Poverty,Urban Renewal,and Public Housing in Singapore

Singapore is a city state with 80 percent of the population classified as urban. Inadequate and overcrowded housing has led to a massive urban renewal programme. A survey of a sample of residents, predominantly Chinese, who were most likely to be affected by urban renewal led to the identification of two groups: the ‘hard core poor’ and the ‘better off’. Differences between the two groups in activity patterns and attitudes to high-rise flats, appearing around the periphery of the central area, were only marginal, but the hard core poor were much more uncertain about the impact of urban renewal on their life styles. It was concluded that problems of adjustment to urban renewal would be considerably greater for the hard core poor, and, as they comprised the older, less well educated segment of the population with fewer family ties, their future welfare could become a government responsibility.