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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.
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 1950 and 1955 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 1960, citizens were allowed to purchase and own the homes they were renting on 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, although a CIA World Factbook report criticizes it for lowering the value of property as it made selling HDB flats more difficult. To prevent social strafication that may lead to social conflict, the housing of different income groups is mixed together in estates and new towns
In late 90s, 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 citizen in Singapore's growing aging society. 86% of Singapore's population is currently living in HDB flats.
Headquarters HDB's headquarters was previously located at Bukit Merah, and recently has moved to its new permises HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.
HDB Towns
HDB Estates
External links - HDB Website (http://www.hdb.gov.sg)
- Guide to Housing & Accomodation in Singapore (http://dly.free.fr/site/article.php3?id_article=12)
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