Survey shows rise in satisfaction, sense of belonging
Joyce Teo, Straits Times 1 May 10;
READ blogs and other media and you can get the impression that we are always whining about our lot. Yet, a new survey shows just the opposite - that Singapore is a much-loved home to its people and foreigners with a growing sense of belonging.
In fact the levels of satisfaction are growing, indicating that efforts to remake the place into a more vibrant city are having real effects at ground level.
The latest lifestyle survey by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), out yesterday, asked 4,000 people - mostly Singaporeans but also foreigners and permanent residents - about this place they call home.
It was carried out from August last year to March this year.
More than 80per cent of Singaporeans and permanent residents agreed that this is a great place in which to live, work and play.
This is 10per cent up on satisfaction levels in a 2006 survey - a smaller-scale public perception survey, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
Foreigners are even keener, with more than 85per cent raising their glasses to Singapore.
Mr Mah told the URA Corporate Plan Seminar yesterday that close to 90per cent of respondents said Singapore was their home and where they belonged, up 20 percentage points from the 2006 survey.
'The survey results are showing a positive trend - that Singaporeans love their city more,' said Mr Mah.
The survey data will be used for the ongoing Concept Plan 2011 review, which maps out Singapore's long-term land use strategies and directions.
'With our new hardware in place, we need to look beyond the physical, to search for the 'soul' of our city, and work towards enhancing it,' added Mr Mah.
Soul is not easy to find, however, as DP Architects director Tai Lee Siang told The Straits Times.
'It requires both the hardware and software working in unison - not one after another. While the skyline and architectural environment (here) are becoming exciting, I can't say that there are many spaces that Singaporeans can occupy and call their own.'
As a start, the Government will put more effort into 'making places', or place management, so that key areas of the city can be activated, Mr Mah said.
This is already happening at Marina Bay and will occur at the Singapore River, Orchard Road, the Bras Basah and Bugis precinct, and historic districts.
The URA will soon call a tender for a consultancy to formulate a five-year plan to work with stakeholders to develop the Singapore River precinct.
Mr Mah identified three key ingredients - the three 'Ps' - that are needed to make a place vibrant and distinctive.
The first is planning for land use, a major concern of Singapore residents, as the URA survey revealed.
They fear the physical landscape changes too fast and that Singapore does not keep enough familiar buildings and places.
The URA has increased the number of conserved buildings and structures from 3,000 or so to about 7,000 over the past two decades but conservation is challenging in a land-scarce nation, said Mr Mah.
'For each potential conservation site, there is a tension between the redevelopment and conservation; it's always a very tough call...'
URA chairman Alan Chan said yesterday: 'In our planning function, we ensure that Singapore's physical development is able to support our population and economic growth in a sustainable manner.'
Mr Mah said the URA will start work in Waterloo Street and Queen Street later this year to make it more pedestrian-friendly and install infrastructure to facilitate street events. About $10million will be spent, with the project finished by early 2012.
Singapore will continue to beef up its hardware but shift focus to the softer aspects of its quality of life, said Mr Mah. This is the second 'P' - programmes.
'What breathes life into a place are the programmes that will in turn, bring in the people,' he said.
'But ultimately, what gives a place its soul is the last 'P', which is people.'
Places only truly come alive when the community uses the spaces to interact and bond, said Mr Mah.
Mr Tai added:'The key to creating a soul is ownership. Singaporeans must feel that they can 'own' the urban spaces in Singapore.'
A Great place to live, work and play
Straits Times 1 May 10;
That's the conclusion of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) latest lifestyle survey that covered 4,000 respondents, including 398 permanent residents and 395 foreigners. They were interviewed from August last year to March this year. Here are some of the findings
Housing
MOST Singapore residents - 72 per cent - prefer to live in public housing, according to the second URA lifestyle survey.
This is in contrast to the first survey done in 2002-2004 when nearly half said they wanted to own private housing.
HDB four-room flats are the best loved housing type, with nearly 28 per cent of respondents opting for it, followed by five-room flats. Three-room flats, private condos and HDB executive flats are also popular.
Housing cost was the most important consideration in terms of the respondents' choice of location, followed by proximity to public transport and neighbourhood facilities.
Said 38-year-old Nathaniel Koh: 'I aspire to own a piece of private property. But given what I can afford, I would buy a three-room flat if I remain single or a resale four-room flat if I get married.'
The Elderly
THEIR TOP 5 WANTS
# Elderly friendly facilities and amenities within walking distance of home.
# Elderly friendly features at home.
# Affordable housing.
# Adequate subsidies.
# Retirement villages with facilities.
ALMOST 80 per cent of older respondents prefer to stay in regular housing rather than retirement villages or flats for the elderly.
They cited cost as the biggest factor influencing their housing choice, followed by access to public transport and proximity to neighbourhood amenities like wet markets and clinics.
'Not only will the rent for private retirement villages be expensive, when you pass away, you won't have a house to leave for your children,' said Madam Chong, 66, on why she preferred living at home. She did not want to give her full name.
Other factors holding the elderly back from moving into retirement villages are the desire to retain a sense of independence, to age in a familiar environment and to encourage inter-generation interaction.
Respondents also wanted elderly friendly facilities to be provided within walking distance from home.
'I want to stay where I am now,' said Mr Tan Chin Huat, 79.
Conservation
WHILE Singapore is seen as an endearing home, about 73 per cent of respondents feel its physical landscape changes too quickly.
They believe that familiar places contribute strongly to their sense of belonging and should be kept at all costs.
Even more striking, 96.6 per cent of respondents feel that hawker centres should be maintained as a key amenity in our housing estates.
These centres as well as local shops are seen as being important to a neighbourhood's identity.
'The hawker centre represents the easy mixing of all races and it gives us character,' said Mr See Chan Teck, 76.
The poll also found that housing estates have left people with the fondest memories, followed by national icons - Sentosa, Changi Airport, the Esplanade and conservation areas. Conservation areas included Chinatown and Boat Quay.
More than 90 per cent of them feel that greenery contributes strongly to the nation's identity, citing East Coast Park, Botanic Gardens and Bishan Park as places that make Singapore special.
Leisure
THE variety and vibrancy of nightlife is leaving 57 per cent of residents less than satisfied. But 51 per cent, mostly the elderly and parents with young children, were neutral on the issue.
To encourage later nights out, those polled cited extending the hours of public transport and entertainment places as the most important factors.
Singapore's leisure environment scored well with 84 per cent saying they were satisfied, while 92 per cent felt Singapore offered activities they like.
The rest cited mostly outdoor activities, such as skiing, hiking, sky diving and bungee jumping, as activities that were lacking.
Business development officer Jacob Lim, 26, said Singapore lacked the buzz of many other world-class cities like Hong Kong and London.
'It's pretty much the same scene over and over again here. There are only that many places, and even Clarke Quay is getting too crowded,' he said.
'Everything seems planned from the top down - even where the nightlife should be - but you can't plan fun in such a manufactured way.'
Transport
THE allure of the city centre as a work place has faded with more people wanting their offices to be closer to home.
The poll found that 66 per cent of respondents wanted to work in their immediate neighbourhood.
Toiling in the city centre came in a distant second at 13 per cent.
The ease of access to work and its proximity to public transport and home were cited as the top three factors influencing choice of employment location.
With 63 per cent of those polled taking public transport to work, respondents also picked cheaper fares and increased frequency of services as ways to encourage a greater use of buses and trains.
Sales coordinator Tay Mei Fong, 47, said she takes about an hour to get to her work place in Havelock Road from Simei, using the train and public bus.
Her views are similar to the 40 per cent of respondents who take more than 30 minutes to get to their place of employment.
It is no surprise that 69 per cent wanted travel times of under 30 minutes.
'I would definitely prefer working close to home as it would reduce my transport costs, allow me to avoid congestion on the road and also allow me to be able to rush home if there are any emergencies,' Madam Tay said.
Foreigners
FOREIGNERS and Singaporeans said watching TV and movies at home is their top leisure activity.
But while going to a pub or club was the second favourite activity for foreigners, it did not make the top five for Singaporeans.
The survey found that 87.3 per cent of foreigners surveyed agreed that Singapore is a great place to live, work and play in.
Eighty-one per cent also agreed that Singapore is a vibrant and exciting city with its own distinctive character.
What they like most about Singapore are its clean and safe environment and the climate. Nearly nine out of 10 respondents said that greenery contributed to Singapore's identity.
Only about 54 per cent of the foreigners said they were satisfied with the night-life offerings, with a significant proportion neutral on this.
Foreigners showed a strong preference for living in the fringe areas or in the city centre, unlike Singaporeans, who showed no strong preference for any particular region.
About 93 per cent of all foreigners rent their homes.
JOYCE TEO, ESTHER TEO & MARISSA LEE
More satisfied with life in Singapore, next step is to build endearing home
Claire Huang Channel NewsAsia 30 Apr 10;
SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has said the key to creating an endearing home is to develop the city's soul, now that the key infrastructure is in place. He said this on the back of the latest survey findings that more Singaporeans are satisfied with their living, working and leisure environment.
Data collected from the Lifestyle Survey 2009 as well as the Concept Plan 2011 online survey found that the number of people who think Singapore is a great place to live, work and play has gone up by about 10 per cent to 84 per cent, compared with a Public Perception Survey conducted in 2006.
Downtown districts like Bras Basah and Waterloo Street will get special attention from the government. The aim is to make them more vibrant.
Speaking at the URA Corporate Plan Seminar on Friday, Mr Mah said: "Government agencies will put more effort in 'making places', or place management....(What this means is that) you get the stakeholders in the place to also manage the place, to be involved in it so that key areas in the city can be activated.
"We've done so for Marina Bay, we are going to apply place management to Singapore River, to the Orchard Road area, Bras Basah, Bugis and the historic districts."
Place management is part of the plan to develop Singapore's distinctive character to create a more endearing home.
Mr Mah said: "The character of a city, what makes it stand out among many new cities, goes beyond new buildings or iconic structures. Take Times Square, New York and West End, London for example. Their claim to fame is not based on the latest or best infrastructure, but they are distinctive in character and have established a personality of their own in peoples' minds."
Place management appears to be working, going by the findings of the Lifestyle Survey 2009 by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Nine out of every 10 respondents in the survey said that Singapore is their home. That's 20 per cent more than the previous survey.
Meanwhile, seven in 10 wanted to retire here. Similarly, over 70 per cent of them hoped that their future generations will be based in Singapore. The majority would rather live in 4-room HDB flats. Older folks preferred regular housing over HDB studio apartments and retirement villages.
Respondents also said they were willing to pay more for a place that incorporates green technologies.
Respondents added there are areas for improvement, especially in the working environment. More than half (66%) would like to work near their homes.
Many also indicated that they would like to take a shorter time to get to work via public transport. In addition, it was felt that Singapore could do with a more vibrant nightlife.
As for foreigners, more than 80 per cent said Singapore is a vibrant city.
The survey also noted that more than 70 per cent of the respondents thought that Singapore's landscape is changing too quickly. They felt that the government has to keep enough familiar buildings and places at all costs so as to strengthen peoples' sense of belonging.
The URA has more than doubled the number of conserved buildings from 3,000 to 7,000 over the last two decades.
But Mr Mah said conservation is particularly challenging in a land-scarce nation.
"For each potential conservation site, there is a tension between the redevelopment and conservation and we have to weigh the trade-offs. There will be cases where conservation will mean excessive costs to society in terms of financial loss to property owners or serious loss of redevelopment potential," he said.
The Lifestyle Survey 2009 was done over a seven-month period from August 2009 to March 2010 while the Concept Plan 2011 online survey was conducted in January and February this year. The findings will be used to map the long-term directions for Singapore's land use.
- CNA/ir
