How Singapore Fixed Its Housing Problem

Singapore had a severe housing shortage decades ago. But it developed one of the world's best public housing programs, which has also allowed a huge number of its citizens to buy their own homes.

Video by Vicky Feng, Robin Fall and Christian Capestany, with assistance of Melissa Cheok

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[Unregistered.Hypercam..]

singapore is the living proof that if the goverments did what they are supposed to do they can turn a country from homeless and poor to rich and apartment comfy for everyone

[simpleasliam]

Who cares if it is social control, people have roofs above their head, a job and food on the table. Well done to Singapore

[evanpc]

“Mysteriously a random fire solved all the governments poblems”

[wongtouski]

Hong Kong Government has left the chat

[hxyzazolchak]

This is what happens when governments finally want to accomplish things

[minameisne]

We don't own the houses - we just lease them from the government for 99 years.

[MrJ]

The real genius behind fixing the housing issue is the 99 years lease imposed. It means majority of Singapore’s land cannot be hoarded by a landlord class which hinders social mobility of later generations. 👍 while people do complain, I think a unique brand of socialism + capitalism does work.(Despite its failings)

[PAULYU]

So Singapore Government fixed the housing problem by becoming the largest developer in the country, who provides various types of public houses to residents for 99 years at a Fair & Cheap Price (actually a 99 year long-term lease contract), instead of selling the limited land to greedy developers who normally sell apartments at a premium.

[fendim]

Living in public housing is better than private condominiums. Neighbours in public housing are much friendlier. And I love the diverse racial mix. I'm Malay and I truly love my Chinese neighbours. And I know they care about us too. Sometimes they hanged on our doors fresh fruits they gotten from their friends. It's a blessing.

[etxblue]

Now that's how tax money should be used, not on aircraft carriers and missile.

[TinRapper]

Lee Kuan Yew is literally one of, if not the best leader of all time. And I'm not even from or live in Singapore.

[Zezeze.]

Social control in this case seems actually super smart. People belonging to one ethnic group usually socialize amongst each other more strongly than with other groups since it provides more familiarity and safety. But that can easily lead to the development of neighbourhoods that end up being unattractive to investors and thus often are also forgotten by the government. That leads to neighbourhoods that are in bad condition, bc no ones fixing the potholes, the streets are dirty, schools don't get the funding they need, less job opportunities or at least less well paying jobs, leading to poverty which in turn makes illegal activities more attractive due to the desparation of the people etc etc. Of course there are exceptions, but tbh this is the kind of social control that seems perfectly fine. No reason to demonize the word control. You have people of all ethnicities and social status well integrated into society and can easier prevent the development of slums etc etc. How is that negative?

[LeahandLevi]

This is like my geography class but not boring and actually the kind of applicable stuff we can learn from today. Great inspo for my own channel!

[tamaduni]

social control is better than living under a bridge snorting heroin

[MesRevesEnRose]

When I visited Singapore, my uber driver proudly told me that their government had enough savings to live through five(5!!) recessions. Probably one of the smartest most people-focused governments out there. We could all learn from Singapore. 👏👏

[paptapto]

Whilst the British government still hasn't rehomed the Grenfell tower victims over a year on in one of the richest boroughs in the richest cities in the world...

[TechGadgets]

I recently visited Singapore and have been in awe of it. How come such a small place has progressed so much. It's truly inspiring and I wish to see most of the Indian cities to be like Singapore. Cheers !

[poodlescone]

This explains how demand from foreign money is kept out of the housing market. This idea is genius.

[thealienguy]

The Greeks were right, City-states are the best

[ricecrash]

Love Singapore and the people. Great city to visit, very clean, very safe, everyone speaks English and have a sense of pride for their country.