New high-density intensified housing developments in Asia: qualities, potential and challenges

Abstract

In the context of urban development intensification, public space often faces typological and programmatic contest and negotiations among the increasing number of diverse users, resulting in the emergence of new urban space typologies. This paper highlights the key considerations and trends in the development of new urban spaces in the context of high-density, high-intensity residential urban environments in Asia. It employs a comparative analysis of critical parameters and challenges of urban space design in three exemplary case studies from Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo, assessing their capacity to become models for quality-intensified housing development in future high-density environments.

Acknowledgements

The content discussed in this paper is part of the research project ‘Urban Space Planning for Sustainable High-Density Environments’ conducted at the Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities (CSAC), School of Design and Environment (SDE), at the National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB), all in Singapore.

Notes

1. More information on the integrated urban space framework and its applications can be found in Cho, Trivic, and Nasution (2015).

2. The site visit exercises were conducted together with the professional representatives of collaborating Singapore government agencies, namely the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) with an aim to refine the evaluation checklist and gather consensus in assessment.

3. The integrated urban space framework may be used for different design purposes and facilitate optimum design actions to enhance the urban space design quality. With such capacities, it can be a useful guiding tool in practice, policy-making, decision-making, design brief development, and urban space pre- and post-evaluation, involving various actors including the users of the space. This will help shape better decisions at all levels, enable prompt communication among the various actors to facilitate a decision-making process that is more transparent, and ultimately deliver improved outcomes. For elaborated practical means of urban space framework application, see Cho, Heng, and Trivic (2016).

4. While Shinonome Codan Court and The Pinnacle@Duxton represent public housing developments, Dangdai Moma is a private condominium.

5. Subsidized public housing policy in Singapore, for instance, not only supported its industrial development but also served as an instrument to strengthen social cohesion and reduce ethnic segregation (Chiu 2008b), which had implications on the planning and design of housing typologies.

6. A total of 53 case studies in local (Singapore) and international high-density contexts (Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Hong Kong and New York) have been documented and analysed. Apart from the high-density condition, the main criteria for selecting the case studies were the emerging new typologies and high level of complexity in terms of both hybrid spatial configurations and high intensity of use. The case studies are categorized under five typologies: residential, recreational, mixed-use, urban centres and infrastructural transit-led spaces. For more details, see Cho, Trivic, and Nasution (2015).