No_5_February_1962 — Page 61

TH

PUBLIC HOUSING

IN SINGAPORE 165

HE Singapore Improvement Trust was formed under the Singapore Improvement Ordinance in July, 1927. From its inception to the beginning of the second world war, it constructed 2,112 units of houses and shops. After the war. the Trust entered into construction on a much bigger scale and by the end of 1959 had constructed a total of 23,018 units of public housing. These units house about ten per cent. of the total population in the State.

Although the performance of the Trust is quite an achievement, the effort is far short of requirements. A recent survey of the housing shortage revealed that in order to solve the Singapore housing pro blem within the next ten years it is necessary to construct about 150,000 to 170.000 units of houses to meet the increase in population. to do the minimum clearance of the slum area, and for the renewal of the obsolete properties in the central

area.

near

In

From the attached table it is quite clear that the earlier rate of housing construction was in no way 15,000 to 17,000 units a year. the absence of a firm decision to construct sufficient units of housing and to let them out at a rental which the lower income group can afford, the poorer people will be forced to find their own solution. It is illegal to squat on other people's land and

by.

TEH CHEANG WAN

Chief Architect

SINGAPORE HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD

in a talk at the Singapore Polytechnic Department of Architecture.

to construct unauthorised attap huts but to have a roof over one's head is a human necessity.

The Housing and Development Board was formed February. 1960 to replace the former Singapore Im- provement Trust and to implement the five-year building programme of the Singapore Government. The pro- gramme envisages the construction of about 50,000 units of housing over a period of five years. There are some 1,300 acres of land owned by the Housing and Development Board spread over the west. north and cen- tral sections of the city.

They are mainly concentrated in the west around the Kampong Tiong Bahru. Alexandra and Queenstown areas, in the north near St. Michael's and Toa Payoh areas, and in the centre along MacPherson Road. Kallang, Mountbatten Road, and

Tanjong Rhu

areas.

The major

building activities will be concen- trated in Queenstown (in order to complete the five neighbourhoods originally planned of which one and a half have been built by the former Singapore Improvement Trust) and in Toa Payoh area where some 600 acres of land have yet to be cleared of settlers for housing sites.

The programme has started off extremely smoothly and to date about 3.000 units have already been com- pleted for occupation; 12,000 units are in various stages of construction: and piling for a further 2,500 units is in progress. The indications are that the programme will be completed before the planning period if the present rate of progress is sustained.

The types of public housing of the Board can roughly be grouped into three categories

While it is generally felt that a two-room flat should be the ideal minimum standard for public hous- ing, because of the economic reality that the lower income working class family is unable to afford a two- room flat at the subsidised rental of $40 per month, the one-room flat subsidised to $20 per month was introduced as the minimum standard of public housing for the lowest in- come group of the citizens of Singa.

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pore.

DWELLINGS COMPLETED IN EACH YEAR

AGENCY 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958

1959 Total

%

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

360

685

839

S. I, T.

597

828 1,102 1,304 1,886 2,041 1,872

780 1,486 2,054 2,161 3,202

2,795 1,275 1,300

2,000 1,851

1,833

1,787 19,038 39.6

3,841

1,611 20,452 42.5

OTHER PUBLIC

351

873

950

925

690

851

954

AUTORITIES :

737 1,090 218

352

605 8,596 17.9

TOTAL 1,308

2,386 2,891 3,009 4,062 4,946 4,987

6,734

4,365 3,369 6,026

4,003 48,086 100.0

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 16, NUMBER 5

55

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