Residents transformed one void deck in central Singapore into a garden with wall art and vertical planters.
Photographer: Shubhangi Goel/Bloomberg
Singaporeans Turn Empty Spaces in Public Housing Into Libraries, Gardens
Residents of Singapore’s HDBs — where more than 80% of the population lives — are repurposing void decks to bring people together after the pandemic.
When Singapore’s Housing Development Board began building high-rise public apartment buildings for a growing population in the 1960s, it quickly realized that residents needed a common space to gather.
Enter the “void deck.” Starting in the 1970s, all HDB buildings — where more than 80% of Singaporeans reside today — were constructed with an empty ground floor that opened to the outside. Decks were often booked for weddings or funerals, and sometimes used as spaces for children to play on rainy days.
But over time, safety concerns led to bans on play equipment, ball games and skateboarding, while more families purchased televisions for their apartments. Though some were later used for services like child care centers and neighborhood police posts, for the most part the spaces lost their appeal and emptied out.