About Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy Article 2022

Project: Singapore fifth Newater plant Purpose: To enable participants to apply the tools and techniques of decision analysis to a real world problem and, in the process, to deepen their understanding of decision analysis. Assignment question: Identify a public or private sector decision that was reported in the media in the past five years. The problem should be sufficiently “difficult” to merit decision analysis. Taking a standpoint from before the decision was made; your role is to act as consultants to the decision maker(s) by applying the tools of decision analysis to the problem. Your report should include: • Problem statement and objectives >> ~300 - 400 words • Decision tree structure with expected value analysis >> Provide decision tree • Risk profiles >> 350-400 words • Exploration of key uncertainties >>

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and PolicyJournal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy
Volume 3
Issue 1 Study Space XI Singapore Article 7
2019
The Deceptive Allure of Singapore's Urban Planning to UrbanThe Deceptive Allure of Singapore's Urban Planning to Urban
Planners in AmericaPlanners in America
Denis Binder
Chapman University, [e-mail]
Follow this and additional works at: https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp
Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Land Use Law
Commons, and the Urban Studies Commons
Recommended CitationRecommended Citation
Binder, Denis (2019) "The Deceptive Allure of Singapore's Urban Planning to Urban Planners in America,"
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 7, 155-190.
Available at: https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Reading Room. It has been accepted for inclusion in
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy by an authorized editor of Reading Room. For more information, please
contact [e-mail].

THE DECEPTIVE ALLURE OF SINGAPORE’S URBAN PLANNING TO
URBAN PLANNERS IN AMERICA
Professor Denis Binder*
Singapore, as a settlement, is 200 years old this year. Initial visitors to
Singapore see a veritable Disneyland:1 perfection, cleanliness,2 everything
perfectly in its place. Urban planners marvel at Singapore; it is virtually a planning
utopia.
Singapore is a vibrant city-state with roughly 5.6 million people on the
278.6 square mile island. 82% of the population reside in public housing—mostly
high-rise complexes—and work in high-rise office buildings. Twenty-three self-
contained new towns ring Singapore’s coastal core. The city is considered one of
the most livable in the world; its Changi Airport, 3 Singapore Airlines, 4 and port
rank among the top in the world.5
*Professor of Law, Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Chapman University, A.B., (1967); J.D.
(1970), LL.M. University of Michigan (1971), S.J.D. 1973, University of Michigan. Professor
Binder thanks Dr. Linda Y. C. Lim, Professor Emeritus of Corporate Strategy and International
Business at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan for her comments and insights.
He further appreciates the assistance of Sherry Leysen, Tami Carson, and David Moody of the
Fowler School of Law Library for their assistance.
1 Singapore does not have a Disneyland, but it does host a Universal Studios theme park.
Universal Studios Singapore, RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA,
https://www.rwsentosa.com/en/attractions/universal-studios-singapore (last visited Feb. 25, 2019).
2 Neither Disneyland nor Singapore sell gum. Hugo Martin, Cleanest Place on Earth, L.A. TIMES,
May 2, 2010, at B1; Sale of Food (Prohibition of Chewing Gum) Regulations, Ch. 283, § 56(1)
(2004) (Sing.).
3 Skytrax for the sixth year in a row ranked Changi as the world’s best airport. The World’s Best
Airports Are Announced for 2018, SKYTRAX WORLD AIRPORT AWARDS (Mar. 21, 2018),
https://www.worldairportawards.com/the-worlds-best-airports-are-announced-for-2018/.
4 TripAdvisor rated Singapore Airlines the world’s best in 2018. Kate Schneider, Singapore
Airlines Named the World’s Best, NEWS.COM.AU (Apr. 10, 2018, 2:09 PM),
https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/singapore-airlines-named-the-worlds-
best/news-story/e209fb9c7da22bf67eb19d41aa0c8269.
5 Menon Economics ranked Singapore as the leading maritime capital of the world even though
Shanghai now handles more cargo. Aarthi Swaminathan & Blanche Lim, Singapore Ranked
World’s Top Maritime Capital, But Another City Is Quickly on the Ascent, CNBC (Apr. 26, 2017,
4:19 AM), https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/26/singapore-ranked-worlds-top-maritime-capital-but-
another-city-is-quickly-on-the-ascent.html; Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sing. Geneva,
155
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

The island is covered by an efficient public transit system of subways and
buses that 50% of workers use to commute to work. Rush hour traffic congestion
is relatively rare. Automobile ownership and usage is tightly restricted, greenery is
ubiquitous, and historic structures are preserved. Crime is low, streets are clean, 6
homelessness is virtually non-existent, 7 and industrial factories are located away
from residential communities, all leading to a clean environment, which is not
common among many other Asian nations. 8 Urban sprawl is absent. Public
corruption is not a major issue. Per capita income in Singapore is close to that of
the United States.9
A quick description of Singapore’s uniqueness shows a city bereft of
barrios, ghettos, slums, and tenements with clean streets, no gum, cigarette butts,
graffiti, roaming dogs, squatters, billboards, and little crime; mostly smooth
flowing traffic as well. Smoking is limited to specific areas. Singapore has a highly
educated, technologically astute population.
Visitors to Singapore usually see only the built, mostly high-rise Singapore.
Viewers of the movie Crazy Rich Asians also see the modern Singapore. Neither
visitors nor movie goers see the Singapore of five decades ago and the measures
Singapore Clinches Top Spot as Leading Maritime Capital of the World for Third Consecutive
Time, MINISTRY FOREIGN AFF.,
https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/geneva/press_statements_speeches/2017/20
1704/press_20170426.html (last visited Feb. 25, 2019).
6 Fines are imposed for littering, spitting, and smoking. Pamelia Lee, 50 Years of Urban Planning
& Tourism, in 50 YEARS OF URBAN PLANNING IN SINGAPORE 197, 200 (Heng Chye Kiang ed.,
2017) [hereinafter Heng].
7 A small homeless population exists in Singapore. A 2017 survey found 180 homeless sleeping in
public spaces. See Gabrielle See, Going Public: Homelessness in a Nation of Homeowners –
Social Space, Food for Thought, Online Exclusives 10, socialspacemag.org,
https://socialspacemag.org/going-public-homelessness-in-a-nation-of-homeowners/, Homelessness
in Singapore, the world’s richest city, is not what it seems, New Straits Times, October 15, 2017,
https://www.nst.com.my/world/2017/10/291213/homelessness-singapore-worlds-richest-city-not-
what-it-seems.
8 A recent study of air quality has six Asian countries (Bangladesh (1), Pakistan (2), India, (3)
Afghanistan (4), Mongolia (6), and Nepal (8)) in the ten worst countries in air pollution. Singapore
ranks 47th on the list. IQAir, AirVisual, 2018 World Air Quality Report: Region & City PM2.5
Ranking 7 (2019).
9 It was $52,867 in Singapore in 2015 and $58,079 in the United States. DEP’T OF STATISTICS
SING., SINGAPORE IN FIGURES 2018, at 3 (2018), https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-
/media/files/publications/reference/sif2018.pdf.
156
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

that transformed a backwater port into a glamorous, modernized metropolis. Nor
do they see the rising inequality in Singapore.10
The Singapore of today is not the Singapore at independence.
HISTORY
Singapore was a sparsely settled island on January 29, 1819, when Sir
Thomas Stamford Raffles landed.11 On February 6, 1819 he entered into a treaty on
behalf of the British East India Company with Sultan Hussein of Johore and the
Temenggorg12 for a British trading post on the island. The March 1824 Anglo-
Dutch Treaty of London recognized the respective spheres of influence, leaving
Indonesia to the Dutch, and Malaysia and Singapore to the British. In August 1824,
the final treaty between the Sultan and the Temenggong formally converted
Singapore into a British colony by granting the island and adjacent territory to the
British.
Singapore soon became a booming port and trading post through its
location, its sheltered port, and Sir Raffles’ decision to make Singapore a free port.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of the steamship raised
Singapore into one of the world’s largest ports. Ships between the Suez Canal and
the South China Sea must pass Singapore.
Singapore fell to the Japanese on February 15, 1942 and remained in
Japanese possession until the war’s end. On September 5, 1945 England regained
possession. Much of Singapore was devastated. England reigned victorious but
suffered economically from the war. The British returned to Singapore, but the
British Empire was in its dying days. 13 England lacked the resources to sustain,
10 As Singapore has prospered, it has increasingly become dependent on low-wage, low-skilled
foreign workers. Kenneth Paul Tan, S’Pore’s income inequality is made worse by elitist values &
systematic elitism: soft talk to keep Singapore from stalling, MOTHERHOOD, October 14, 2018
https://mothership.sg/2018/10/kenneth-paul-tan-income-inequality-sg-elitism/, Anna Maria
Romero, Not Everyone in Singapore is a Crazy Rich Asian; unmasking the class divide in order to
find solutions, The Independent, October 28, 2018, http://theindependent.sg/not-everyone-in-
singapore-is-a-crazy-rich-asian-unmasking-the-class-divide-in-order-to-find-solutions/.
11 Singapore had about 1,000 residents when Sir Raffles arrived. MARK R. FROST & YU-MEI
BALASINGAMCHOW, SINGAPORE: A BIOGRAPHY 40 (2009).
12 Temenggong Abdul Rahman was the local chieftain of Johore.
13 The fall of Singapore doomed the British Empire, at least in Asia. The defeat of the British
“undermined the old assumption of racial superiority and the belief that a colonial power could or
should defend its subject people without calling on their cooperation,” C. M. Turnbull, A History
of Modern Singapore: 1819-2005 192 (NUS Press 2009).
157
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

much less invest in, the Empire. India was granted independence in 1947 and the
British Empire began to unravel.
England granted sovereignty to Singapore in 1959. Singapore joined the
Federation of Malaysia in 1963 and left Malaysia in 1965, becoming fully
independent on August 9, 1965. Incompatibility in values and ethnicity doomed the
merger.
Housing was a problem in Singapore before the city-state gained
independence. In 1947, the British Housing Commission reported that 72% of
Singapore’s population lived within 80 square kilometers of the central city area,14
which was a slum.15 In 1959, only 9% were living in public housing.16 The central
city area was overcrowded with 1.15 million of the 1.6 million population living in
squatter settlements.17
Upon gaining independence, Singapore had major economic issues, and
could be described as a poverty stricken third world country with extensive
pollution problems. As Professor Lim points out, however, Singapore had the
second highest per capita income in Asia after Japan. 18 Yet, the per capita income
was only $515.19
14 Abhas Jha, “But What About Singapore?” Lessons from the Best Public Housing Program in
the World, WORLD BANK: SUSTAINABLE CITIES (Jan. 31, 2018),
http://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/what-about-singapore-lessons-best-public-housing-
program-world.
15 SEEK NGEE HUAT, SING TIEN FOO & YU SHI MING, SINGAPORE’S REAL ESTATE: 50 YEARS OF
TRANSFORMATION 21 (2016). The occupancy rate was about 18 people per building. OLE JOHAN
DALE, URBAN PLANNING IN SINGAPORE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF A CITY 22 (1999).
16 Jha, supra note 15.
17 Liu Thai Ker, Planning & Urbanization in Singapore: A 50-Year Journey, in Heng, supra note
8, at 23, 25. Another statistic was that 60% of the population lived on 16% of the land. Tan Puay
Yok, Greening Singapore: Past Achievements, Emerging Challenges, in Heng, supra note 8, at
177, 180.
18 Linda C.Y. Lim, Singapore’s Success: After the Miracle 203, 205 in Robert E. Looney,
Handbook of Emerging Economies (Routledge 2014).
19 How Wealthy Was Singapore at its Independence (1965)? Economic History of Singapore:
Facts and Details, http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Singapore/sub5_7c/entry-3782.html.
158
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

In 1957, the population reached 1,445,929. 20 Singapore was said to have
the largest slums in Asia. 21 Much of the population lived in shophouses, 22 slums,
shanty towns, and kampong villages (which were squalid, overcrowded, poor
farming villages). The owners raised vegetables, pigs and chickens, and were
fishermen. The rivers were fouled with pig-farm effluent, food wastes, and sewage.
The homes lacked electricity, running water, and modern sanitation.23 Public health
and sanitation were disasters.24 Swamplands were common. Public transit consisted
of limited, irregular bus service.25 Roads had primarily been designed for the needs
of the British military.26 Fires and floods were a constant threat.
In addition, much of the land was owned in tiny parcels, making it difficult
for private developers to amass tracts suitable for development. 27 The onus,
therefore, was on the government to acquire suitable tracts of land.
SINGAPORE TODAY
Today, Singapore’s population is densely contained in a high rise, urban
core that is well served by an extensive mass transit system with greenery
everywhere – on roofs, balconies, climbing walls, and greenbelts with major
restrictions on automobiles. It may not have started out as a detailed-planned
community with the master plan of Irvine, California, but its development is almost
completely controlled by the government, which owns 90% of Singapore’s land.
20 DALE, supra note 16, at 22.
21 Tan, supra note 18, at 177, 180.
22 The shophouses were built for single families, but were increasingly subdivided into smaller and
smaller living units. Alan F. C. Choe, The Early Years of Nation-Building: Reflections on
Singapore’s Urban History in Heng, supra note 6, at 3, 6.
23 One prominent Singapore planner described growing up in the old Singapore. He said sewage
collectors would go house to house collecting sewage in buckets to bring to sewage trucks. Bharati
Jagdish, On the Record: Liu Thai Ker, Architect and Former Master Planner of Singapore,
CHANNEL NEWSASIA (Oct. 7, 2017, 7:00 AM),
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/on-the-record-liu-thai-ker-architect-and-
former-master-planner-9285942. A discussion of the pail toilet system is found at Loh Kak Seng,
The 1962 Kampong Burkit Ho Fire and the Making of Modern Singapore 91-93 Dissertation,
Murdoch University 2008).
24 Choe, supra note 23, at 3.
25 Mohinder Singh, Transportation: Mobility, Accessibility, and Connectivity, in Heng, supra note
6, at 127, 128.
26 Id. at 127.
27 Choe, supra note 23, at 13-14.
159
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

Singapore's success is seemingly miraculous for an island-state small in
size and lacking in natural resources. However, it had several advantages and
resources, not always appreciated at the time of their independence. The first is the
most critical factor in real estate: location, location, and location. Singapore lies at
the foot of the Malay Peninsula aside the Straits of Malacca, which is the main
shipping route connecting the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean to the South China
Sea. It became a major shipping and refitting port. Its sheltered, deep harbor is well
protected from monsoons.
The second under appreciated asset was its people—especially the inspired
leadership by its founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. The Prime Minister and
his allies had a vision of a Singapore built on economic success for the benefit of
the people. He eschewed socialism, unlike many newly independent ex-colonies:
Did I ever contemplate nationalism, socialist planning for
industrialization and economic transformation? Frankly, No. For
there was precious little to nationalize, apart from office furniture and
equipment, bank offices, shops, hotels, and some factories.28
His People’s Action Party (PAP) won the election in 1959, and every election since.
PAP has guided the miracle of Singapore.
A third advantage was not necessarily realized at independence. Singapore
has a unified government. Singapore is one government, one political system, and
an economy of stability. The island is the city. The city is the state. The state is the
nation. One party and one government decides for all, as it has since 1959. It is a
top down government open to capitalism.
Another advantage of its small size is especially significant in comparison
to post-World War II land development. The island’s small size precludes urban
sprawl and the devouring of farmland. No flight out of the “city” is possible. If
citizens do not like the system, the alternative is to emigrate.
The government has unique planning powers both because it owns 90% of
the country’s land and because it is a unitary government. The one-party, unitary
government speaks in one public voice.
Singapore is constrained by its small land size. It has to maximize the use
of seemingly every square inch. The fledging government recognized the need for
economic development with control of the land as the key. The independent
Singapore succeeded to 49% of the country’s land as crown lands. It increased the
28 Lee Kuan Yew, The Wit & Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew: 1923-2015 114 (2013).
160
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

government owned land to 90% through aggressive powers of eminent domain. 29
Singapore has also expanded its size by 25% by filling in land, both on the main
island, known as Singapore, and on smaller off-shore islands as well as creating
some artificial islands.
For example, seven offshore islands were joined as Jurong Island, a single
island of 3,000 acres.30 Three refineries are located on the island all with a capacity
of 1,500,000 biomass-based diesel, assorted petrochemical facilities, and an
underground crude oil storage facility.
Industry is often removed from the populated areas. Singapore is an
industrial powerhouse with a large petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry.
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Sir Raffles in a sense created the first Singapore master plan when he laid
out the first town plan for the island in 1822. The British Plan featured a grid
pattern, functional specialization, and ethnic enclaves.31 The Singapore Investment
Trust introduced a master plan which was adopted in 1958.32 The master plan aimed
to resettle two-thirds of the kampong residents over 20 years. Some kampongs,
including Bukit Ho Swee, which was consumed by fire a few years later, were
marked for clearance. 33 Master plans are updated every 5 years, and complement
the Concept Plan. Singapore, as a unitary government, has one concept plan and
one master plan.34
29 Jha, supra note 15.
30 Philip Yeo, Economic Planning for Productivity, Growth, and Prosperity, in Heng, supra note
8, at 45, 50. The islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, and Puleau
Seraya were fishing communities. The other islands were Pulau Pesak, Pulau Pesak Kechil, and
Pulau Sakra. Tang Hsiao Ling, Industrial Planning in Singapore, in Heng, supra note 8, at 153,
161-64.
31 Choe, supra note 23, at 4-5.
32 Id. at 7.
33 Loh Kah Seng, Fires and the Social Politics of Nation-Building in Singapore 6 (Asia Research
Ctr., Murdock Univ., Working Paper No. 149, 2008).
34 Liu, supra note 18, at 26. It has one master plan and one planning agency, The Urban
Redevelopment Authority (URA). Singapore has though a number of agencies involved with
improvement of the city: the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the Public Utilities Board
(PUB), the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), Singapore
Tourist Promotion Board (STPB), Regional Development Board (RDB), and Public Works
Department (PWD).
161
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

The Concept Plan, reviewed every ten years, is the strategic plan, setting out
guidelines for developments over the future 40-50 years. 35 It sets out policy goals
and objectives. It addresses broad perspectives. Since circumstances change, 36 the
Concept Plan, first adopted in 1971, is revised every ten years.37
FIRES AND REDEVELOPMENT
Singapore’s kampongs had a history of catching on fire because their
structures were usually tightly packed wooden buildings.38 A disastrous fire on May
25, 1961 in the Bukit Ho Swee Kampong 39 played a critical role in ensuring the
success of the PAP’s housing program.40
The fire consumed 100 acres, destroyed 2,200 homes, and left
approximately 16,000 residents homeless.41 The government knew it had to
provide housing for the displaced. Temporary housing was provided while the
Housing and Development Board (HDB) built permanent housing in the form of
flats. 2,600 units were built within one and a half years. The project was completed
by 1965 with 11,400 flats with schools, playgrounds, shops, and markets. 42 The
success of the project convinced the people of Singapore of the desirability of
moving from their kampongs, shophouses, and squatting accommodations into the
new housing developments.43
35 Tan Yong Soon, Environmental Planning for Sustainable Development, in Heng, supra note 8,
at 59.
36 For example, the British Plan of 1958 was premised on a population of 2 million in 1972. Khoo
Teng Chye & Remy Guo, Making Singapore a Livable and Sustainable City: Our Urban Systems
Approach, in Heng, supra note 8, at 81, 85.
37 Ng Lang, Planning to Overcome the Constraints of Scarcity, in Heng, supra note 8, at 71, 72-
73.
38 For a history of kampong fires, see Loh, supra note 34.
39 An earlier fire in Bukit Ho Swee occurred on August 8, 1934. Another fire left 12,000 homeless
on the neighboring Tiong Bahru Kampong on February 13, 1949. Bukit Ho Swee Fire, SING.
INFOPEDIA, http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_825_2004-12-30.html.
40 The former Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, is often quoted as saying, “You never want a
serious crisis to go to waste.” Rahm Emanuel on the Opportunities of Crisis, WSJ: VIDEO (Nov.
18, 2008), https://www.wsj.com/video/rahm-emanuel-on-the-opportunities-of-crisis/3F6B9880-
D1FD-492B-9A3D-70DBE8EB9E97.html.
41 LOH KAH SENG, SQUATTERS INTO CITIZENS: THE BUKIT HO SWEE FIRE AND THE MAKING OF
MODERN SINGAPORE (2013). The kampongs were occupied by low-income Chinese.
42 DALE, supra note 16, at 126. The HDB acquired the burnt area to build permanent housing.
43 Not all were satisfied though because of the great difference in lifestyle. For example, the pigs,
once prevalent in the kampongs, were not allowed in the new public housing.
162
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

Prime Minister Lee thought it inappropriate for private parties to profit from
the disaster:
"It is heinous in the extreme to allow profit to be made out of this
fire. In fact, if any profit is allowed to be made, then it will only be
an inducement, a temptation to arson by those who possess land
with squatters on it."44
PROPERTY RIGHTS
Property rights, as defined in the United States, do not exist in Singapore.
No constitutional right to property exists in Singapore. No equivalent to the 5th
Amendment Property right exists in Singapore. Singapore was poor upon
independence. It needed to acquire property. Thus, “the philosophy underlying the
Land Acquisition Act has been to secure private land for public good without undue
financial burden to the State.”45
Article 13 of the Federation of Malaysia Constitution provided a
constitutional right to property. Singapore dropped that provision upon
independence: “The following provisions of the Constitution of Malaysia shall
cease to have effect in Singapore: Part I; Article 13 ….”46
Section V of the Land Acquisition Act of 1966, 47 effective 1967, provided
the state could acquire land, “(a) for any public purpose, b) by any person,
corporation or statutory board, for any work or an undertaking which, in the opinion
of the Minister, is of public benefit or of public utility or in the public interest; or
(c) for any residential commercial, or industrial purposes.”48
The price was set at the lesser of the value on the date it was gazette for
acquisition or a date specified in the Land Acquisition Act. The British 1955 Land
Acquisition (Temporary Provisions) Ordinance specified April 22, 1955 as the date
44 LEE KUAN YEW, FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST: THE SINGAPORE STORY: 1965-2000, at 97
(2000).
45 Bryan Chew et al., Compulsory Acquisition of Land in Singapore, 22 SING. ACAD. L.J. 166, 167
(2010).
46 Republic of Singapore Independence Act 1965 § 6(3) (No. 9 of 1965, rev. ed. 1985).
47 The 1966 Act replaced the British 1955 Act.
48 Land Acquisition Act (Ch. 152) §5(1) (Act No. 41 of 1966, rev. ed. 1985). The statute also
detailed the procedures for condemnation.
163
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

for valuation.49 The government periodically changed the date, but the reality was
that the “lesser” test meant the government almost always paid less than market
value for the property until 2007. 50 The revisions occurred at irregular intervals.
For example, the 1973 date remained in effect until 1986.51
Prime Minister Lee in 1964 explained that two principles should govern the
acquisition of land. First, a private landowner should not benefit from development
undertaken at public expense, and 2) the price paid on acquisitions for a public
purpose should not exceed the land’s value had the government not contemplated
development in the area.52 He believed public development should “benefit the
community at large,” and not individual landowners.53
The Prime Minister said:
"I pushed the Land Acquisition Act through at a low point in the
property market. It was important to get the legality of what we
were doing properly entrenched, so that it cannot be changed for
fickle reasons."54
The Foreshores Act was amended in 1964 to exclude from valuation the loss of sea
frontage.55
The Singaporean government reserved the right to condemn private lands
“for a public purpose,” which is certainly a power held by United States’
governments.56 The critical difference is that until 2007 Singapore did not pay fair
market value for the property.57 It first restricted compensation to the lesser of either
a fixed date or the date of gazette notification. In other words, landowners could
49 DALE, supra note 16, at 76.
50 Chew, supra note 46, at 170, 173.
51 Id. at 172. Singapore in 1982 gave some ex gratia payments to some landowners who had
received low compensation under the 1973 valuations at the time of the government takings. Id. at
176.
52 LEE, supra note 45, at 97.
53 LOH, supra note 34, at 169-70.
54 Peter Ho, The Planning of a City-State 2 (Lew Kuan Yew Ctr. for Innovative Cities, Working
Paper No. 2, 2013).
55 Lee Kuan Yew: The Chance of a Lifetime, URB. SOLUTIONS, Feb. 2013, at 9.
https://smartnet.niua.org/sites/default/files/resources/UrbanSolutionsIssue2.pdf.
56 See e.g., Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26 (1954); Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469
(2005).
57 Chew, supra note 46, at 170, 173.
164
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

not benefit by speculating in real estate, if they choose to do so. An unappreciated
gain in asset values would not benefit the landowner if the Singapore government
decided to “take the land,” looking at an earlier valuation.
The government periodically advanced the date for determining
compensation, but it consistently trailed the market value of the property. The date
remained constant from 1973-1986 as Singapore was booming. Singapore acquired
43,713 acres from 1959-1984, one-third of the country’s land. 58 The government
only agreed in 2007 to pay market value for land.59
The United States gives the government the power of eminent domain to
condemn private property for public uses. A critical difference is that a landowner
dissatisfied with the offered price can litigate the value. Juries are often more
generous than the state’s offer.
The decisions and valuation of condemnation receive minimal judicial
review. The power to condemn is not reviewable while the valuation is fixed by
statute.60
The state started its land acquisition program by condemning the poor lands.
It later extended it to acquire the land necessary for rapid transit stations and other
infrastructure needs. The planners identified areas to be developed.
An advantage to urban planners in Singapore is they did not have to deal
with urban sprawl in a balkanized urban planning scenario. There is no conflict
between the city and the suburbs. It is not a central city combating suburban flight.
Planning is top down by a centralized government. The island city-state has
a unified government which makes the decisions at the state and local level. There
is no fight between local government and the national government, between states
and cities and counties, fights common in the United States.
The urban redevelopment of the United States is somewhat analogous to
that of Singapore. Government possesses the power to condemn land for urban
renewal. The projects in the United States did not result in the elimination of slums
and tenements. They simply resulted in moving the residents elsewhere in the city.
58 Land Acquisition Act Is Enforced 17 Jun 1967, HISTORYSG, NAT’L LIBR. BOARD,
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/1f669eff-bc82-49d1-a27c-2624e4cab8c6 (last visited
Mar. 1, 2019).
59 Chew, supra note 46, at 170, 173.
60 DALE, supra note 16, at 90.
165
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

Singapore eliminated its kampongs, shophouses, and squatters. The United
States still has ghettos, barrios, and homeless. The Singapore urban renewal was
successful. The United States' has been a costly failure.
Singapore had to accomplish three goals in its initial development upon
independence: land acquisition, land clearance, and resettlement.61 Singapore made
sure to resettle the displaced in better accommodations. Resettlement succeeded in
Singapore. It failed in the United States, as exemplified by the continuing slums in
America. Public housing is problematic in United States cities. Several became
bastions of crime. Others are run down.
HOUSING
Public housing is dramatically different in Singapore than the United States.
It works in Singapore, but not so well in the United States. 62 Roughly 82% of the
Singapore population live in high-rise government built housing. 63 Public housing
in the United States is mostly for the economically disadvantaged.64 Singapore
emphasizes home ownership rather than rental. Prime Minister Lee recognized the
importance of home ownership for residents to have a stake in the country:
“I had seen the contrast between the blocks of low-cost rental
apartments, badly misused and poorly maintained, and those of
house-proud owners, and was convinced that if every family owned
its home, the country would be more stable.”65
61 Gop Hup Chor & Heng Chye Kiang, Shaping Singapore’s Cityscape Through Urban Design, in
Heng, supra note 8, at 211, 212.
62 See e.g., Ben Austen, The Towers Came Down, and with Them the Promise of Public Housing,
N.Y. TIMES MAG. (Feb. 6, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/magazine/the-towers-
came-down-and-with-them-the-promise-of-public-housing.html.
63 Tan Ern Ser, Public Housing and Community Development: Planning for Urban Diversity in a
City-State, in Heng, supra note 8, at 257.
64 For example, public housing in Chicago was built only in the African-American neighborhoods,
with the exception of a small amount reserved for the elderly. Hills v. Gautreaux, 425 U.S. 284
(1976). The 3,607 unit Cabrini-Green apartments were torn down after 20 years. The high rise
apartment complex had descended into gangs and drug dealers with the hallways lined with
garbage. Drew Reed, The 29 Year Battle To Demolish Chicago’s Cabrini-Green Housing Project,
CITYMETRIC (Nov. 17, 2015), https://www.citymetric.com/skylines/20-year-battle-demolish-
chicago-s-notorious-cabrini-green-housing-project-1575.
65 LEE, supra note 445, at 95-96; Sock-Yong Phang, The Singapore Model of Housing and the
Welfare State, in HOUSING AND THE NEW WELFARE STATE: PERSPECTIVES FROM EAST ASIA AND
EUROPE 15, 21 (Richard Groves et al. eds., 2007).
166
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

The HDB residents thereby “own” their residences. However, the land
“ownership” Singapore touts is not land ownership as we understand it in terms of
fee simple absolute. The government owns the underlying land, similar to the
Bishop Trust in Hawaii, 66 and leases the individual units on 99-year leases. The
government retains ownership of the underlying land and common areas. No
presumption of renewability exists for the leases. The unit “owners” have no right
to compensation for any changes, modifications, or improvement to the leasehold.
Leases are transferable, and hence can be sold, but the term remains that of the
original 99 years. Thus, over 80% of the land is not owned in fee simple absolute
as we know it.
Singapore citizens can borrow from their retirement account to purchase the
HDB unit. The value of the flat will depreciate as the 99-year term approaches,
depriving the “owners” of both their flat and a substantial part of their retirement
fund.
The British recognized the poor housing conditions in Singapore. They
created the Singapore Investment Trust (SIT) to create public housing for the
population, but were unsuccessful in solving the housing problem. 67 England also
imposed rent control in 1947 as an attempt to moderate the rental pressures with
the shortages of housing after World War II. The effort was a failure since the
owners stopped maintaining and upgrading their properties.68
Prime Minister Lee recognized housing as the most serious problem facing
the new nation.69 The Housing and Development Board (HDB) was created in 1960
to replace the British SIT. The HDB built 26,168 units in its first three years, almost
66 Princess Berniece Pauahi Bishop, the great granddaughter of King Kamehameha, died in 1884,
establishing the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate to fund two schools in Hawaii. The trust
owned about 10% of the land in Hawaii, including all of Waikiki. The Trust did not sell its land
with a lease only policy. The United States Supreme Court in Hawaii Housing Authority v.
Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229 (1984) upheld the Hawaii Land Reform Act of 1967, which gave the state
the power to take by eminent domain title in real property and transfer it to leases to reduce the
high concentration in land ownership. Fair market value must be paid for the properties.
67 One reason was that the rental prices set by the SIT were too high for the residents.
68 Choe, supra note 23, at 6; Chor & Heng, supra note 62, at 211, 220. The result is that about
5,000 structures in the Central Business District have been preserved. Id. at 220.
69 The recognition was that housing “Could Kickstand the Entire Process of Social and Political
Change.”LOH, supra note 24, at 346.
167
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

as many as the British SIT in its previous 32 years. 70 The HDB controls housing
development in most of Singapore.
Singapore had to clear the slums, but they also had to house the displaced;
hence, the urgency for the HDB to build habitable shelter for the people.71 An early
goal of the HDB was also to move people out of the overcrowded central city. The
original residents came from the shanty towns and kampongs. Any displeasure on
being moved was assuaged to many by their new shelter with hot and cold running
water and electricity.
The HDB developments have evolved over time.72 The early housing
designs were essentially Spartan 1-2-3-room flats for low income residents. They
did, however, contain running water and electricity, 73 which was a decided
improvement for the residents over their previous squalid housing conditions. More
recent HBDs include premium housing and accommodations for the elderly.74
The emphasis shifted over the years to new towns. The 1955 Master Plan
proposed moving the population out from the central city into outlying areas.
Twenty-three of the towns and three “estates”75 have been built to date. These mini-
cities are self-contained, mixed-use developments which include a commons and a
town center, shops, medical facilities, fitness centers, recreational and sports
facilities, playgrounds, open space, community centers, medical facilities, schools,
and greenery. 76 Several of the facilities, such as community centers and schools,
are low rise. They are linked by a robust rapid transit system.
The HDB properties are attractive because the new units are sold below
market prices. 77 The government provides financing and grants for purchasers at
favorable terms.78 The HDB can sell below market price because its units are built
70 FROST & BALASINGAMCHOW, supra note 12, at 387. The SIT had built 20,907 units from 1947-
1059. Phang, supra note 62, at 9. The HDB built 44,345 flats in its first 5 years. Cheong Koon
Hean, The Evolution of HDB Towns, in Heng, supra note 8, at 101.
71 DALE, supra note 114, at 36.
72 See generally Cheong, supra note 71, at 101-25.
73 Yap Chin Beng, Homes for a Nation – Public Housing in Singapore, ETHOS, Apr. 2007, at 22,
https://www.csc.gov.sg/docs/default-source/ethos/ethos_is02.pdf.
74 Id.; FROST & BALASINGAMCHOW, supra note 12, at 387.
75 “Estates” are redeveloped older areas. Phang, supra note 71, at 26.
76 Liu, supra note 18, at 37.
77 Phang, supra note 71 at 21. The land was often acquired below market prices from the owners
pursuant to the Land Acquisition Act.
78 Id. at 22.
168
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

on government owned land acquired at low prices under the Land Acquisition
Act.79
One restraint is that the HDB imposes ethnic restrictions on occupancy in
the developments.80 The British in their land use planning segregated the ethnicities
in designated residential enclaves.81 Singapore’s intent is to preclude ethnic clusters
and communities by specifying the percent of each by ethnicity, Chinese, Malay
and Indian, in HDB developments. For example, an ethnic Chinese seller must sell
to another Chinese. Race riots had occurred in 1950, 1964, and 1969.82 The
Singapore government is trying to prevent future race riots arising out of ethnic
enclaves.
Singapore eliminated rent control in 2001. Private property is thereby
rentable at market value. The renters will often be expatriates barred from acquiring
HDB units.83 Foreigners comprise about 30% of Singapore’s population, 84 which
drives prices up on the private rentals.
The HDB also attempts to restrict “flipping.” The purchasers must hold onto
their flat for five years before reselling it.
LAND
The key to Singapore’s success is its ability to maximize the use of
seemingly every square inch of land, but not necessarily for development. 85 The
island has seven times as many people as San Francisco on six times the size. 86
79 Id. at 21.
80 The Ethnic Integration Policy was established in 1989. Id. at 34.
81 Choe, supra note 23, at 7.
82 See Averylynn Lim, The 5 Worst Riots that rocked Singapore, TheSmartLocal, December 8,
2013, https://thesmartlocal.com/read/5-riots-that-rocked-singapore
83 Phang, supra note 71, at 31.
84 Heng, supra note 8, at ix.
85 For example, nine percent of Singapore’s land has been set aside as parks and green spaces. Ng,
supra note 37, at 74.
86 Singapore has 5.6 million people on 278.6 square miles of land compared to 871,000 residents
in San Francisco on 46.87 square miles. By way of comparison the population of New York City
is 8.623 million on 302.6 square miles. San Francisco, like every American city, is the center of a
large metropolitan area. Singapore sits alone on an island.
169
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

Singapore owned 44% of the land when the PAP assumed power, and 85% by the
beginning of the New Millennium.87 Ownership controls development.
Singapore increased its land size by 25% through landfills. A prime
example of land expansion is Marina Bay on which sits the Marina Bay Sands
Casino and Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The damming of the mouth has created a
water catchment of fresh water with the sea water kept out. The Marina Downtown
was developed on 360 hectares of reclaimed land. The three story pumphouse next
to the reservoir adjoins a recently opened sustainability museum and a green lawn
along the roof. Both the lawn and reservoir provide recreational opportunities for
the residents.
Singapore maximizes the use of the surface land for development by placing
rail transport, pipes, and utility wires underground. Even a few highways now run
underground. A large underground crude oil storage on Jurong Island 88 “frees up
land above ground,” which reflects a prime factor in Singapore land use planning
of maximizing the use of surface land.89
Every square inch is precious on the island. That does not mean, though,
that every inch is to be developed. Singapore has dedicated large areas for parks
and recreation.90 Singapore recognizes that its residents cannot escape outside the
city for greenery, so it incorporates greenery in the city and its buildings.91
Singapore is deceptive for visitors. They perceive Singapore as a city of
high rises, but they only see half of the island. The island’s center is preserved as a
nature reserve and water catchment area.
87 Turnbull, supra n. 14, at 369.
88 Tan, supra note 35, at 170. 126 million gallons of crude oil are stored in this underground
cavern. Samanth Subramanian, How Singapore is Creating More Land for Itself, N.Y. TIMES
MAG. (Apr. 20, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/magazine/how-singapore-is-
creating-more-land-for-itself.html#commentsContainer.
89 See generally Ng Jun Sen, Masterplan of Singapore’s Underground Spaces Ready by 2019,
STRAITS TIMES (Feb. 5, 2018), https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/masterplan-of-spores-
underground-spaces-ready-by-next-year
90 Liu, supra note 18, at 36. Nine percent of the land has been set aside for parks and green spaces,
including four nature preserves. Ng, supra note 37, at 74.
91 Id. at 76.
170
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

STABILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH92
The economy diversified from maritime to low value manufacturing, high
value manufacturing, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, finances, and tourism. It
built a world class airport and airline.
Foreign investors, such as the global financial companies and petrochemical
plants, invest in Singapore because of the political stability of the government and
its land use planning. 93 Singapore as a one-party governing state providing
continuity in planning and regulation. 94 Potential investors do not have to worry
about elections putting radicals in power. Nor is there a risk of a violent revolution.
The underlying emphasis on economic growth with minimization of pollution is a
constant. The five-year plans may vary in the details, but not the essence.
Singapore adopted a policy of inviting multinational companies into the
country. The country was too small in size and population to build an economy on
the domestic market. Thus, the need for imported capital. Maritime already existed.
Then came industry, electronics, high tech, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, bio-
medical, financial services, tourism, and casinos.95 Singapore has become the
financial center of Southeast Asia.
The economic success fostered a population increase, but increasingly of
non-citizen residents.96 The birth rate in Singapore was down to 1.14 in 2018.97
The government does not resort to the tactics of brutal dictatorships. 98 It is
not a police state in the traditional sense, but liberties are restricted. It allows free
92 For a discussion of Singapore’s economy, see Linda Y. C. Lim, Singapore’s Success: After the
Miracle, 203, in Robert E. Looney: Handbook of Emerging Economies (Routledge 2014).
93 It is not a part of this paper, but it should be noted that Singapore also curbed the “destructive”
acts of the labor unions. Turnbull, supra n. 14, at 310, 324-5.
94 Heng, supra note 8, at viii.
95 Singapore was concerned about gambling by its citizens. Therefore, Singapore citizens pay
S$100 to enter a casino (for 24 hours) while non-citizens with their passports enter free. Singapore
Casino Entry Levy, SANDS CASINO, https://www.sandscasino.com/singapore/casino-entry.html
(last visited Mar. 1, 2019).
96 38.1% of Singapore’s workforce by 2014 were non-residents. Linda Y. C. Lim, Economy 1,
www.europaworld.com. 73% of them were low-skilled. Id. at 2.
97 Department of Statistics Singapore: Birth and Fertility, https://www.singstat.gov.sg/find-
data/search-by-theme/population/births-and-fertility/latest-data.
98 Prime Minister Lee did, however, become “increasingly authoritarian and intolerant of
opposition” in his later years. Turnbull, supa n. 14 at 336, 347.
171
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

elections every five years. 99 The PAP party can be voted out of office and
opposition members elected to parliament.100
The stability of a single government for the islands, city and country has
planning advantages, but it forestalls the political interplay of various levels of
government. Decisions are top-down.
Most Singapore citizens are satisfied because of the economic prosperity
and rise in the quality of life brought to the people. They can emigrate out of
Singapore if greatly unsatisfied.101 Roughly 6% of Singapore’s citizens lived
outside the country in 2017.102
FLOODS
Singapore is a tropical island 85 miles from the equator. It therefore receives
large amounts of precipitation. Flooding is a recurring problem, often with flash
floods. For example, severe flooding occurred in Singapore in the last two weeks
of 1954 as a combination of high rains, high tides, and inadequate flood control.
Five deaths resulted and 5,000 were left homeless. Kampongs were struck the
99 The PAP though does not accept the British concept of a “loyal opposition.” Id. at 372.
100 In some respects this is similar to the one-party blue or red states in the United States, but here
the United States Constitution and the federal government can affect the powers of the individual
states.
101 One exception is Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians. He was living outside Singapore
and thereby failed to serve the required two years military service. He is concerned about being
arrested if he returns. See Austin Ramzy, Singapore Says ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Author Skipped
Military Service, N.Y. TIMES (Aug. 22, 2018),
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/world/asia/kevin-kwan-crazy-rich-asians-singapore-
military.html.
102 The number of Singapore expatriates was 213,400. Leong Chan-Hoong, Commentary: More
Singaporeans going abroad, but are no less Singaporeans for it, channelnewsasia, Sept. 2,
2017https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/commentary-more-singaporeans-going-
abroad-but-are-no-less-9134122.
172
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

worse.103 One study found 262 flood events from December 1892 to December
2015.104
Singapore adopted a comprehensive Drainage Master Plan.105
Implementation of the plan has reduced flood prone areas to 36 hectares in 2013
from 3,200 in the 1970’s.106 The Public Utility Board (PUB) completed
improvements on 327 locations from 2012 through 2007. For example, the
Masagos Canal was widened to 44m from 38m. 107 Singapore has deepened and
widened drains and canals.108
For example, Orchard Street, the affluent shopping area, was subject to
severe flooding in both 2010 and 20122 because the existing 500 km Singapore
Canal was lacked the capacity to handle the high precipitation levels. Two 1000 km
drainage channels, paralleling the Singapore Canal, were completed in 2017 to
alleviate the flooding threat.109 It also completed construction of The Stamford
Detention Tank, which can temporarily store up to 38,000 m 3 of stormwater from
drains on Holland Road.110
103 Fiona Williamson, A Milestone on the Road to Independence? Singapore’s Catastrophic 1954
Floods, ARCADIA, Autumn 2016, No. 13,
http://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/milestone-road-independence-singapores-
catastrophic-1954-floods.
104 Winston T. L. Chow et al., A Multimethod Approach Towards Assessing Urban Flood Patterns
and Its Associated Vulnerabilities in Singapore, 2016 ADVANCES IN METEOROLOGY,
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/amete/2016/7159132/.
105 Tan, supra note 35, at 60. The plan consists of widening existing storm water drains and canals
and building new ones. And detention facilities.
106 Id.
107 Hannah Teoh, Flash Floods in Singapore Can’t Be Completely Eliminated, YAHOO NEWS
SING. (Feb. 4, 2018), https://sg.news.yahoo.com/flash-floods-singapore-cant-completely-
eliminated-masagos-053042769.html.
108 Cecelia Tortajada & Asit K. Biswas, Commentary: What Singapore Can Do for the Next Flood,
CHANNEL NEWSASIA (Jan. 8, 2019), https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/what-
singapore-can-do-to-prepare-for-the-next-flood-11093978.
109 Tunneling for Flood Protection in Singapore, TUNNEL BUS. MAG. (Oct. 18, 2018),
https://tunnelingonline.com/tunneling-for-flood-protection-in-singapore/.
110 Other steps were to build the Stamford Diversion Canal, which will relieve some of the
discharges into the Stamford Canal, by draining directly to the Singapore River. Low Youjin,
Improved Flood Prevention Measures Around Orchard Road from this Month, TODAY SING.
(Sept. 27, 2018), https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/improved-flood-prevention-measures-
around-orchard-road-month.
173
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

One purpose of the Marina Barrage is to prevent tidal flooding, thereby
protecting low-lying areas, such as Chinatown, Boat Quay, Jalan Besar, and
Geylang, from flooding.111
AESTHETICS AND THE GREEN CITY112
The development of Singapore into the Garden City is a story that applies
to most of Singapore’s success:
Singapore’s development as a Garden City and its subsequent re-
invention into a City in the Garden was possible because of a strong
political will, visionary leadership, clear policy direction, whole-of-
government collaboration among multiple agencies, partnership
with stakeholders, institutional capabilities and the passion of like-
minded professionals ….113
Prime Minister Lee quickly recognized that Singapore had to distinguish
itself from other nations. He settled on a “clean and green” Singapore.114
Present-day Singapore is the “Garden City,” a city of greenery, in attitude
and reality, with a pervasive presence of greenery.115 The development of
Singapore easily could have, but did not, result in a city of sterile, monolithic
skyscrapers so common in the post-World War II period. 116 Prime Minister Lee
believed “[A] blighted urban jungle of concrete destroys the urban spirit. We need
the greenery of nature to lift up our spirits.”117 He felt “without the greening effort,
111 Siau Ming En, The Big Read: A Decade On, Marina Barrage Is Now Key in S’pore’s Water
Management, TODAY SING. (Mar. 17, 2018), https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/big-read-
mere-idea-icon-marina-barrage-10-years.
112 For a history of green Singapore, see Neo Boon Siong, June Gwee & Candy Mak, Case Study
1: Growing a City in a Garden, in CASE STUDIES IN PUBLIC GOVERNANCE: BUILDING
INSTITUTIONS IN SINGAPORE 11 (June Gwee ed., 2012).
113 Id. at 12.
114 LEE, supra note 45, at 173.
115 Id. at 177.
116 One exception is the current debate over the future of the Golden Mile Tower, a brutalist style
building from the 1970’s. See Mike Ives, Too Ugly to Be Saved? Singapore Weighs Fate of Its
Brutalist Buildings, N.Y. TIMES (Jan. 27, 2019),
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/27/world/asia/singapore-brutalist-buildings.html.
117 Lee Kuan Yew, Senior Minister of Singapore, Speech at the Launch of the National Orchid
Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens (Oct. 20, 1995),
http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19951020.pdf.
174
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

Singapore would have been a barren, ugly city.”118 Placing trees between flats also
reduced dust and softened the concrete.119
He also believed:
One arm of my strategy was to make Singapore into an oasis in
Southeast Asia, for if we had First World standards, then
businessmen and tourists would make us a base for their business
and tours of the region. The infrastructure was easier to improve
than the rough and ready ways of the people.120
Greening the city had to start with cleaning up the city. The 5,000 street
peddlers were relocated to centers. 900,000 pigs on 8,000 farms were phased out.
The waterways were cleaned of pollution.121 Gum and cigarettes were banned from
public streets. Spitting on the sidewalk became a criminal offense. Environmental
pollution controls are incorporated in design developments.
Greenery became a national priority in 1977. It begins with the planning
process for new buildings. Rooftop gardens are common. Plantings appear on
balconies while foliage grows up the side of buildings. Vegetation climbs the sides
of buildings. Conversely green architecture and greenery buildings are rare in the
United States.122
Open space is covered. 90% of roads have roadside vegetation. The result
is that about half the island has green cover. A large percent of the island contains
parks, conservation zones, green belts, and green space. The first tree planting
campaign was initiated in 1963123 with Prime Minister Lee planting the first tree.124
118 Lee, supra note 29 at 36..
119 Siong, supra note 114, at 16.
120 LEE, supra note 45, at 174-5.
121 Tan, supra note 18, at 179.
122 See generally Andrea McArdle, Local Green Initiatives: What Local Governance Can
Contribute to Environmental Defenses Against the Onslaughts of Climate Change, 28 FORDHAM
ENVTL. L. REV. 102 (2016). Cf. Jane Margolies, The Next Frontier in Office Space? The Outdoors,
N.Y. TIMES (Jan. 15, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/business/office-buildings-
nature-biophilia.html.
123 Heng Chye Kiang & Yeo Su-Jan, Towards Greater Sustainability and Livability in an Urban
Age, in Heng, supra note 8, at 287, 291.
124 Ho, supra note 55.
175
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

The United States beginning with President George H.W. Bush adopted a
policy of “No Net Loss of Wetlands.” Singapore has a policy of “No Net Loss of
Green Areas” in that all green areas lost from a site have to be replaced. 125 The
plan also requires terraces or “intermediate terraces within the building or on the
roof.”
THE AUTOMOBILE IN SINGAPORE
Mass transit is facilitated through a combination of high density in a
relatively small area and the discouragement of automobile ownership. Mass transit
is most feasible in compact areas, such as New York City, San Francisco, Seattle,
and now Singapore. The number of automobiles are limited through a quota system
and surcharges. Auto usage is constrained through tolls in congested areas. No
“right” to own a car exists in Singapore. A potential car owner must first acquire a
certificate of entitlement (COE) to purchase a car. The government decides how
many to issue in a year, and then puts them up for bid. 126 The winners only then
can negotiate with a dealer to purchase a car, at a very high price because of
government surcharges and taxes. The first is a S$140 registration fee, followed by
a separate Additional Registration Fee (ARF) equal to 175% of the Open Market
Value (OMV) of the vehicle, 127 an excise tax of 20% of the original market value
of the vehicle, and a 7% goods and services tax. An annual road tax is imposed
based on the engine’s capacity.128 The COE lasts ten years. The car must then either
be scrapped or exported at the end of the ten years. Not many older vehicles exist
in Singapore.129 The ten-year license allows the government to annually determine
how many cars should be on the road.
There are also areas in Singapore where tolls are imposed on vehicles
through electronic road pricing (ERP). Singapore imposed in 1975 a fee on vehicles
entering the central business district. The system was upgraded in 1998 to an ERP,
which automatically monitors the cars entering and leaving designated areas, and
then subtracting the toll from the owner’s account.130
125 Tan, supra note 18, at 186.
126 Singh, supra note 26, at 142.
127 Id. at 134.
128 Id.
129 There probably will not be many vintage car shows in Singapore.
130 Singh, supra note 26, at 135-7. These systems are now appearing in United States cities, such
as Dallas.
176
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

Street parking is discouraged. New developments must plan for parking.
Small common garages were built for the parking needs of the older buildings. The
overall effect is to minimize roadside parking.131
JUDICIAL REVIEW
Singapore’s judiciary is relatively inactive in land use planning and
environmental cases. Singapore lacks an Administrative Procedure Act, 132 as well
as an Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Protection Act, the three
of which form the backbone of litigation in environmental and land use cases in the
United States. Standing, which has been broadly expanded in the United States
through decisions such as Sierra Club v. Morton133 and Massachusetts v.
Environmental Protection Agency,134 has been conservatively construed by the
Singapore courts. 135 Singapore also lacks a Freedom of Information Act. Chief
Justice Chan Sek Keong referred to “the lack of a judicial review culture in
Singapore” and “the dormant stage of judicial review in Singapore.”136
The courts generally defer to the government’s judgment in development
cases, similarly to the American courts prior to cases, such as Citizens to Preserve
Overton Park v. Volpe.137 The Singapore High Court held in Galstaun v. Attorney-
General that:
The Government is the proper authority for deciding what a public
purpose is. When the Government decides that a certain purpose is
a public purpose, it must be presumed that the Government is in
131 Liu, supra note 18, at 25.
132 Thio Li-ann, The Theory and Practice of Judicial Review of Administrative Action in
Singapore: Trends and Perspectives, in SAL CONFERENCE 2011: DEVELOPMENTS IN SINGAPORE
LAW BETWEEN 2006 AND 2010: TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES 714, 721 (Yeo Tiong Min et al., eds.
2011).
133 405 U.S. 727 (1972).
134 549 U.S. 497 (2007).
135 See e.g., Jeyaretnam Kenneth Andrew v. Attorney General, [2014] 1 S.L.R. 345 (Sing. C.A.).
136 Chan Sek Keong, Judicial Review - From Angst to Empathy, 22 SING. ACAD. L.J. 469, 474
(2010).
137 401 U.S. 402 (1971).
177
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

possession of facts which conclude the Government to declare that
the purpose is a public purpose.138
An appeal of a land decision can be made through a claim of bad faith. 139
HISTORIC PRESERVATION140
Singapore was developing fast. Land was rapidly being developed. Much
of the existing buildings could be lost in the rapid development. The Preservation
of Monuments board was established in 1971 to identify and protect significant
buildings in Singapore’s history.141 The 1991 Concept Plan recognized the need to
identify historic structures and natural areas for preservation. 142 The original port
of Singapore on the Singapore River is now home to restaurants and shops as are a
few historic shophouses.
Bukit Brown Cemetery143
Singapore’s unitary government has the power to act unilaterally when it
wishes. Accountability and oversight can be minimal, as shown by the long-term
plan to remove Bukit Brown Cemetery.144 Bukit Brown and the adjoining She Ong
are historic Chinese cemeteries. The government announced in 2012 that it would
start by removing 5,000 tombs to make way for a four-lane highway through Bukit
Brown, with the ultimate goal of removing all 200,000 graves.145
138 Galstaun v. Attorney General [1979-80] S.L.R.(R) 589, 591 (Sing. High Ct.). See also Basco
Enterprises Pte Ltd v. Soh Siang Wai, [1990] 1 M.L.J. 193 (Sing.), which upheld the government
when it was alleged to have acquired property at the 1973 prices, and then resold it on the open
market.
139 Eng Foong Ho v. Attorney General, [2009] SGCA 1. The burden of proof on bad faith is on the
party asserting it. A “mere suspicion” is insufficient to establish bad faith. Teng Fuh Holdings,
Pte, Ltd. v. Collector of Land Revenue, [2007] SGCA 14.
140 For a comprehensive study of historic preservation in Singapore, see Jack Tsen-Ta Lee,
Commandments and Conversations: Regulating Singapore’s Historical Built Environment
(unpublished manuscript) (on file with the author).
141 LEE, supra note 45, at 182.
142 Liu, supra note 18, at 34. About 7,000 structures were gazette for conservation. Id.
143 See generally Tsen-Ta Lee, supra note 142, at 1-4, 10-13.
144 For a discussion of Bukit Brown, see Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, We Built This City: Public
Participation in Land Use Decisions, 10 ASIAN J. COMP. L. 213, 218-20 (2016).
145 Removing cemeteries for development is not unknown. The University of San Francisco, my
undergraduate and J.D. alma mater, is built on the site of the old Catholic cemetery in San
Francisco. The city’s cemeteries were moved to Colma, down the Peninsula.
178
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

SUSTAINABILITY
Singapore has a goal of sustainability: sustainability in food, water, and
energy.
ENERGY
Singapore’s limited land mass precludes energy sustainability. Low winds
preclude substantial wind power and other demands on land use limit solar energy.
FOOD
Singapore may have a goal of sustainability, but it cannot become self-
sufficient in food because of its limited land base. 93% of its foodstock is imported.
Much of Singapore’s farm land upon independence was among the lands acquired
by eminent domain by the government after independence to build housing and
clean the environment. Singapore is promoting a program of vertical farming, one
example is a series of food towers, which are stacked layers of vegetable gardens
open to sunlight and precipitation.146
WATER
Precipitation is not a problem per se for Singapore, except that excessive
precipitation often causes flooding. The problem is capturing the precipitation.
Singapore lacked independence in water at the time of independence. The ruler of
Malaysia at one point threatened Singapore with its lack of a military, poor
economy, and dependence on Malaysia for water.147
Singapore has a goal of 100% sustainability in water. It lacks the land and
resources to become self-sufficient in energy and food, but it is working towards
self-sufficiency in water. The nation historically relied upon a pipeline from
Malaysia. It has since built catch basins, and desalinization plants. Singapore’s
water supply is a combination of “four taps”: imports, catchment reservoirs,
146 See Owen Wee, The Food Tower: Looking Up to Solve the Global Food Crisis, ECO-BUS. (Oct.
5, 2017), https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/the-food-tower-looking-up-to-solve-the-global-
food-crisis/.
147 LEE, supra note 45, at 254.
179
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

reclaiming, and desalinization. Singapore had three reservoirs in 1965. It now has
17.
Up to 30% of Singapore’s water is NEWater, which we call reclaimed water
or recycled water. NEWater in seven locations produces 170 million imperial
gallons daily out of a daily Singapore demand of 430 million imperial gallons. 148
Singapore has opened its third desalinization plant.
Marina Bay with the casino and iconic hotel, sits on filled in land. A dam,
the Marina Barrage, was built across the entrance of the Singapore River on Marina
Bay. The purpose was initially two-fold: flood control and potable water. The
barrage keeps salty sea water out, thereby serving as a cache for fresh water. It also
provides a reservoir for water recreation with the water level kept stead. 149 The
Marina Barrage was not feasible until the River was cleaned up. The upstream
polluted Kampongs had to go.
The catchment area for the Marina Barrage covers 10,000 hectares, one-
sixth of Singapore’s land. 150 The Island’s catchment areas with the creation of the
Marina, Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs, now cover 2/3 of its land surface. 151
Modern technology allows the water to be treated and purified.152
Water is precious in the island country. The nation tries to capture as much
water as possible. The offset is that it is illegal for private parties to collect
rainwater. Runoff belongs to the state as part of the nation’s water supply.
148 Kenji Kawase, Singapore Water Company’s Tap Runs Dry Amid Debt Crisis, NIKKEI ASIAN
REV. (June 15, 2018), https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Company-in-focus/Singapore-water-
company-s-tap-runs-dry-amid-debt-crisis2. Orange County, California is a global leader in waste
water recycling. It set a world record in February 2018 by recycling 100,008,000 gallons of
wastewater into potable water. Greg Mellen, From waste to taste; Orange County sets Guiness
record for recycled water, Orange County register, February 18, 2018,
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/02/18/from-waste-to-taste-orange-county-sets-guinness-record-
for-recycled-water/.
149 Grace Chua, Is Singapore’s Marina Barrage a Model for Flood Protection?, EMERGENCY
MGMT. (Sep. 25, 2014) http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Singapore-Marina-Barrage-Model-
Resilience.html. Recreational use is facilitated by keeping the reservoir level steady.
150 Ming En, supra note 114.
151 Id.
152 Singapore Water Story, PUB, https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/singaporewaterstory (last
visited Mar. 1, 2019).
180
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

Conservation plays a major role in meeting the Island’s water needs. Water
usage per household is also down to an average of 143 litres/day in 2017 from 165
in 2002.153
POPULATION
Singapore’s population is multi-racial unlike many Asian countries. Almost
all residents are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. It’s about 74%
Chinese, 13% Malay, and 9.0% Indian. 154 The occurrence of race riots in the
recent past affected the government’s policies, including maintaining ethnic
diversity in HDB housing developments.
Much of the population growth in recent years has been by immigrants,
mostly from Malaysia, China, and India. One planning document projects a
population of 6.9 million by 2030. 155 Singapore’s low birth rate necessitates the
large immigration of foreign workers into the economy, both in highly skilled areas,
such as finance, and in low-skilled industries, such as construction and domestic
service.156
TRASH
Waste is segregated; recycling encouraged, and much of the remaining
waste is incinerated. The incineration ash and remaining trash are transported to
an offshore island.157
CORRUPTION
Singapore’s success is facilitated by a lack of corruption.158 Corruption is a
plague in many countries, states, cities, and businesses. It is a hidden tax and drag
153 Id.
154 DEP’T OF STATISTICS SING., supra note 7, at 4.
155 GOV’T OF SING., NAT’L POPULATION & TALENT DIV., A SUSTAINABLE POPULATION FOR A
DYNAMIC POPULATION: POPULATION WHITE PAPER 48 (2013),
https://www.strategygroup.gov.sg/docs/default-source/Population/population-white-paper.pdf.
156 Lim, supra n. 19 at 208.
157 Semakau is the only remaining Singapore landfill. Tan, supra note 33, at 60, 63.
158 Singapore applies its anti-corruption laws on an extra-territorial basis, such that a Singapore
citizen engaged in corruption overseas can be prosecuted in Singapore. Public Prosecutor v. Taw
Cheng Long, [1998] 2 S.L.R. (R) 489 (Sing. C.A.).
181
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

on an economy. No record exists of widespread public corruption in the
independent Singapore. It is currently ranked fourth best on the list of corruption in
countries.159 One way of discouraging corruption is to pay the public workers high
salaries that correspond to market wages.160
Prime Minister Lee and the PAP were concerned about the risk of
corruption upon assuming office 1959. 161 They acted quickly against incidents of
corruption. Elections are “no-money” elections; thus, the system of campaign
contributions corruption does not exist in China. The law was changed such that a
presumption of corruption exists for those accused of living above their means. 162
The Singapore anti-corruption statutes apply to Singapore citizens outside the
country.163
No evidence exists of widespread corruption in Singapore, unlike
neighboring Malaysia. For example, Malaysia issued $6.5 billion in bonds for the
1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) development fund. The funds were
diverted into private hands, including the then Prime Minister of Malaysia.164
Government exists for the greater good of Singapore; i.e. the people of
Singapore, as exemplified by the lack of corruption. It has raised the quality of their
lives. Singapore works as a model because it has worked. However, the potential
for corruption exists. Indeed, the amount of power and resources in the government
makes corruption a ticking time bomb for Singapore.
159 Corruption Perceptions Index 2018, TRANSPARENCY INT’L,
https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018. A different study of Federal Public Corruption Convictions
by Judicial System shows Chicago heading the list of cities with 1,731 convictions from 1976-
2017 and Illinois third among states with 2,102 convictions. DICK SIMPSON ET AL., CORRUPTION IN
CHICAGO AND ILLINOIS: ANTI-CORRUPTION REPORT #11, at 5-6 (2019). http://pols.uic.edu/wp-
content/uploads/sites/273/2019/02/Corrruption-Rpt-11-final.docx.
160 The salaries of ministers and high government officials is pegged at 2/3 of the salaries of their
private sector equivalents as shown by their income tax returns. LEE, supra note 45, at 169.
161 Id. at 157-71.
162 Id. at 159-60.
163 Public Prosecutor v. Taw Cheng Kong, [1968] SGHC 10, 1 S.L.R.(R) 78 (Sing. H.C.).
164 Shamim Adam et al., The Story of Malaysia’s 1MDB, the Scandal That Shook the World of
Finance, BLOOMBERG (May 24, 2018, 12:05 AM),
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-24/how-malaysia-s-1mdb-scandal-shook-the-
financial-world-quicktake (last updated Dec. 17, 2018, 2:00 AM).
182
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Police presence on the streets of Singapore is rare. Instead, the highly
technological country has Universal CCTV coverage. Capital punishment is
imposed on drug traffickers.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH165
Article 14(1) of the Singapore Constitution provides for freedom of speech,
but then allows Parliament to enact any law which it considers “necessary or
expedient.”166 Article 14(2)(a) details eight grounds upon which speech can be
restricted: security, friendly relations with other states, public order, public
morality, protecting Parliamentary privilege, defamation, contempt of court, or
incitement to any criminal offense.167
Singapore is not big on freedom of speech, at least in public areas. The
government on September 1, 2000 designated an area within Hong Lim Park as
“Speakers Corner.”168 Potential speakers would have to register with the
Commissioner of Parks and Recreation within 30 days of the scheduled event.
Speeches can be held around the clock, but sound amplification devices are only
allowed between 9:00 AM and 10:30 PM. Speakers and organizers have to be
citizens of Singapore.
Prime Minister Lee was known to resort to defamation lawsuits to muzzle
critics if they strayed from the truth. Time Magazine, the International Herald
Examiner, and the Asia Wall Street Journal lost lawsuits against the Prime Minister.
The government also reduced the number of hard copies that could be distributed
in Singapore.169
Singapore limited press freedoms. Prime Minister Lee said:
165 In general, see Li-ann Thio, Singapore: Regulating Political Speech and the Commitment to
Build a Democratic Society, 1 Int. J. Const. L. 516 (2003).
166 SING. CONST. art. 14(1). Juan v. Public Prosecutor, [2003] 2 S.L.R.(R) 445, 449-50; Benjamin
v. Public Prosecutor, [1989], 2 S.L.R.(R) 419, 426 (not an absolute right).
167 SING. CONST. art. 14(2)(a).
168 The idea for Speakers’ Corner came from the Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London.
169 LEE, supra note 45, at 128-31, 191-92.
183
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

Freedom of the press, freedom of the news media, must be
subordinated to the overriding needs of Singapore, and to the
primacy of purpose of an elected government.170
Significantly, Singapore does not regulate access to the internet.
POLLUTION171
Singapore cleaned up its waterways and requires pollution control as part
of the planning of new factories. 172 Singapore separated, as has the United States,
the storm water drains from the sewerage drains – a critical step in public health
and sanitation.173 However, Singapore cannot be pollution free because of its
location. For example, forest fires from neighboring countries blow over the
island.174
SINGAPORE AND THE UNITED STATES
Both Singapore and the “13 original colonies” which formed the United
States, achieved their independence from England. Each is a country of immigrants
and their sons and daughters. Both became economic juggernauts. The 1790
population of the United States in the first census was 3,929,214. Singapore’s
population at independence in 1965 was 1.89 million. Both countries thereby
started with a small population. Yet the ethos of each developed differently. The
common denominator was land, which defined the course of each country. The
United States had land; Singapore did not.
The American people could push the frontier 3,000 miles from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. The “Ohio Territory,” the Northwest, opened up to the American
people with the Treaty of Paris of 1783, ending the Revolutionary War. The
American people were mostly rural with farming as the main industry, and thus had
to be self-reliant. They moved the frontier west roughly 3,000 miles, up to Alaska
170 Lee, supra note 29 at 69.
171 Several Asian countries, such as China and India, suffer from major pollution problems
whereas Singapore is essentially pollution free.
172 Tan, supra note 35, at 60.
173 Soon, supra note 35 at 62.
174 For example, fires in Indonesia in 1977 contaminated the air in Malaysia, Singapore, and
Thailand. DALE, supra note 16, at 52.
184
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

and to Hawaii out in the Pacific Ocean, often expanding in advance of the
government. They had a spirit of individualism.
The prevailing attitude was development coupled with laissez faire. As I
wrote of the American people in an earlier article:
They conquered the eastern wilderness, crossed the Berkshires,
Alleghenies, Rockies, Sierras, and Cascades, poured through the
Cumberland Gap and South Pass, tamed the Great Plains, bridged,
ferried and forged the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware,
Susquehanna, Ohio, Cumberland, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Arkansas, Platte, Sabine, Red, Colorado, and Columbia Rivers,
settled the frozen Northern Plains, and survived the burning deserts
of the Southwest.175
The American people upon independence could begin the Westward
expansion. Singapore had to create a new society starting with the problems of
housing and growing the economy. Urban renewal was a priority. The United States
literally gave away hundreds of millions of acres to be settled. Singapore took land
at depressed prices for development by the government.
The expanding frontier could absorb waves of immigrants from throughout
the globe. The Census Bureau announced the end of the frontier in 1890. Even when
the frontier closed, Americans remained a people of mobility. They could move to
the suburbs and exurbs, and even the wilderness and “off the grid.” They can move
from state to state. For example, roughly 5 million moved into California from other
states, but 6 million left California from 2007 to 2016. An additional net migration
out of California occurred in 2017.176
America expanded with private entrepreneurship and private housing.
Singapore took the opposite track focusing on the communal, deliberately stripping
property rights out of its constitution. Prime Minister Lee recognized the difference:
With a few exceptions, democracy has not brought good government to new
developing countries. What Asians value may not be what Americans or Europeans
value. Westerners value the freedoms and liberties of the individual. As an Asian
of Chinese cultural background, my values are for a government which is honest,
effective and efficient in protecting its people and allowing opportunities for all to
175 Denis Binder, Looking Back to the Future: The Curmudgeon’s Guide to the Future of
Environmental Law, 46 AKRON L. REV. 993, 999 (2013).
176 Californians fed up with housing costs and taxes are fleeing state in big numbers. Brian Uhler
& Justin Garosi, California Losing Residents Via Domestic Migration, LEGIS. ANALYST’S OFF.
(Feb. 21, 2018), https://lao.ca.gov/laoecontax/article/detail/265.
185
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

advance themselves in a stable and orderly society where they can live a good life
and raise their children to do better than themselves.177
The American people upon independence took a different approach than
Singapore. Having thrown off the yoke of King George III and the British in the
Revolutionary War, they were not about to surrender their independence to a
powerful federal government. They sought freedom not only for the American
people, but more significantly for the individual American. The United States,
going back to the Colonial Era, emphasized the rights of the individuals.
The first attempt at unity, the Articles of Confederation, failed; it was too
weak. The response was the adoption of the Constitution, followed by the Bill of
Rights. The Constitution and Bill of Rights define the rights of the people and limit
the powers of government. The Constitution established a government of
enumerated powers. The Bill of Rights protects the people against the government,
granting freedom of speech, assembly, religion, the right to seek a redress of
grievances, due process, property rights, and a jury trial. Not all these rights are
fully recognized in Singapore.
A fundamental difference between the Singapore approach and that of
America is the concept of fairness. Prime Minister Lee looked at “fairness” from
the perspective of the state and the people as a whole. Thus, the few might have to
sacrifice property values for the good of the many, especially early in the years of
Singapore’s independence.
The Singapore ethos is to value community rights higher than individual
rights. The people of Singapore lack those options unless they emigrate to another
country. They had to work with the land they had. Singapore had to maximize its
resource of limited land. The PAP could exercise, as a popularly exercised
government, draconian powers to acquire land cheaply and move the people from
slums to decent housing in record time, something the British were unable to do.
Public housing is a necessity for most Singapore citizens because of the lack of
land.
Singapore could integrate its public housing, reflecting the ethnicities in the
country. It emphasized ownership (99 year leases) of the flats. Public housing in
the United States is usually for low-income Americans. America’s record of public
housing is sad.
177 Lee Kuan Yew, Senior Minister of Singapore, Speech at the Create 21 Asahi Forum Tokyo 15
(Nov. 20, 1992), http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19921120.pdf
186
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

Prime Minister Lee understood the difference between Singapore and the
United States.
One fundamental difference between American and Oriental culture is the
individual’s position in society. In American culture an individual’s interest is
primary. This makes American society more aggressively competitive, with a
sharper edge and higher performance. In Singapore, the interests of the society take
precedence over that of the individual. Nevertheless, Singapore has to be
competitive in the market for jobs, goods and services. On the other hand the
government helps lower income groups to meet their needs for housing, health
services and education so that their children will have more of an equal chance to
rise through education.178
THE FUTURE OF SINGAPORE
I do not possess a crystal ball. Prophecy is always problematic. Singapore
has problems. It’s birth rate is dropping while the citizenry is aging. The country is
increasingly relying upon an immigrant, often low-skilled, population in its
workforce. Singapore’s affluence masks a growing inequity in its population.
The younger generation did not experience the hardships and privations of
the founders and their generation. They will expect more in terms of lifestyle.
Singapore’s planners built a diversified economy, but, as with the three
other Asian tigers of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, prospered during the
era of globalization. Political currents globally are rising against globalization. The
effects on the nation’s economy remain to be seen.
The PAP will someday be voted out of office as long as Singapore remains
a democracy. Founding political parties, such as in India, Israel, and Mexico, lose
their cachet and have to compete for votes.
CONCLUSION
Singapore grew from an economically poor colony to a vibrant economic
success in the five decades since independence. It has soared to the top among
former colonies in Asia and Africa. Singapore acts both as a city and nation. It is
also a local city acting globally. Singapore reflects the vision of Lee Kuan Yew, the
founder/leader of modern Singapore. Singapore works because it works.
178 LEE, supra note 29 at 140 .
187
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

The country has prospered as the population grew from 2.07 million in 1970
to 5.47 million in 2014. Population density more than doubled in the same period
from 3.538/square kilometer to 7.615.
The destinies of the United States and Singapore were molded by land.
America had 3,000 miles to cross. Singapore existed on an island of 28 square miles
with minimal prospects of lateral expansion. The United States could grow out.
Singapore could only grow up.
Singapore appears to be a paradise on earth, with deceptively attractive land
use planning, great affluence, and a diversified economy. Prime Minister Lee
inherited a small island with a large poverty stricken, landlocked population. He
had to prioritize. Not all problems could be addressed at once. He chose housing
and commerce. They were intertwined. Success in one aided success in the other.
Singapore in the areas of land use planning, environmental protection,
public housing, and greenery has been much more successful than the United
States. Ethnic conflicts have been minimized.
The government is more extensively involved in planning than the United
States, or indeed, any non-Communist country. It has been successful because of
the unitary government with a clear vision on a small land base. Urban planning in
the Unites States with a multitude of governments and planning agencies is a mixed
bag.
Planning has worked better in Singapore than in the United States and other
democracies. Political processes may impede making unpopular decisions, which
may be best in the long run. Elected politicians may be reticent to vote for unpopular
proposals. Singapore though has not experienced that problem. The one-party
unitary government has advantages in these situations.179
American cities have spread out into the suburbs or exurbs, chewing up
farmland. Urban planners in the United States cannot control urban sprawl or
confine the population in a central area. Singapore removed its farms, mostly
kampongs, early in its metamorphosis from squalor to splendor.
Land use decisions are subject to little effective judicial review. The
government owns 90% of the land which gives it almost preemptory power over
land. It has no Administrative Review Act. Standing is limited, as it was in the
United States prior to Sierra Club v. Morton.
179 See DALE, supra note 16 at 105-08. See also, Lim, supra n. 17 at 206.
188
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7

The United States, just as Singapore, gives the government the power of
eminent domain. The difference is that the United States' government has to pay
fair market value for the land. Land owners could contest the government’s
assessment.
Singapore acquired roughly 40% of the nation’s land at artificially low
prices, which did not reflect market value until the law was changed in 2007 – after
the state had acquired most of the land.
The question is not whether the country needed to acquire the land, but did
it have to be done at devalued assessments?
Singapore has a unitary government. The American political system is in a
sense Balkanized with thousands of local, state and territorial governments as well
as the federal government. Singapore can act quickly, decisively with one voice
ignoring, as in the Bukit Brown Cemetery public opinion. Much of it defies the
American spirit of individualism. It is state writ capitalism based on central
planning.
Singapore was lacking in natural resources upon independence, but it
possessed location, brain power, and a guiding vision by inspired leaders. Success
upon success built upon itself as Singapore got going. It is a country free from the
corruption that plagued many developing countries. It built upon its British
heritage, but from a Chinese Asian Confucian perspective. English as a unifying
language bridges the diverse ethnicities in Singapore.180
Singapore emerged in independence as an entrepot characterized by
pollution and poverty. The people arose out of widespread poverty and squalor.
Five decades later it was a world class metropolis.
Singapore is a top down limited democracy. It has severe limits on what we
consider fundamental rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and
Eighth Amendments with severe limitations on fundamental freedoms such as
speech, assembly, property rights, and the right to a jury trial. 181 It has restrained
labor to an extent unheard of in western democracies today.
That is the price Singapore citizens have paid for their success.
It was not ordained that Singapore would become an economic giant. The
country could have remained another economically poor country decades after
180 Singapore has four official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. SING. CONST. art.
153A.
181 The right to a jury trial was ended for all but capital cases in 1969, and totally abolished in
1992.
189
Binder: Singapore & Urban Planning
Published by Reading Room, 2019

independence. Singapore had to take desperate measures to climb out of poverty
into the economic powerhouse it is today. Prime Minister Lee said:
"And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn’t be here,
we would not have made economic progress, if we had not
intervened on very personal matters – who your neighbor is, how
you live, the noise you make, how you spit or what language you
use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.
That’s another problem."182
The price of success in Singapore was a suspension of rights.
182 DALE, supra note 16, at 99 (citing Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the National Day rally
August 1986, National Day Speech, STRAITS TIMES, Aug. 10, 1986, at 1).
190
Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 7
https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/jculp/vol3/iss1/7