CHIA SU MIN, MICHELLE

M.Soc.Sci. Student

Research Title: Conditioning Urban Density
Research Group: Politics, Economies And Space (PEAS)
Thesis Advisor: Dr Shaun Teo

Urban density is often controlled and managed to achieve political goals—often, we are conditioned to see density as good or bad. Here, patterns of densification provide opportunities to analyse the political technologies employed to manage processes of densification.

My research aims to explore density as a condition created through the processes of persuasion and negotiations. Conditioning density occurs across a network of actors that drive patterns of densification. This includes various forms of incentives and policies aimed at controlling or stimulating density. Understanding the conditioning of density will entail understanding the habits, routines, and circumstances of individuals in shaping and contributing to processes of densification.

The objectives of my research are two-fold: first, to understand density through a process of production beyond density itself, and second, to identify how these routinised forms of densification have been conditioned through state-society relations.