Housing in Singapore – Copying London’s Barbican Principles?

Singapore, a Planned, Socialist – and Capitalist – State much like some earlier Medieval City State (Milan, Venice, Genoa, Florence, and although quite small) seems to dominate its region. Although it became established on Socialist principles (albeit incorporating the Capitalist idea that ‘everything should be paid for’) it is very much admired by many Capitalist Countries. It differs from other countries in a number of ways, importantly a belief in ideas about ‘Planning’, whether it be the meticulous organization and layout of Cities, or matters relating to the Economy. Guy de Jonquières has noted, ‘Singapore’s success owes more to the fact that it is a “meticulously planned economy” with “handholding and cosseting” of overseas investors’  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/17/uk-singapore-on-Thames. …. Why Singapore Is the World‘s Most Successful Society | HuffPost and

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/singapore-world-successful-society_b_7934988
 

Singapore Housing in a Planned Economy     ….. The Singaporean state owns 90 percent of the country’s land. Remarkably, this level of ownership was not present from the beginning. In 1949, the state owned just 31 percent of the country’s land. It got up to 90 percent land ownership through decades of forced sales, or what people in the US call eminent domain. State Ownership, Privatization and Performance in Singapore:

http://www.heracleous.org/uploads/1/1/2/9/11299865/apjm_privatization.pdf · PDF file

‘that is, whether superior performance of SOEs can be achieved under state ownership. While the traditional belief has been supported by empirical work, that private ownership is generally associated with superior performance, the experience of Singapore is a clear example to the contrary.’ Due to the origins of the land law in Singapore, all land ultimately belongs to the state and you can only own an estate or some lesser interest in the land. Under the State Lands Act 5 types of grants of land may be made by the state: estates in fee simple; estates in perpetuity; leases; temporary occupation licences; tenancy agreements.  

Interestingly much of the housing in Singapore was built in the 1960’s and 70’s often by architects who designed housing in the United Kingdom itself. Arguably, because land ownership is much less of an issue (since the State owns the land rather than the individual ownership strived for in England particularly) snobbery appears to be much, much less evident than in the UK.