Public housing in Singapore: The use of ends-based reasoning in the quest for a workable system

Harvard International Law Journal

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 236-271

  Gruber, Aya ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0031513598     PISSN: 00178063     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (11)

1. See, e.g., Sara G. Zwart, A Favorable Climate for Foreign Investment in Singapore: Recent Changes in the Companies Act Hold Directors to Strict Standards of Accountability, 21 INT'L LAW. 357, 360 (1987) (citing housing as a prime achievement of Singapore's economic miracle); Terence P. Stewart & Margaret L.H. Png, The Growth Triangle of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, 23 GA. J. INT'L & COMP. L. 1, 8 (1993) (pointing out that as a result of its prioritization of public housing and economic planning, Singapore has graduated from the ranks of a developing nation).
2. See, e.g., Sara G. Zwart, A Favorable Climate for Foreign Investment in Singapore: Recent Changes in the Companies Act Hold Directors to Strict Standards of Accountability, 21 INT'L LAW. 357, 360 (1987) (citing housing as a prime achievement of Singapore's economic miracle); Terence P. Stewart & Margaret L.H. Png, The Growth Triangle of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, 23 GA. J. INT'L & COMP. L. 1, 8 (1993) (pointing out that as a result of its prioritization of public housing and economic planning, Singapore has graduated from the ranks of a developing nation).
3. W.J.M. Ricquier, Public Housing Law in Singapore, 8 URB. LAW & POL'Y 313, 313 (1987).
4. See, e.g., Lui Thai Ker, Overview, in HOUSING A NATION: 25 YEARS OF PUBLIC HOUSING IN SINGAPORE 1 (Aline K. Wong & Stephen H.K. Yeh eds., 1985). This book was published for the Housing and Development Board ("HDB"). Although it is a very useful source of factual information, some of the descriptions of the system may be biased. It appears, however, that the HDB endeavored to produce a critical analysis of its housing system. The book is meant to "give an overall picture of the multiple functions of HDB, what it has accomplished, the reasons for its achievements, the physical and social impacts, and the problems and prospects of the immediate future." Aline K. Wong & Stephen H.K. Yeh, Editors' Preface to HOUSING A NATION, supra, at vii.
5. The HDB is Singapore's more powerful equivalent of the United States Housing and Urban Development Board. The HDB was created statutorily by the Housing and Development Act, SING. STAT. ch. 129, § 13 (1985). See infra text accompanying notes 50-57 for a fuller discussion of the Housing and Development Act.
6. HOUS. & DEV. BD., FACTS ON PUBLIC HOUSING IN SINGAPORE 2 (July 1, 1995) [hereinafter HDB FACTS].
7. Id. Urban density is total population divided by total land area excluding catchment areas, military grounds, cemeteries, and agricultural land. Id.
8. Cf. infra text accompanying notes 11-21 (describing the housing situation prior to the creation of the HDB).
9. Riaz Hassan reported: When questioned about their satisfaction and dissatisfaction, many respondents showed that they took what they had for granted and felt powerless to make any changes . . . . The respondents generally felt that they were stuck with the space they were living in and the facilities provided . . . . HASSAN, supra note 11, at 203-04.
10. See Ricquier, supra note 2, at 319. * The author would like to express special thanks to the Harvard Asia Law Society for organizing the spring 1995 delegation to Singapore; the Singapore Housing and Development Board for arranging a tour of the housing units and providing facts and statistics; and Professor Duncan Kennedy for his indispensable guidance on this Recent Development.
11. Aya Gruber *