HDB Flats Analysis

Public Housing in Singapore
Derren Tan, Faculty of the Built Environment, UNSW, 1994
http://www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/research/student/SgPubHous/

Overview
A brief introduction to public housing development in Singapore. Click on here for a quick overview on what's covered in this programe.

Introduction
A brief history on the need and rationale for high-rise, high-density development in Singapore.

Housing and Development Board, Singapore (HDB)
The formation of a statuary board known as the Housing and Development Board, Singapore (HDB). Currently, it is still managing most of Singapore's public housing.

Functions of HDB
Click her to find out what are the 4 main functions of the Board, and see how the organisational structure of public housing is handled.

Physical Planning and Design
A look at how the physical planning and design of housing estates affect both community development and the visual environment of the country.

About this research

References and Bibliography

Overview

Today in the affluent and sophisticated city of Singapore, more then 87% of its 3 million population live in public housing. 9 out of 10 of these housing units are owned by residents themselves. When the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was set up in 1960, their basic goal has been to solve housing shortage by providing basic shelter in a high-rise, high-density environment. This approach was adopted so that land could be optimised. At the time of its incision, their top priority was to resettle people from over-crowded slums and squatters to a decent and healthy housing environment. (see Introduction)

By 1979, this problem had gradually become less dominant and since then, HDB has been continually upgrading and building better quality flats. Their goal has evolved from providing basic shelter to providing affordable high quality housing. Today, they have made it their mission to build affordable high quality homes for the people and in addition, they are also determined to help them build up communities in the various housing estates.

Previously, the housing board had always rented their units to citizens. However in February 1964, this was about to change. An important scheme was introduced to help occupants own the flat in which they have have been staying. This scheme gives occupants the opportunity to own the flat which they have been renting. It gives them the priveledge to call the flat their very own. This scheme was known as the 'Home Ownership for the People' scheme. Subsequently, this scheme was given a tremendous boost by the introduction of the Central Provident Fund (CPF), a kind of social security fund, without which many people would not have been able to afford to own a HDB apartment.

Through the seventies and eighties, HDB had not only continued to increase the number flats, but also the number of educational, communal and recreational facilities to provide for the overall residential needs. In 1977, when the waiting list for HDB flats fell sharply, the Board shifted its concentration in building construction to paying more attention on qualitative improvement on the housing estate. They improved on the quality of design, workmanship and standards of the facilities, and also introduced the concept of Towns, Neighbourhoods and Precincts in its attempt to create better community living. In addition, facilities such as supermarkets, emporiums, sport complexes, indoor stadiums, swimming pools, parks and gardens, and children's playground were also introduced in provision to the concept of self-sufficient new towns. Of course the scope of HDB's work does not just cover the Physical Planning and Design of housing estates. It includes other Functions such as daily maintenance and upkeeping services, administrative and social services, and community development roles.

By the mid-eighties, HDB alone was managing over half a million residential units through the island.

Location of HDB Developments

LEGEND

Completed

Under construction

New Town Registration Boundary

To make management more efficient, Town Councils were formed to help HDB manage these estate. Since then, some of HDB's major functions were handed over to them especially in the area of estate management and Community Development. At the same time, HDB continued to function as a developer, a lessor as well as a landlord. They continued to do the task of handling all Administrative work such as allocation, sale and rental of flats.

Today, each town is self-contained and self-sufficient. It is managed by town councils who are closely under the supervision of HDB and HDB, being under the portfolio of the Ministry of National Development, abides to the overall long term Concept Plan of the country. Upgrading, redevelopment and giving old estates a distinct identity of their own are currently its major concern today. In order to keep up with the new estates and towns that are being established, this concern is even more necessary and real. The needs and demands today are more than just the mere provision of basic shelter but rather, of quality homes for a more affluent, sophisticated and fast-growing society.

This paper looks at the main Functions and Roles of HDB. Its philosophy in design and planning and, the measures taken in estate management. It does not profess to be complete in all areas of their work but will rather require further discussion and elaboration in areas like the political implications of town councils, standards in construction, various housing schemes, involvement of the private sectors, staff management and some detailed administrative roles of the Board.

Introduction

From 1819 to 1926, the housing situation in Singapore was never an official or urgent issue. The continual and rapid inflow of migration (mainly from China and India) was only beginning to add up to the undesired growth population in Singapore. Gradually, this seemingly unstoppable growth introduced a whole lot of other problems like slumming, poverty, health issues and crime. In some sense, these problems could be said, to have derive its roots from the lack of a basic neccessity- the provision of adequate shelter. At that time, even though this problem was clear, the British colonial administration by and large adopted a laissez-faire policy toward housing and did not consider it a part of their responsibility (Yeh, 1975).

In 1924, following a report on the dreadful housing conditions in Singapore, an Improvement Commission known as the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) was formed. SIT was under the management of the colonial administration and started functioning in 1927. Their responsibility in terms of housing was mainly and only to provide improvement to the towns in Singapore. This was the only real step taken to resolve housing problems at that time. Unfortunately, the greatest setback of their work then was the exclusion of large scale housing construction and development.

By 1932, the rapid growth in population could not be ignored anymore. There was an alarming need to provide more accommodation and new housing. Consequently, that year SIT was given powers to construct their own buildings. Even then, they were still unable stabilise the continual need to provide adequate shelter due to relentless inflow of migration.

After World War II, housing conditions in Singapore further deteriorated. In 1948, a report by the Housing Committee indicated that, out of a total population of 938,000 persons, 680,000 were housed within the central area. This means that two thirds of the population had to cramp themselves within the central area. The situation forced many new immigrants to move out to the fringe of the city area where they erected their own form of shelters made of wood, attap, corrugated iron and scrap materials (Yeh, 1975). These areas gradually became squatter colonies and were a breeding area for disease, crime and fire hazards. By then, although SIT had already diverted its main concentration on housing construction, the problem of insufficient shelter and accomodation was still dormant and persistent. Between 1947 and 1959, SIT together with some private sectors managed to build about 40,000 units to accommodate an estimate of 1.5 million people.

In 1959, when the Singapore government took office, one of their most urgent task was to provide decent homes for those who needed them. A year later, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established to take on this task. Their immediate assignment was to build as many flats as quickly as possible in order to reduce the acute number of housing shortage. The emphasis was quantity and speed without however compromising construction standards (Wong & Yeh, 1985). The flats build were predominantly 1-room to 3-room designs until the mid-70s. Apart from this emphasis, the HDB also had to take into consideration the issue of community development. This was an important aspect because, during the early days when people were living in slums and squatters, they had already build a sense of community of their own by their daily contacts and mutual assistance. Thus, in order not to disrupt the exisiting local community, it was important that while resettling them to high-rise, high- density building estates, detailed measures and precautions relating to community development had to be taken (Our Home, April 83).

Today, this need in building communities are continually being met by improved flat designs and communal facilities, social activities or functions, day trips, educational outings and the promotion of neighbourliness and crime awareness, etc. Apart from this, HDB also continues to provide estate management services such as Maintenance and Upkeeping of common properties, repairs, replacement and servicing of lifts and other mechanical and electrical installations. Physical planning and design issues were more carefully researched and improvements can often be seen in the variety and variations of Flat designs, Block designs and the overall Town Planning design. As the living standards, income levels and changes in the lifestyle of the general population increase, demands for better quality and larger flats also increases (Annual Report 92/93). This can be seen from current batches of new towns that are being built. Most of them are 4-room, 5-room and executive units with a variety of block designs.

High-Rise, High-Density Development

With its current population of 3 million and a total land area of only 639 square km (Facts on public Housing in Singapore, 1994), Singapore as compared to other Asian metropolises such as Kuala Lumpur, Jakatar, Bangkok, Manila, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, has the lowest population density of 4800 persons per square km. Yet it will be approximately another half a decade before Singapore will reach zero-population growth. The need to find sufficient residential land area for each flat left the local government with no other choice but to make a realistic and pragmatic decision on housing - high rise, high density residential development. The scarcity of land and the continual growth in population also lead to land reclamation programs.

Reclaimation Projects by HDB
Total area reclaimed as at 1 july 1993= 26.59 km or 4% of the total land area.

However whether it is reclaimed land or not, high-density, high-rise buildings will always be a main feature of all public housing estates in Singapore (Tai, 1988). They include residential blocks predominantly 10 to 13 storey slab blocks , several 4 storey blocks and several 20 to 25 storeys point blocks. Accompanying them are facilities that are relevent to meeting the needs of local residents, such as carparks, hawker stalls, wet markets, provision shops, community centres, etc.

When discussing any form of residential development, it is essential that issues such as Community Development, Site Planning, standard of living conditions, standard of Maintenance in the physical structure, usable spaces, scale and adequate communual facilities must be considered. However when high rise, high density development is involved, these issues can sometimes become more difficult and complicated to solve. One example is the common believe that the higher the building block and the higher the density, the more crowded will be the residential area. However, with careful planning in the spatial allocation of indoor and outdoor areas, height of buildings, ergonomics and even family size considerations, the degree of congestion, this problem can be reduced. Another example is the use of lifts and corridors. As lifts and corridors are commonly use to access from the indoor area to the outdoor ground floor, there is a high possibility that it may instigate a sense of isolation for a family within the community. However, this can be turn around for their own benefit if the area in the lift lobby and the corridor spaces are carefully considered in Environmental Design and Community Development issues.

Housing and Development Board (HDB)

When the Singapore Government took over from the British government, it also replaced the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) with the formation of a statutory board to handle housing problems. This board is known as the Housing and Development Board (HDB). HDB was established on February 1960 and since then has been the sole public housing authority in the republic of Singapore (Facts on Public Housing in Singapore, 1994). The Housing and Development Board is under the portfolio of the Ministry of National Development, and it supports the government’s objectives by planning and developing quality housing and carrying out housing policies that will provide a conducive environment for residents to live in. In effect, the main objective of HDB is to make Home Ownership possible for those who cannot afford private housing. Initially, this refers only to the low-income group of the population but however in the early seventies, when property prices escalated and when the middle-income group found themselves oozed out of competition in the property market, HDB had not much choice but to include them into the scheme (Wong & Yeh, 1985). Currently, (as of Jan 94) the median gross monthly income of employed persons is $1002.

In Singapore, successful public housing is more than just providing well designed flats and properly Planned Estates with new towns accompanying a wide range of community facilities. Equally important is the way these estates and towns are managed and how residents would contribute and cooperate to give support to the management. With over 650,000 flats (1992 figures) under its management, HDB is probably the largest estate manager in the world. In metropolitan areas with large and densely concentrated population, urban ills such as mismanagement can be highly visible by the way it has affected their residents. One example can be best illustrated by the case of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing estate in St. Louis, USA 1955 (Our Home, Dec 1976).

Pruitt-Igoe Public Housing Estate
Pruitt-Igoe was completed in 1955 with 33 buildings of 11 stories each. It won an architectural award in the beginning but later deteriorated due to design problems, inefficient management and indifference of the residents. Even the poorest family on welfare wanted to abandon their unit. In 1973, the housing authority demolished all of the near empty buildings. Pruitt-Igoe’s lifespan was 18 years.

It is ironic that mismanagement in rural countries such as China could last longer than that of an urbanised and affluent society such as the United States. The Chinese farmers in China could withstand hundreds of years of misrule and yet the US reflects the result of bad planning and management in such a short period. Pruitt-Igoe is just one example of public housing catastrophy, imagine the thousands of people that will be affected if there had been a dozen more Pruitt-Igoes.

Functions of HDB

In respect to estate and community administration and management, there are 4 functions that can be clearly seen as part of their scope of work (Yeh, 1985). Note that as points 1 and 2 are administrative functions, they will not be covered in detail:

1. ADMINISTARTION OF POLICY MATTERS.
This function assumes a social management role where rules and regulations, rates and charges are in accordance to government and housing policies so as to safeguard the interest and privileges of the majority of residents. In this form of administration, HBD regularly reviews and updates policy issues and rules, and also set standard rates and charges in consultation with the government. The rules may be set out in 4 categories:

1. Eligibility rules pertaining to purchase and rental of flats.
2. Rules relating to the allocation of flats.
3. Rules against the misuse and abuse of public premises (eg illegal parking),
and unruly and uncivic behaviour (eg. littering).
4. Setting out fines and charges against unfulfilled obligations and payments,
and all of the above.

2. ADMINISTRATION RELATING TO FLAT OWNERSHIP.
This includes administrative services to applicants and residents in areas such as registration and allocation of flats, subletting and resale, legal services, welfare services and loan provisions. It has always been ideal for every family to eventually own a home of their own. This idea has become a reality to many Singaporeans basically because of the ‘Home Ownership Scheme’ which was introduced by the government in February 1964. Essentially, this scheme was aimed at providing public housing for those who cannot afford private housing.

Apart from the Home Ownership Scheme, there were also Other housing schemes that made available by the Board. All these schemes require certain services that will help in the smooth transaction of applications. Some of the administrative support provided by HDB includes helping applicants get registered and allocated, providing legal services in morgaging and issuing of leases, post-allocation services for people in schemes that require transfer, subletting and reselling of flats.

3. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT.
The function of Property Maintenence and Improvement include major repairs and replacements of mechanical and electrical installations such as lifts and water pumps. In August 1988, when Town Councils were formed, the responsibility in the area of maintenance and improvement were handed over to them. HDB continued to take on the role of a developer, a landlord and lessor. As such, they continue to function in areas of regisration and allocation of flats, tenancy and lease administration, and the collection of rent, loan and sale installmants. In 1988, while HDB was managing 620,467 residential units or flats, it had 43 area offices distributed around the city-state to help HDB manage these estates. The area offices were like a predecessor to town councils and were under the management of the Housing and Development Board. By 1991, these area offices were replaced by around 27 Town Councils (Ooi, 1990). In the area of property maintenance and improvement, town councils conducts the various operation (Wong & Yeh, 1985). Note: the icons represent the table of maintenance activities conducted:

Regular Upkeeping Service
These are the daily services provide by the town councils and may include refuse removal, sweeping, washing of common areas, landscaping works, 24 hour emergency lift service, etc. Click on icon to see more.

Cyclical Preventive Maintenance
Some of the preventive measures taken in maintaining the buildings, and its mechanical and electrical installations involve fortnightly lift services, re-roofing every 10 years, giving a new coat of paint to the building every 3 to 5 years, waterpump servicing every 45 days, etc. Click on icon to see more.

Major Repairs & Improvement
Regular repairs and improvements of existing buildings is an on-going process for HDB. This mainly refers to the upgrading of old buildings in areas such as carparking extension, improving booster-pumps, water tanks and piping, etc. On a larger scale, this may include a total refurbishment of the new town in order to keep up with the standards of newer developments. Click on icon to see more.

4. SUPPORT SERVICES RELATING TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
HDB provides a catalytic support to community development by organising community activities, promotion materials, and other means that will enable grassroot organisations to communicate with its residents. The purpose of setting up Town Councils was to allow residents to participate in the day to day activity of estate management. In order to enable this task and to serve the residents better, leaders in the councils must be able to reach out to their level of communication and needs. As such, several support services and organisations have been formed in order to develop better community living. Apart from the welfare services that are provided and the circulation of a monthly informative literature, HouseWord, HDB has found community development to be the most successful through the work of grassroot organisations (Wong & Yeh, 1985).

These grassroot organisations are run by volunteers and are supported by town councils. All of them have different roles and yet they all have a single purpose, that is to promote participation in community activities. Over the years,. these organisations have proved to be an invaluable channel of communication between the residents and the board. Apart from these grassroot organisations, HDB also acts in laison with other relevant bodies, such as the Boys Club, the Police Force, Sports Club and the Department of Social Welfare in order to provide for specific needs of the residents. At present, there are 3 active grassroot organisations. They are: the Citizens’ Counsultative Committee (CCC), the Management Committees of Community Centres (CCMCs) and the Residents’ Committee (RCs).

Citizens’ Counsultative Committe (CCC) were setup in 1965. They look after the general welfare of the people in the whole constituency including both HDB and non-HDB residents. They coordinate the efforts of the CCMCs, RCs and other minor organisations and also play a leading role in promoting national campaigns.

Management Committees of Community Centres (CCMCs) were setup in 1964. They organise a wide range of activities that are open to all. Some of these activities include computer classes, cookery classes, sport education/competitions and kindergarden classes. Within the CCMCs, there are also other sub-committees that serve different purpose. For example, there are the women sub-committe and the youth sub- committe that cater for their respective groups.

A Community Centre building at Tampines East. Local residents are encouraged to use the various facilities provided (eg. computer rooms) and to participate in their activities.

Residents’ Committee (RCs) were setup in 1978. The RCs look after a much smaller area than the CCCs. Because of this, Town Councils tend to work more closely with them than any other organisation. The reason is basically because through the Risedents’ Committee, HDB is able to abstract more accurate information and feedback about residents’ needs. As such, they have been given more administrative, organisational and logistical support through a network of RC group secretariats provided by the Community Relations Department, Ministry of Community Development. In addition, they are als provided with the neccessary infrastructure facilities like RC centres and RC notice boards.

A Residents' Committee Centre located at the void deck of a block.

Their fundamental objective is to actively promote neighbourliness, harmony and community cohesiveness among residents of diverse backgrounds and interest through a variety of social, cultural, recreational activities (Our Home, April 83). These activites can be broadly classified into 2 categories. the first category includes government initiated schemes such as civil defence exercices, neighbourhood watch scheme or other national campaigns. The second category of activities and projects include the ones that are organised by the RCs and residents themselves. They include activities that meet the social, educational and recreational needs of the residents. Examples of this are children’s and senior citizens’ parties, junk removal, mass cleaning, tuition projects, educational outings, newspaper collection for fund raising, community projects like civil defense exercises and the neighbourhood watch scheme, etc.

One of the activities organised by the RC is to encourage residents to help maintain the fruit trees that are planted around their blocks.

A childrens' day karaok competition organised in one or the hard courts.

A leisure cruise to a neighbouring island like this, is usually organised by the local community centre to promote neighbourhood relationships within the community.

Like Town Councils, RCs are voluntary organisation run by and for residents living in the same zone. Each zone has a number of apartment blocks comprising off 500 to 2500 flats. The size of a RC varies from 10 to 30 which includes a Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer and other office bearers. These volunteers all belong to various socio-economic groups living in public housing estates themselves. They may be teachers, clerks, managers, technicians, salesman, or anyone with a secondary school level education and above. They are usually 30 to 40 years in age and are often from various racial group so that each of them may represent their own ethnic.

On a broader scale, the work of Town Councils and grassroot organisations is not only to encourage the building of communities in high-rise, high- density environment but also has the intention of a national task in nation- building, where the people and the government move towards a better society as a cohesive nation.

At this point, it is important to remind ourselves that the overall Physical Planning and Design of HDB flat units and estates have also contributed much to creating a pleasant and stable community to live in. This include the design of such physical elements and spaces like void decks, corridors, lift-lobbies, the overall planning of towns, neighbourhoods, precincts, and other establishments like community centres, kindergardens and parks, also help pitch into the building of intimate communities.

Home Ownership

Owning a home that belongs to you as compared to rented or leased ones have the following advantages:

1. People who have homes of their own would tend to be more diligent in defending it. In a large scale public housing society, if residents are able to own such an asset, they would probably defend it and would thus, also benefit the country with their sense of belonging. Furthermore, possessing an asset such as property would add on to the financial security of the home owner.

2. At a macro level, by having a large percentage of the population possessing their own homes, the chances for a better overall political, economic and stable country is higher. This is especially so in a country like Singapore, where there are very few opposition parties in parliament.

Taking into consideration these factors, the HDB introduced the 'Home Ownership for the people Scheme'. Before this scheme, all of HDB's flats were rented. The scheme was to become the overarching framework within which Other detailed housing schemes, policies and procedures were formulated. The guidelines of this scheme is fourfold. These guidelines or policies have represented HDB's approach to public housing and can be said to be the conerstone of its success.

Firstly, the provision of shelter was to come in the form of self-contained dwelling units with its own kitchen and toilets. There will be continual upgrading of the flats and available facilities so that a good visual, social and community environment will be achieved. Secondly, financing can come through the use of applicants’ which Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, or by providing which Housing Loans that charges at 'lower than normal' interest rates. Thirdly, it is a rule that no owner of a HDB flat can be disposed of his ownership even if he is declared bankrupt. At least, by then he and his household will not be deprived from shelter. Last but not least, this scheme was aimed at providing housing to those who belong to the low and middle income group population. Selling prices the flats are pegged according to the affordability of the applicant and the limit of government subsidy.

ELIGIBILITY RULES
There are 4 major factors that determins the eligibility of ownership or sale:

1. Citizenship. Applicants must be a Singapore Citizen or a Singapore Permanant Resident.

2. Family Formation. The applicant and his co-applicant must form a family nucleu. A family nucleu may be one of the following:
a. Applicant and his spouse: and his children (if any).
b. Applicant (single) and his parents; and siblings (if any).
c. Applicant (widowed, seperated or divorced) and children
legally under his custody.
d. Applicant (single) and his fiancee.
e. Applicant (single) and his siblings, if parents are deceased.
f. Applicant and co-applicant who are both Singapore Citizens and
single (ie unmarried or divorced) and who are at least 35 years old.

3. Income Ceiling. As of January 1994, the median gross monthly income of employed persons is S$1,002. The stated total gross income ceiling of all persons listed in the application must not exceed $7000 per month. The establishment of income ceiling is not a fixed standard. It has to be reviewed constantly due to changing income levels and property prices in the private sectors.

4.Non-ownership of any private property.The applicant must not own any form of private property. However, he may buy a resale HDB flat in the open market.

FINANCING

1. HOUSING LOANS

HDB provides housing loans to all purchasers of new and old HDB flats. The amount of loans depend on the type of housing loan scheme and they may be repaid using their CPF savings or by cash over monthly installments of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years. There are 2 types of loan. Firstly, applicants can obtain an 80% loan of the selling price (including most administrative charges) if they are under the following housing loan schemes or conditions:
a. Public Loan Scheme.
b. Third Child Priority Loan Scheme.
c. Registered Tenants of HDB flatswho are buying
4-room, 5-room and executive flats.

Secondly, applicants can obtain an 90% loan of the selling price (including most administrative charges) if they are under the following housing loan schemes or conditions:
a. Multi-Tier Family.
b. Confirmed government Officers.
c. Monthly/ Daily-rated staff.
d. Resettlement Scheme.
e. Joint Selection.
f. Tenants who are affected by Relocation and are
buying 4-room, 5-room and executive flats.

2. CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND(CPF)

The Central Provident Fund (CPF) was initially created as a pension plan in 1955 by the colonial government to provide social security for the working population. In 1968, this plan was undertaken by the present government as a non-profitable legal Act, the CPF (Amendment) Act. This scheme requires a certain percentage of both the employers’ and employees’ monthly salary to be contributed to the fund (Tan & Phang, 1991). From January 94 to July 94, the monthly contribution rate was 18.5% and 21.5% respectively. This contribution can only be withdrawn on retirement at age 55, or when the contributor is permanently incapacitated, or for an approved purpose such as housing finance, education, medical costs, and other approved financial reasons.

Under the Home Owner Scheme, members may use this fund to pay for the initial 20% downpayment for the purchase of a flat and also for the remaining of the 80% of the purchase price by installmants through the housing loan scheme. The government also helps to subsidise those who cannot afford the payment by providing mortgage loans at 0.1% above the floating CPF interest rate. This loan can be repayable over a period of 25 years with a certain percentage of interest. From January 94 to July 94, the CPF interest rate was 2.5%. The introduction of the CPF has given the Home Ownership Scheme a tremendous boost for those who found the downpayment too hefty. In effect, the CPF has become a kind of compulsory saving scheme for the working population in Singapore. Buyers can now use that saving or contribution to buy a flat through monthly installments or if they have sufficient CPF savings or cash, to buy it outright. Like any other form of insurance, the amount of payable premium under this scheme is dependant on sex, age, amount of outstanding loan, repayment period, and interest on the loan. thus, many Singaporeans have been given the opportunity to afford their own homes as a result of the Central Provident Fund.

OTHER HOUSING SCHEMES (HDB Annual Report 93/94)

1. Resident Priority Scheme
2. Conversion Scheme
3. Design and Build Scheme
4. Joint Singles Scheme
5. Transitional Rental Housing Scheme
6. Upgrading Programe
7. Sale of Site Programe
8. Sale of Tenanted Shops Programe
9. Sale of Shop Scheme

Town Councils

Some problems in high rise, high density buildings may include social problems like resident cooperation, criminal activities and gangs, and the exaggerated visual issue such as the height of buildings, the management of tall and closely packed buildings, its neatness, orderliness, continuity and harmony, and other health problems. Over the years, some of these problems have been reduced, partly because the new generation of Singaporeans have been used to urban living and partly, it is also because of the efforts put in by the town councils. According to the Ministry of National Development, the government had never intended the HDB to manage the homes of 87% of the population who live in HDB flats.

In 1988, Town Councils were set up to aid HDB manage this enormous task. Town Councils is one step in which the Ministry of National Development has taken to allow residents to play an active role in the development of their estates. They were designed to give residents a chance to decide for themselves the kind of environment they want to live in and to participate in upkeeping it. Through their Town Councils, residents have the power to make improvements to their estate by negotiating with HDB to maintain the common areas in an industrial property or to manage carparks, markets, and hawker centres within the town. In addition, they also play a supportive role in promoting a sense of belonging in the constituency. To this end, Town Councils are based on the idea of giving the community a sense of self-determinism and self-reliance (Ooi, 1990).

The spatial definition of a town may be said to make up of a constiuency or a cluster of constituency. The number of public housing units managed by town councils varies with the number of constituencies. Therefore, each town council can be in charge of at least one constituency or more. Each Town Council is chaired by a Minister in Parliament who has the power to nominate 6 to a maximum of 30 councillors, of which two thirds must be residents from public housing estates. These councillors may represent various professions such as architecture, engineering, medicine, law, business, civil service, etc.

The council would also have to support the various grassroot organisations like the Management Committe of Community Centres (CCMC), the Citizen's Consultative Committee (CCC), and the Residents' Committee (RC) (Wong & Yeh, 1985). Basically, the role of Town Councils as mentioned earlier, is to manage the public housing estate in each constituency. They do this by hiring employees or appointing agents to administer the councils' affairs and carry out its duties. For example, they may employ people to administer contracts and supervise work contracted out to agents, or to draw up work schedules and time tables. As such, the work of town councillors have similar roles as those in a board of directors in a company who oversees the proper and daily ongoing activities of the company.

To say that the scope of work that town councils do is just to aid in estate management is perhaps too general and maybe ignorant of us. Basically, Town Councils are lead by a Member of Parliament (MP). Politically speaking, this will give us an idea of how they fit into the government system. The introduction of town councils may be interpreted as a cunning and masterly political move by the ruling party to suppress the opposition party, or it may be seen as a form of local government in an attempt to attain more authority and control over the country. Towards this end, town councils may not necessarily be fully under the management of HDB. Ironically, it could be so considering that HDB is still a statutory board under the legislation of the Ministry of National Development.

Effectively, town councils are taking up what HDB has left in the management of public housing. The difference is that town councils allow its residents to participant in the management of their estates, which may include the day to day decision making process and running of activities. Other than that, they are like scaled down replicas of the estate management department in the housing board. However, because town council are a fairly new concept and that their functions have a narrower scope, we can assume that they therefore also have limited decision and policy making powers. To this end, what town councils may eventually evolve to in the political domain is still uncertain (Ooi, 1990).

Physical Planning and Design

The illustrations and discussion here contains mostly recent developments in flat and block designs of 4-room, 5-room and executive flats. Over a period of 34 years, HDB has developed many variations of flat and block designs in its course to meet the demands for better flats. Conclusively, in their continual efforts to provide better flats, the site planning and town planning considerations have also been affected. As such various site planning and town planning layouts have also been introduced. In physical planning and design, all these factors are inter-related. Each compliments another from the planning of the overall siteplan to the individual flat, right through the social and physical environmental considerations. As we shall see, one of the most significant contributions in the provision of a total living environment in Singapore is the concept of new town planning.

This section looks at some of the steps in which HDB has taken to achieve its goal in providing the public with better quality flats and how it has affected site and town planning designs.

There are 4 principle areas of work in HDB planning and design for better quality flats (Wong & Yeh, 1985). They are:

1. Flat Design

2. Building Block Design

3. Site Planning

4. New Town Planning

Flat Design

Generally, HDB flats come in 1-room, 2-room, 3-room, 4-room, 5-room and executive-room categories. By the mid seventies, 1 and 2-room flats had faded away due to the stability of housing accomodation in Singapore. Instead, there was a greater demand and need for better and larger flats. The 3-room flat with their 2 bedroom, a living area, a kitchen/dining area, and a bath/toilet were surpassed by the 4-room flat (with an additional bedroom) due to popular demand. Since then, 4-room models have been widely accepted as the basic public housing unit for Singaporeans. Over the years, there have been variations in their designs which were evolved from regular improvements, research and experiments. These variations helped to offer a wider choice for the applicant. There are several types of variations and they are the model 'A', Standard, Improved, and New Generation types. In this section, however, our scope of discussion will mainly cover 4-room, 5-room, executive flats, and with the variation model 'A' and Improved type exemplar. The reason is so that we will be able to identify with the current trends of HDB development today.

Floor Plan of Flat and Block Design

In principle, HDB uses to 2 main guidelines in the design of flat units. Firstly, they always try to keep the cost of flats as affordable as possible for residents of the lower-income and middle-income group, and secondly at the same time, they try to maintain a level of quality standard in terms of optimising room size, spatial planning and construction. As such, flats are constructed from a fully precast system to a semi-precast system, with a basic shell made up of cement rendered floors and walls without plastering. This is so that it will help keep construction costs low and reduce wastage and monotony in standardized finishes. Furthermore, it also allow residents to renovate their flats according to their own taste and budget. In all, a flat unit comes with an untiled floor and unplastered wall except for the kitchen and bath areas which are a safety waterproofing requirement in wet areas. Included with the unit are essential amenities such as kitchen sinks, water closets and wash basins. Windows and doors are provided but are standardised in material and colour because they reflect the external feature of the building. This is to maintain an accepted level of visual uniformity in a high-density environment.

A typical kitchen in a HDB flat where built-in cabinets and countertops are a common feature. Included are also the kitchen sink, ceremic wall tiles and floor, and steel hangers on the ceiling for bamboo clothe hangers.

Another important feature is the determination of room sizes. In order for each room to perform well, a reasonable ergonomic comfort, efficient space utilization and good circulation requirement has to be achieved. As such, a set of guidelines for the minimum dimension of room sizes have been established so that such good functional designs can be attained.

Guidelines for Internal Room Area of Flat Design.

Building Block Design

The design of a building block is very much affected by the design of the flat. As such, different flat designs and their variation, will give a variety of block designs. This means that there will be building blocks with different sizes, lengths, heights, and shapes (see floor plans at Flat Design section). In principle, block designs are often arranged and provided with common corridors, lifts and staircases. These are its basic identifiers. In addition, they should not only reflect the physical form of the housing estate, but should also express the social environment and identity of its residents.

There are mainly 2 common physical forms of block designs used by the HDB. They are the slab block and the point block. Currently, most buildings are straight and simple slab blocks of 10 to 13 storey high, and are served by a single corridor and lift/s. Point blocks are straight, 20 to 25 storey blocks and contain only 5-room flats. They have a central core with lifts and staircase that serve 4 units in each floor and are often arranged in clusters of twos and threes to be identified as landmarks on the site. Today, however, most 5-room and executive flats are constructed in 10 to 13 storey slab blocks of different shapes and sizes with segmented corridors that serve only a few family units, thus encouraging acquaintanceship and neighbourliness amongst them.

More recently, HDB has been concerned with 2 issues. Firstly, to develop a sense of belonging, identity and pride among residents of each individual estate and secondly, to create a more distinct visual identity in the overall architecture of Singapore.

An Example of a Slab Block and a Point Block

As building blocks have attributes of massive structures, they are capable of influencing and exerting strong visual impact on the environment. Although most slab blocks are simple, it does not necessarily mean that they are visually boring and monotomous. By making use of their attribute, one can reverse the disadvantage by arranging the blocks in bents, curves or loops, or by adding innovative features such as roof treatments, geometric shapes and different types of column. HDB designers and planners have also experimented with a wide variety of aesthetic treatments- including facade detailing and different types of texture and colour.

Innovative Features in Block Designs

Precast Cantilever Overheads act not only as sunshades but also adding character to the building.

Step Projections on the roof helps to give a dinstinct identity to the town and may also act as an aid for orientation.

The Angled Corners of these apartment blocks create a dramatic skyline.

Roof detailing. Another example of a roof feature.

A Curved Facade used by one of the buildings to correspond to the terrain.

By and large, the design (ie size, height and shape) of each block may be determined by various factors. Some of these include site planning consideration, new town planning consideration, the number of units in each block and the lift-ratio. However, in today's context, as HDB is more concerned with developing a sense of community and improving the overall physical appearence of the country, these factors are refined towards creating aesthetic variety and character for individual estates. In doing so, buildings will be modern and may respond to the cultural and historical.

In relation to community development, block designs have two distinct features that contribute enormously. These are, as mentioned before, the Corridor and Void Deck space. Another contribution to community development in block designs is site planning, where blocks are planned and arranged according to their height or shape in such a way that is orderly and reflects continuity and harmony.

In Singapore, block designs are organised in close connection to Site Plans and to New Town plans. We cannot access the credibility of a block design in isolation as it has to be seen in the context with the site plan and new town plan, both in the area of community development and aesthetic quality.

Void decks, Lift Lobbies & Corridors
There are 3 common features in a residential block that HDB makes use of to make the individual resident feel belonging and secure (Wong & Yeh, 1985). They are the corridors along each floor, the lift lobbies and void decks at the ground level or the first storey.

Corridors are not just a means of access for the residents to move in and out from their homes to the lifts and vice-versa, but are able to provide a communual area for families living along the same corridor or floor. In older block designs, corridors use to serve several families on a floor, but today, newer blocks use the idea of segmented corridors which serve half that number of families. As such, corridors has the attribute of a social space. For example, it can be an area for children to play or for housewives to meet and have an informal exchange of information on the latest news around their block, or more casually, an exchange of gestures or eye-contact. In addition, corridors also help to give sufficient natural lighting, ventilation and noise reduction.

Corridors

Corridors help to provide natural lighting as well as to reduce niose from the street. The number of families being serve by a semented corridor (right) is reduced by half compared to the one on the left.

Another example is that lifts are only positioned to stop only at alternate floors. This means that each section may have their own distinct group where families can get to know and help each other. The design in this case has allowed or rather made people come togather to communicate and even relate and identify each other at an associative level. The lift lobby at the ground level acts like a kind of entrance to the building. As such, the 'entrance' of the lift lobby must encourage residents to feel secure and at home. It is here where while waiting for the lift, residents can gradually recognise its neighbours and in time get aquinted with each other.

Within and aroud the blocks, there are other feature that further encourage residents to meet and mix togather. The most common and obvious one would be the void-deck area. Void decks are large open spaces originally planned to serve a large variety of uses such as kindergardens, childcare centres, study corners, clubs for senior citizens, etc. It can also be rented out for temporary uses such as social functions, celebrations and funeral rites. The provision of concrete lounges in the void deck is also another common feature that is used to encourage residents to gather and commune so as to develop a sense of identity and belonging. At the void-deck it is common sight to see residents talking, sitting around the table, meeting people and on a large scale, family and community celebration or vice-versa.

Void Decks

(Left to right) Concrete lounges provide an area for residents to meet and develop friendships. An Uncomplete Study Corner at a void deck is another example of using the void deck space to provide for the needs of local residents. An attempt to paint Wall Murals in the void deck was unfortunately a failure due to costly maintanence.

Site Planning

Site Planning in high-rise, high-density conditions involves the arrangement of commercial, residentail and industrial buildings with varying heights, shapes and lengths in such a way that land is being optimised in various configuration and topographical characteristic. This can be seen more sclearly when we look at the issue of Town Planning. But for now, in the determination of the site plan, four factors can be observed (Wong & Yeh, 1985).

Firstly, the determination of residential density. Residential density is calculated by the number of dwelling units on a site over the net site area and is measured in terms of dwelling units per hectre (du/h):

Net Residential Density = number of units on site/ net site area including carparks, commercial areas.

The formulation of the residential density in a site is important because it is needed for long term planning and projection in the proper usage of land against the changing socio-economic trends. In other words, this process helps the board to determine the level of acceptable residential density for a good and healthy environment according to the demand at that time. In 1980, HDB has adopted a standard measure of 200 du/h for its net residential density. There are several factors that affect the determination of residential density. These include the limitation in the use of land due to scarcity, the rising demand for larger and better flats i.e. the bigger the size, the larger the density, the car parking requirements, land use distribution in a new town, the introduction of low rise buildings and the minimum spacing between building blocks. Some of these factors will be discussed seperately as they are also involved in the determination of the site plan.

Secondly, the spacing of building blocks. The spacing between buildings are largely determined by the height of building blocks. The height of these blocks, in turn, are influenced by many factors including, carparking requirements, open spaces, lift-ratio, cost, construction technology and proportionate scale. In the past, architects and planners use the average height of two buildings to determine the spacing between them, but as block designs became more varied (such as bent, curved, non-parallel blocks and blocks that form an enclosure), this simple rule could no longer apply. In the early 70s, the first set of guidelines was adopted for two parallel and rectangular buildings. The minimum spacing between buildings was calculated from the following formula:

d = Hl + 0.5 Hd + 0.1 Hu

where d = Minimum building spacing
Hl = Verticle overlap of two buildings
Hd = Difference of ground levels of the two buildings
Hu = Difference of roof levels of the two buildings

For other forms of block arrangements, minor reduction factors were applied to the calculation of building spaces. Gradually as the demand for more larger flats increased, further changes had to be made. The demand for larger flat units also meant that there are only two options in block designs. One, is to either further reduce the building spacing or two, to increase the height of buildings. The former was chosen mainly because reducing the spacing of buildings even though have its disadvantage, can be compensated by the use of human scale indicators such as street furniture, playgrounds or trees to enhance the liveability of our public housing estates. Furthermore, by doing the latter would also mean that the buildings would become more massive and over exergerating, thus appearing too dense and congested. The guideline adopted was a 15% reduction from the calculated minimum building spacing. With this guideline, an effective and systematic layout of the site plan may be achieved and thus benefitting the overall physical image of public housing in Singapore.

With proper guidelines in building spaces, rhythmic composition can be created. Blocks of different heights and shapes can be laid out to form well-defined spaces and distinctive skyline indentities may be achieved.

Thirdly, the number of carpark space and form of carparking also affects site planning. The demand for carparks is directly proportional to the number of car ownership. Because car ownership is largely dependant on the level of affluence in society as well as the government’s measure in curbing the car population growth, it is difficult to project a standard carpark-dwelling unit ratio. Carparks in HDB housing estates come in 2 forms. The most common one is surface carparking and least, multi-storey carparking.

An open space car park (left) and a multi-storey garage.

Most estates now have surface carparking but however if car ownership in Singapore continues to grow, multi-storey carparks will have to be introduced. The reason is simply because multi-storey garages are able to save space and sometimes allow more carparking lots. From my knowledge, most new town developments today are already adopting this form of carparking. This is probably due to the fact that most new developments are at the top of the range 5-room and executive units, which therefore implies that they are mostly the middle-income group earners and are likely to own cars.

Finally, the fourth factor that helps to determine the site plan is environmental design. In the beginning, the primary environmental issue was solar orientation. Most slab blocks at that time were orientated with their short sides facing east-west. Consequently, as variation in block designs increase, the board also began to be more flexible with environmental design issues. Some steps taken include utilising building-street relationship, and the effective use of open space, plantations and other physical elements that gives a sense of urban space and continuity. For example, the elevations of buildings on both sides of the street are designed to correspond to each other; blocks are aligned with the curvature of the road and, in creating proportionate vertical scale, intimate spaces like linkways and more low-rise building are build, and trees are also strategically planted among and around open spaces where higher blocks reside, or along the side of padestrain pathways and roads to give shade and proportion in scaling (see also section on Town planning).

Use of Environmental Design in the Layout Plan

The layout plan of these 2 neighbourhoods illustrates environment design issues like solar Orientation, the building-street relation, and the use of tree plantations on open spaces.

New Town Planning

At a basic level, the concept of a new town planning is based on the idea of providing a town that is independant from the city and other major centres. In a high-rise, high-density residential area, this is done by providing facilities that will support its community (Wong & Yeh, 1985).

Facilities in a Typical New Town

A Public Swimming Complex

A Shopping Mall

A Cinema Complex

An Indoor Sports Hall

A Mosque

Essentially, New Towns offer a fair degree of of self-sufficiency in terms of family/household, communual, recreation and educational needs, as well as providing work opportunities. However, in a broader sense, the development of new towns has always affect the overall visual identity of the whole country. In other words, if all new towns have complete similar features (especially in the area of height, facade detailing, roof treatments), then the overall physical appearence of the country will probably appear dull and uninteresting. Surely, this would also reflect the social and cultural characteristic, identity and environment of the community. Subsequently, there must be a balance between repetition and variety such that a level of visual uniformity and a sense of identity amongst its occupants can be achieved. As such, new town planning plays an important role in providing a catalyst in both the external appearence and internal character of the living community.

The physical structure of each town consists of a town centre (TC), several neighbourhood centres (NC) and several precincts depending on the size of the constituency. The concept of planning towns centres, neighbourhoods and precincts were mainly to prevent its housing estates to deteriorate in poverty, crime, vandalism and other human misery. Instead, it was to create and build up the community spirit among the residents. Each town consists of various neighbourhoods and each neighbourhood was planned to be an independant unit within the town: It would have its own shops, markets, parks, open spaces to name a few examples and would not be split by major roads (Our Home, Dec 1976).

A town centre is where the hub of all activities are. The distinct features of a town might include a central instiuition like a library and a major transport centre like a bus interchange or a mass rapid transit station (MRT). It is also where large retail shops, personal services, shopping centres, beauty palours, music shops, large hawker centres, cinemas and other entertainment centres can be found. Thus, a town centre is like a ‘mini-city’ where the hassle and bussle of busy people is common sight.

Next on the hierarchy is the neighbourhood centre (NC). The purpose of the NC is to further narrow down the scope of housing estate provision in terms of community and individual needs. The spatial definition of one neihbourhood is usually confined to 4000 to 6000 units. But because of the high residential density in a town, one neighbourhood centre may be located quite closely to another (sometimes as close as less than 800m). Unlike town centres, most small commercial shops are located here. Each neighbourhood was planned to be an autonomous unit within the town: it would have its own provision shops, traditional chinese medical halls, private medical clinics, stationary shops, cake shops, hairdressers, mini-supermarkets, wet markets, hawker centres, community centres and would often not be split by major roads (Our Home, Aug 1981).

Facilities in a Typical Neighbourhood Centre

A Neighbourhood Centre in Tampines

A Pastry Shop

A Florist

A Fruit Shop

A Food Court

A Market

The idea of neighbourhoods were central to HDB's planning of housing estates as it was to create a distinct community spirit within this them (the neighbourhood). However as the demands on flats and natural population increased, HBD realised that the neighbourhood was becoming too big a unit (an average of about 30,000 people) to foster a distinct community spirit among its people. In order to bring down this large unit to a managable size, they introduced sub-divisions within the neighbourhood. These sub-divisions were known as Precincts (Our Home, aug 81). A precinct is a unit which consists of 7 to 8 blocks of housing, 400 to 800 units approximately 8,000 people in each. In this way, precincts can help to ease the job of estate management and community development. Each precinct would have its own playground, game courts, open spaces, small rental shops, eating house, and other ammenities so that residents in that area will be even more aware and self-sufficient. However their dinstinct features are the game courts, playgrounds and the precinct gardens.

Facilities in a Typical Precinct

A Provisional Shop

A Playground

Another Playground

An Outdoor Park

A Footpath

The idea of precincts are derived from past planning principles and environmental design issues. It emphasises on using their distinct features amongst clusters of building blocks to accomodate proportionate scaling and well distributed space. This allows building to appear linked and connected, and thus creating continuity and rythmn between the neighbourhoods. As such precincts have become an important criteria in the overall new town planning because they can help in the rapid development of the community spirit (Wong & Yeh, 1985).

In the development of new towns, improvements are always done to meet the needs and demands of the residents. At one stage, towns that were built looked very similar in both planning and design. This made the overall visual environment very monotomous. However, as there was a need to satisfy cost, function and maintanence criteria, new towns will need have a certain level of repetition. One of the ways to make use of the repetitions to their advantage, is to create distinct physical identities in each town. There are several steps to do this. For example, putting more emphasis on the pedestrain level by providing well designed linkways, pathways/walkways and bus shelters, or inserting taller blocks such as, point blocks over an even skyline of 11-14 storey slab blocks. The use of road networks determined by geographical conditions, the use of terrain in planning the layout of the blocks, and the exclusive use of roofscapes in each town to avoid confusion also help to establish a unique visual identity in each town. Furthermore, prominent physical identities such as roofscapes and point blocks could be used as an aid for orientation for someone who is new to the town or who is entering into another new town.

Other Features used to create Distinct Identities

Use of Different Heights in buildings

Relationship between the Geographic Terrain and the Building Facade

Use of Roof Features

Use of Linkways

Another example of a Linkway

A Wall Motif

Today, one of the objective in a new town development is to provide unique character and individuality within each town. The whole idea in the end is to provide variance and character for the whole republic through new town developments. We can also see this, by the use of the physical elements and the way new towns are planned and arranged. It has the aim to foster community relationships and identity. Currently, most new towns are organised from a variation of the checkerboard pattern, which was widely used in the eighties. Town Centres, neighbourhood centres and precincts are stratigically organised and located. Within the whole structure of the town, other low-rise structures such as swimming pools, shophouses and schools; and physical features like roof treatments, linkways, wall texture and colour are among some of the most essential things to make the overall planning of a high-rise, high-density environment less massive- looking and more personal to it residents.

Variation of the CheckerBoard Pattern

In conclusion, the goals of new town planning by HDB may be summed up in 3 factors. Firstly, it should have the capacity of providing a unique visual identity of its own, secondly, of providing an environment for the development of a sense of pride and belonging, and lastly, in contributing to the overall visual identity of the republic.

Thus, the concept of a total living environment with the town centre serving as the heart of each new town, followed by the neighbourhood centre and then the precinct area, each intending to provide for the more specific needs of the community.

About

A Dual-Fold Research
The aim of this research programme is dual-fold. Firstly, it is a project that discusses public housing in Singapore and secondly, it is a project that will present its points using the World Wide Web so that we may be able to access the credibility and clarity of the presentation technique.

HTML
HTML (HyperText markup Language) is a markup language use to produce documents in World Wide Web (WWW) browsers. HTML documents are in plain text format and can be created using any text editor. It is a collection of styles that is used to define the various components of a WWW document.

The Research Topic
The research topic is: Public Housing in Singapore. Due to its large scope of discussion, I have narrowed down the concentration to mainly the functions of the company that manages public housing in Singapore, namely the Housing and Development Board of Singapore, a government body. These functions derive its origin mainly from the concept that HDB is known as a large estate manager. An estatae manager handles issues that include both the administrative and non-administrative roles. However, this scope of discussion can be very broad.

The main points in this paper will focus mostly on a non-administrative role of HDB, which in my opinion is a more interesting issue to look at in terms of urban design. This includes the issue of community development, of building communities through the design of flats, blocks, and towns. It is inevitable that these issues overlap those of community development. As such, they will be looked into at greater detail in the heading of planning and design.

From the basic flat design to the overall town planning design, to the infra- structure of the HDB organisation and to the provision of local facilities to provide for a self-sufficient new town, all these factors appear to strive towards a goal in providing for a total living environment for its residents’. Toward this end, the focus of this research can be seen as building communities in its physical planning and design issues.

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgement must go to Stephen Yeh's 'Housing a Nation: 25 years of Public Housing in Singapore'. As the topic is very descriptive and direct in terms of stating the goals, functions and the design process of HDB, much information was summarised from this book. Of course, more recent issues like Town Councils which was formed in 1988, and the use of current statistics and figures are from more recent sources such as annual reports, HouseWord newsletters, and the facts provided by Mr Wong Fong Chun, Chief Architect in HDB Planning and Research Department, 1994.

Photographs were taken from various sources. Some were taken while I was in Singapore and others from books and annual reports (see references).

Feedback
One of the greatest challenges in this research is the organisation of my research materials in a multimedia environment. The approach was very different from the normal way of writing a report in that I have present my information, thinking 3 dynamically and laterally on how to link one information to another. One approach which I experimented with was using storyboards to layout my presentation especially between the written information and graphic materials.

The final product of the research presents mixed feelings for me on the capabilities of HTML as a medium. Firstly, I realised that HTML’s interactivity using hyperlinks would be much better if the work that is to be presented presented is not expressed with such verbosity. In other words, it is more efficient to present a 10,000 word research report on a written document layout even though there are many graphic images. The setback, repetitively recurs itself to be the over-numerous amount of words appearing on the monitor and thus causing tiresome reading.The advantage however, appears to come from the fact the others would have access to the information through the Internet. Furthermore, it can be added and updated by others who are working on related topics. A more interesting approach, might be to use a more graphic storytelling form of presentation with short and brief descriptions. This is often the better method used for HTML documents, as evidently seen in most HTML pages.

Bibliography

• Ooi, Giok Ling. Town Councils in Singapore: Self Determination for the Public. The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS occasional paper no. 4), Times Academic Press, Singapore, 1990.

• Tai, Ching-ling. Housing Policy and High-rise Living. Chopmen Publishers, Singapore, 1988.

• Tan, Augustine H H and Phang, Sock Yong. The Singapore Experience in Public Housing. Times Academic Press for the Centre for Advance Studies National University of Singapore (CAS occasional paper no. 9), Singapore, 1991.

• Wong, Aline and Yeh, Stephen. Housing a Nation: 25 years of Public Housing in Singapore. Maruzen Asia for HDB, Singapore, 1985.

• Yeh, Stephen. Public Housing in Singapore. Singapore University Press for HDB, Singapore, 1975.

• Ministry of National Development (MND). Town Councils. Participating in Progress. Ministry of National Development, Singapore 1988.

• Housing & Development Board, Singapore (HDB). Facts on Public Housing in Singapore. HDB, Singapore, Jan 1994.

• Housing & Development Board, Singapore (HDB). Annual Reports 92/93 and 91/92.

• Housing & Development Board, Singapore (HDB). 'OUR HOME', the HDB newsletter, currently known as 'House Word'. (various issues).