Chinatown and Urban Renewal

What is urban renewal?

Urban renewal involves the transformation of land areas from one use to another - for example, a slum like Chinatown was transformed into a tourist attraction and a place for cultural nostalgia. Urban renewal may involve relocation of neighbourhoods, demolition of buildings (sometimes culturally important ones) and renovation. Essentially, it aims to focus on transforming the nature of places to further aid the development of the society as a whole - these places usually become more economically active or hold more residential areas.

How has urban renewal affected Chinatown?

Chinatown back then was a dirty slum-like place on the surface; non-residents and government housing planners saw it as dirty and messy. However, its residents enjoyed a very warm, close-knit community spirit - it was truly the home of the Chinese in Singapore. Urban renewal removed most of the old businesses there, for example death houses and prostitution dens in Sago Lane. It also cleaned up the place by a lot, relocating most of its residents into cleaner, better residential areas such as HDB flats. As part of Singapore's development in its early days of independence, the new Chinatown was aimed to be a tourist attraction as well as a symbol of Singapore's Chinese culture.

As a result, Chinatown today is just what it was planned to be, although many feel that its 'essence' has been lost. Though many shops there boast 'traditional' Chinese wares, they mostly only sell tourist souvenirs. Only a small part of the old Chinatown remains; a few old shophouses and even old residents remain in Sago Lane, an area harder to find than the flashier parts of the area like Food Street and Pagoda Lane.