Singapore Presented the Success of Its First Major Public Housing Programmer

Singapore marked the completion of the Housing and Development Board’s first five year building programme with a major public exhibition. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was scheduled to open the exhibition at the site of the former Outram Jail. The exhibition demonstrated how rapidly public housing had developed since the creation of the HDB in 1960. It showed how modern flats were replacing overcrowded settlements, unsafe buildings and unhealthy living conditions. A report published on that date outlined the scale of the next phase. Housing was planned for approximately 250,000 people during the following five years at a reported cost of 150 million dollars. The wider development programme was also expected to include 16 primary schools and eight secondary schools. The HDB’s 51,000th housing unit was expected to be completed the following month. By the end of 1964, an estimated 400,000 people had already been housed in flats constructed by the HDB. This represented approximately 23 per cent of Singapore’s population at the time. The same period also witnessed the beginning of construction at Toa Payoh. It became the first town comprehensively planned and designed by the HDB. Housing blocks were combined with roads, schools, shops, playgrounds, parks, community centres and other daily services. The July 21 exhibition represented more than a construction milestone. It presented adequate housing as an essential part of social stability, public welfare and nation building. Singapore had also introduced the Home Ownership for the People Scheme in 1964, beginning a gradual transition from rental housing towards wider home ownership. Together, planned towns, affordable flats and ownership policies created the foundation of the public housing system for which Singapore later became internationally recognised. The programme demonstrated how coordinated housing and urban planning could transform living conditions within a relatively short period.