Land Management: Conservation of Built Heritage ( singapore )
..., Jurong East, Jurong West, Pioneer, Tengah, Tuas and the Western islands. There are approximately 243 000 homes in the West region and 470 ha of green space in the area. The North region includes Sembawang, Woodlands, Yishun, Lim Chu Kang, Sungei Kadut, Central Water Catchment, Mandai and Simpang planning areas. About 129 000 homes are situated there and 300 ha of green space is available. The East region includes Bedok, Changi, Changi Bay, Paya Lebar, Pasir Ris and Tampines Planning Areas. There are about 186 000 homes and 530 ha of green space. The Northeast region includes Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Serangoon, Punggol, Sengkang, Seletar and North-eastern Islands (Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong). There are 195 000 homes there and 460 ha of green space. Finally the Central Region has approximately 324 000 homes and 860 ha of green space. The Master Plan classifies the different areas of Singapore into different categories. In this way, the Urban Development Authority develops and improves the regions according to each area’s needs. An example would be the West region, which has easy access to employment opportunities, major employment centers and educational institutions. There is also a presence of a good transportation network with a variety of green areas such as parks and open spaces. Most importantly, it still has plenty of room to develop and expand. Therefore, the West sector will be likely to undergo major changes. To carry out these changes effectively, the Urban Development Authority classifies the Master plan into three different parts, namely the Residential, Commercial, and Recreation sectors. Under the Residential sector, the Urban Development Authority plans to construct more varied housing types for people to live in. This is so that the residents’ needs can be catered to, as some people prefer flats to condominiums because they are more affordable, while some others might like the condominiums for its variety of facilities and are willing to pay high prices for them. Also, country and community clubs are abundant in these areas, to allow residents to enjoy a more social life, have more people to interact with and participate in more engaging activities. Schools and other educational institutions are also found here, as the bulk of the population lives in these Residential areas. Under the commercial area, the Urban Development Authority introduces new business zones to cater to those who want to start up their own businesses. Besides that, the Urban Development Authority also intends to transform the Jurong Regional Centre into a more vibrant place and make it a transportation hub for the West. Hopefully, more people will be attracted to visit the Jurong Regional Centre, thus making it a central hub for residents living in the West to gather and have fun. As for recreational purposes, the Urban Development Authority capitalizes on the region's unique natural features and develops more parks and park connectors. Thus, the Urban Development Authority constructs parks for the leisure of the residents according to the landscape of the region. These parks provide the residents not only with sporting purposes and facilities, but also a place for relaxation. Other recreational facilities such as integrated sports complexes will also be provided. This is to allow a wide range of recreational facilities to cater to the residents’ varied needs. These sports complexes may also hold competitions, both internationally and locally. Chapter 3 Research Methodology Our group will obtain the necessary data mainly from questionnaires. Our questionnaires will be distributed to approximately 60 people, with a target audience of ages 20 and above, while our interviews will be conducted mainly with people living in these areas of heritage. This is so because it is important to understand the opinions of the people likely to be affected by the redevelopment of Chinatown and Little India. The results obtained will be tabulated mainly in pie charts as well as tables to ease the process of analyzing the data, while a few pictures taken by us will be added to support our points and allow one an insight to these places of heritage (Namely Chinatown and Little India). From the data, a conclusion will be drawn on what should be done with these areas, whether they should be demolished, preserved or refurbished. All secondary information and data will be obtained from specialist and reliable government sources such as the Land Transport Authority of Singapore and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore). The various statistics used in our paper are from the above two sources. Chapter 4 Discussion and Analysis 4.1 Survey Analysis To obtain the needed data, a survey involving 68 people was conducted to find out what people think of the idea of conserving places of heritage and various historic buildings in Singapore currently included in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2003. Examples would be Chinatown or Little India. In our survey, we ask people about their opinions on: • Demolishing and tearing down these historical buildings and sites • Preserving these buildings’ current states • Refurbishing these buildings Figure 4.1 In Figure 4.1, it can be seen that only 7% of the total number of people surveyed thought that these buildings with historical value in Singapore should be torn down, while the other 93 % disagree to this action. It can be inferred that most people living in Singapore think that the government should preserve these heritage sites because they are of great importance to them as well as the country. In the following questions, we ask for their reasons. Figure 4.? – A run-down and deserted alley of Little India Figure 4.2 In Figure 4.2, we see that 62% of people agree that the heritage buildings should be preserved in the current state they are in now while 38% of people think that the buildings should be refurbished. When asked for the reasons on why preservation is preferred to refurbishment, two answered that they felt refurbishment would be too expensive and these sites of heritage would not be worth the cost. Figure 4.3 As seen from Figure 4.3, out of the 62% of people that agree the heritage buildings should be preserved in the current state, 50% of them state their reason as any changes to the buildings will spoil the historic value they possess. Figure 4.4-Rows of shop houses in Chinatown In our opinion, this is true because many places of heritage in Singapore such as Chinatown and Little India have buildings such as traditional Chinese two-storey shop-houses (as can be seen from figure 4.4) and Muslim temples, and when changes like repainting or reconstructing are carried out, they may not look authentic anymore and might lose their purpose of existing. 44% said that preserving these heritage buildings will add distinctive character and identity to Singapore. Since Singapore is a very urbanized city with a high population density, crowding with tall and dense buildings, these heritage sites may serve as a contrast to the city landscape, adding more visual excitement to the city. 6% stated that these heritage buildings will attract more tourists to visit Singapore. Tourists that come to Singapore mostly visit these heritage sites, where they learn about and gain some insight to the history of Singapore. Preserving the buildings in its current state will be more likely to attract more tourists as most of them are interested in historical buildings. Figure 4.5 As can be seen from Figure 4.5, out of the 38% of people that think the buildings should be refurbished, 75% say that their reason is the heritage buildings can be of other uses, other than serving as a heritage site. By refurbishing the old buildings, a heritage site could be used as a restaurant or bar, catering to tourists simultaneously. In this way, multiple usages of facilities are carried out. (See chapter 4.2 for more details). Whereas the remaining 25% state that their reason is that the old buildings will look more attractive than their current state. By refurbishing them, they would probably look more modern and facilities could be built to serve the needs of the society. Figure 4.6 From Figure 4.6, it can be seen that all 5 people, who think that these heritage buildings should be torn down, explain that the area can be used for development. They did not think that these buildings of heritage are unsightly and serve no practical use thus should be torn down as a result. We further asked them about what they think should be developed in place of the heritage buildings. Figure 4.?- A house in bad condition (note roof) along Maxwell road Types of Development Response Commercial/Business Districts 2 Housing 0 Bars/Clubs/Other Recreational purposes 3 Restaurants 0 Shopping Centres 0 Figure 4.7 From the table above, we can see that out of the 5 people who believe that these buildings should be torn down, 2 people think that commercial or business districts should be developed in place of the heritage buildings while the remaining 3 think that bars, clubs or other recreational purposes should be developed. This may be due to the fact that commercial offices are already developing around these heritage sites like Chinatown. Bars and clubs are usually the best places for those working in the business district to relax. 4.2 Possible Solutions As can be seen from the survey results, majority of...