Research Content 01 : Vanishing Places Con’t

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“Through the years, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have issued plans to mimic the old streetscape of Chinatown, such as converting Smith Street into Chinatown Food Street to recreate the bustling nightlife in old night market streets. Despite the efforts, the STB only managed to draw tourists to the streets and fails to bring the locals back.” Extract from the main article.”

Chinatown: Lost Community & Identity of Place

An article I chanced upon, that conveys the transformation phases of Chinatown, from a local housing community to the current heritage site, that is only visual replicate of the past. The inevitable change of past Chinatown reflects the similar conditions of how many of the local communal places like Rocher Centre and Dakota Crescent faces from urban development.
The main guise of this article, weights the precious value of having a community identity over the urban development and if this value is necessary brought along with the changes. Are we contented by what we have or can have?

Being a different generation from the era  of the old Chinatown, which the article was referring, I do realise we much lesser shophouse housings and the communal spaces are more distance away from our doorstep. What if our corridors could embody the same experience like the past; where people expand their living space away from the four walls and into the corridors that are shared with their neighbour, creating socialising spaces right at their doorsteps?

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