Policy innovations for affordable housing In Singapore: From colony to global city
Abstract
The case of Singapore is important to highlight how governments of global cities can confront the affordable housing challenge. The book Policy Innovations for Affordable Housing in Singapore: From Colony to Global City analyses key housing policy innovations, provides details of their context and impact, explains the necessary conditions for these policies to work, and assesses their transferability to other global cities.Singapore inherited a Western institutional structure from the British colonial government when it gained independence, but the comprehensive and unique housing framework Singapore has implemented over five decades contains several connected yet distinct housing policy innovations. The list includes policies on state land acquisition, government as a housing developer, housing provident fund, social and racial integration, regulation of housing markets, housing redevelopment, and housing wealth monetisation. In sharp contrast to the situation in Singapore, the availability of affordable housing for low- and middle-income households is a challenging social problem that many countries and cities continue to grapple with. Although it is a small city-state, Singapore’s experience in transforming its housing sector since independence can be relevant to larger countries as the urban housing market is a highly localised market. This book offers a useful reference for policymakers, city leaders, students and academic researchers in universities, think tanks, and international organisations who work on affordable housing policies.