August 23, 2016

‘The conservation-redevelopment dilemma in Singapore: The case of the Kampong Glam historic district’ (Cities, 1996) by Prof Brenda Yeoh and A/P Shirlena Huang (Dept of Geography), discusses the ‘Conservation-Redevelopment’ conflicts that are increasingly gaining prominence in the urban agendas of cities in the developing world.

The study examines the role urban conservation plays within the broader framework of national ideology and policies in Singapore, a city which faces intensive redevelopment pressures. It explains how from the perspective of the state redevelopment and conservation can both be accommodated within the ambit of modernist planning and goals. After outlining various preservation and conservation schemes initiated by state agencies, the paper goes on to argue that contrary to state rhetoric and despite the fact that conservation is given some priority in the planning of the city, the conservation-redevelopment dilemma has not been solved but has taken on new dimensions in the 1990s.

Read the full text of this article here.

Photo: “Old Housing” from SRN’s SG Photobank