A Passion for Heritage and Nature: A Case Study of the Mature Tiong Bahru Estate and Surrounding Areas

Abstract

This chapter continues the discussion on nostalgia in one of the earliest-developed public housing districts of Singapore, the district of Tiong Bahru. Tiong Bahru’s historical significance stands out amongst all the public housing estates encountered in this volume. It is the oldest public housing estate in Singapore with one of the world’s most well-preserved late Art Deco Streamline Moderne architectural structures. Its gentrification therefore carries special significance for heritage trail walkers. The combination of heritage space and pockets of greenery around it makes it suitable as a starting point of the volume’s analysis before looking northwestwards to the Southern Ridges area, northeastwards towards the Botanical Gardens and southwards towards Blair Plains.