This is the immediate context. The wider context is Singapore itself. The island state can be viewed as an ongoing experiment in sustainability. Since deciding to go it alone in 1965, the key driver has been how to sustain itself economically given that its only resource is its people. This has required constant adaptation, largely in response to global economic change. However, other issues have emerged over time, in particular the question of how the island state sustains its people across all those other needs—housing them and providing for their non-material needs in order to sustain a stable and socially healthy community.
Sustainable Luxury looks at how recent changes have impacted on and been reflected in residential architecture: economic changes, the emergence of new professional categories and new kinds of clients with new kinds of expectations and lifestyles, the impact of housing affordability, and new approaches to traditional multi-generational living and changing family patterns (smaller families, singles and childless couples). Added to this is a growing sense of the nation’s own history and how it connects with the history and cultures of its neighbours and with a long tradition of coping with a tropical climate.
Sustainability: The Singapore Context
After a period of gradual evolution towards full self-government, the Federation of Malaysia was inaugurated on 9 July 1963, incorporating Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. The life of this new country was, however, short-lived and Singapore separated from the Federation to become the independent Republic of Singapore on 9 August 1965.
Driving this separation was the issue of ethnic inequality. Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution legislated affirmative action in favour of the ethnic Malays. Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, argued this was intolerably discriminatory towards other ethnic groups and reluctantly concluded that there was no alternative but for the countries to go their separate ways.
This non-negotiable principle has been crucial to the development of Singapore. It was, of course, a moral issue. But we need to remember that for Confucians the moral and the ethical are inseparable.3 As a result, there is always a powerful pragmatic corollary at work, namely, that what is right is also what ultimately benefits us.
What was ‘right’ was the principle of an inclusive multi-culturalism—a genuine pluralism—and an acceptance of the benefits of cultural diversity. Inclusiveness and diversity bring many benefits, including an openness to new ideas and an awareness of different ways of doing things and alternative ways of seeing things and resolving problems. In turn, this leads to a resilient and innovative economy and to a society with the texture that makes it worth living in. In other words, social equity or ‘equal opportunity in a safe and healthy environment’. Social equity has long been regarded as an aspect of sustainable development, which itself comprises three key elements: economic, political and cultural sustainability. While social equity may be seen as morally desirable, even to be a universal human right, the notable thing about Singapore is that from the beginning it was seen as a driver of prosperity.
Singapore regards social equity as a matrix of collective and individual responsibility rather than some kind of right. The Singaporean government is nothing if not pragmatic. Individuals are encouraged to take responsibility for their own lives rather than look to the state. Hence, they are required to contribute to a ‘provident fund’ to ensure their own health care and retirement income. On the other hand, through the Housing Development Board (HDB), established in 1960, the government undertakes to provide affordable housing for all citizens. Flats constructed by the HDB are priced according to affordability rather than construction costs or resale pricing. Accordingly, the risks associated with development—rising land prices, construction and labour costs—are borne by the HDB, representing a substantial subsidy. Likewise, the government invests heavily in high quality universal education, with a strong emphasis on producing an adaptable workforce geared to innovation.
Such measures, along with a progressive taxation system, have seen per capita income grow more than ten times since independence. Even allowing for growing income inequality and falling housing affordability, the achievement has been significant, making the country the most affluent in the region.
Architect Guz Wilkinson is known for his gorgeously luxuriant houses, such as The Coral House (page 86), which merge seamlessly with verdant tropical gardens and water features.
Even more significant is the fact that Singapore is also highly adaptive, which is another way of saying it has sustained itself very successfully during an era of rapid change in the global economy. The global economy is arguably more important to Singapore than any other country because Singapore, apart from its strategic location and deep water port, has no natural resources. It follows that social equity is more than simply a lofty ideal. For Singapore, it is a necessity because social equity means optimal participation by everyone in the economy and in social affairs. Without genuine social equity, Singapore would be unsustainable.
Singapore is an island of 714.3 square kilometres. Its current population is 5.3 million, which means a spread of 13,700 people per square kilometre. The population is projected to reach 6 million by 2020 and 6.9 million by 2030. This prompted a controversial White Paper, released in 2013, significantly titled A Sustainable Population for a Dynamic Singapore.
Growing public disquiet about population growth, which has contributed to a housing affordability and availability crisis, has resulted in new restrictions on expatriate workers. These currently make up 44 per cent of the workforce and the previous ratio of one expatriate worker for every four native Singaporeans has been replaced by a ratio of 1 : 8. This has contributed to a labour crisis, especially in the construction sector where the shortage of labour is now becoming a major impediment to development. Like other affluent societies, service industries have become dependent on expatriate labour to do the jobs local people are no longer prepared to do.
In response to an overheated property market, the government has introduced a number of dampening measures, including restrictions on mortgages. At the same time, the HDB has increased its construction of public housing apartments, from 58,731 under construction in 2011 to 72,737 under construction in 2012. Notwithstanding this increase, there was actually a fall in completed flats, contributing to long waiting times and leading to overcrowding as extended families squeeze into apartments of inadequate size.
Nor is population growth an ‘urban myth’. It is very real and is widely regarded as contributing to recent problems as seemingly unrelated as more frequent train breakdowns and urban flooding.
Alongside housing affordability, the cost of living overall is becoming a major concern in Singapore. It is now the eighth most expensive city in the world and the third most expensive in Asia. Again, this can be seen as partly an imported problem. As one architect remarked to me while researching this book, ‘Singapore is the new Monaco—a place to park money.’ It is certainly a tax haven with a low tax rate on personal income among a number of factors— such as other tax measures, Singapore’s location, the fact that it is almost entirely corruption-free, the availability of a skilled workforce and advanced infrastructure—attracting large amounts of foreign money. It is estimated that one in every six Singaporean households have at least $1 million in disposable income. Despite growing disparities in income, real economic growth continues.
Formwerkz typically brings nature into the home, often with mature trees providing indoor greenery, such as in the Tree House (page 78).
Because it is so exposed to shifts in the global economy, Singapore has also experienced demographic changes related to economic change and the emergence of new professional groups. Its highly diversified economy is a result of deliberate government policy to ensure that Singapore remains sustainable. It is now, for example, the fourth most important financial