Singapore, Land Use and the Lessons for Human Development

A study of the impact of using land use controls as a strategic tool to further human development among all social classes is presented. We advocate that human rights include a long-term practice of combining public policies, manufacturing industry, and property system. Further, this study strives to educate economists and those in other academic areas (e.g. humanities) on the importance of considering land use, ownership, and urban planning with economics to form a new theory of developmentalism. Singapore provides a case study demonstrating similar aspects that may shed light on that debate.

The Housing & Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, for instance, are the two coordinated institutions that combine ownership, monetary mechanisms of transmissions, and manufacturing industry. However, it is indispensable to apprehend that political decisions on land (predominately made after 1965) is a premise driving Singapore’s experiment to adjust its development strategies by considering the economic, social, and cultural rights of all humans. This study presents observations on the level of human development in Singapore, and how their governance underpins the political organization of the country.