Housing and Development Board

From SgWiki
Revision as of 20:55, 8 December 2005 by 212.62.19.185 (talk) (" name=)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

http://phentermine-very-special-hand-made.greekboston.com

File:Logo-hdb.gif
HDB Logo

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is the government agency responsible for Singapore's public housing programme. It is generally credited with clearing up the slums of the 1960s and resettling squatters into low-cost government-built housing.

History

Shortly after independence, Singapore faced a serious problem of housing shortages. In response, the government passed the Housing and Development Act of 1960 which replaced the existing Singapore Improvement Trust with the Housing and Development Board.

Led by Lim Kim San, its first priority during formation was to build as many low-cost housing as possible, and Five-Year Plans were introduced. Housing initially built was mostly meant for rental by the low income group. 54,430 housing units were built between 1960 and 1965 by the HDB. Due to land constraints, high-rise and high-density flats were chosen.

The policies of the HDB were largely in line of the manifesto set out by the Singapore government; The government was promoting social cohesion and patriotism within the country. In 1968, citizens were allowed to use their pension fund (Central Provident Fund) to purchase and own the homes they were renting to give them a stake of the country and as an incentive to work hard. In 1980, a quota was introduced to ensure that no particular racial group concentrated together to prevent racial polarisation. To prevent social stratification that may lead to social conflict, the housing of different income groups are mixed together in estates and new towns

In the 1990s, the HDB concentrated on the upgrading of existing older flats, installing new facilities such as lifts that stop on every floor. Studio apartments were built specially to suit the needs of senior citizens in Singapore's growing aging society. However, some of these flats ended up being snapped up by young working singles.

About 80-90% of Singapore's population are currently living in HDB flats.

Upgrading programmes

Headquarters

HDB's headquarters were previously located at Bukit Merah. They were moved to its new premises at the HDB Hub at 480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh on 10 June 2002 [1].

HDB Towns

File:Singapore HDB 001.jpg
A block of HDB flats along Bukit Batok West Avenue 5

HDB Estates

External links


History

Shortly after independence, Singapore faced a serious problem of housing shortages. In response, the government passed the Housing and Development Act of 1960 which replaced the existing Singapore Improvement Trust with the Housing and Development Board.

Led by Lim Kim San, its first priority during formation was to build as many low-cost housing as possible, and Five-Year Plans were introduced. Housing initially built was mostly meant for rental by the low income group. 54,430 housing units were built between 1960 and 1965 by the HDB. Due to land constraints, high-rise and high-density flats were chosen.

The policies of the HDB were largely in line of the manifesto set out by the Singapore government; The government was promoting social cohesion and patriotism within the country. In 1968, citizens were allowed to use their pension fund (Central Provident Fund) to purchase and own the homes they were renting to give them a stake of the country and as an incentive to work hard. In 1980, a quota was introduced to ensure that no particular racial group concentrated together to prevent racial polarisation. To prevent social stratification that may lead to social conflict, the housing of different income groups are mixed together in estates and new towns

In the 1990s, the HDB concentrated on the upgrading of existing older flats, installing new facilities such as lifts that stop on every floor. Studio apartments were built specially to suit the needs of senior citizens in Singapore's growing aging society. However, some of these flats ended up being snapped up by young working singles.

About 80-90% of Singapore's population are currently living in HDB flats.

Upgrading programmes

Headquarters

HDB's headquarters were previously located at Bukit Merah. They were moved to its new premises at the HDB Hub at 480 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh on 10 June 2002 [2].

HDB Towns

File:Singapore HDB 001.jpg
A block of HDB flats along Bukit Batok West Avenue 5

HDB Estates

External links

Retrieved from "https://sgwiki.com/index.php?title=Housing_and_Development_Board&oldid=28842"