Singapore Snippets - Public Housing in Singapore

by Marta Ferrer Lubeck

Singapore is considered to have one of the best public housing programs in the world. This feat goes back to 1960, when the Housing & Development Board (HDB) was created to tackle the housing shortage of Singapore’s young population at the time. HDB set out to build quickly and to promote home ownership for Singaporeans. According to the HDB website, there are now more than one million HDB flats in 24 towns and three estates in Singapore. Over 80% of Singapore’s resident population lives in HDB flats, and more than 90% of HDB resident households own their home. New public housing projects must conform to three guiding principles: They must be well-designed, community-centric and sustainable.

HDB Design

AWA member Celine Suiter has been to many HDB buildings. She visits the public areas to learn about the building design and the community, and to appreciate the city views. We visited SkyVille@Dawson, a 47-floor HDB development in Queenstown completed in 2015. SkyVille contains social corridors on four levels, called SkyVillages, where residents can meet and bond.

The well-maintained Rooftop Garden provides incredible views of the city, as well as a walking and jogging path. We returned to the street level, where Celine pointed out the small hawker center and market. She explained that “besides living areas, many HDB buildings have a food court and small shops. Residents don’t really have to go beyond their community.”

View of housing developments from the Rooftop Garden at SkyVille@Dawson

Celine explained that it can take a long time to move into an HDB flat. Flats are allocated based on family size, and people with higher incomes are asked to bid on larger units. There is also an effort to maintain an ethnic balance throughout HDB developments. Owners who temporarily move out of Singapore may rent their units after obtaining a special permit.

Living in an HDB Building

I met Ethel through AWA member Sandy Harford. Ethel is originally from the Philippines, and she rents an HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio. The flat belongs to a Sikh family that currently lives abroad. Ethel shares the three-bedroom flat with five other people. “I’m the oldest, so I’m like the mom here,” Ethel said, and added that her building has a ping pong table, basketball court, and soccer field.

While she has a good relationship with her neighbors, Ethel socializes with friends outside her HDB community: “On Sundays, I invite my friends to come over for karaoke and I cook,” she noted. Ethel’s building is a seven-minute walk from a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station and very close to a few bus stops. Singapore has an extensive public transportation network, and by design most HDB buildings are close to at least one MRT and bus station.

Exploring HDB buildings

There are many HDB buildings worth exploring throughout the Red Dot, including these:

• Tiong Bahru, known for its Art Deco architecture, is home to some of the older public housing developments, dating back to the 1930s.

Tiong Bahru housing developments

• Hougang Ave 7, with the large rainbow embellishing its façade, and Tampines St 41, where residents voted to have their façade painted with the color bar tone that used to indicate all TV programming had ended. Both buildings are publicized online as "Instagram worthy."

Tampines St 41

• Pinnacle@Duxton is a 50-floor development consisting of seven connected towers. This is the world’s tallest public residential building, cleverly juxtaposed with the much smaller houses located in the Tanjong Pagar neighborhood. The Pinnacle is no longer open to non-residents, but its award-winning design can be appreciated from afar.

• Punggol has transformed from a fishing village to Singapore’s first eco-town in just a few decades. The community gardens, skyrise greenery, and rooftop solar panels are some of the eco-friendly features prevalent in Punggol Eco-Town housing developments.

Punggol Eco Town

Marta moved to Singapore with her husband and two children in July 2020. She loves to explore Singapore with the AWA walking, hiking and photography groups.