Urban planning and the reasons for politicisation of the environment in Singapore

• Main Author: Chen, Clarissa Wan Qi
• Other Authors: Hallam Stevens
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Humanities::History
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155970
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Singapore of today is typically known as a “garden city”, an enclave of luscious flora and fauna that covers even the furthest ends of the island. This perception of Singapore is widely known by residents and foreigners alike, and is one of the main draws of the city. Certainly, Singapore’s push for environmentalism stems from its redevelopment goals since independence, and continues to be a crucial part of its development goals today. With the important role that environmentalism has played throughout the history of Singapore, it is interesting to note that there has not been much literature that addresses the necessity of ecological policies in establishing the social connections of this young city-state. This paper thus seeks to examine the politics of the environment and how it was used as a calculated political manoeuvre to balance the expectations of both internal communities and as a projection towards external parties, through analysing publicly available government documents, newspaper articles and speeches by various political institutions to see the representation of agency of the actors involved. It also aims to highlight the misconceptions of success and affluence that these environmental policies might indicate for the future.