|
1969
HOUSING FOR INDUSTRIAL CENTRES: THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW
URBAN CENTRE
Singapore
is entering a new phase of development which will have a fundamental effect
on the evolution of its social fabric. In the past, traders and commercial
workers lived adjacent to their place of work in a natural relationship.
The shophouse with the commercial premise below and dwelling accommodation
above, is a typical example of the unification of work place and dwelling
place. The city is also characterised by this very close relationship
between work place and dwelling place, though this is rapidly changing
as a result of urban renewal and the intensification of commercial premises
within the city.
This results in a drift of widening proportions between the location of
work place and dwelling place. A major factor which contributes to this
drift is the idealised town planning concepts which have been exer-cised
to neatly compart-mentalise different activities and land usage into distinctly
separate zones as contained in the 1958 Master Plan of Singapore and its
subsequent revisions.
The city centre was reserved largely for commercial and semi-industrial
usage. The existing road system was enlarged and developed to provide
a transportation network to shuttle people between places of work and
places of dwelling.
So long as industry is largely based on the utilisation of manpower, and
this is likely to be the case for many years to come, the relationship
of the place of work and the place of dwelling will be the central problem
in planning land use and transportation. Another serious implication of
the dislocation between place of work and place of dwelling of industrial
workers is the travelling time involved. This has a serious impact on
the physical and mental health of the worker which will no doubt affect
his or her productivity. Not to mention the serious implication this will
have on family life.
We are on the threshold of the industrialisation and modernisation pro-gramme,
and we will have to be mindful of the social implications of this pro-gramme.
For the present and immediate future, it will be necessary to have an
integrated approach towards the development of industrial and urban centres
which will provide employment as well as dwelling places, recreation and
all the amenities associated
with living.
|