE NEW TOWNS .......................................................................................................................... 134 FIGURE 5 - 22 SATISFACTION DEGREE ON SERVICE SHOPS AND SOCIAL LIVES IN FIVE NEW TOWNS ..................................................................................................... 136 VI Table Contents TABLE 2-1 HIERARCHY OF PLANNING LEVELS IN A NEW TOWN ............................... 19 TABLE 2-2 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF NEW TOWN MODEL (UPDATE IN 1982)...... 21 TABLE 2-3 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ............................... 21 TABLE 2-4 DIMENSIONS OF QUALITY OF LIFE: AVERAGE WEIGHTINGS FROM A NATIONAL OPINION SURVEY .............................................................................. 24 TABLE 4-1 23 NEW TOWNS BUILT IN SINGAPORE ...................................................... 59 TABLE 4-2 FIVE DIFFERENT GENERATIONAL NEW TOWNS AS CASE STUDIES .......... 61 TABLE 4-3 TOTAL QUANTUM OF SERVICE SHOPS AT TOWN CENTRE AND ZONES IN BEDOK NEW TOWN ............................................................................................. 68 TABLE 4-4 TOTAL QUANTUM OF DAILY SERVICE SHOPS AT TOWN CENTRE AND ZONES IN JURONG EAST NEW TOWN .................................................................. 77 TABLE 4-5 TOTAL QUANTUM OF SERVICE SHOPS AT TOWN CENTRE AND ZONES IN BISHAN NEW TOWN ............................................................................................ 86 TABLE 4-6 TOTAL QUANTUM OF SERVICE SHOPS AT TOWN CENTRE AND ZONES IN SENGKANG NEW TOWN ...................................................................................... 94 TABLE 4-7 TOTAL QUANTUM OF SERVICE SHOPS AT THE TOWN CENTRE AND ZONES IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN ....................................................................................... 103 TABLE 5-1 STATISTICS ON COMMERCIAL LAND USE IN FIVE GENERATIONAL NEW TOWNS .............................................................................................................. 106 TABLE 5-2 SURVEY ON SINGAPOREANS' LEISURE ACTIVITIES ................................ 111 TABLE 5-3 AGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENT POPULATION ..................................... 122 TABLE 5-4 SERVICE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR OF THE SAMPLES LIVING IN BEDOK, JURONG EAST, BISHAN, SENGKANG AND PUNGGOL NEW TOWNS .................. 126 TABLE 5-5 STATISTICS FOR INTERACTION AMONG NEIGHBORS IN THE FIVE NEW TOWNS .............................................................................................................. 133 VII Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Success of Singapore New Towns Development since 1960 Singapore’s HDB housing program has achieved impressive results during the last fifty years. Since the 1960s, it has dealt with problems of overcrowding and unhygienic conditions to provide a favourable living environment and supporting community. It is not a simple task for Singapore given its scarce land and other resource constraints. Singapore was founded as a British colony by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Today, it is an independent city state consisting of the main island of Singapore and some 63 islets, yielding a total land area of approximate 710 sq. km. This land has to provide for the needs of not just a thriving city but also an independent nation. Airbases, military training areas, reservoirs and water catchment areas have to be provided alongside airport, seaports, power stations, incineration plants, housing, industrial, commercial and other uses. Meticulous planning was needed to make the best possible use of its land and sea space to ensure the survival of a city and nation (Keung, 1998). In addition, it has a plural society, comprising mainly ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians, and a population of 5.3 million in 2012 that is expected to hit 6.9 million by 2030. With a gross density of 7257 persons per sq. km, concentrated largely in new towns, it is one of the most densely-populated countries in the world. 1 Up to the 1960s, Singapore has been plagued by various problems, such as badly dilapidated overcrowded slums with poor sanitary conditions. Kong & Yeoh’s study revealed that “the living conditions of a typical street in Chinatown in 1954” was “among the most primitive in the urban area of the world” (Kong & Yeoh, 2003). Similarly, Goh Keng Swee conducted a survey on housing and poverty in Singapore in 1954 and found that 73% of households surveyed lived in badly overcrowded conditions (Tong Chee Kiong & Lian Kwen Fee, 2008). Only 9% of the population lived in low-cost housing (Lee, Lim, & Tay, 1993). Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) was formed in 1927 to solve the problem of overcrowding and dire shortage of housing but failed with the construction of only 23,019 housing units in 32 years. Subsequently, Housing Development Board (HDB) was set up on 1st February 1960 to assume the responsibility. The original target to build 100,000 dewelling units between 1960 and 1970 was an enormous challenge. It was mentioned in HDB’s first Annual Report that “there is no other authority in the world confronted with so many problems and formidable a task like HDB when it first came into being.” (HDB, 1961). But today, as mentioned by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, more than one million flats have been built housing 83% of Singapore’s population after HDB ten 5-year housing programmes (Lee Kuan Yew, 2000). In the early period, the aim was to simply meet the basic housing need and to clear the housing backlog. To do that, HDB provided simple and functional housing blocks that could be built cheaply and quickly. Today, the demand is for homes and 2 communities to meet the rising aspirations of the residents (Fernandez, 2010). Therefore, the next mission taken by HDB was not only driven by the political challenge to provide sufficient housing, but also by the residents’ eager demand for a higher quality of living standard in Singapore’s new towns. According to Teo and Kong, the ability to provide spacious quarters within the constraints of land scarce Singapore in the form of high-rise estates also constitutes a measure of quality. The intention was also to create aesthetic and distinctive environments, contributing to a living environment characterised by material comfort and convenience (Teo & Kong, 1997). However, the higher quality of living standard should be measured not only by the physical town planning and aesthetic design and spaciousness but also by social lives providing for its residents and attachment to the community. The physical town planning and design was to ensure that housing conditions have high accessibility to shared amenities and facilities. The framework needed to be structured in such a way that it will promote interaction among neighbors and attachment to the community. 1.1.2 Facing Political Challenges Referring to the speech by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at the official opening of Punggol 21 new town, the HDB housing program stems from a political decision. Today, the challenge for HDB is to provide not only affordable quality houses, but also a cohesive community. The new challenge ahead concerns the winwin between globalization and the new economy and social cohesion (Femandez, 1996). 3 There are some foreseeable hurdles to social cohesion. The Singapore 2013 White Paper says that the government will introduce more foreigners into Singapore, especially low-skilled workers. This move is expected to widen the gap between different income classes. There is yet another urgent issue of the impending ageing of population in Singapore. It is forecasted that the number of persons aged 65 years and above would make up 19% of the total population in 2030 (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2012). These challenges will test the cohesiveness of the nation. The HDB new towns where the majority of population lives must be planned and designed and built to strengthen community bonds. In addition, there were also some findings indicating that although there were conducive physical environments and infrastructure in HDB estate, cohesion among the neighbors in HDB estates was weak and there lacked of a sense of responsibility and belonging to the community (Tai & Chen, 1982). 1.1.3 Facing Residents’ Requirements Maslow asserted that we each need to be able to satisfy our physiological and psychological needs in the hierarchy of requirements and desires (Maslow, 1970). For Singaporeans who have largely satiated their basic needs of food and shelter, achieving a higher quality of life has become an important area of concern. Their living needs have evolved in-step with the attainment of higher education and higher income. There are various policies and programs currently in place to first help young couples set up their first homes, then to help them upgrade, and finally to help them monetize their flats when they are old (Mah, 2010). These rising aspirations of 4 Singaporeans are not only at the individual level but also at the level of enjoying social lives and attachment within communities. Therefore, it is an imperative for HDB to listen to the advice and comments from the grass roots that have been accumulated for a half century. The community and residents should be given more authority to have a say in what kind of neighborhood they would prefer and how they would organize their neighborhood and shape their lives. 1.1.4 Academic Gap The success of Singapore’s new towns has resulted in many studies done to focus on the successful experience and elements of new towns. Most critiques point to the boring and monotonicity of new towns rather than the social aspects. Even though surveys have been carried out regularly by HDB to obtain the opinions of residents about various facets of public housing, data collected were not readily available to the public and there was no noticeable research into residents’ use and satisfaction with service provision (Teo & Phillips, 1990). In addition, large-scale sample surveys of 1093 and 2187 respondents from 81 census divisions in Singapore were conducted in 1997 and 1998, respectively, to measure overall life satisfaction as well as levels of importance and satisfaction towards most aspects of life ranging from social life, working life, family life, education, wealth, health, religion, leisure to environment (Department of Statistic, 2012). Unfortunately, no attention has been given to the requirement and satisfaction of service shops in any aspect whatsoever. The intangible attachment to the community and social cohesion may be one of the most difficult things to achieve and assess, which has been referenced by physical 5 planning and design in some relevant studies. However, the findings indicated that although there are condusive physical environments and infrastructures in HDB estate, social cohesion among the neighbors in HDB estates was still weak and there was a lack of a sense of responsibility and belonging to the community (Tai & Chen, 1982). In a 1984 HDB study of residents’ lifestyles in Ang Mo Kio new town, it was suggested that the daily routines of residents generally determine their shopping behavior, hence, their patterns of patronage of the shopping centers (Ooi & Tan, 1992). For many of the public housing residents, stopping by the shops forms part of their frequently traversed circuits. This is especially so for the housewives and elderly who are not in the workforce, thus reducing the range of their shopping routines to within more estate-based retail outlets. Therefore, this study seeks to assess the self-sufficiency of new towns especially its service shops within a new town, as well as the social impact on the interaction among neighbors and residents’ attachment to the community. 1.2 Study Objectives The study intends to assess the provision, distribution and the urban typology of the service shops within a new town including the food and beverage, groceries, clothing, electronics/jewelry and medical/dental services. Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan, Sengkang and Punggol new towns would be studied as cases representing five different generational new towns. Furthermore, the study will explore the social impact of these service shops on the interactions among neighbors and their attachment to the community. This study hypothesizes that the residents’ social lives 6 is closely related to the provision and distribution of the service shops within new town, as well as the urban typology. Therefore, this study can generate valuable information for a more holistic and improved development of new towns in Singapore with the hope that the evolving Singapore model would continue to be a leader among the rapid developing cities in Asia. 1.3 Research Approach and Methodology In order to achieve the above objectives, a comparative study was conducted on the five different generational new towns, namely Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan, Sengkang and Punggol new towns. The service shops in each new town would be investigated and assessed based on objective indicators including the provision, distribution and the architectural forms. The data was collected during site visits, by observation and photography, as well as mapping. In addition, the subjective indicators such as the residents’ attitude and utilization of the service shops as well as the satisfaction degree on the service shops provided within their new town and their social lives were also documented through questionnaires. 1.4 Study Scopes and Limitations Although URA and HDB have defined both HDB and private housing estate as a planning area, the scope of this study involves only HDB housing flats and excludes the private housing estates. There were also some limitations in this study. Firstly, although the study tries to cover the entire new town by site visit and investigation, some small functional units 7 still may be inevitably missed out due to time constraint. Secondly, the provision of service shops would depend on the requirement and patronage of the residents. The mapping of service shops in each new town is accurate and documented as it is on the date of the site visit. Thirdly, the questionnaires are conducted randomly at some selected areas. Other areas may have been left out and some ethnic groups such as Malays and Indians may be much less than Chines because of the language of interview and questionnaire. Last but not least, social issues are always complex topics. In this study, the social issue concerning about interaction among neighbors and attachment to the community have correlation with many factors that are not limited to those such as the demographic profile, social-economic factors, changing lifestyles, and other amenities provision. This study intends to explore one of them from the perspective of the provision and distribution of service shops, as well as the urban typology within a new town. 1.5 Structure of Dissertation The Introduction Chapter is followed by Chapter Two which reviews the relevant definitions and theories on new town, quality of life and public space and so on. In addition, some similar studies and practices in Asian countries such as Korea and Hong Kong would be illustrated. Significant contributions from a few Singapore researchers and scholars would also be included. Chapter Three is a demonstration of the survey methodology. The Singapore new town development would be subsequently reviewed, followed by an investigation of the five case studies of new 8 towns. Next, analysis and discussion would be necessary and significant for us to come to the conclusion of the study. 9 Chapter Two: The Contextual Framework In this chapter, a contextual framework of the study would be built by defining concerning significant items and employing the relevance among them, as well as reviewing some case studies in Asia. 2.1 2.1.1 Definition of Terms New Town Definition Definition “New towns, in the contemporary sense, are developments that are planned initially to provide for a broad range of social, economic, and physical activities within a defined area of land and within a predetermined time period. The social activities will normally include educational services from preschool through college, health services, recreational facilities, civic organizations, and religious institutions. The economic aspect will normally include an industrial park, commercial centers, and the like. The physical aspect embraces the provision of roads, utilities, and housing. The housing aspect normally represents a range wide enough to accommodate moderate through upper income categories. Conceptually, all of these activities will exist within an environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially interactive framework” (Campbell, 1976). In short, “new town is a planned urban community designed for self-containment and providing housing, educational, commercial and recreational facilities for its people” (The American Heritage, 2000). 10 History The new town concept was the brainchild of Ebenezer Howard. He had perceived that overcrowding in cities leading to their rapid deterioration were troubling issues of their time. He conceptualized a method of urban planning in his book Tomorrow: the Peaceful Path to Social Reform in which his ideal Garden City would house 32,000 people on a site of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), planned on a concentric pattern with open spaces, public parks and six radial boulevards, 120 ft. (37 m) wide, extending from the center as shown in Figure 2-1 (Anderson, 2012). The garden city would be self-contained and when it reached population potential, another garden city would be developed nearby. Howard envisaged a cluster of several garden cities as satellites of a central city of 50 000 people, linked by road and rail (Goodall, 1987). Figure 2 - 1 A 1902 Diagram Illustrating Ebenezer Howard's Concept for the Garden City Source: http://architizer.com/blog/10-diagrams-that-changed-planning/ 11 Howard’s garden city concept combined the town and country in order to provide the working class with an alterative to work in either distant farms or “crowded, unhealthy cities” (Howard, 1902). The first two garden cities Letchworth and Welwyn, both built in Hertfordshire, England, are not regarded as successful examples. Lethworth, the first garden city came about in 1899 with the help of two outstanding architects, Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker. It was planned based on the Howard’s three magnets diagram shown in Figure 2-2 which addressed the question “where will the people go”, the choices being “Town”, “Country” or “townCountry”. Even though it made the garden city concept into reality proving it was not just another utopian pipe dream, it later became the living estate for skilled middle class workers against Howard’s initial goal that the Letchworth was designed for the lower social-economic class. Although Letchworth became profitable and started paying dividends to its investors ten years later (Hall, 2002), it did not immediately inspire any government investment into the building of more garden cities. Then in 1919, Howard proceeded to buy land at Welwyn himself to house the second garden city. However, the Welwyn garden city also could not be regarded as a successful self-containment case because its distance to London was only 20 miles (Hall & Ward, 1998). F.J. Osborn took on Howard’s garden city concept and developed it into regional planning with strategic plans for new housing that also included countryside access and protection, and public transport integration. He became the key person to propel the garden city movement towards regional planning and later new towns. In addition, 12 the New Town Acts passed in 1946 through which the government was allowed to designate areas as new towns and passed on development control functions to a development corporation (UrbanAreas.co.uk, 2013). Therefore several new towns were planned and built with three main purposes: Firstly, new towns as the answer to the decongestion of the city center (Self, 1972). Secondly, new towns as avenues for organizing the vast volume of new development with the benefits of channeling economic development and at same time reducing congestion and decentralizing the territory’s population. Thirdly, every new town is built to be a “balanced community” and self-contained (Bristow, 1989). Figure 2 - 2 Three Magnets Town, Country and Garden City in Letchworth Source: http://jenniferschnell.blogspot.sg/2013/03/geometry-by-design.html 13 2.1.2 New Town Self-containment There are many researchers and scholars focusing on the study of new towns worldwide. One hot topic of this field is about new town’s self-containment. It is one of the most emphasized principles in new town design and the main purpose of new town programs around the world (Pakzad, Lotfi, & Jahanshahloo, 2007). Although self-containment is one of the most emphasized principles when designing a new town, researchers and scholars are still debating on its definition and scope. Some scholars hold the opinion that self-containment could be understood as the balance between jobs and housing in a community. Within a balanced community, residents can both live and work (Lee & Ahn, 2005). In this context, many studies have also been conducted to assess self-containment from the aspects of employment opportunities and working travel (Hui & Lam, 2005； Bannister, 1994；Cervero, 1995). However, there are also arguments that the concept of self-contaiment is more than a job-housing balance within a community but rather refers to a built form that allows people to live, work, shop and recreate wihin a community (Rogers, 1977). Giuliano and Small concluded that job-housing balance does not have a large influence on new town self-containment, but the non-working trips do (Giuliano & Small, 1993). Non-working trips involve looking for services such as dining, shopping for groceries, clothes, electronic equipments, jewelry, as well as accessing to leisure/entertainment and medical/dental services (Pakzad, Lotfi, & Jahanshahloo, 2007). Also as seen in An’s study, self-containment should cater to the residents’ physical and social needs within a new community. In her study, the social needs are 14 based on the provision of essential services. Children’s playgrounds, schools, and clinics must not be too far away from homes; housewives should be able to go to the market easily; and there should also be shops for day to day needs. Such new town planning criteria are standardized and applied (An, 1982). In Singapore, new towns are designed to be self-contained, referring to commercial, educational, health care, and recreational requirements. For provision of employment, as certain industries are located in accordance to the Singapore Master Plan. As the subjects in this study, the service shops belonging to commercial facilities are the significant and necessary items of the Singapore self-contained new town. 2.1.3 Singapore New Town The new town concept was first introduced into Singapore in 1957 by the National Public Housing Authority Housing & Development Board. From the setting-up of the first new town, Queenstown to the latest one, Punggol new town, 23 new towns have been built throughout the island with approximately 1,011,027 housing units provided in 11,000 public housing buildings as shown in Figure 2-3. Singapore new towns are planned with clear boundaries and characteristic forms of structural framework which was devised to aid in planning such self-containment towns and quantitative planning. This structure framework is the essential element for achieving a diverse mix of function within the same area. Thus, an initial structural model for Singapore new town planning developed for future new towns by 1970s as Figure 2-4. The new towns built in that period were modeled on template, largely 15 premised on a comprehensive system of transport infrastructure and planning of housing based on neighborhood principles. Figure 2 - 3 Location of HDB Towns throughout Singapore Source: HDB Annual Report 2012/13 – Key Statistics, 2013 16 Figure 2 - 4 Initial Structural Model of Singapore New Town Source: HDB, Housing a Nation - 25 Years of Public Housing in Singapore, 1985 The new town model is not unchangeable and permanent, but transforms regarding to the dynamic requirement of residents and society so that the new town model can be in line with the social development. For instance, the arrangement of housing clusters was further broken down to the use of precincts as a basic planning unit in the late 1970s. In 1980s and 1990s, the concern with solving housing shortage problem turned to meeting of qualitative aspirations of better community interactions as well as moving away from the previously standardized and monotonous spaces of the earlier generational new towns. According to Figure 2-5, the advanced Singapore new town model offers the desired distribution of residential, commercial, open space, recreational, industrial and institutional land use in a new town in conjunction with its road network (Foo T. , 2001). It also spells out clearly the planning of new town using the strategy of a hierarchical basis that each town has a town center which most of the time is located in the geographical center. Around the town center, five to six neighborhoods are arranged with their own neighborhood centers. Each neighborhood is divided into six 17 or seven precincts (Field, 1992). The planning standards of the new town, neighborhood and precinct are shown in Figure 2-6 and Table 2-1. Figure 2 - 5 Advanced Structural Model of Singapore New Town Source: HDB, Our Homes: 50 Years of Housing A Nation, 2011 Figure 2 - 6 Layout of Precinct, Neighborhood and New Town Source: HDB, 25 Years Housing a Nation, 1985 18 Table 2-1 Hierarchy of Planning Levels in a New Town Planning Level No. of Planning Units No. of Dwelling Units per Planning Unit Population per Planning Unit Land Area per Planning Unit (ha) Town 1 25,000-50,000 125,000250,000 625 Neighborhood 5~6 4,000-6,000 20,000-30,000 80-100 Precinct 6~7 500-1,000 2,500-5,000 10~15 Source：HDB, 50 Years of Housing A Nation, 2011 In addition, the planning standards enacted in the new town model is for selfcontainment in terms of the facilities provided and the employment generated by local industries. The planning standards for facilities and services have evolved over time and are meant to support the modern urban lifestyles of residents at the town, neighborhood and precinct levels. However, as Phillips said in 1987 the selfcontainment has relatively limited application in such settings as Singapore and Hong Kong (Phillips D. R., 1987). Singapore’s new town has relatively few opportunities for office employment and activities that require the support of large user population, such as cultural centers and the national sports stadium, keeping the responsibilities of the city as whole. Moreover, the light, clean, labor-insensitive industries are usually located on the town’s fringe and mainly cater to female labor. (Teo S. , 1986). In terms of service shops, the new town is planned to be self-contained with a town center, 5 to 8 neighborhood commercial centers with forty to fifty shops. For instance, a neighborhood center with a wet market and a hawkers’ center can support 4,000-6,000 housing units with 15,000 to 30,000 people. The shops providing convenient goods and services are always within 400m distance of most residents’ flats. 19 Even though the model of “New town – Neighborhood – Precinct” achieved much success, there are new challenges facing in the 21st century. For instance, the residents have more rising aspirations on the city environment, transportation system, commercial and culture and so on. The development of technology brings both opportunities and challenges also. More importantly, the scarcity of land limits the future development. Therefore, Singapore government planned to implement a new model which resembles the model of Transit Oriented Development (TOD)1. Punggol new town is an example of the 21st century new towns in Singapore based on this model. This model have a more mix of private houses, executive condominiums, and HDB flats group into smaller, distinctly designed estates. Each estate would contain between 1,200 and 2,800 units, with a common neighborhood green. Every housing unit would be located within 300 meters of the nearest LRT station. Schools, Libraries, community clubs and shopping centers would be clustered for convenience (Femandez, 1996). Meanwhile, the new town model relate to the allocation of land uses and physical planning standards. Table 2-2 illustrated the land use distribution of new town model leading to new town development in the early period. Table 2-3 shows the land use distribution of a new 1 A transit-oriented development (TOD) is a mixed-use residential and commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership. A TOD neighborhood typically has a center with a transit station or stop, surrounded by relatively high-density development with progressively lower-density development spreading outward from the center. TODs generally are located within a radius of one-quarter to one half-mile from a transit stop as this is considered to be an appropriate scale for pedestrians, thus solving the last mile problem. 20 model adopted in 21st century by Punggol new town. Even though Table 2-3 is sourced from URA, it is also showing the attitude towards the development of new town in Singapore. Table 2-2 Land Use Distribution of New Town Model (update in 1982) Source: HDB, Housing a Nation - 25 Years of Public Housing in Singapore Table 2-3 Land Use Distribution of Punggol New Town Source: URA, Punggol Planning Area – Planning Report 1998 According to Table 2-2 and Table 2-3, it is can be seen that, the new town has set nearly 20% land aside for industry in the early period, while it has not been a component of new towns since 21st century. In addition, another change is the decline of commercial land area that is driven by diverse factors, mostly as a desire to increase the density and mix-use ability of land in order to maximise the land use. Above all, although Singapore new towns are modelled upon the New Town concept stems from Howard’s Garden City, there is a number of deviations. Due to the high population density of Singapore, the housing blocks in new towns take the form of 21 mainly 9-13 floor slabs with an occasional four to six floor slabs or 25 floor point blocks to add variety to the building forms (Teo S. , 1986). Nowadays, new blocks tend to be around 40 storey high. As of 2010, the latest HDB housing project, the Pinnacle @ Duxton has been built up to 50-storey as the Singapore highest HDB flat. In addition, limited by the paucity of land, Singapore new towns are not bounded by a green belt for agriculture, but instead by expressways or some strong physical constraint (Teo S. , 1986). For example, Jurong East new town is bounded by Pan Island Expressway in the north that separates it from Bukit Batok new town, a canal to separate it from Jurong West new town and Pandan River from Clementi new town. 2.1.4 Quality of Life Definition The term Quality of Life (QOL) refers to the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics and so on. When associated with the environment of community within the city, the QOL means not only the physical characteristics of the place where people live, but also the social attributes of that environment - the sense of community and neighborhood. For cities to regain their attraction as places to live in, both of these characteristics need to be considered (Young & Grayson, 1994). As explained by Cooper, the housing needs for a person are hierarchical, extending from lower or basic needs to higher or more specialized needs. The hierarchy of 22 needs implies that at the basic level there are needs for shelter and security and, when these are satisfied, people will tend to seek comfort and convenience. Next, they look for space for socializing and self-expression meaning the quality of life is the ultimate pursuit of residents (Cooper L. A., 1975). Dimensions In addition, many scholars are also studying on the dimensions of QOL. Table 2-2 shows the result of a survey of 1 200 people conducted by a QOL Group in Britain. A total of 20 dimensions were rated by random sampling. In this survey, the respondents were asked to assign a weight from a scale of 0 (unimportant) to 5 (very important). The survey aimed to provide useful information and reference standards for researchers to assess, then to improve on the quality of life. The results suggest that the dimensions of QOL considered most important are the ones involving crime violent and nonviolent. This means that for these respondents, physical and psychological safety and security were top considerations affecting their quality of life. Shopping facilities were also weighted significantly by the respondents even higher than that for education provision, employment prospects and so on. 23 Table 2-4 Dimensions of Quality of Life: Average Weightings from a National Opinion Survey Average Dimension weighting Percent of total score Violent Crime 3.709 6.39 Nonviolent Crime 3.693 6.36 Health Provision 3.633 6.29 Pollution Levels 3.407 5.87 Cost of Living 3.39 5.84 Shopping Facilities 3.308 5.67 Racial Harmony 3.239 5.58 Scenic-quality Access 3.007 5.18 Cost Owner-occupied Housing 2.992 4.15 Education Provision 2.869 4.94 Employment prospects 2.822 4.87 Wage Levels 2.822 4.86 Unemployment Levels 2.729 4.7 Climate 2.638 4.54 Sports Facilities 2.629 4.53 Travel-to-work Time 2.516 4.33 Leisure Facilities 2.477 4.27 Quality Council-housing 2.204 3.8 Access to Council-housing 2.045 3.52 Cost of Private-rented Housing 1.916 3.3 Source: Environment and Planning A, Dec 1988 21(12) P.1659 In addition, the organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) contribute much on pursuit in quality of life. OECD have done lots of research work on some significant factors of quality of life world widely which are Housing, Income, Jobs, Community, Education, Environment, Civic Engagement, Health, Life Satisfaction, and Safety. Many countries are involved into its research study, some of which are developed counties with the results shown in Figure 2-7. It can be found that these developed counties have high ranks on these factors especially community and safety which are almost the highest for all countries except Germany, following by community. 24 Figure 2 - 7 Top QOL factor ranks for Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany Source: OECD Better Life Index – Country Reports, 2011 Safety and Security Safety would be the most fundamental factor. Jane Jacobs noted it as long ago as 1961 in her book Death and Life of American cities. She stated that safety is the basic element to make a neighborhood a community and gave cities livability. In her opinion, safety comes from “eyes on the street”. There must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. So the street should have enough uses on it fairly continuously to maintain the 25 safety of the street (Jacobs J. , 1961). On the contrary, if people feel unsafe, they would refuse to reach or even pass over the space. Besides crime or accident, the public space also should have the quality of being able to protect the people from the fear of crime or accident (Chapman & Larkham, 1994). That is the psychological security. It is partly a matter of familiarity with the urban form - the ability to recognize where and how to navigate through the town - but, more frequently, it is the sense of freedom to use the place on an equal basis with all other users. Places which engender a feeling of security and which welcome people, both residents and visitors, may create a sense of belonging in their users. Such a sense of belonging, or being part of, is one of the key qualities of a really good place (Chapman & Larkham, 1994). 2.1.5 Public Space Definition A public space should be one whereby people are able to come to experience, take part in cultural activities, or simply be part of the environment to enjoy the ambience at one’s will, to see and to been seen (Lin, 2012). Importance of public space The significant contribution of public space can be expressed by one book Life between Buildings - Using Public Space written by Jan Gehl outlined his theoretical argument that public space of a city’s residential area would provide opportunities for meetings and daily activities which is helpful to enable one to be among, to see and to hear others and promote more complex interactions (Gehl, 1996). Moreover, he also presents evidence for the relationship between the public space quality and the amount and type of social activities that 26 occur. He emphasized the “life” in a public space that exists in and between buildings. In his opinion, social activities depend on the environment of public space and the presence of others in public space. For instance, the activities like taking a walk, standing or sitting around and sunbathing happen because the place and environment invite people to stop, sit, eat, and play and so on. Social activities take place when two people are together in the same place, to see and hear each other, to meet; itself is a form of contact. Some other observations and investigations also concur that the impact of place and environment on our activities and for creating such opportunities are immense (Chapman & Larkham, 1994). Finally, good-quality public spaces are said to engender findings of safety, a sense of community and mutual trust among users and residents as well as an adherence to shared norms and values “where ethnically and culturally diverse groups can co-exist peacefully” (Dempsey, 2009). How to improve the quality of public space Besides the physical construction and environment of the public space, the coexistence of different activities happening at the same time in one space leads to the making of successful public space (Lin, 2012). Furthermore, in a public space, the people and human activities became the greatest object of attention and interest. Even simple eye contact or merely seeing and hearing and being near to others is apparently more rewarding and more in demand than the majority of other attractions offered in the public spaces of cities and residential areas (Jacobs J. , 1961). 27 2.1.6 Shopping Facilities Shopping facilities can form public space providing various levels of commercial productions ranging from the basic living needs to artwork for aesthetics. Apart from commercial functions, shopping facilities are also significant in the social aspects such as improving the safety of public space; providing activities and interaction; and creating social cohesion. Firstly, the shopping facilities work in several different and complex ways to abet public space safety. For instance, it gives people, both residents and strangers, concrete reasons for using the public space associated with these enterprises. The more varieties of enterprises, the more chances people have reasons for crisscrossing paths. Moreover, the store keepers and other businessmen are typical strong proponents of peace and order themselves. They are the great street watchers and guardians even if present in insufficient numbers (Jacobs J. , 1961). Secondly, shopping facilities are important for generating involuntary social contact of neighbors (Ooi & Tan, 1992). Satterthwaite (2001) observed that in Europe, shopping is part of daily life and plays an important role in community life. In an analysis of market place retailing activities, Bromley (1998) also took the same view that “markets constitute significant focal points in the urban fabric, and are an integral part of the economic and cultural life of the city”. The repeated interfacing between shoppers as well as shoppers and shop keepers provide the opportunities for establishing friendships (Gehl, 1996). 28 Finally, being a spatial planning parameter, commercial activity also helps people to develop a sense of place. The shopping facilities are able to determine the substance of a spatial experience of commercial building characteristics and commercial activities which making the identity of the place and making it more familiar to the frequent visitors (Ooi & Tan, 1992). Much of the residents’ satisfaction with and attachment to their community comes from the convenience offered by the shops, markets and other facilities. It is suggested that the development of a sense of place in a community is very much tied to the commercial activity that exists within the community (Ooi & Tan, 1992). 2.1.7 Pedestrian Shopping Street and Plaza, and Shopping Malls A pedestrian shopping street is a retail shopping street or district that is closed to most vehicular traffic either all of the time or part of the time (Lew, 2007). It is usually a popular public space providing for not only commercial production but also window shopping, leisure strolling in the presence of the community and people watching. The pedestrian shopping street attracts people who come to see, to hear, and to meet each other and to see others do the same. Therefore, the busy street has the ability to make communities safer and more livable, particularly when they are well designed, managed and strategically connected to networks of public transit, pedestrian paths and bike routes, thus promoting interactions in a social context (Fodriguez, 2011); It offers a place in which people can observe how other people around them work, behave, dress and eventually 29 establish personal relationships in the world around them. In this way, a person they often meet on the street becomes a person they “know”. On the other hand, a shopping mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers. It is built with interconnecting, walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area. A shopping mall is a modern, indoor and air-conditioned version of the traditional market place. The building form is usually a large cube located at point area so that it was also called “big box stores” in the early pioneer days (Dery, 2009). In addition, the shopping mall sometimes is built associated with the function of hotel, office and apartment, with multi-storied anchor department stores. Clare Cooper Marcus, who has spent years observing how people use public space and asking people how they feel about the spaces they use. She suggested that the modern shopping mall is not the mediaeval piazza of the days gone by. The contemporary official shopping mall has a much more limited range of uses (Marcus & Francis, 1998). By scholar Keri Davies did a case study on Singapore shopping malls and conclude that the layout, organization, even the product brands were quite similar in every shopping mall in Singapore (Davies, 2012). The shopping malls in Singapore seems to be lack of creativity and humanity. 2.1.8 Service Shops Being shopping facilities, the service shops concentrates on the convenience facilities that serve the residential community there, with basic commercial production and 30 high use frequency. The service shops are usually divided into several categories according to their functions or frequency use. In a survey conducted by Chang-Moo Lee & Kun-Hyuck Ahn, the service requirement is categorized into shopping for groceries, clothing, electronics/jewelry, leisure/entertainment, and access to medical service (Lee & Ahn, 2005). In addition, O’Brien and Harris suggested that the attractiveness of these service shops depends on the types of service offered as well as on the design and appearance of the buildings (O’Brien L. & Harris, F., 1991). Therefore, the architectural form of the service shops is another consideration. Moreover, the service shops are always placed along daily route home providing ease of access. Therefore these trips to shops are never entirely just for the purchasing of goods and services. They also simultaneously generate opportunities for residents to further familiarize themselves with the area in which they live developing deeper “face” familiarity and strengthening neighborly relations with the shop keepers and other shoppers. All these assist in catering to the residents’ need for a familiar living environment (Tan, 2012). 2.1.9 Social Cohesion Definition Social cohesion is “the on-going integration of the individual behaviors in a social setting” (Dempsey, 2009) and used to describe the social order in a physical or non-physical social setting (Coser, 1977). Nash and Christie also pointed out that 31 cohesion should mean that “all social groups should feel able to enjoy an area’s public life free from attack, abuse or hostility” (Nash & Christie, 2003). A society lacking cohesion would be one which displays social disorder and conflict, disparate moral values, extreme social inequality, low levels of social interaction between and within communities and low levels of place attachment (Forrest & Kearns, 2001). Dimensions Social cohesion could be measured by the dimensions of social interaction, social network, sense of community and sense of place attachment (Dempsey, 2009).A sense of personal belonging and social cohesiveness comes from well-defined neighborhood and narrow, crowded, multi-use streets (Jacobs, 1961). Young and Willmott’s work (1957) showed how influences other than the physical environment are critical for residents’ social cohesion. They found that the relocation of slum-dwellers to a physically better living environment was a failure for residents because the social environment – the close knit community – was lost and could not be recreated. They found that planners’ tendency to, for example, directly correlate the provision of a community center with an ensuing community spirit was inadequate and unrealistic. Based on the above studies, the social cohesion in this study will focus on the interaction among neighbors and the attachment to the community. Social interaction Such interactions may consist of casual greetings, meeting with friend, walking together in a park, dining and drinking, asking for help and so on. It 32 can be argued that in order for social interaction to occur, people have to have a place to meet, even if it is an unintended meeting. This paper would see how effectively the service shops within HDB new towns serve as such a meeting place. Attachment to community Community attachment, is also called community bond, community ties, community belonging, community satisfaction and a sense of community in some other studies. There are also multiple definitions of community attachment. The broadest agreement among sociologists is that community attachment is a bond between people and their environment based on cognition and affect (Stedman, 2002). Some other definitions include additional characteristics such as face-to-face associations, a common way of life, common norms and values, social completeness and self-containment (Feldman, 1990; Young, Gosschalk, & Hatter, 1996; Liao, 2004). Others assume a sense of identity, social control and a feeling of belonging (Wong & Yeh, 1985). 2.2 Relevant Study and Practice in Asia Although it has been increasingly recognized that well-planned and properly implemented public housing program can generate economic growth, provide a healthy living environment, maintain social stability and promote nation building, only a few countries and areas in Asia can formulate or implement their housing policies on such a comprehensive scale as Singapore has done. Korea and Hong Kong are among them. 33 2.2.1 Asia Studies and Practice in Korea Like Singapore, the situation in Korea is such that the basic necessities such as food and shelter have largely been fulfilled and achieving a higher quality of life is becoming a more important area of concern. In the late 1980s, the Korean government initiated the “Two Million Home Construction Plan”, in which many typical but experimental new town models were built near Seoul. The new town programme in Korea is not only for residential but also for economic boost. The first generation of new towns in Korea are Bundang, Ilsan, Sanbon, Pyeongcho and Joongdong. Bundang and Ilsan are recognized as the most successful new towns in Korea which had provided much experience for the subsequent new towns in Korea, but also for international countries’ new town development. Because of the importance of Bundang and Ilsan and their influence on new town developments domestically and worldwide, many scholars did studies on them on many aspects. Yu Min Joo is one of them who providing a better understanding of new town system in Korea. She indicated that 20% of the land was used to be open space and a high of 8% to be commercial and business uses with a goal of achieving self-contained. It means that the concept of Korean new town is also a self-contained new town. After this first generation new towns, many large scale residential developments of more than 100,000 residents (Jamsil, Yeouido, Mokdong, Sanggye, and Gaepo) were built on the open fields in Seoul in the 1970s which followed Bundang and Ilsan as examples (Joo, 2013). 34 Since then much work has been done by scholars to assesse the new town selfcontainment, many debates pertaining to the self-containment of the new towns have arisen because although the residential districts developed well, the commercial districts in these five new towns remained undeveloped. In many studies, the five new towns are criticized for becoming bedroom communities. Some other scholars explored why this is so. Some argued the reason is the planning failure with the requirement and supply (Lee, 1997; Park 1997). Others hold the opinion that it is the result of a distorted political decision-making failure (Choi & Park, 1999). In addtion, Lee, C.-M and Ahh, K.-H. They did two comparative studies in 1995 and 2000 respectively on the attractions of Bundang new town for shoppping, medical service, and leisure trips. The results show that Bundang’s commercial dependency on the city Seoul has been reduced over the past five years (Lee & Ahn, 2001). By the end of 2000, Lee, C.-M and Ahh, K.-H conducted a questionnaire survey to analyse the non-working trips of the residents in these five new towns and nearby. The results reveal a high degree of self-contained shopping behavior of their residents for lowand middle- level goods, while still showing a considerable dependence on Seoul for leisure and medical service. At the same time, the study also showed that the new town attracts considerable market shares form the nearby areas (Lee & Ahn, 2005). 2.2.2 Asian Studies and Practice in Hong Kong Like Singapore, Hong Kong is also almost the same situation. Both of them have very limited land area and natural resources, a colonial background and strong emphasis on economic growth, and over fifty years of history and experience in public housing 35 development. Even the original reason for initiating public housing is the same, that being the fire outbreak in 1950s. Therefore, much comparative work has been drawn between the two public housing program especially on the housing policies and the relationship between these with the economic development in the cities. Concerning the physical planning and design, the major differences in the apartment size, provision of living space per household member as well as the overall effectiveness of the housing programs in meeting basic housing needs have been studied. Today, Singapore and Hong Kong are recognized as the top two successful models of new town and public housing, at least in Asia. As HDB in Singapore, Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) plays the role for the past over fifty years in public housing program. A book entitled Fifty Years of Public Housing in Hong Kong with various contributions from scholars and researchers and was published by HKHA in 2003. This book was put together by many contributors and covers widely the physical and infrastructural background, the housing policy review and the qualities for better living (Yeung & Wong, 2003). The section concerning public housing and new town development, written by Anthony G. O. Yeh, reviewed the development of Tsuen Wan new town in Hong Kong in 1959 and the major boost program introduce in 1972 from the government’s first ten-year housing program. Hong Kong’s new town planning concept which originated from the British also centered on “self-containment” and “balance development” aiming to reduce the commute to the main urban area with adequate 36 work opportunities, as well as shopping, recreational and community facilities within itself (Yeh, 2003). However, many scholars pointed out that although self-containment is explicitly spelt out in the planning principle of new town since the first generation in Hong Kong, the success of the new towns in achieving this goal has been quite limited. Some documents also stated that the important social implications for Hong Kong’s new town policy still needed to be further explored (Hui & Lam, 2005). In the section on Commercial Premises, the author Li Ling-hin paid more attention to retail premises rather than the offices and entertainment facilities. In this section, he illustrated the history of the commercial premises especially its retail components. In the early period of new town development in Hong Kong, the public housing estates were built with retail facilities to meet the basic needs of residents. These facilities were usually located on the ground floor as well as free-standing restaurants and markets beside the residential blocks, which were replaced in later years by new shopping centers of innovative design. At the same time, the author also highlighted the social role of retail activities which should not be viewed as merely a physical setting for the exchange of goods and services (Li, 2003). 2.2.3 Singapore Studies and Practice Singapore HDB, the government authority Housing Development Board is given the responsibility for the development of new towns in Singapore. The Research and Planning Department of the HDB research team works on many aspects of public 37 housing, ranging from the political policy to the kinship ties and neighborly relationships and informs the public at large about its plans. Its digital presentation Public Housing in Singapore: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow have been around. Two books have been published by HDB in conjunction with its silver and golden anniversaries respectively. One is Housing A Nation: 25 Years Of Public Housing In Singapore. The other is Our Homes: 50 Years of Housing A Nation. Since 1980s, HDB has achieved housing nearly 80% population with HDB public housing within the new towns. The next step then was for the research team to move from the physical environment such as housing conditions to the social aspects such as kinship ties, neighborly relationships, and consideration for the elderly and well-being of the community (Fong, 2005; Cheong, 2010; Khoo & Pi, 2000). To keep abreast of the new town planning and development, HDB has been conducting annual household surveys. In a 1984 HDB study of residents’ lifestyles in Ang Mo Kio new town, it was suggested that the daily routines of residents generally determine their shopping behavior, hence, their patterns of patronage of the shopping centers (Ooi & Tan, 1992). Many researchers and scholars, apart from HDB, are also involved in the study of Singapore new towns planning and development, as well as exploring the relevance of public space, quality of life and shopping behavior to the social character of the new town. 38 Teo Siew Eng is one of those scholars who contributed to discovering the correlation between new town planning or design and a strong community fabric. He not only demonstrated the planning system and new town development in Singapore, but also concluded that it was not a simple task to face the challenges of the future development of Singapore new town which require visual variety and social elements for forging a strong community fabric. In order to achieve the stronger community fabric, Teo Siew Eng spent ten years exploring four considerations. A firstly, he attempted to analyze the links between ideological changes in society and the planning and the development activity which has provided the dynamic for Singapore’s growth (Teo S. , 1992). Secondly, he also explored it from the perspective of new town characteristics based on the new town case studies. In the paper Attitudes towards Service Provision in Public Housing Estate and New Towns in Singapore (Teo & Phillips, 1990), he adopted three new towns and two pre-new town housing estates as the case studies to assess the self-containment of Singapore new town. He explored the service provision including the retailing, recreational community and transport facilities, through the attitude and utilization of the residents (Teo & Phillips, 1990). Thirdly, he explored the characteristics and identity of new town caused by topography, skyline, parks, landmark buildings, block design and precinct design in Singapore new towns from the planner and residents’ perspectives (Teo S. , 1996). However, the research is still focused on the physical planning and design, and not the social level. Finally, he also considered the residents’ mental 39 requirement and Singaporeans’ growing aspirations (Teo S. E., 1994; Teo & Kong, 1997). Another researcher Limin Lee conducted a comparative study of Singapore and Hong Kong, focusing mainly on the design, use of public space and its social significance. She divided new towns into five generations according to the public space within the new towns. Based on the comparative study with these five generational new towns, she criticized the rationale for the changes in public space based on the creation of a hierarchy of public space rather than provision for the actual use of space by residents. Furthermore, she also pointed out that the structural models in new towns planning, although efficient, were limited by the degree of abstraction in the understanding of the social impact of what was being done. Regarding the quality of life in Singapore and its subjective measurement (Wang, 1993; Kau & Wang, 1995; Foo et al., 1998), the pioneer study undertaken by Wang (1993) was based on a self-administered mail questionnaire survey of 329 respondents. It employed a set of 12 specific domains of life: spiritual life, family life, life in Singapore, personal health, living environment, material possessions, health care services, acquisition and consumption of goods, social life, self-development, working life, mass media, leisure, and school life. Wang's findings were thereafter reported in Kau and Wang (1995). Foo pioneered a method of subjective indicators of measuing QOL from many aspects of life based on a large scale island wide sample survey of 1093 an 2187 respondents in 1997 and 1998. He hoped to provide valuable feedback information for planning and policy purposes (Foo, Yuen, B., & Chin, L. , 40 1998). More importantly, he examined the application and impact of the new town principles in Tampines, an award-winning new town. He analyzed new town principles especially in the area of hierarchical strategies of land use, open space and road network. At the same time, the commercial, infrastructural and recreational provision and usage are found to be adequate and contributed to the success of Tampines new town (Foo T. , 2001). Finally, Sim Loo Lee did much study on the self-containment of new towns in both home-work relationships and shopping behavior. Based on the previous studies by Yeung & Yeh in 1972 and Yeung in 1973, Sim L.L. cconcentrate on both retail patterns and shopping behavior, as well as the commercial land use especially the characteristic and locational patterns. In terms of shopping behavior, she also demonstrated that Singaporeans prefer real life shopping to online shopping (Sim, 1999). 41 Chapter Three: Survey Methodology In order to explore the provision and distribution of the service shops and its social effect on the residents, a comparative study on five different generational new towns had been conducted. These cases were investigated and assessed by both objective and subjective indicators. On one hand, the objective indicators were based on physical planning items which were the provision, distribution of the service shops and the urban typology. On the other hand, subjective indicators had been obtained from the perspective which is more humane, such as residents’ attitudes towards the service shops, their utilization and the satisfaction level towards the service shop, and the social lives happened within such space occasions of each new town. 3.1 Objective Indicators Reference was made from Gehl (1936 - ) uses for the choice of direct indicators used which were direct observation, time-lapse photography, and spatial mapping. These indicators could be used to understand the physical qualities of place, how people use them, as well as the impact they had on people’s behavior (Gehl, 1996). Thus in this study, the objective indicators of provision and distribution of the service shops were mainly achieved through the research methodoloygies of site visiting, photographing and mapping. For more accurate and systematic records and statistics, each new town as study cases had been divided into several zones around town center according to the road system. Moreover, the services were also categorized into Eateries, 42 Groceries, Leisure/Entertainment Facilities, Medical Services, Clothing, Home Furniture and Business. The quantum and exact function of the service shops located in each zone of each new town would be recorded during site visit and be organized into a table. In addition, photographs focusing on physical building forms were taken to show the spatial patterns of the service shops in each town. At the same times, photographs on human activities were also significant evidence to express the level of residents’ utilization and satisfaction to the place and environment of service shops. Finally, mapping out the data by various color standing for different service functions illustrated the location and distribution of each zone in each new town intuitively. All these ways of collecting data are not independent or sequential but are part of an integrated and interactive process. 3.2 Subjective Indicators The subjective indicators were based on the residents who were not actively involved in the new town planning process, designing and improving program, but the ones who experience, use and were influenced by it. This study adopted the research methodology of Questionnaire survey to find out the attitude and utilization of true users to the service shops in five case new towns, as well as interaction among neighbors and attachment to the community happening within such environment of each town. 43 3.2.1 Design of the Questionnaire Survey In order to achieve the goals mentioned above, the questionnaire was designed as two parts in addition to the basic bio-data of the respondents including the age, gender, status, ethnic group, type of flats living in and the type of household. The first part questions were for their marketing and shopping behavior, which were investigated based on the factors that affect the residents’ decisions to shop, where they would do shopping for groceries, clothing, electronics/jewelries, leisure/entertainment and access to medical service and how much travel time they normally require. At the end of this part, a satisfaction level on the proximity and convenience of the service shops is also included. All the questions were designed to find out residents’ utilization and satisfaction to the service shops within their new towns. The results would be significant evaluation factors of the provision and distribution of the service shops in each town. The other part of the questionnaire alluded to the sample residents’ social activities within the service places including the frequency and context of communication among the people met in such environment, which reflect the role of service shops on improving the interaction among neighbors and attachment to the community. A copy of questionnaire was shown in Appendix One. In addition, two ways are used to obtain a random sampling of the diverse groups of residents to participate in the questionnaire survey. One is face-to-face survey and the other one is online survey. The former allowed for sampling with most residents including fulltime employees. But young students were largely left out because the survey was carried out during school hours. The online questionnaire caters for their 44 participation. In order to get more scientific and impartial data, the survey period and location were also considered carefully. The questionnaires were conducted during non-weekend and non-public holiday lasting for around one month from 8th Jan, 2013 to 7th Feb, 2013. There were at least five days to do questionnaire survey with a sample target of 150 respondents per new town. Speaking of the location choice, the hawker center or food court in town center and other zones, community library and sports complex and various service shops were always the priority. Finally, because of the diverse ethnic groups of Singapore population, the questionnaire is prepared bilingually, in English and Chinese. 3.2.2 Data Collection and Analysis Before the actual survey for the study was carried out, the questionnaire was pretested by distributing it to 10 testers including 3 planning professionals and 7 local citizens. These 7 selected candidates varied in age, gender, educational level to test the questionnaire to insure it is coherent and comprehensible. Meanwhile, the pre-test was also to obtain feedback on any difficulties encountered in doing the survey. The questionnaire had been improved regarding to the comments from the testers especially on understanding some designation of some service functions. A piece of small gift was also prepared as gratitude according to the testers’ advice. At the time of sampling, it contains about 200,000, 81,000, 67,000, 76,000 and 59,000 residents in Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan, Sengkang and Punggol respectively. For this questionnaire survey, the target random sample size was set 150 for each new town in order to obtain an adequate number of responses so that the findings are 45 generalizable. However, as shown in Table 3-1, only Bedok and Bishan new towns almost achieved this goal with 153 and 151 respondents respectively. Jurong East (114), Sengkang (116) and Punggol (105) had relative fewer respondents. There were in total 606 questionnaire respondents including 436 face-to-face respondents and 170 online ones. Table 3 - 1 Collection of Questionnaire Bedok total Jurong East effective total effective Face-to103 face 103 82 79 Bishan Sengkang Punggol Total total effective total effective total effective total effective 111 109 79 78 80 67 455 436 Online 50 44 32 30 40 40 37 32 25 24 184 170 Total 153 147 114 109 151 149 116 110 105 91 639 606 Ratio 96.08% 95.61% 98.68% 94.83% 86.67% 94.84% Table 3-2 indicated a relatively even respondent gender distribution for each new town. Bishan had the highest number of respondents at 149, followed by Bedok (147), Sengkang (110) and Jurong East (109). Punggol new town had the least with 91 respondents. Table 3 - 2 Summary of Effective Questionnaires Bedok Jurong East Bishan Sengkang Punggol Total Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Face-toface 74 73 147 20 Online Total 46 13 44 68 23 59 25 53 38 110 15 18 40 86 145 57 149 36 97 191 81 109 24 94 63 83 14 189 75 20 14 58 310 606 34 67 142 296 91 32 106 53 76 110 186 67 125 372 420 792 Moreover, according to Table 3-3, most of the samples collected online were students younger than 15 years old or young adult students and employees between 16 and 24 years of age. There were few elderly respondents above 65 years old. 46 Table 3 - 3 Age Distribution of Samples Bedok AGE Jurong East Bishan Sengkang Punggol Total face-toface-toface-toface-toface-toface-toface online face online face online face online face online face online 2 0 1 0 12 1 0 0 10 4 16-24 6 10 14 20 25 14 11 20 8 14 64 78 24-54 74 32 39 27 52 20 58 12 6 43 229 134 55-65 12 2 5 0 15 3 4 0 6 0 42 5 >65 9 0 3 0 5 2 5 0 0 0 22 2 [...]... subjects in this study, the service shops belonging to commercial facilities are the significant and necessary items of the Singapore self-contained new town 2.1.3 Singapore New Town The new town concept was first introduced into Singapore in 1957 by the National Public Housing Authority Housing & Development Board From the setting-up of the first new town, Queenstown to the latest one, Punggol new town, ... provision, distribution and the urban typology of the service shops within a new town including the food and beverage, groceries, clothing, electronics/jewelry and medical/dental services Bedok, Jurong East, Bishan, Sengkang and Punggol new towns would be studied as cases representing five different generational new towns Furthermore, the study will explore the social impact of these service shops on the interactions... among neighbors and their attachment to the community This study hypothesizes that the residents’ social lives 6 is closely related to the provision and distribution of the service shops within new town, as well as the urban typology Therefore, this study can generate valuable information for a more holistic and improved development of new towns in Singapore with the hope that the evolving Singapore model... OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 97 FIGURE 4 - 36 PLANNING STRUCTURE OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 98 FIGURE 4 - 37 LAND USE DISTRIBUTION OF PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 100 FIGURE 4 - 38 PROVISION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE SHOPS IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 103 FIGURE 4 - 39 PUNGGOL PLAZA IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 104 FIGURE 4 - 40 SERVICE SHOPS IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 105 FIGURE 5 - 1 SERVICE SHOPS PER DWELLING... how they would organize their neighborhood and shape their lives 1.1.4 Academic Gap The success of Singapore s new towns has resulted in many studies done to focus on the successful experience and elements of new towns Most critiques point to the boring and monotonicity of new towns rather than the social aspects Even though surveys have been carried out regularly by HDB to obtain the opinions of residents... study intends to explore one of them from the perspective of the provision and distribution of service shops, as well as the urban typology within a new town 1.5 Structure of Dissertation The Introduction Chapter is followed by Chapter Two which reviews the relevant definitions and theories on new town, quality of life and public space and so on In addition, some similar studies and practices in Asian... ENVIRONMENT OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BEDOK NEW TOWN 117 FIGURE 5 - 7 PLACE AND ENVIRONMENT OF SERVICE SHOPS IN PUNGGOL NEW TOWN 117 FIGURE 5 - 8 URBAN TYPOLOGY AND BUILDING FORMS OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BEDOK, JURONG EAST, BISHAN, SENGKANG AND PUNGGOL NEW TOWNS 118 V FIGURE 5 - 9 PLACE AND ENVIRONMENT OF SERVICE SHOPS IN BISHAN NEW TOWN 119 FIGURE 5 - 10 COFFEE SHOP IN SENGKANG... throughout Singapore Source: HDB Annual Report 2012/13 – Key Statistics, 2013 16 Figure 2 - 4 Initial Structural Model of Singapore New Town Source: HDB, Housing a Nation - 25 Years of Public Housing in Singapore, 1985 The new town model is not unchangeable and permanent, but transforms regarding to the dynamic requirement of residents and society so that the new town model can be in line with the social. .. According to Figure 2-5, the advanced Singapore new town model offers the desired distribution of residential, commercial, open space, recreational, industrial and institutional land use in a new town in conjunction with its road network (Foo T , 2001) It also spells out clearly the planning of new town using the strategy of a hierarchical basis that each town has a town center which most of the time... population in 2030 (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2012) These challenges will test the cohesiveness of the nation The HDB new towns where the majority of population lives must be planned and designed and built to strengthen community bonds In addition, there were also some findings indicating that although there were conducive physical environments and infrastructure in HDB estate, cohesion among the ... of the population in Singapore, providing not only shelter from the elements, but also an increasingly higher standard of living However, since the implementation of HDB new town concept in Singapore. .. illustrate the changes of service shops within new town planning from the perspective of provision, distribution and urban typology Both the total amount of service shops and the data by per dwelling... As the subjects in this study, the service shops belonging to commercial facilities are the significant and necessary items of the Singapore self-contained new town 2.1.3 Singapore New Town The