Guidelines for the Economic Analysis of Projects (ADB)

An immediate task facing Singapore’s first independent government was to fix the housing problem. The housing landscape in the post-war 1940s and 1950s was a melange of slums, overcrowding, unhygienic living conditions and a lack of decent accommodation. Singapore now boasts high standard of living with over 80 percent of Singapore’s resident population living in public housing. How has Singapore managed this in a mere half-century? Drawing from first-hand interview material with urban pioneers and current practitioners, this study traces the evolution of Singapore’s public housing story. Beyond the brick and mortar, it interweaves and fleshes out how Singapore has managed to use public housing policies to achieve wider social and nation building goals - to root an immigrant population and build a home-owning democracy; eradicate ethnic enclaves; meet the aspirations of Singapore’s growing middle class; care for the less fortunate; and foster a sense of community.