Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore (Quality of Life in Asia, 18) 9819972647, 9789819972647

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Quality of Life in Asia 18

Joseph Cho-Yam Lau

Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore

Quality of Life in Asia Volume 18

This series, the first of its kind, examines both the objective and subjective dimensions of life quality in Asia, especially East Asia. It unravels and compares the contours, dynamics and patterns of building nations by offering innovative works that discuss basic and applied research and emphasizing inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to the various domains of life quality. The series appeals to a variety of fields in humanities, social sciences and other professional disciplines. Asia is the largest, most populous continent on Earth, and it is home to the world’s most dynamic region, East Asia. In the past three decades, East Asia has been the most successful region in the world in expanding its economies and integrating them into the global economy, offering lessons on how poor countries, even with limited natural resources, can achieve rapid economic development. Yet while scholars and policymakers have focused on why East Asia has prospered, little has been written on how its economic expansion has affected the quality of life of its citizens. This series publish several volumes a year, either single or multiple-authored monographs or collections of essays.

Joseph Cho-Yam Lau

Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore

Joseph Cho-Yam Lau University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR, China

ISSN 2211-0550 ISSN 2211-0569 (electronic) Quality of Life in Asia ISBN 978-981-99-7264-7 ISBN 978-981-99-7265-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Paper in this product is recyclable.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on the concepts of self-organization, and I also would like to thank Adrienne Yee Yan Lau for her assistance with the graphic work of this book.

v

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Accessibility and Activity Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Self-organization Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 Self-organization is Operationalized by Using Structuration Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.2 Self-organization and Government Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Self-organization Approach Helps to Explain the Cause and Effect of Trip Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Social Justice and Government Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 Objectives of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 Research Questions of This Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 Main Hypotheses of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8.1 Elaboration of the First Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8.2 Elaboration of the Second Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Influence of Government Policies and Individual Decisions on the Commuting of Poor Workers in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Economic Restructuring and Commuting Problems in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Economic Restructuring and the Increase in the Low-Income Working Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Flexible Employment Practices and Job Polarization in Economic Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Mobility Gap Between High-Income and Low-Income Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 High Land Price Policy and Commuting Problems of the Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 6 8 12 14 15 15 19 21 21 22 22 24 25 29 29 32 33 35 37 38

vii

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2.4.1

The Government and Property Developers Restrict Land Supply to Boost Land Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Rail-Plus-Property Model and Transit-Oriented Development Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 The Concentration of Poverty in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 The Influx of New Immigrants from Mainland China . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 Poverty in Hong Kong and Gender Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 Study: Based on Data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.1 Study Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.2 Gender Gap in Commuting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.3 Mobility Deprivation of the Poor in Urban Areas and New Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.4 Investigation of Trip Origin–Destination of Low-Income Workers Indicating Social and Spatial Segregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.5 Industry Sector Segregation by Gender of Low-Income Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.6 Travel Characteristics of Low-Income Men . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.7 Male Workers Account for a High Share of Older Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.8 Mode Choice of the Low-Income Respondents . . . . . . . . . 2.9.9 Evaluating the Government Policies that Cause Commuting Problems of the Poor in Hong Kong . . . . . . . 2.9.10 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Impacts of Government Policies and Individual Decisions on the Commuting of Poor Workers in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Globalization Produces Job Polarization and Widens Labour Market Inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Gender Differences in Workforce Participation Rate and Commuting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Importation of Foreign Workers Contributes to Poverty and Commuting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 The Inadequacy of the CPF Scheme to Finance the Retirement of Many Older Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 Master and Concept Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7 Some New Towns Partially Achieved Self-containment . . . . . . . . . 3.8 Suburbanization of Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 The Study: Based on Data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41 42 43 44 46 47 47 48 50

53 55 58 59 60 60 62 66 71 71 74 78 81 82 84 87 89 92

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ix

3.9.1 3.9.2

The Study Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Transformation from a Monocentric to Polycentric Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.3 Jobs/Employed Resident Ratio and Commuting Problems in Poor New Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.4 Social and Spatial Segregation Between High- and Low-Income Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.5 Workers’ Occupation and Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.6 Gender Gap in Transport Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10 Evaluating the Policies that Cause Commuting Problems of the Poor in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.11 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Neighbourhood Effects Influence the Commuting of the Poor in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods of Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Segregation, Social and Spatial Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 The Poverty Stigma Effect and Commuting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Poverty in Chinatown and Little India, Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.1 Effect of Poverty Stigma on the Commuting of the Poor in Chinatown and Little India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Poverty in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5.1 Poverty Stigma Effect and Experiences of the Poor Residents in Shamshuipo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Social Disorganization Influences Commuting in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Social Disorganization Influences Commuting in Chinatown and Little India, Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 Ethnic Enclaves in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 Investigating the Travel Behaviour and Segregation of Residents in Chinatown and Little India, Singapore . . . . . . . . . . 4.9.1 Residents in Chinatown and Little India in Singapore Travel Short Times to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9.2 Residents in Chinatown and Little India in Singapore Use Slow Transport Modes to Get to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9.3 Investigating the Travel Behaviour and Segregation of Residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9.4 Residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong Commute Short Distances to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9.5 Residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong Use Public Transport Modes to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9.6 Research Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

92 93 95 100 101 104 106 106 109

113 113 116 118 119 121 123 125 127 130 132 133 135

137

138 140 142 143

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4.10 Poverty Stigma Effect and Commuting Problems of the Residents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11 Social Disorganization and Commuting Problems of the Residents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11.1 Evaluating the Policies that Cause Neighbourhood Effects in Singapore and Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11.2 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Impacts of the Suburbanization Policy on the Spatial Mismatch Commuting of Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Tuen Mun New Town, Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 Failure to Achieve Self-containment in Tuen Mun . . . . . . 5.2.2 Job-Housing Spatial Mismatch Problems in Tuen Mun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.3 Travel Time Distribution of Working Residents in Tuen Mun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.4 Public Transport System that Connects Tuen Mun and Urban Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.5 The Mode Choice of the Working Residents in Tuen Mun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.6 Commuting Problems of Poor Workers in Tuen Mun . . . . 5.2.7 Low-Income Workers by Industry Sector in Tuen Mun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Woodlands New Town, Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.1 Commercial Firms Do not Follow the Population to Relocate to New Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.2 Urban Agglomeration and Clustering of Service Jobs in the Central Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.3 Affordability of the Poor for Public Transport Fares in Woodlands, Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.4 Route Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.5 Travel Time of Working Residents in Woodlands . . . . . . . 5.3.6 Mode Choice of the Working Residents in Woodlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Evaluating Suburbanization Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Comparing Policies Between Hong Kong and Singapore with a Focus on the Commuting of the Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Comparing the Influence of Public Housing Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Singapore and Hong Kong . . . . . 6.2.1 Public Housing in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

144 145 146 147 150 153 153 157 158 159 162 163 166 167 170 173 176 177 179 182 187 189 191 192 194 197 197 200 200

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6.2.2

Influence of Singapore Public Housing Policy on the Commuting of the Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.3 Public Housing in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.4 Hong Kong Public Housing Policy Facilitates High Land Price Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.5 Limiting the Supply of Public Rental Housing . . . . . . . . . 6.2.6 Hong Kong Public Housing Policy Influences the Commuting of the Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.7 Evaluating Public Housing and Social Welfare Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Comparing the Impacts of Land Value Capture Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Singapore and Hong Kong . . . . . 6.3.1 Influence of Land Value Capture Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.2 High Land Price Policy in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.3 Land Value Capture Policy Influences the Commuting of the Poor in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.4 Land Acquisition and Land Sales Policies in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.5 Impacts of LVC on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.6 Evaluating the LVC, High Land Price, and Land Acquisition Policies that Cause Commuting Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Comparing the Impacts of Suburbanization Policies on the Commuting of Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . 6.4.1 Singapore Suburbanization Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4.2 Suburbanization Policies of the Two Cities Produce Spatial Mismatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4.3 Evaluating Suburbanization Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

202 203 204 206 208 210 211 212 213 214 215 216

218 220 221 224 226 227 230

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.3 Fig. 2.1

Fig. 2.2

Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.4 Fig. 2.5 Fig. 2.6 Fig. 2.7 Fig. 2.8 Fig. 3.1

Fig. 3.2

Queuing behaviour in bus stations: a self-organization process. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . Self-Organization approach to urban transport planning . . . . . . . Interaction between structure and action represents the mechanism of the self-organization process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed persons by industry in Hong Kong, 2009 and 2019. Note *Difference between the share of workers in various industry sectors in 2009 and 2019. Source HKCSD (2009 and 2020) Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics 2020 and 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed persons by occupation in Hong Kong, 2004 and 2019. * Difference between the share of workers in various occupations in 2004 and 2019. Source HKCSD (2004, 2020) Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics 2020, 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hong Kong and the MTR network. Source Modified from Google Maps (2020) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commuting time by Gender in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travel time and work locations of the low-income workers by District, Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Industrial sector participation by low-income social groups . . . . Travel time of low-income workers by industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode choice between respondents in the full sample and subsample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Resident Households’ monthly income by occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021. Note based on Table 39 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gender gap in labour force participation by age, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021. Note based on Table 70 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . .

10 11 13

34

38 48 49 54 56 57 61

75

79 xiii

xiv

Fig. 3.3

Fig. 3.4

Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.6

Fig. 3.7

Fig. 3.8

Fig. 3.9 Fig. 3.10

Fig. 3.11

Fig. 3.12

Fig. 3.13

List of Figures

Employed male and femaile residents by occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Ministry of Manpower, (2021). Note based on Table 41 of the above study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The 2011 Concept Plan That Guides Singapore Land-Use Development. Source Modified from Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Singapore Planning Areas and MRT Networks. Source Modified from Google Maps (2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Distribution of Work Locations in Singapore. Source Modified from Erath et al. (2016). Note workplace capacities are denoted by block heights at building sites . . . . . . . Poor Resident Households by Selected Planning Areas of Residence, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 110 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census; the poverty line is set at S$6365 (US$4709), including 37% of income for CPF contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travel Time of Employed Residents by Region, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 105 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selected low-income New Towns in Singapore. Source Modified from Google Maps (2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average Travel Time of Working Residents by Jobs-Working Resident Ratio for Selected New Towns, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Tables 16, 105, and 117 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Distribution of Travel Time by Selected Low-Income New Towns, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 105 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode Choice of Employed residents by the Selected New Towns, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 16 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed Residents’ Place of Residence by Selected Planning Area and Occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 102 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census. Planning areas with an asterisk (*) indicate that the number of workers with low-income occupations is greater than the number of workers with high-income occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

80

86 87

89

91

94 96

97

98

99

100

List of Figures

Fig. 3.14

Fig. 3.15

Fig. 3.16

Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4

Fig. 4.5

Fig. 4.6 Fig. 4.7 Fig. 4.8 Fig. 4.9

Fig. 4.10

Fig. 4.11 Fig. 4.12 Fig. 4.13

Fig. 4.14

Employed Residents’ Occupation by Mode Choice, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 129 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed Residents’ Average Travel Time by Occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 135 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Employed Residents’ travel time distribution by Gender, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 134 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Location of Chinatown and Little India in Singapore. Source Modified from Google Maps, (2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Elderly man walking along a side street in Chinatown, Singapore. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . Mong Kok and Shamshuipo Districts in Hong Kong. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shamshuipo neighbourhood is located in the Kowloon West area of Hong Kong. Sources Modified from Google (2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . South Asian new immigrants cluster in Shamshuipo to improve their access to jobs and retaining their cultural activities. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . A woman, probably a prostitute, standing on Pitt Street, Mong Kok. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . Residents in Little India Having Lunch in Tekka Centre. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Little India. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chinatown, Little India and the Whole of Singapore by Industry. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021, 2010a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chinatown, Little India and Singapore by Travel Time to Work, 2010. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2010a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chinatown, Little India and Singapore by Mode Choice, 2010. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2010a) . . . . . . Shamshuipo, Mong Kok and Hong Kong by Industry. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . Residents of Mong Kok, Shamshuipo and the Whole of Hong Kong by Travel Time. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shamshuipo, Mong Kok and Hong Kong by Mode Choice. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 5.3 Fig. 5.4 Fig. 5.5 Fig. 5.6 Fig. 5.7 Fig. 5.8 Fig. 5.9 Fig. 5.10 Fig. 5.11

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Fig. 5.16

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List of Figures

The location of Tuen Mun new town in Hong Kong. Source modified from Google Maps 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workplace location of the working residents in Tuen Mun, 2016. Source HKCSD (2017a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Residents’ workplace by travel time in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . Travel time distribution of working residents in Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . Overcrowded LRT compartments in the Tuen Mun MTR station. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67X Bus station in Siu Hong, Tuen Mun. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode choice of the working residents in Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Income distribution of workers by travel time, Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . Poor workers in Tuen Mun by industry sector and travel time. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . MRT station in woodlands new town. Sources The author took the photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The concept plan 2011 guides Singapore land-use development. Source Modified from Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regional centres and workplace locations in Singapore. Note Workplace capacities are denoted by block heights at building sites. Source Modified from Erath et al. (2016) . . . . . The North–South MRT line in Singapore. Source Modified from Google Maps (2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Poor workers’ MRT trips from Woodlands to employment in the northeast and central regions. Source Singapore Land Transport Authority, 2022; Google Maps (2022) . . . . . . . . Poor workers’ MRT trips from Woodlands to employment in the West and Central Regions. Source Singapore Land Transport Authority, 2022; Google Maps (2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Percentage of poor household income on public transport in Woodlands by workplace in the northeast and central regions. Source Singapore Land Transport Authority, (2022); Singapore Department of Statistics (2021) . . . . . . . . . . . Percentage of poor household income on public transport in Woodlands by workplace in the west and central regions. Sources Singapore Land Transport Authority (2022) and Singapore Department of Statistics (2021) . . . . . . . . . Travel time of employed residents in Woodlands. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021), Table 105 . . . . . . . . .

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Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.4

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Fig. 6.6 Fig. 6.7 Fig. 6.8

Mode choice of the working residents in Woodlands. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021), Table 104 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mode Choice of Residents in Chinatown, Little India and the Whole of Singapore, 2010. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Self-Organization Model Explains and Compares the Impacts of Public Housing Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Income Distribution of Workers by Travel Time, Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . Self-Organization Model Explains and Compares the Impacts of Land Value Capture Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travel Time and Work Locations of the Low-income Workers by District, Hong Kong. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Residents’ Workplaces by Travel Time in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. Source Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014 . . . . . . . . Jobs in Woodlands by Employed Residents in Singapore. Source Singapore Department of Statistics, (2021) . . . . . . . . . . . Self-organization model comparing the impacts of suburbanization policy on the commuting of the workers in Hong Kong and Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 1

Introduction

Abstract Policies are important structural factors that determine travelling, income, living locations, and quality of life. In this book, the self-organization approach is used to explain the travel behaviours that are influenced by the interactions between policies and individual actions in Hong Kong and Singapore. To promote economic growth, the Singapore and Hong Kong governments have to keep production costs low and have stable social environments. Singapore adopts a direct intervening policy, while Hong Kong adopts a laissez-faire policy. Some policies that interact with individual actions produce poverty and commuting problems. The study draws data from the 2011 Hong Kong TCS and 2020 Singapore Population Census to investigate travel patterns that are influenced by the abovementioned policies. Fair governance and principles of justice are introduced, and the self-organization approach stresses that since people want fair governance, the policies that produce commuting problems and poverty have to be amended to keep in line with fairness being the major attribute in governing the two cities. Keywords Self-organization · Structuration theory · Government policy · Individual action · Travel behaviour · Economic growth in Hong Kong and Singapore · Social justice · Evaluation policies by self-organization approach

1.1 Introduction Government policies are important structural factors that enhance economic growth and simultaneously cause income inequality, segregation between the poor and the rich, and commuting problems in Hong Kong and Singapore. This book uses the self-organization approach to explain and evaluate the policies that interact with the individual actions of the poor to produce commuting problems and social exclusion. Self-organization is a process that takes place in response to external adversity in human society. It is a natural and spontaneous mechanism of interactions among members of a social system to achieve a state of equilibrium (Portugali, 2000, 2016; Zhang & De Roo, 2016). For example, self-organization is seen in the © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 J. Cho-Yam Lau, Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, Quality of Life in Asia 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4_1

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1 Introduction

free market system. As early as 1776, Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ referred to a self-organizing mechanism guiding and shaping economic systems (Smith, 1937). The leading economist Paul Krugman shows how principles of self-organization explain the sizes of earthquakes and metropolitan areas (Krugman, 1995). Self-organization is a basic mechanism by which complex urban systems, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, organize themselves. This mechanism emerges from individual actors’ local interactions, often with unpredictable consequences at the regional level. While these emergent patterns cannot be controlled by traditional hierarchical methods, they can be steered and encouraged towards desirable goals (e.g., modifying policies to achieve desirable goals). It is important to study the actual mechanisms of self-organization in cities to link the theory of self-organization to planning practices (Partanen, 2015). Self-organization is operationalized by using the structuration theory proposed by Giddens (1984) to explain the relationship between structural factors (e.g., government policies) and actions of individuals in creating and recreating commuting behaviours in transport systems, new towns, and deprived urban neighbourhoods in Hong Kong and Singapore (Giddens, 1984). According to structuration theory, structures and policies are the media and products of individual actions, and this relationship represents a recursive process in the human social system. People in the two cities do not have an entire preference for their actions, and their knowledge is restricted by government policies; nonetheless, they are the people who create and recreate the policies and produce social change when they create adaptive actions to improve their commuting and quality of life, such as people moving to new towns, experiencing job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems and trying to find informal jobs near their homes to reduce their travel times. The policies and actions of individuals cannot be separated; they are connected in what Giddens has termed the ‘duality of structure’. In Hong Kong and Singapore, routine travel patterns bring people together into transport systems (e.g., workers follow timetables to take the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Singapore); these patterns are reproduced over time through continued interactions between the MRT and commuters. Commuters’ actions (agencies) and MRT services (traffic policies) produce a selforganization process. Commuters’ actions and MRT services influence each other. Modification in MRT services will change commuters’ actions, and vice versa; thus, the process is recursive. Based on the theory of structuration, when government policies (e.g., high land price policy and the importation of foreign workers resulting in income inequality and the unaffordability of transport costs) cause an imbalanced situation in communities of Hong Kong and Singapore and reach a critical point, the affected commuters will change their routine practices and find ways to improve their quality of life. For example, commuters are generally successful in trading off the drawbacks of longer and more arduous commute journeys in transport systems against the benefits they bring concerning overall life satisfaction, and they tend to engage in short-distance work trips (Chatterjee et al., 2020). In Hong Kong, inadequate job opportunities in new towns offer female residents longer commutes and hence require females to spend more time commuting on work

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3

trips, thereby negatively influencing their work–life balance; some choose to find part-time jobs near their homes to minimize the impacts of spatial mismatch (He et al., 2020). Additionally, a low-income woman worker in a new town in Singapore may feel unable to afford the transport services provided by the hub-and-spoke public transport network; thus, she may decide to take only bus trips to work instead of taking the feeder bus and the MRT. The modification of travel practices is an important step in self-organization to recreate social systems, and this step produces new structural properties (e.g., taking public buses and travelling long commuting times on work trips); this is a phenomenon called emergence in self-organization. In addition, the capability approach is used to evaluate the self-organization process or impacts of policies on the decisions of individuals to commute to basic needs, such as the high land price policy influencing low-income workers’ decisions to live in distant new towns in Hong Kong. Capabilities refer to the set of functionings (the combinations of beings and doings) to which a person has effective access. In other words, capabilities are the set of freedoms and opportunities available for individuals to choose from and act on to improve their quality of life; accessibility to employment is a capability (Sen, 1980, 1985). The policies that cause many lowincome workers to experience problems commuting to employment locations are implemented against the capability approach and are regarded as unfair policies. Therefore, the current study, which uses the self-organization approach to examine the commuting problems in Hong Kong and Singapore, is the first to investigate the problems of government policies that constrain the capability of workers to commute to employment locations. Since people want fair governance, it is assumed that the Singapore and Hong Kong governments are characterized by justice and equity in their daily governing (Miles, 2015). Based on the concept of the capability approach, governments should provide all people in the two cities with the freedom, choice, and opportunities to access basic needs and maintain their well-being; this right includes the freedom to commute to socioeconomic and land-use activities (Chatterjee et al., 2020). Transport mobility refers to the movement of people from one place to another in the course of everyday life. Thus, the closer the proximity is and the higher the density of opportunities among locations is, the higher the degree of mobility of the workers is (Michael & Rapkin, 1954). Most transport studies define mobility as the product of social and land-use planning and ignore the importance of individual decisions to choose their commuting behaviour. For example, Hernandez (2018, p. 119) suggests that ‘mobility does not derive from individual decisions or free choices. On the contrary, it is the result of the interactions between individual attributes and social structure’. Based on the concept of self-organization, this book defines mobility as the movement of individuals to obtain basic needs, and mobility is constituted by interactions between individual actions (or individual choice and decisions) and policies (Giddens, 1984). Hong Kong and Singapore are the two most advanced centres of capitalism in South and Southeast Asia. These two cities were selected as case studies because they have a similar type of compact land formation, and both have developed to be

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1 Introduction

world financial centres from former British colonies; in both cities, the Chinese population is the dominant ethnic group, which influences the formulation of government policies. The two cities have similar physical sizes, and both adopt transit-oriented development models for daily commuting. Singapore was founded as a British trading post in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. It became a crown colony in 1867. It became self-governing in 1959 after it ended 144 years of British rule in Singapore. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 and became an independent republic in 1965. The People’s Action Party (PAP) was elected in 1959, and the PAP has been the ruling party in Singapore since then. Hong Kong was a British colony from 1841 to 1997. The Qing dynasty in China ceded Hong Kong to the British Empire in 1841 through the treaty of Nanjing, ending the First Opium War. Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, and this event ended 156 years of British rule in Hong Kong. Under a “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China (SAR) for 50 years, maintaining its own economic and governing systems from those of mainland China during this time. Despite the above similarities, there are also differences between the two cities. Lee (2000), who was the first prime minister of Singapore, recalls in his book that when Singapore became an independent country in 1965, the Singapore government tried to provide fair shares for all people. However, because people were unequal in their abilities, if performance were determined by the marketplace, there would be social tensions. Thus, the Singapore government tried to distribute resources to ensure that low-income people achieved first-world standards of living. Lee (2000) states as follows: A competitive, winner-take-all society, like colonial Hong Kong in the 1960s, would not be acceptable in Singapore. A colonial government did not have to face elections every five years; the Singapore government did. To even out the extreme results of free-market competition, we had to redistribute the national income through subsidies on things that improve the earning power (or quality of life) of citizens, such as education. Housing and public health were also obviously desirable…My primary preoccupation was to give every citizen a stake in the country and its future. I wanted a home-owning society. (Lee, 2000, Page 95)

Lee (2000) spells out the main differences in policies between Hong Kong and Singapore. The main difference is that Hong Kong has certain democratic freedoms that no other part of mainland China has. Hong Kong is one of the few remaining places in the world where the government is not elected directly by the population. Neither the executive nor the legislative branches are elected by popular vote, which makes the chief executive of Hong Kong and government officials focus on economic growth policies more than policies for the basic needs of the population (Ramesh, 2012). In addition, the Singapore and Hong Kong governments adopt different policies to achieve public housing. The Singapore government allows Singaporeans to use the Central Provident Fund (e.g., a compulsory comprehensive savings and pension plan for working Singaporeans) to buy Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats, while the Hong Kong government adopts a high land price policy to earn adequate

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5

land revenue for urban development. A survey in 2021 found that 52 percent of adults aged under 45 found it delusional to think that they could own a flat in Hong Kong because of the high land prices. The Hong Kong government itself depends on revenue coming from land auctions, so it has no interest in seeing housing prices decrease (Standard, 17th October 2021). In addition, a high share of low-income older workers in Singapore feel that they have inadequate savings for their retirement because a proportion of their savings have been used to buy HDB flats (Phang, 2004). In addition, people in both Hong Kong and Singapore face similar socioeconomic development problems, such as ageing populations, gender gaps, urban renewal and income inequality; however, people in Hong Kong have been hit harder than those in Singapore. The policies on urban development in both cities also contribute to the exclusion of low-income people from commuting to basic needs. Furthermore, these two cities have similar development problems, such as government policies causing poverty and the unaffordability of public transport fares. Firms do not direct the flow of relocated population to new towns, resulting in the failure of self-containment in new towns, job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems, social and spatial segregation in deprived urban neighbourhoods, the clustering of older workers in inner-city neighbourhoods, the unaffordability of lowincome male and female workers using fast transport modes and the widening income inequality between professionals and elementary workers. All the above structural factors produce mobility deprivations for low-income workers. The self-organization approach is chosen for this study because most transport studies focus on the influence of land use and socioeconomic variables on commuting, such as mobility inequality, income gaps, and the gender gap in transport, while few investigate the influence of government policies on commuting. As a result, traditional transport planning models and government decision-makers fail to consider government policies (e.g., the public housing policy in Singapore and the urban renewal policy in Hong Kong) to improve the freedom and choices of the poor to commute to their basic needs. Some transport studies have adopted the concept of self-organization; that is, travel patterns are the product of structural factors and individual actions. For example, residential self-selection (RSS) refers to the tendency of people to choose locations based on their travel needs, abilities and preferences and is an important concern in land use-travel research. Transport studies find that RSS is influenced by the interactions between the built environment, individual decisions or attitudes, and travel behaviour. Individuals who prefer commuting by transit choose (individual decision) to live closer to transit stations (the built environment) and use transit more often (travel behaviour) (Guan et al., 2020). In addition, RSS is influenced by self-organization, such as the interactions between sociodemographic factors (structural factors) and individual actions. Some low-income people are limited from realizing their travel-related preferences (individual decisions) in regard to residential choice, (such as they choose to move to new towns instead of living in urban areas during the process of urban redevelopment), leading to both a mismatch between preferred and actual residential neighbourhoods and long travel distances on work trips.

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1 Introduction

Government decision-makers should have the role of identifying ways to increase freedom and choices for the poor with regard to commuting to their employment and achieving equitable mobility; that is, they should provide adequate capabilities for all people to both achieve and commute to their basic needs, including moving around freely. Rauws et al. (2016) state that spatial and transport planning and self-organization are perhaps a somewhat unexpected combination, with planning being a collective manifestation of ‘intent’ while self-organization is a ‘spontaneous’ phenomenon. This means that the self-organization approach provides some ideas that are outside the conceptual framework in conventional urban transport planning models; furthermore, the approach helps to fill the research gaps in urban transport planning to improve the mobility of commuters.

1.2 Accessibility and Activity Space Evidence from transport studies indicates that even though many people live in proximity to job opportunities and can afford to drive private cars to reach social activities, they always find mobility barriers to reaching their desired activities. Two aspects of transport studies can explain this phenomenon; the first is the space–time constraints faced by people, such as working mothers, to access the desired activities, and the second is that social and spatial segregation hinders poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods from accessing basic needs opportunities. To explain the above mentioned two points, the concept of accessibility must first be investigated. The capability approach (CA) is an equality framework that is used to define and measure transport-related social exclusion (Sen, 1980, 1985), in which individual accessibility is based on daily activity space as a transport exclusion indicator. This approach focuses on evaluating individual capability and opportunities to achieve “functionings,” which are states of human beings and activities that a person has to undertake to maintain his or her quality of life (Sen, 1980, 1985). Accessibility is defined as the capability of an individual to penetrate constraints to access the mainstream activities of a society. Using accessibility to investigate transport exclusion is theoretically supported by the CA framework because accessibility represents people’s capabilities to access services and opportunities. This means that accessibility is a human capability. The CA perspective highlights that capability relies not only on socioeconomic conditions but also on material resources and environmental and other sociodemographic characteristics (Chen et al., 2017). To measure the accessibility of an individual, a space–time measure based on Hägerstrand’s (1970) time-geographic framework is developed by delimiting the area within reach given an individual’s space–time constraint using a space–time prism. This prism is determined by the locations of activities, the distances between relevant locations, and the amount of time available for travel and activity participation (Kim & Kwan, 2003). Kwan (1999) compares individual access to urban opportunities by gender using a 1995 two-day travel diary dataset from Franklin

1.2 Accessibility and Activity Space

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County, Ohio, and finds that women in the sample have less access to urban opportunities than men because women face time conflicts between household responsibilities and employment. Casas (2007) calculates accessibility as the total number of opportunities available for an individual within his or her activity space, which is the buffering area within the longest trip distance. Casas compares individual accessibility between disabled and nondisabled groups and finds that disabled people can access fewer opportunities. An individual’s activity space is the subset of all urban locations with which the individual has direct contact as the result of his or her day-to-day activities. In this study, it is assumed that the longer a travel distance an individual has, the larger the size of the activity space that the individual experiences is and the higher the level of accessibility he or she achieves is. Furthermore, a previous study investigated the impacts of social and spatial segregation on the accessibility of low-skilled workers in Paris and found that a low-skilled worker faces higher risks of long-term unemployment if he or she suffers from poor job accessibility and if he or she experiences long-term exposure to high-poverty neighbourhoods (Korsu et al., 2010). The concentration of poverty in neighbourhoods seems strong enough to generate a social environment that damages the employment outcomes of resident workers. The study suggests that accessibility to job opportunities experienced by low-income job seekers is partially caused by neighbourhood effects, such as social and spatial segregation (La Grange, 2011). Many low-skilled workers in poor neighbourhoods experience segregation (e.g., poor residents suffer from poverty stigma or are marked as working class), resulting in the social exclusion of these jobseekers from accessing labour markets. Hence, accessibility to social interaction and employment opportunities is heavily influenced by social and spatial segregation between deprived and rich neighbourhoods. The concept of activity space provides a strategy for transport planners to study issues concerning the social segregation and accessibility of poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods. Studies indicate that sociospatial segregation is exacerbated if different social groups have systematically different activity spaces because they have different daily life territories and fewer opportunities to interact with each other (Wang et al., 2012). Travel time is used as an indicator to explain the size of the activity space; the longer the travel time is, the larger the size of the activity space. In addition, travel distance is used as an indicator to determine the number of opportunities related to individuals on the day of research. The longer the travel distance an individual has, the more opportunities the individual will experience. For example, socially disadvantaged people (such as the elderly and those from low-income households) who travel short times and short distances to activities generally experience smaller activity spaces (Chen & Akar, 2016). The interaction process between structural factors and actions can be used to detect the physical size of the activity space, such as the interactions between poverty stigma and individual actions in Chinatown (牛車水) in Singapore that produce shrinking activity spaces; many low-income residents are segregated from the life experiences common to the majority within society. Conventional urban transport planning models always ignore the measurement of individual decisions. For example,

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the evidence of the current study finds that suburbanization in Hong Kong and the individual decisions of low-income workers to find jobs in urban areas produce jobhousing spatial mismatch commuting problems. The individual actions of residents in Tuen Mun New Town interact with inadequate job provisions in the New Territories to produce commuting problems and shrinking activity spaces. Hence, government decision-makers should shift their planning objectives from spatial strategies to providing more choices or options for commuters to improve their mobility, such as reducing income inequality and developing more jobs in new towns. This book tries to examine activity-space-based segregation by including potential opportunities for people’s daily activities and their commuting problems. Data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census and the 2011 Hong Kong TCS are used as the basis to identify social and spatial segregation in Tuen Mun and Shamshuipo in Hong Kong and Woodlands and Chinatown in Singapore. This approach focuses on the influence of neighbourhood effects and social exclusion on the commuting problems of poor workers (Farber et al., 2015; Li & Wang, 2017; Tao et al., 2020).

1.3 Self-organization Approach This chapter introduces the use of the self-organization approach to explain the change in urban development and travel patterns in Hong Kong and Singapore. The mechanism of the self-organization approach is based on structuration theory, which states that structures are the media and products of agencies (Giddens, 1984). Structures include rules or policies in social systems such as Hong Kong and Singapore. According to self-organization, in social systems, government transport rules interact with individual actions to produce new structural properties, such as job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. If the spatial mismatch commuting problems cause imbalances in a social system, such as the long travel times of working residents in new towns, the process will evolve for a long period until either the social system returns to a balanced state or the spatial mismatch commuting problems have been resolved. To explain self-organization theory in terms of transport planning, transport structures, such as rules and transport infrastructures, can be seen as the media and products of the travel behaviours of commuters. Commuters modify travel rules and plans in their daily travel behaviour, while at the same time, their daily travel behaviours are shaped by transport rules and transport systems. Therefore, transport planners should aim to improve the commuting of people; thus, they should either adjust the impacts of policies or provide more freedom and choices for residents to select their commuting strategies. The purpose of this book is to use the self-organization approach in urban transport planning to identify and explain the influences of policies on travel behaviour and provide strategies to amend the policies that produce commuting problems.

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Self-organization in biology can be shown in spontaneous social behaviour in bees and ants and flocking spontaneous behaviour in birds and fish. In economics, a freemarket economy is said to be self-organizing. Krugman (1996) finds that economic systems are complex systems in which randomness and chaos seem to spontaneously evolve into an unexpected order. In urban transport research, drivers usually develop adaptive actions to interact with traffic rules to improve commuting. For example, in the US, as a way in which to adapt to the new traffic rules concerning high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, some single drivers pick up riders alongside the road to meet the requirements for driving in less congested HOV lanes (Mote & Whitestone, 2011). In the field of urban planning, Batty (2012) defines urban regeneration as a self-organization process. Batty states as follows: Cities are living, self-organising systems that grow organically from the bottom up. They are composed of entities – people and buildings – that have limited lifespans and have to be renewed continuously. Indeed, regeneration is the hallmark of any living system, and in cities, most activity that takes place can be considered part of this process of renewal. …. Whether or not the processes of regeneration are sustainable and lead to a better quality of life is not assured simply because a city reproduces itself. Cities change through positive feedback. Change builds on itself and, if there is growth or decline, regeneration might reinforce the cycle. (Batty, 2012, Page 54)

Hence, urban regeneration is a self-organization process that involves interactions between the built environment and the decisions of people to spontaneously renew old urban buildings and neighbourhoods. Thus, planners need to identify critical points for intervention in urban regeneration. Furthermore, queuing is a self-organization process in which public transport customers spontaneously follow the informal rules set up by the social system to govern the actions of people for efficiently and orderly taking public transport services. Individual decisions in queuing produce several new behaviours, such as some public transport customers choosing not to join a queue upon their arrival, normally because of there being too long of a queue; some other customers initially choosing to join a queue but gradually losing their patience and eventually leaving the queue before receiving service in the case of intolerable waiting; and some customers queueing and waiting patiently in the station until it is their turn to take public buses (Fig. 1.1). A study in Singapore investigated the influence of traffic rules on the behaviour of pedestrians in footpaths, which is the space shared by pedestrians and cyclists (Che et al., 2021). Pedestrians are concerned about their safety due to users’ differences in sizes and speeds. Pedestrians adjust their behaviour for their own perceived risk level and behave more cautiously if they perceive that the rules on arranging to commute in shared space fail to protect them because the cyclists are riding at high speed. As a result, their cautious actions have modified the rules. However, if they perceive cyclists riding at slow speed and that the rules on sharing space can effectively protect them, pedestrians tend to be less cautious than cyclists. This is an example of the interactions between traffic rules and individual actions (or decisions), where the interactions represent a self-organization process.

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1 Introduction

Fig. 1.1 Queuing behaviour in bus stations: a self-organization process. Sources The author took the photograph

In a sociospatial system such as Hong Kong, people are active, purposeful actors (households, developers, private car drivers), and they interact with social rules to produce different new and unpredictable behaviours. In the field of urban transport studies, some transport models have been advanced to explain how transport systems function. Conventional urban transport planning models are unable to accurately forecast travel demand because of the complex interactions between traffic rules, land-use development and the actions of drivers. Evidence from urban planning studies indicates that self-organization is a helpful concept in understanding the underlying mechanisms of urban dynamics, travel demands, urban development, community gentrification, and the practices of workers in cities (Lau, 2020; Merkel, 2019; Tavory et al., 2020). Planners who adopt the self-organization approach are limited to providing specific predictions about the dynamics of complex social systems; they can only provide some very general principles and, in many cases, only attributes of what is likely to happen, and planners have little power to deliberately control the trajectory of developments (Zhang, & De Roo, 2016, Polanyi, 1998). For example, in Hong Kong and Singapore, it is impossible to estimate the traffic demands in the future and to imagine an optimal future state of the transport systems, and there is no knowable optimum future state (Marshall et al., 2012). In the self-organization process, interactions between policies and individual actions produce a recursive operation that transforms aggregates of action to modify and reproduce policies. These actions include the decision-makers of the government. The application of the self-organization approach in urban transport planning includes four stages. The first stage is to investigate the impacts of government policies made by the Hong Kong and Singapore governments on travel behaviour; the

1.3 Self-organization Approach

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second stage is to explain and determine the decisions of individual poor workers and their travel problems in response to the influences of government policies; and the third stage is to evaluate the policies by using the concepts of social justice theories. Since people want fair governance, the government should add social justice as a major attribute to the daily operations of governing (Miles, 2015); thus, both the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should amend the policies that are found to go against Sen’s capability approach and Rawls’ difference principle (Rawls, 1971; Sen, 1985). The final stage is the government’s amendment of the unjust policies to improve the commuting and capabilities of poor workers. It is the human right of poor people to have access to employment and other basic needs (Fig. 1.2). The self-organization process evolves more or less nonlinearly and spontaneously within the social system itself. Therefore, the interactions between unfair policies and individual actions will evolve for a long period until a balanced environment is achieved. The self-organization approach helps to explain unpredictable commuting patterns and social change produced by the interactions between policies and individuals. Travel patterns are not easily estimated by conventional transport planning models, such as the four-step model. Policies or structural factors that focus on economic growth in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Policies interact with the individual actions of poor workers to produce commuting constraints on living locations, affordability, mode choice, and travel distances to employment.

The policies are evaluated by social justice theories. Since people want fair governance, the governments of both cities should amend the unjust policies to improve the ability of all citizens to commute to their basic needs. Fig. 1.2 Self-Organization approach to urban transport planning

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1 Introduction

1.3.1 Self-organization is Operationalized by Using Structuration Theory The main constituent driver of self-organization processes in cities is action. Action can be defined as the intentional and purposeful behaviour of urban actors (e.g., government decision-makers, low-income workers, shopkeepers in inner-city neighbourhoods, and commuters) who implement specific independent plans to achieve certain desired changes (Portugali, 2000, 2016). Actions always occur in real time and space and are developed according to subjective desires, means, and contextual knowledge through which actors interpret existing social-spatial conditions and discover feasible opportunities and travel patterns (Cozzolino et al., 2021). The concept of self-organization is operationalized by using structuration theory, in which structures or policies are both the media and the outcomes of the reproduction of actions (Giddens, 1984). Actors reproduce rules in their daily activities to produce new rules, such as drivers following traffic rules every day, and they modify the rules through different travel behaviours, such as traffic congestion in Singapore causing the government to impose a road pricing policy. Structures are the rules and resources that actors depend on in their daily practices (Giddens, 1984). Structures are also the rules or policies that constrain and enable the effects of the formal and informal behaviour of individuals and groups in the process of selforganization. Structuration refers to the production and reproduction of a social system in interaction, which is a self-organization process through which structures or rules are constituted. Production means that agents draw on rules to act meaningfully. According to Giddens’ structuration theory, social structures do not exist; rather, they are stored as memories in an individual’s mind. Societies and actions are structured by institutions, social norms and rules and power differentials over people and things (i.e., resources). They are the underlying cause of social patterns. For example, the occupational gender gap is a set of social formal and informal rules that regulate the relationships between men and women in the labour markets. An action can be undertaken either by a single individual or by a group of individuals acting in concert, as in the case of organizations, associations, and cooperatives, to achieve desired changes. For this book, the following kinds of actions are crucial: working mothers choose jobs that are near their homes, older workers choose to live in urban areas and within social networks that they are familiar with, and low-income workers choose to relocate to new towns because they feel unable to afford the high land rents in urban areas. In other words, this book focuses on those actions that come about when, for example, low-income actors choose new residential locations or workplaces, modify their routine daily activities, or change their transport modes to work. These are the kinds of actions that continuously and incrementally shape and reshape human communities, giving them the capacity to persist and evolve cities through emergent processes of self-organization. Moreover, these are the kinds of actions that enable actors to constantly improve their environments by providing concrete answers to improve their quality of life (Cozzolino et al., 2021; Habraken, 1998).

1.3 Self-organization Approach

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In cities, structural factors include rules and resources, such as the gender division of household labour, the gender gap in wages, the occupational gender gap, and income inequality among workers. Structures are embedded in actors’ memory traces and drawn on by actors when taking part in practices and structuring practices. Structuration theory is centrally concerned with the order as ‘the transcending of time and space’ in human social relationships. Interactions between structures and actions (e.g., the self-organization process) maintain routine daily activities or social order in human communities and the reproduction of social systems. Individuals always use their minds to modify new activities to improve their commute to their jobs. For example, a female worker who experiences an interaction between social norms and individual action, such as the gender division of household labour—which means that she has to spend more time intervals on household responsibilities—decides to find a part-time job near her home to decrease her travel time on commuting. This interaction produces low wages and commuting problems, such as her wage being lower than her husband’s, but she feels that is it difficult for her to seek distant job opportunities. Thus, she modifies her new travel behaviour by employing a domestic helper to assist with her household jobs (Fig. 1.3). Based on structuration theory, this book tries to investigate and make qualitative predictions on the new structural properties produced by the interactions between actions and structures (e.g., economic restructuring and poverty, gender gaps in commuting, income inequality between older workers and other social groups and spatial and social segregation between professionals and low-income workers). In regard to the concept of duality of structure, in which structure is the medium and

Structure: A working woman faces the gender division of household labour

Modifying the routine activities: She employs a domestic helper to assist her with household work and then seeks distant full-time job.

Individual action/attitude: She chooses to find part-time jobs near her home to decrease her travel time.

New structural property: She earns a lower wage than her husband and feels unable to find distant job opportunities.

Fig. 1.3 Interaction between structure and action represents the mechanism of the self-organization process

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1 Introduction

product of action; i.e., action cannot exist or be analysed separately from structure. These concepts can only exist as a duality. Thus, according to qualitative predictions made in the self-organization approach, government policy-makers can modify either the actions of workers or policies to improve commuting (Giddens, 1984; Moroni, 2015).

1.3.2 Self-organization and Government Policy The theory of self-organization provides an abstract, general description of evolutionary processes. This study argues that in the process of human evolution, human actors will try to achieve sustainable development to improve their quality of life. The concept of self-organization indicates that social systems are recreative through the mechanism that structure (e.g., the built environment, social system, government policy) is the medium and product of human action (Giddens, 1984). Structures can be considered properties of social systems, and such systems are defined by Giddens (1979, p. 66) as “reproduced relations between actors or collectivities as regular social practices.” Therefore, in this study, government policies, income inequality, and land-use plans can also be regarded as properties of social systems, in which land-use plans, gender gaps, and government policies are expressed in an observable network of relations (Giddens, 1984). The duality of structure is then proposed as a recursive operation that transforms aggregates of action to modify and reproduce policies and land-use plans during the process of structuration. People operate within the context of the rules of policy; however, at the same time, when actors act accordingly, they change or modify the policy by producing and reproducing their routine daily activities and thus produce new travel behaviour; e.g., drivers follow traffic plans to use a cross-harbour tunnel to reach their workplaces, but they sometimes modify the traffic plan by they taking public transport to work. The interactions between policies and actors will evolve to keep the social system in a balanced state. The self-organization process present in the human social system—in particular, evolutionary and spontaneous formation, adaptation and growth in human life—may contribute to sustainable development, in which human actors modify the built environment and social system to maintain a sustainable environment; that is, human actors should try to meet the needs of people in their personal and economic lives while respecting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The selforganization approach is also in line with the capability approach proposed by Sen (1981, 1985), which suggests that individual capability, such as commuting with freedom and choice to “functionings” (or basic needs activities), maintains individuals’ quality of life (Sen, 1980). A study in India indicates that travel time is significantly related to individual capability and is shorter for less capable people. In addition, the variance in travel time, indicating the degree of freedom of movement, has a positive association with individual capability (Chikaraishi et al., 2017).

1.5 Social Justice and Government Policies

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1.4 Self-organization Approach Helps to Explain the Cause and Effect of Trip Flows The structuration theory proposed by Giddens (1984) is identified as an indicator of self-organizing capacity. In urban transport planning, structuration theory proposes an approach to explain the cause and effect of trip flow among origins and destinations in a city. For example, the interactions between policies and the individual actions of travellers produce autonomously organizing activities that generate trip flows. Agents in urban social systems, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, can be defined as countless types of actors, such as individuals, employers, immigrant workers, or elderly workers. For complexity, the agents’ dispersed decision-making and a sufficiently large number of actors are necessary. Actors organize to utilize proximity to reduce friction, such as lower commuting costs and efforts to reach employment opportunities, and they have microscale location preferences based on the influences of structural variables and government policies; thus, they interact at the local scale, such as in new towns or deprived urban neighbourhoods, which leads to agglomeration that produces different mode choices and trip flows that appear in the four-step model. Hence, a self-organizing approach can be applied to explain the cause and effect of trip flows in urban transport planning at the city level (Fig. 1.3). Urban transport planning models solely use the socioeconomic backgrounds of commuters to predict travel demand, and few of them investigate the impacts of government policies on travel behaviour. The self-organization approach used in this study can fill this research gap. Further investigation of applying a self-organization approach for identifying unjust policies, travel flows, and amendment of unjust policies in Hong Kong and Singapore will be conducted in Chapter Six of this book.

1.5 Social Justice and Government Policies A previous study used a national survey experiment, a cross-national panel of thirtyfive advanced democracies, and aggregate voter turnout data to demonstrate that fair governance encourages people to vote to select just governments (Miles, 2015). For a high share of people, voting is not motivated by a desire to influence the outcomes of elections or by a sense of civic duty; rather, voting expresses validation of fair governance. Thus, the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore should regard social justice as the culture of their government operations. Systems of government that function fairly send the message that equality and freedom are more than slogans and are manifest in everyday government operations. Therefore, social justice should be adopted as part of the culture of daily government operations.

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1 Introduction

Governance refers to all processes of governing, i.e., the institutions, processes, and practices through which issues of common concern are decided upon and regulated. Fair governance adds fairness as an evaluative attribute to the process of governing. The interactions between some government policies and the actions of poor people always produce commuting problems, which lead to accessibility constraints. Government decision-makers should judge these problems by considering social justice theories and amending policies to improve the access of the poor to basic needs and maintain fairness in the governing of the two cities (Barucca, 2021). As the Hong Kong government is not elected directly by the population, which means that its policies do not primarily focus on the needs of the general population, it is necessary to introduce social justice theories to evaluate the performance of government policies (Ramesh, 2012). Mobility is defined as freedom of movement, i.e., the ease with which people can get where they need to go, and equitable mobility refers to transport policies that provide the same opportunity for everyone to move around reliably and sustainably in ways that meet their needs. In the self-organization process, it is the responsibility of the governments to modify unfair policies to achieve sustainable development and to provide equitable mobility in Singapore and Hong Kong. The ethical basis for understanding equitable mobility stems from the argument that freedom of movement and access to key functions are basic universal human rights, as argued by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state” (United Nations, 1948, Article 13). The purpose of this section is to investigate mobility equity to advance equity in the transportation field by providing guidelines for the modification of government policies during the process of social development. The social justice theories introduced in this section can guide government decision-makers to identify ways to increase the freedom and choices of low-income workers with regard to commuting to their employment. Many transport studies have focused on gender inequality in transport mobility, mobility inequality between high- and low-income workers, and the mobility deprivation of older workers to reach distant employment opportunities. Equality means that all groups should be provided with the same level of mobility. In urban transport planning, equality is impractical and rarely the goal in either practice or research. Since people or groups may not have the same opportunities, they should be provisioned differently to address the disparities in opportunity by following the theories of social justice or equity (Carleton & Porter, 2018; Pereira et al., 2017). Social justice refers to the distribution of benefits and burdens in society; this study focuses on the fairness of government policies to distribute benefits or resources among social groups. Individuals are different in regard to their abilities and social backgrounds, which means that not all inequality is unfair; fairness sometimes comes at the price of treating people differently according to their differences (Sen, 2009). Rawls (1971) suggests that some level of inequality is inescapable and that it is not possible to achieve the genuine equality of opportunity because individuals’ trained

1.5 Social Justice and Government Policies

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abilities, freedom of choice, and even effort cannot be completely separated from their social conditions. In policy evaluation, fair policies should take into account setting standards to reduce income inequality, poverty, and social segregation; respect individual rights; prioritize disadvantaged groups, and reduce the inequalities related to opportunities and problems commuting to basic needs. As far as urban transport planning is concerned, fair government policies should focus primarily on accessibility as a human capability, and government policies should provide this capability for all social groups, including poor workers. Three social justice theories have been widely used in urban transport planning. The first is known as the Rawlsian principles of justice. In defining the foundations of justice, Rawls (1971) developed two principles. The second part of the second principle (called the difference principle) is concerned with distributive justice. According to the difference principle, inequalities are acceptable to the extent that they benefit the least well-off positions in society. For example, to capture more revenue from land sales to finance the construction of transport infrastructure, the Hong Kong and Singapore governments construct dense mass transit routes in urban areas, which is called the ‘rail-plus-property’ policy. As a result, this policy directly boosts the land prices along the mass transit routes in urban areas, causing soaring property values that directly crowd low-income groups out of their original neighbourhoods; thus, many of them choose to live in distant new towns (Liang et al., 2022; Zhu & Diao, 2016). Therefore, according to the self-organization model, using land sale income to finance the construction of mass transit networks is an unfair government policy that contradicts the difference principle. Utilitarianism claims that the distribution of societal goods (e.g., transport mobility) should be for the ‘greatest net balance of satisfaction for most people. Thus, the moral judgement of an action or policy should be based exclusively on its consequences, particularly on how it maximizes well-being (Bentham, 1988 [1776]). However, utilitarianism theories are interested in only the maximization of total welfare. This aggregative character makes these theories unconcerned about the pattern of distribution of welfare, which results in inequity in its distribution. Singaporeans often speak of the “pragmatism” of their policies. In Western countries, pragmatism primarily means going along with public opinion and openness to political compromise. In Singapore, in contrast, pragmatism primarily means judging policies based on their actual consequences, not their popularity. Pragmatism is virtually a synonym for utilitarianism. For example, the Singapore government uses the CPF system for public housing finance purposes, social welfare expenses, and medical treatments for family members. In the Singaporean sense of the term, the CPF system is pragmatic because it finances public housing, reduces investment taxes, depresses wage growth and enhances economic growth. However, many unskilled and loweducated workers also earn low disposable incomes and feel unable to afford the daily food and transport costs for long-distance work trips (Central Provident Fund Board, 2022; Dollars & Sense, 2022). Amartya Sen (1981, 1985) endorses Rawls’ overall scheme but proposes that the focus of the difference principle should shift from primary goods (e.g., housing and

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1 Introduction

income equality) to human capabilities. The capability approach is analysed in terms of the core concepts of ‘functionings’ and ‘capabilities’ (Sen, 1980, 1981, 1984). Capabilities are sets of freedoms and opportunities (e.g., the freedom to travel to job opportunities) available for individuals to choose and to act, resulting from a combination of one’s personal abilities (e.g., functionings) and the political, social, and economic environment. Functioning is an achievement of a person, i.e., what he or she manages to do or be (‘doing’ or ‘being’). Achieving a functioning (e.g., being adequately nourished) with a given bundle of resources (e.g., bread or rice) depends on a range of personal and social factors (income, age, gender, access to medical services, nutritional knowledge and education, climatic conditions, etc.). Functioning, therefore, refers to a person making use of the resources at his or her command. Human capabilities are at the heart of justice concerns, which essentially deal with the opportunities and substantive freedoms that enable individuals to achieve things they have reason to value. Capability reflects a person’s ability to achieve a given set of valuable functionings (e.g., taking public transport to employment, driving a private car) that a person can achieve with freedom and plenty of choices. Certainly, the capability sets of poor workers are different from those of professionals. Increasing the affordability of workers to commute to distant job opportunities is an improvement in their capability. Additionally, increasing the social interactions between poor people in the inner-city neighbourhoods and rich people in the central business district is an enhancement of capability. The development of strong subcentres in suburban areas will increase the choices of low-income workers in new towns with regard to selecting jobs that are located close to their homes. One of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) is as follows: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, or ethnicity…. Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies, and action in this regard…Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage, and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality. (United Nations, 2015, Goal 10)

The SDGs recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. Hence, this book advocates the ‘difference principle’ proposed by Rawls (1971) and the ‘capability approach’ proposed by Sen (1980, 1981, 1984), i.e., that the governments of the two cities should use principles of social justice to evaluate the policies and amend them if necessary to increase the freedom and choices of low-income workers to commute to job opportunities.

1.6 Objectives of the Book

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1.6 Objectives of the Book This book has several objectives. The first objective of this book is to develop a new self-organization model for urban transport planning and urban development. The model will be based on structuration theory to investigate and identify the impact of the structures or policies of Hong Kong and Singapore on the commuting of low-income workers. The interactions of the policies and individual actions of poor workers produce commuting constraints, segregation and shrinking activity spaces. One important step of the self-organization model is to use the principles of social justice to determine unjust policies. Since all people want fair governance, the decision-makers of the two cities should amend the unjust policies to improve the commuting of poor workers and the quality of life. Self-organization is a process; that is, the interaction between the policies and actions of workers will constantly evolve until the social systems reach a balanced state. The second objective of this book is to investigate and compare the travel behaviour of low-income workers in Hong Kong and Singapore. Based on the data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census and the 2011 Hong Kong TCS, this book carries out a comprehensive data analysis of the commuting patterns of three low-income social groups, that is, older workers, female workers and male workers. The abovementioned workers exhibit different kinds of travel behaviour in mode choice, travel time, occupations, work and residential locations. However, they also face social segregation and job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. It is expected that the evidence of this study will shed light on urban development and transport research in Hong Kong and Singapore, particularly on the relationship between poverty and mobility equality among workers. The third objective of this book is to apply the self-organization approach to investigate the influence of socioeconomic and land-use variables on the commuting of low-income workers in the deprived neighbourhoods of Hong Kong and Singapore. Many unskilled and low-educated workers are thrown into the poverty trap, which is formed by the interactions between unfair government policies and individual actions. This book finds that rising urban poverty and inequality are concurrent with rapid urbanization and economic growth in Hong Kong and Singapore. Government policies that focus on enhancing economic growth always constrain the capability of the poor to earn adequate income to support their quality of life and to afford fast transport modes to work. As a result, urbanization in the two cities has developed social segregation in the inner-city areas and job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems in new towns. Urbanization also causes workers to be unable to afford to travel to employment; thus, many choose informal jobs and short-distance work commutes. The self-organization approach can provide more information for government decision-makers to modify their unfair policies to improve transport mobility and social integration that might be overlooked in conventional urban transport planning models. The fourth objective of this book is to link the self-organization process and structuration theory to investigate individual decisions to generate different kinds of

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1 Introduction

travel behaviour. Many transport studies investigate travel behaviour following the conventional urban transport planning model (e.g., the four-step model) and ignore the fact that travel behaviour involves individual actions that interact with structural factors to produce new structural properties, which are unpredictable. As a result, the findings of urban transport planning always have wide discrepancies between predicted travel demand and actual travel demand because the models fail to explain the reasons behind some older low-income workers choosing to reside in inner-city neighbourhoods and find part-time jobs within their living neighbourhoods. These individuals have short-distance work commutes and are socially cut off from other social groups. Additionally, most transport studies can determine the impacts of jobhousing spatial mismatch on the commuting of the poor in new towns, but they fail to determine the reasons why low-income workers decide to reside in distant new towns and travel long distances every day from their homes to job opportunities in the city centre. Furthermore, this book finds that mobility differences have emerged between workers in Hong Kong and Singapore. For example, there is a higher proportion of workers who drive to work than workers who do not in Hong Kong. Some professionals and managers choose to live in distant new towns in Singapore and travel long distances from their homes to the central business district to seek high-wage jobs, whereas a high proportion of high-income workers in Hong Kong chose to live in urban areas and drive to work. The self-organization approach can explain the reasons behind different major individual travel actions in complex cities, such as Hong Kong and Singapore. The fifth objective of this book is to investigate the commuting problems of poor workers in Hong Kong and Singapore by focusing on social justice. The results of this book find that some government policies cause poverty and commuting problems. For example, many poor workers choose to live in subdivided flats in deprived urban neighbourhoods and face social segregation and exclusion. The policy of relaxing the rules on subcontracting and industrial relations, e.g., the relations between management and workers in the industry, is one of the structural factors that cause these commuting problems. The low-wage labour market is unregulated, and statutory employment legislation is also minimal, resulting in workers’ collective organizations failing to protect workers from job security. Many of these workers experience depressing wages, choose to work in informal employment and face low income. The self-organization approach adds a step to measuring government policies according to social justice theories, such as Rawls’ difference principle, which can help people identify unfair policies that lead to income inequality and commuting problems. Since people want fair governance, the decision-makers of the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should amend the unjust policies to meet the expectations of their people. The process of interaction between policies and individual actions will evolve for some time until unfair policies are amended.

1.8 Main Hypotheses of This Book

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1.7 Research Questions of This Study The author examines the interactions between government policies and individual actions of workers in Hong Kong and Singapore and explores how low-income workers are involved or affected by self-organization recursive processes. This research answers the following four major questions: 1. What are the major individual actions of low-income workers who contribute to producing commuting problems during the process of urban development in Hong Kong and Singapore? 2. What are the major government policies that contribute to producing mobility problems for poor workers during the process of urban development in Hong Kong and Singapore? 3. In self-organization processes, how do social justice theories and fair governance contribute to modifying government policies to improve the commuting of poor workers? 4. In response to fair governance, what are the roles of the Hong Kong and Singapore governments in improving the commuting of poor workers to employment opportunities? The answers to these questions would improve the commuting of low-income workers. In addition, the author expects that the investigation of the abovementioned four research questions will help to develop a new urban transport planning model and urge government decision-makers to change unfair policies.

1.8 Main Hypotheses of This Book The research methods and the theoretical frameworks used to investigate the interactions between structural factors and individual actions that produce commuting can be reflected in the main hypotheses and the relevant elaborations found in this section. Based on structuration theory, all observable travel behaviours are the product of interactions between individual actions and policies. The main hypotheses of this book are as follows: 1. The commuting patterns of low-income workers in Singapore and Hong Kong are the product of interactions between government policies and individual actions. 2. The commuting patterns of the poor workers in deprived urban neighbourhoods and new towns of Hong Kong and Singapore are the function of the interactions among neighbourhood effects, suburbanization policies and individual actions.

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1 Introduction

1.8.1 Elaboration of the First Hypothesis The first hypothesis of this book is to examine the self-organization processes, which involve the interactions between government policies and individual actions in Hong Kong and Singapore. The processes produce mobility problems that influence lowincome workers. The hypothesis is investigated in Chapter Two and Chapter Three of this book. This study hypothesizes that several government policies i.e., those related to the high land price, land acquisition, rail-plus-property system, transit-oriented development and the Central Provident Fund system, all negatively influence the commuting of low-income workers. The high land price policy has caused rising housing prices in the city centre, and lower-income families are crowded out of the trending areas and replaced by higherincome households (Chang & Phang, 2017; Murakami, 2018; Yau et al., 2021). Both governments adopt the ‘rail-plus-property’ strategy to finance the construction of rail projects in urban areas. This results in high land prices for those properties close to the rail stations, and the decision of low-income workers who cannot afford the high rents is to move away from urban areas. In addition, the suburbanization of the urban poor from urban slums to distant new towns in the 1960s has also led to job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems for many members of the low-income working class. Furthermore, in the face of the ageing populations in Singapore and Hong Kong, the two city governments’ policies of taking a minimal approach to social security are challenged, such as the CPF system in Singapore and the Mandatory Provident Fund in Hong Kong, which are found to provide inadequate retirement savings for older workers. As a result, many unskilled workers are most likely to slip into poverty as they age. The related actions of older workers include working beyond their retirement age, living in deprived older urban neighbourhoods and commuting short distances on work trips. These individuals decide to seek part-time and self-employed low-wage jobs. The abovementioned government policies have negatively limited the capabilities of low-income workers to have choices and freedom to commute to employment opportunities.

1.8.2 Elaboration of the Second Hypothesis The second hypothesis of this book is that the commuting problems of the poor workers in deprived urban neighbourhoods and new towns of Hong Kong and Singapore are the product of the interactions between neighbourhood effects, suburbanization policies and individual actions. In Chapter Four, the deprived neighbourhoods Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong and Little India and Chinatown in Singapore are chosen to investigate the impacts of interactions between neighbourhood effects and individual actions on the commuting of low-income workers. People with high and low incomes are

1.8 Main Hypotheses of This Book

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increasingly living separately in different neighbourhoods. This chapter focuses on the impacts of neighbourhood effects, such as poverty stigma and social disorganization, and segregation on the commuting of poor residents in four deprived urban neighbourhoods in Singapore and Hong Kong (La Grange, 2011). Stigma is defined as a discrediting attribute that impairs social acceptability. Poverty can be considered a discrediting attribute, and stigma is experienced through the negative labelling and stereotyping of the poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods. A study in Hong Kong found that welfare recipients in Hong Kong have greater poverty stigma and a higher negative affect than nonwelfare recipients (Chan et al., 2022; La Grange, 2011). A high level of poverty stigma implies a low level of social interaction. Welfare recipients are likely to avoid the hurt of experiencing stronger welfare stigma from others by reducing their level of social interaction with relatives or friends. They gradually develop shrinking activity spaces, particularly single working mothers. Social disorganization refers to the relationship between neighbourhood structure, social control, and crime in deprived neighbourhoods. This study finds that Little India in Singapore and Mong Kok and Shamshuipo in Hong Kong have developed certain levels of social disorganization. Shamshuipo has developed social disorganization, in which the deprived environment makes women feel unsafe walking alone after dark; furthermore, there is widespread prostitution in the area, and the neighbourhood has low levels of effective property management (Chan, 2018; Ng et al., 2017; La Grange, 2011). Chapter Five of this book investigates the impacts of suburbanization policies on the commuting of residents in Tuen Mun New Town in Hong Kong and Woodlands New Town in Singapore. In Singapore, the government has developed light industries around Woodlands New Town so that working residents can travel short distances to reach manufacturing job opportunities. In Hong Kong, a high share of manufacturing industries have moved to mainland China to seek lower land prices and labour costs. The results of Chapter Five indicate that many business firms and major government offices in Singapore and Hong Kong remain in the city centres and have not followed the population by moving to new towns. Consequently, many working residents in Woodlands New Town and Tuen Mun New Town have to travel long distances from their homes to job opportunities in urban areas. In Hong Kong, a significant share of working residents, such as construction and transportation workers, in Tuen Mun choose to commute long distances to workplaces in urban areas. In Singapore, a significant share of working residents, particularly industry workers, can find industry and retail jobs near the new towns in which they love and thus travel short-distance work trips. Many high-income residents choose to commute to the CBD to find professional and associate professional jobs. In addition, because the rapid transit systems are in radial format to connect new towns and the CBD, many workers who find jobs in nearby new towns have to take public buses to their workplaces. In the face of the job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problem, different social groups generate different travel behaviours. Some low-income workers feel unable to afford long-distance public transport fares and thus remain unemployed or find part-time work in their living neighbourhoods.

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1.9 Conclusion This chapter introduces the research plan of this book. The plan focuses on Hong Kong and Singapore to study the commuting problems of low-income workers. The self-organization model is used to understand the influence of government policies on commuting and urban change. The main objective of this book is to develop an urban transport planning model to explain the impacts of government policies on the commuting of low-income workers. The research questions of this book aim to describe the framework of the self-organization approach, that is, the policies that influence the commuting patterns of low-income workers in the process of urban development, the actions of workers that modify the policies that aim to improve commuting and the ways that the Hong Kong and Singapore governments can amend the policies that lead to commuting problems to keep in line with fair governance. One important phenomenon of self-organization is that policies (e.g., suburbanization policy to relocate the poor to new towns) negatively influence the commuting of the poor, who thus modify the policy by changing their daily travel patterns (e.g., job-housing spatial mismatch commuting). The self-organization recursive process will evolve for a long period until the poor achieve the capability to commute to employment with freedom and choices (e.g., the government amends the policy to relocate jobs and public facilities to the suburbs). In this chapter and the following chapters, this book investigates and compares the impacts of major policies on commuting in Hong Kong and Singapore (such as the high land price policy in Hong Kong; land acquisition, the CPF system and public housing policy in Singapore; and the suburbanization of poverty in both cities) that have led to poverty and commuting problems. As a result, many lowincome workers choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods and experience neighbourhood effects and social segregation. All the abovementioned policies are found to lead to accessibility problems, such as poor workers being unable to afford public transport fares to distant job opportunities, job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems in new towns, workers facing commuting constraints due to overcrowded street markets, and narrow pedestrian walkways in deprived urban neighbourhoods. This chapter has investigated the impacts of job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems in several new towns in Hong Kong and Singapore to support the abovementioned assumptions. The self-organization approach will focus on government policies, which interact with individual actions to produce accessibility constraints. The planning process includes identifying and explaining the impacts of the policies on the commuting and commuting problems of the poor and providing strategies to amend the policies. This book finds that policies influence the commuting of workers and are an integral part of urban transport planning. However, few transport planning models focus on the impacts of policies on commuting. The wide discrepancies between actual and estimated travel demands in the conventional transport planning models are due to the models having missed some important elements, such as government policies, when estimating travel flows. Hence, one of the objectives of this book is to add

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the self-organization approach to transport planning models as an essential step to understanding the influence of policies on the daily travel patterns of workers in Hong Kong and Singapore. Another important objective of this study is based on the fact that the selforganization approach can not only identify policies that cause commuting problems but also help government decision-makers amend such policies. Since people want fair governance, social justice is an important variable that needs to be observed in the implementation of government policies; governments must observe fairness in the distribution of accessibility for all people. In the case of any policies that are implemented that go against the principles of social justice, unfair policies will interact with the actions of people to produce commuting problems and imbalanced social environments. The interactions between unjust policies and individual actions will evolve for a long period and cause imbalanced social situations within social systems, as seen in Hong Kong and Singapore, until governments amend the unfair policies in an effort to return the social environment to a balanced situation. Thus, in the self-organization model, there is a step for government decision-makers to amend unjust policies to improve commuting and the quality of life of low-income workers. It is expected that the self-organization model can be a new and useful planning tool to identify travel flows, explain the impacts of policies on commuting, explain the decisions of low-income workers in response to unjust policies and help decisionmakers amend these policies to improve commuting.

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Chapter 2

Influence of Government Policies and Individual Decisions on the Commuting of Poor Workers in Hong Kong

Abstract The Hong Kong government adopts laissez-faire policies on urban renewal, suburbanization, education, and industrial relations, while actively intervening in the housing markets; it limits the land supply for housing, excluding the majority of the population from applying for public housing and adopting a rail-plusproperty model to boost land prices. Transport studies usually use socioeconomic variables to predict travel demand, but this study uses the self-organization approach to explain the commuting patterns produced by the interaction between policies and individual actions. Drawing on data from the 2011 Hong Kong TCS, this study finds that the policies contribute to causing poverty, social and spatial segregation, and accessibility constraints of poor workers. Accessibility problems produce an imbalanced social environment. Since people want fair governance, implementing fair governance is the main motivation for the Hong Kong government to amend the policies to return the social system to a balanced state and improve the commuting of low-income workers. Keywords Structuration theory · Hong Kong government policies · Economic growth · Individual decisions · Economic restructuring · High land price policy · Income gap · Mobility inequality

2.1 Introduction Since the end of the Second World War, Hong Kong has developed tremendously to become a financial centre in global markets. The economic growth of Hong Kong is mainly due to the government being able to build affordable public housing and efficient public transport services to keep wages low; at the same time, the government has earned adequate revenue from land sales to keep low tax rates and attract foreign direct investments. The government has implemented several policies to finance its urban development. As the ultimate landlord, the Hong Kong government captures a substantial amount of revenue through public land auctions and tenders. Revenues

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 J. Cho-Yam Lau, Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, Quality of Life in Asia 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4_2

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from land have been a significant source of income for the Hong Kong government (Hui et al., 2004). The revenue from land sales is used to finance the construction of public housing and transport infrastructure to relocate the urban population to new towns so that the government has more urban land for business development. The government also adopts the rail-plus-property policy for land value capture to finance transport infrastructure such as the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), which contributes to boosting land prices in urban areas and increasing land revenue. Rapid urban redevelopment, transit-driven gentrification, and suburbanization policies also allow the government to earn a large amount of revenue from land sales. These policies are far from a laissezfaire approach (Augustin-jean, 2005). The Hong Kong government also adopts a long-standing laissez-faire policy on urban renewal, industrial relations (e.g., the relations between management and workers in the industry), social welfare, and housing development. This laissez-faire policy refers to leaving things to take their course in the process of development; thus, the scope of state action is relatively low. While these policies contribute to promoting economic growth and transforming Hong Kong into a global financial centre, they also cause commuting and social exclusion problems for poor workers. For example, approximately half of the population of Hong Kong chooses to live in new towns because of high land prices and suburbanization policies; however, many new towns fail to achieve self-containment. As a result, many working residents in new towns experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems and are excluded from accessing job opportunities. High housing prices, economic restructuring, and job polarization result in wide income inequality and urban decay. Many low-income people choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods; they are socially and spatially segregated from other social groups and are socially excluded from accessing formal jobs. In addition, job polarization and the widening income gap also aggravate the gender gap in mobility. Many low-income working women are excluded from accessing formal job markets and have to choose informal jobs and commute short distances for work trips. The commuting problems that are caused by government policies can be measured by using the concept of accessibility. In this study, accessibility is defined as the capability of an individual to penetrate the constraints imposed by government policies to commute to the mainstream activities of a society. Human capabilities are at the heart of social justice concerns, which essentially deal with the opportunities and substantive freedoms that enable individuals to achieve basic needs, including access to employment. Thus, accessibility is regarded as a human capability (Pereira et al., 2017). The capability approach is in line with the concept of self-organization, which stresses the interaction between structure and individual decisions to produce commuting behaviour; the more choices and freedom an individual has to make decisions, the better the social environment is with regard to the individual accessing basic needs. Concerning the relationship between human rights and accessibility, the capability approach (Sen, 1984, 1985) states that a government characterized by justice and equity should provide all people with the capability of freedom, choice, and opportunities to access basic needs. The concept of self-organization and structuration

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theory (Giddens, 1984) contributes to evaluating the impacts of government policies on the commuting of the Hong Kong people. Self-organization analysis integrates the individual decisions of commuters into social and urban transport systems so that the freedom and capability of individuals to choose alternative courses of daily travel can be included. Self-organization is a process by which interactions within the system lead to the spontaneous emergence of a new structure without outside coordination. Selforganization in the human social system takes place in response to external adversity in society. It is a natural and spontaneous mechanism of interactions among individuals in a social system aiming to achieve a state of equilibrium (Portugali, 2000; Zhang & De Roo, 2016). For example, self-organization is seen in the free market system. As early as 1776, Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ referred to a selforganizing mechanism guiding and shaping economic systems (Smith, 1937). The leading economist Paul Krugman shows how principles of self-organization explain the sizes of earthquakes and metropolitan areas (Krugman, 1995). Self-organization is a basic mechanism by which complex urban systems, such as Hong Kong, organize themselves. This mechanism emerges from individual agents’ local interactions, often with unpredictable consequences at the regional level. For example, if a policy (e.g., a high land price policy that makes low-income workers live in subdivided flats in deprived urban neighbourhoods) negatively influences the commuting of low-income workers, they then modify the policy by changing their daily travel patterns (e.g., they encourage shrinking activity spaces and make short distance trips). This process will evolve for a long period until the poor achieve the capability to commute to their employment with freedom and choices (e.g., the government amends the high land price policy and redevelops deprived neighbourhoods). Self-organization is operationalized by using the structuration theory proposed by Giddens (1984); the theory states that the constitution of commuters and government policies are not two independently given sets of phenomena but instead represent a duality. He defines this relationship as a ‘duality of structure’, which views the following: …structure as the medium and outcome of the conduct it recursively organizes; the structural properties of social system do not exist outside of action but are chronically implicated in its production and reproduction. (Giddens, 1984, p. 374)

The social system in Hong Kong refers to the major institutions of society (for example, the MTR system, deprived urban neighbourhoods, and new towns); structure refers to rules and policies (for example, suburbanization and high land price policies) that only exist when they are employed in Hong Kong. Structural properties refer to new features produced by the interaction between policies and individual actions (e.g., commuting behaviour of the working residents in new towns and deprived urban neighbourhoods) that stretch across time and space.

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2.2 Economic Restructuring and Commuting Problems in Hong Kong A study on job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems in US cities finds that parallel to changes in the urban spatial structure of metropolitan areas, there are substantial changes to the workforce and work locations of metropolitan areas that result in commuting problems; these changes include an increasing job polarization of the new economy characterized by the growth of high- and low-wage jobs, a decline in many middle-wage jobs, and continuing gender inequality and job insecurity (Antipova, 2020). In addition, the majority of transport studies on mobility differences between genders have focused on disparities in employment status (e.g., more women in low-income occupations), the division of household roles, and access to motorized transport to explain the mobility inequality between genders. Few such studies have examined whether the effects of the main economic structural factors on mobility (e.g., economic restructuring making many low-income women engage in part-time and contract jobs) differ to a great degree between the sexes (Havet et al., 2021). This section focuses on the impacts of economic restructuring and job polarization on the mobility problems of female workers. The increased diversity of work locations, particularly for low-income workers, has resulted from economic restructuring, globalization, the informalization of employment, and job polarization. Spatiotemporal changes in work, as studied previously, have been closely related to wider trends towards the labour market informalization of employment and job insecurity (Reuschke & Ekinsmyth, 2021). Informal employment is viewed as unregulated, low-paid, and insecure work conducted under ‘sweatshop-like’ conditions by marginalized populations who undertake such work due to their exclusion from the formal economy and no other options being open to them. Work has increasingly become more informal in terms of employment contracts and temporal arrangements, with new disruptions to standard employment contracts caused by the rise in on-demand business models. As a consequence, work has increasingly been organized outside employer-employee systems, and people often hold multiple jobs or work freelance alongside a job. This has resulted in substantial changes to the spaces and places of work and business activities for lowincome workers who always participate in self-employed, contract, and part-time jobs. In addition, the results of studies conducted in Hong Kong have found that lowincome workers have more extensive activity spaces and spend more time out of the home than high-income workers. However, the work and residential locations of the low-income workers are different from those of the high-income workers. Lowincome workers are more likely to be exposed to people similar to themselves in terms of socioeconomic status than high-income workers. They are unwilling to live and work in high-income neighbourhoods. Thus, the activity spaces of low-income workers have a low degree of intersection with the activity spaces of the high-income workers, which results in spatial segregation between the high- and low-income

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workers. Low-income workers also experience mobility deprivation because they are deprived of the freedom to commute to the mainstream areas of high-income social groups (Li & Wang, 2017; Wang & Li, 2016).

2.2.1 Economic Restructuring and the Increase in the Low-Income Working Population Significant transformations have occurred within the labour markets of Hong Kong that have directly affected the job characteristics of the urban population. Economic growth in service sectors has displaced traditional skilled and semiskilled occupations such as technicians in manufacturing industries and office managers. These shifts, together with other structural changes, including the informalization of employment opportunities, lead to a decline in job security (Lee et al., 2007). Many unskilled women are trapped in informal labour markets, and many of them make short-distance work commutes to save transportation costs and time intervals; thus, they develop small activity spaces for activities (Li & Wang, 2017). Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the real GDP of Hong Kong shrank by 6.1%, which is the largest decrease on record. Furthermore, the unemployment rate rose to 7.0% (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021). To investigate the economic restructuring and social polarization of Hong Kong, this chapter focuses on Hong Kong’s economic development before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, that is, before 2020. Hong Kong’s economy grew rapidly by an annual average of 6.6% from 1978 to 1996, benefiting from the business opportunities offered by the implementation of mainland China’s open-door policy in 1978. For 2018 as a whole, the GDP soared by 3.0% in real terms over that in 2017. In 2018, the GDP was HK$2,664,357 million (US$341,584 million), and the GDP per capita in Hong Kong was recorded at HK$381,870 (US$48,958) (HKCSD, 2020). Hong Kong also experienced economic restructuring, and the share of manufacturing in total employment constituted only 2% in 2019, while construction accounted for 9%. The services sector is the mainstay of the Hong Kong economy, making up 93% of the GDP in 2019. In terms of total employment, services accounted for 89% in 2019 (Fig. 2.1) (HKCSD, 2020, 2009). As a result of economic restructuring, the shares of workers in various industry sectors in Hong Kong changed significantly between 2009 and 2019. Figure 2.1 depicts that the number of workers in manufacturing, imports/exports, and wholesales declined between 2009 and 2019. On the other hand, the shares of workers in public administration, the social and personal service sector, financing, insurance, the professional and estate sector, the retail and food services sector, and the construction sector significantly increased; most of the previously industry sectors offered low-wage and informal jobs for unskilled and low-educated workers (HKCSD, 2020, 2009).

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Employed Persons by Industry in Hong Kong, 2009 and 2019 Employed Persons (in thousands)

2009

2019

*Change between 2009 and 2019

1200

6.00%

1000

4.00% 2.00%

800

0.00% 600 -2.00% 400

-4.00%

200

-6.00%

0

-8.00%

Industry

Fig. 2.1 Employed persons by industry in Hong Kong, 2009 and 2019. Note *Difference between the share of workers in various industry sectors in 2009 and 2019. Source HKCSD (2009 and 2020) Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics 2020 and 2009

The financing, insurance, professional, and estate sectors cover a wide range of services, including banking, insurance, stock brokerage, asset management, and other financial services. The financial sector accounted for 19.7% of the GDP in 2019, and the increase in workers in this industry sector was due to economic growth, globalization, and trade in Hong Kong. Most workers in this sector were high-income professionals (Fig. 2.1) (HKCSD, 2009, 2020). At this time, the majority of the workers in tourism industry services were lowcome workers, such as those working in the retail, food service, and accommodation sectors (e.g., hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses, and other establishments providing short-term accommodations). Using data from the 2011 TCS, this study analyses the commuting behaviour of low-income workers and finds that a high share of low-income women sought jobs in the retail, food service, and accommodation sectors. Most of the low-income men engaged in transportation, storage, courier, and communications industry sectors, such as drivers in taxis or goods vehicles. In addition, a high share of low-income men and older workers were engaged in the construction sector, for which they had to commute long-distance trips. In addition, as of June 2018, 42% of registered construction workers were either at or over the

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age of 50; that is, many of the construction workers were older workers (Legislative Council Secretariat, 2018).

2.2.2 Flexible Employment Practices and Job Polarization in Economic Restructuring A study conducted in Hong Kong found that flexible employment practices in Hong Kong are largely employer-driven. This feature exists mainly because of the low level of government intervention in industrial relations. The labour market is unregulated, and statutory employment legislation is also minimal, resulting in workers’ collective organizations failing to protect workers from job security. The power imbalance between management and employees still prevails today. Entrepreneurs have been left free to decide their business strategies and ways to deploy their labour because of the government’s noninterventionist policy (Chiu et al., 2008). Ng (2020) finds that the higher prevalence of part-time and contract employment among low-wage workers in Singapore signals their experience of greater job insecurity and poorer job conditions. For example, cleaners in the food and beverage industry find various forms of poor job conditions and insecurity. By law, employees are entitled to seven days of annual leave, with an additional day’s leave for every additional year of service. However, one elderly cleaner had only seven days of leave, although she had been working for the same company for six years. The company may have repeatedly given her one-year contracts. The globalization trend facilitates flexible employment practices to penetrate large private firms and the Hong Kong civil service. These practices have severely affected low-income workers. Corporate restructuring, streamlining, consolidation, the utilization of high-tech machines and equipment, and downsizing spread among Hong Kong’s large private firms as they seek to regain their competitiveness in the global market. Job security and lifelong employment become outdated. Unlike the situation in Western economies, where organized labour has a long history, and the labour movement is tightly coupled to the political arena and employment relations systems, union organizations in Hong Kong have generally been weak, except in the public sector and very large corporations. It is thus not surprising that workers’ collective organizations fail to provide Hong Kong employees with any protection from assaults on job security (Chiu et al., 2008). Flexible employment can be regarded as a structural factor, which refers to a simultaneous fall in the percentage of the workforce in the formal sector and a rise in the share of the workforce in the informal sector during the process of globalization and trade (Slavnic, 2010). Flexible employment is one of the major causes of the gender wage gap, occupational gap, and gender gap in transport mobility. Female workers tend to choose the industry sectors that adopt subcontracting and offer flexible scheduling; in addition, the jobs are located near their homes so that they can decrease their travel times and have more time intervals for household

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responsibilities. The outsourced workers are employed and supplied by a third-party contractor (e.g., a service provider who is also the employer of the workers) to work in a client company (i.e., the principal, service buyer, or user company) under an outsourcing contract. Common examples are cleaners or security guards supplied by service providers. Female outsourced workers tend to concentrate in retail and social service sectors (e.g., waitresses in restaurants and cleaners in private housing estates, which are spreading around their homes). In addition, firms are facing keen competition; they employ different cost reduction and flexibility strategies, such as downsizing and outsourcing (e.g., the transfer of parts of the production process to subcontracted small or medium-size businesses), in various industry sectors, including retail, logistics, estate management services, and industrial sectors. These strategies also promote the informalization of employment (Lee et al., 2007). Subcontracting practices can lead to market failure, contributing to the depressed and stagnated wages of many low-wage workers. The structure of subcontractors is usually simple and small in size. They have neither time nor inclination to keep abreast with legal requirements or technological developments in the safety of workers, and many contract workers feel unable to organize to protect their labour rights. Additionally, some construction firms, housing estate management firms, and cleaning businesses adopt a multilayer subcontracting system that comprises a general contractor, subcontractors, intermediaries, and workers; furthermore, most contract workers face low wages and long working hours and are temporarily and informally employed by subcontractors for the period of a particular project. Lee and Wong (2004) find that the number of part-time workers almost doubled from 1994 to 2002. Most part-time employees are females, middle-aged, married, and have low educational qualifications. They mostly engage in the following sectors: community, social and personal services; wholesale; retail; import/export trades; restaurants; and hotels. Most informal male workers (over 80%) chose to work in the construction sector. Many construction employers turn their informal workers into self-employed workers through subcontracting arrangements so that they can increase their operational flexibility and reduce their labour costs. The causes of flexible employment in Hong Kong include the following. First, many female workers want to seek part-time jobs because they face time-conflict problems between household duties and employment. To match the needs of these female workers, most chain stores, restaurants, and supermarkets are now staffed by a majority of female part-timers and a minority of full-timers. Second, firms implement flexible work schedules and short-duration contract terms to quickly adapt to market changes and improve productivity. Self-employment is growing at the expense of waged employment, such as drivers in the logistics sector and construction workers. Third, large firms tend to subcontract jobs to smaller firms, resulting in an increasing number of workers being employed as short-duration outsourced workers, such as cleaners in public rental housing (PRH) estates in Hong Kong (Lee & Wong, 2004; Lee et al., 2007). The rise in services is closely related to the polarization of employment. The majority of the overall job polarization pattern is driven by female employment dynamics, particularly the rise in low-skill female

2.3 Mobility Gap Between High-Income and Low-Income Workers

37

employment (Petrongoloa & Ronchi, 2020). Female workers tend to find informal jobs near their homes; thus, they make short-distance commutes to work and social activities, resulting in small activity spaces for their basic needs. Furthermore, they are gradually excluded from commuting to the mainstream activity areas of society and experiencing mobility deprivation. There is a strong relationship between place of residence and place of work, and female and older informal workers generate the shortest commutes compared to other full-time workers. When unskilled women in older urban neighbourhoods are left without a formal job, they will develop one in the informal sector and seek part-time jobs, which may well be located in an area appropriate for informal economic activity close to their place of residence to further optimize their travel time and reduce their transport costs with regard to work trips (Suárez et al., 2016).

2.3 Mobility Gap Between High-Income and Low-Income Workers In Hong Kong, high-income workers, such as intellectual professionals, executives, and managers, tend to have higher mobility levels because many of them can afford to access a private car and live near their work locations to reduce their travel times; in contrast, low-income workers and service workers tend to choose to live in inaccessible neighbourhoods and depend on public transport for employment. Additionally, when workers earn substantial wages, it allows them to perform more activities and travel longer distances to seek higher-wage jobs. Informal workers are at a disadvantage compared to high-wage workers with regard to pay rates and income (Havet et al., 2021). Figure 2.2 shows that the share of those in elementary occupations in the workforce of Hong Kong increased from 18.5% in 2004 to 20.2% in 2019. Additionally, the share of service and shop sales workers in the workforce increased from 15.7% in 2004 to 16.1% in 2019. The majority of these workers were low-income part-time, casual, self-employed, and short-duration contract workers (HKCSD, 2004, 2020). Lee and Wong (2004) construct a three-tiered urban labour market to represent occupational polarization in Hong Kong. They argue that the Hong Kong labour markets are structured into three segments. The expanding knowledge-based professional labour market has become the growth momentum of the Hong Kong economy. The traditional average-wage labour market, which is mainly composed of manufacturing jobs in manufacturing industries (e.g., plant and machine operators) and traditional white-collar workers (e.g., clerks) in the business sector, is shrinking, and the low level of manufacturing development has limited occupational choices for low-income workers. On the other hand, the low-wage, low-skilled labour markets, such as part-time retail shop sales, contract cleaners, and self-employed taxi drivers, are growing and absorbing redundant labour from the deindustrialized sectors.

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Employed Person (in thousands)

900

Employed Persons by Occupation in Hong Kong, 2004 and 2019 2004

2019

4.0%

*Change between 2004 and 2019

800

3.0%

700

2.0%

600

1.0%

500

0.0%

400

-1.0%

300

-2.0%

200

-3.0%

100

-4.0%

0

Managers and Porfessionals Associate administrators professionals

Clerks

Service and shop sales workers

Craft and related workers

Plant and machine operators

Elementary occupations

others

-5.0%

Occupation

Fig. 2.2 Employed persons by occupation in Hong Kong, 2004 and 2019. * Difference between the share of workers in various occupations in 2004 and 2019. Source HKCSD (2004, 2020) Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics 2020, 2004

For example, Fig. 2.2 shows that the share of associated professionals increased from 18.6 to 21.7% of the workforce between 2004 and 2019. Additionally, the share of clerks in the workforce decreased from 16.6 to 12.5% between 2004 and 2019 (HKCSD, 2004, 2020). Correspondently, there is also a growing number of low-level occupations (e.g., construction, taxi driving, retail, dining room attendants, kitchen assistants, and cleaning) (Lee et al., 2004) (Fig. 2.2). Commuting distances and times are shorter for low-income workers because these individuals experience the impacts of structural factors. Their low income makes them feel unable to afford public transport fares, working mothers face time conflicts between domestic jobs and employment, and most low-income workers decide to seek retail and service jobs, which are spread around the neighbourhoods in which they live (Motte et al., 2016).

2.4 High Land Price Policy and Commuting Problems of the Poor In Hong Kong, all land is owned by the government, which has total control over land supply and land use. The government disposes of land by competitive auction or tender and for public uses through free allocation. The sale of land has ensured

2.4 High Land Price Policy and Commuting Problems of the Poor

39

that scarce land attains its highest value and thus is used as intensively as possible. Although the government does not admit to pursuing a high land-price policy, the method of disposal has contributed to high land prices, which further heats up the whole property market and makes Hong Kong’s property values among the most expensive in the world. Hong Kong housing prices increased by 65% between 2011 and 2019 in real terms, compared to a reduction of 5% in Singapore during the same period. The different domestic policy choices are central to these different outcomes. Hong Kong has implemented a high land price policy in which it adopts a relatively hands-off approach to housing policy, with few restrictions on the demand side and ongoing constraints on the supply of housing (Straits Times, 2019). The government adopts a high land price policy to earn revenue from land sales to keep tax rates low to attract investments and finance the construction of public housing and transport infrastructure (Augustin-jean, 2005). In 2022, Chinese president Xi Jinping listed “four hopes” for the Hong Kong government, which included taking solid steps to address difficulties in people’s lives, such as inadequate housing. However, because of the actions of the Chinese government, this policy has been modified (CNBC news, 2022). However, before 2022, the Hong Kong government tried to regulate land supply and adopt a highland-price policy to serve the interests of the city when it sold or leased land to generate public revenue. It was able to do so as the sole legal landowner in Hong Kong. It released undeveloped land both slowly and intermittently to maximize the revenue from its land sales. A limited supply of residential land will drive up land prices. Along with economic prosperity and the population boom, the demand for housing and commercial premises is rising, and a growing demand eventually increases the price of land. Developers, as profit maximizers, transfer the costs of land to renters and property buyers. The government, as a tax collector, gains huge premiums under the expectation of high land prices in Hong Kong. Receipts from land sales and stamp duties constitute more than 33% of the government’s primary revenue (Legislative Council Secretariat, 2021). The government also takes measures to revive the property market in times of downturn in the property market, which include the suspension of land sales, the extension of a presell period, the relaxation of eligibility for loan schemes of flat purchasing and allowing property developers hoarding new flats to widen the supply– demand gap (Poon, 2011; Wong et al., 2011). In 2019, the major sources of revenue included land premiums (19%) and stamp duties (13%) (Hong Kong Yearbook, 2019). The Hong Kong government provides PRH flats, mainly through the Housing Authority, to low-income families who cannot afford private rental accommodation. As of the second quarter of 2022, approximately 2.16 million people (approximately 30% of the population) lived in PRH flats, while the PRH stock was approximately 850,700 units. The government also provides subsidized-sale flats to enable lowincome families to own their own homes under a home ownership scheme (HOS).

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In 2022, there were approximately 436,600 subsidized-sale flats (SSF), which are mainly flats under an HOS (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2022b). The housing policies that aim to provide PRH and HOS flats for low-income families are related to facilitating the implementation of the high land price policy in Hong Kong. First, the public housing policy screens out applications from middleand high-income households from applications for PRH flats; thus, approximately 55.3% of the population will turn to the private property market for accommodation. This measure helps to boost the demand for private housing. Second, the Hong Kong government’s role in housing is that the Hong Kong government is the main supplier of rental public housing for the lower class only; the government avoids involving the supply of housing in the private market as much as possible. For example, the government ceased building HOS units in 2002 in times of downturn in the property market. In addition, the standards of PRH units are kept to the basic level to avoid overlapping the public and private markets. With the lowincome workers being taken care of by the government through its PRH scheme, private property is left to the higher-income group; thus, both the sales price of such property and the government’s land revenue from land sales could be higher. The public housing policy that aims to avoid overlapping the public and private markets can be demonstrated in the case of the cessation of the production and sale of HOS flats in 2002. To avoid an oversupply of private housing during a downturn in the property market, in November 2002, the government and the Housing Authority decided to cease the production and sale of flats under home ownership schemes. The Secretary for Housing, Planning, and Lands, Mr. Michael Suen stated as follows: In view of the increasing overlap between the home ownership scheme and the private residential market amidst a gross imbalance between supply and demand, the government and the Housing Authority decided to cease the production and sale of home ownership scheme flats. The aim is to facilitate the property market to gradually restore its balance, which in turn will help the economy. (Hong Kong Legislative Council, 2003)

The Hong Kong government screens out high-income families from those applying for public rental housing because it has imposed tight restrictions on the limit of income and net assets of the families who are eligible to apply for public housing flats; this limit is approximately 10% below the medium household income. For example, in 2022, the monthly median household income in Hong Kong was HK$27,100, while the income limit for a three-person household to apply for public housing was HK$24,410 per month (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2022a). Hence, a two-worker family with a child who earned approximately 10% above the median household income in Hong Kong was not eligible to apply for PRH flats. As a result, approximately 53.2% of the Hong Kong population chooses to live in private permanent housing, which creates a huge demand for private housing and boosts housing prices in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong Housing Bureau statistics on private housing supply, as of 31 December 2022, the number of unsold flats in private housing projects equalled 16,000 units (e.g., this figure refers to those private residential units completed since 2015 that remain unsold), and the number of units under

2.4 High Land Price Policy and Commuting Problems of the Poor

41

construction not yet sold by presale equalled 66,000 units (e.g., they are potential supply in the primary market) (Hong Kong Housing Bureau, 2023). While there is an acute housing shortage, at the same time, there are 82,000 new flats being hoarded by property developers. In principle, the government should act on behalf of the public interest to counterbalance the power of private interests. However, in Hong Kong, the government shares the same interest as the real estate cartels and has few incentives to change the current high land price policy (Poon, 2011; Yau & Cheung, 2021). In addition, before 2022, the Hong Kong government had not implemented largescale land development plans, causing the supply of land available for development to dwindle. Hong Kong does have available land, as 70% of Hong Kong’s land has not yet been developed. The government is reluctant to develop new land, which boosts land prices. Limiting the land supply for housing will produce an effect in which housing prices will expect to be higher in the future; thus, people are lured into buy housing now and are more willing to pay above the current market prices for a house. Peng and Wheaton (1994) conduct a formal econometric analysis of the housing market in Hong Kong. The analysis leads to an important understanding of how restrictive land supply can affect the housing market in Hong Kong. When restrictions lead to an anticipated reduction in overall land supply, housing prices will increase. Thus, if the Hong Kong government restricts the development of new land supply but remains flexible on building density, the resulting shortage of land will cause higher housing prices but not a supply shortage of housing.

2.4.1 The Government and Property Developers Restrict Land Supply to Boost Land Prices Ng et al. (2021) find that the Hong Kong government has relied on massive reclamation projects to create new land along coastal areas to accommodate urban growth and new town development, while the vast rural land resources in the heart of the New Territories have been largely left untouched. Urban development has thus long been confined to urban areas and new towns. This restriction on land supply by the Hong Kong government has contributed to boosting land prices; this land value capture policy contributes approximately 20% of the total revenue. Other examples of the government limiting the land supply in Hong Kong can be found in the cases of the collective-owned farmland and country parkland in the New Territories. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in tiny subdivided units, and property prices are soaring to a level that is unaffordable except for a small percentage of the population. The only solution to the crisis is to increase the land supply. The Hong Kong government artificially restricts the supply of land to support its high land price policy. The government imposes restrictions on the development of large pieces of tso/tong land (approximately 2000 ha of village lands in the New

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2 Influence of Government Policies and Individual Decisions …

Territories that are collectively owned) and blocks villagers from selling the tso/tong land to property developers for constructing high-rise buildings. Another example is that the built-up area in Hong Kong accounts for approximately 25% of Hong Kong’s 1110-km2 land area, of which approximately 7% is used for residential purposes, while national parks account for approximately 40% of the total land area. However, the government dismissed an idea proposed by the former chief executive, Leung Chun-Ying, to build 25,000 public housing flats for sale on the edge of the Tai Lam national park (Standard, 2021a). The abovementioned two cases reflect that the government artificially restricts the supply of land from tso/ tong land and national parks to boost land sale revenues. In addition, in light of the soaring property prices in the city, the Hong Kong government plans to open up land in the suburbs to build affordable housing. However, a small group of people are subverting Hong Kong’s development of a second CBD by hoarding land in the suburbs. The government’s initiative has been hindered by the strong opposition of the owners of suburban land (including brownfield sites and abandoned agricultural land). These landowners with vested land interests are anti-growth coalitions rather than pro-growth coalitions (Yau & Cheung, 2021). In the aftermath of the market slump that followed the Asian Financial Crisis, the land market in Hong Kong shifted from a supply-oriented model, with an annual land-sale programme, to a demand-oriented model, with an application list. The Hong Kong government allows prospective investors or property developers to apply for a site with a bid that is subject to sale by the government. Once the bid price meets the government’s expectation (reservation price), a public auction or tender is held. Hence, the land supply for housing in Hong Kong is in the hands of only a few large property developers (Yau & Cheung, 2021).

2.5 Rail-Plus-Property Model and Transit-Oriented Development Policy In transportation studies, transit-oriented development (TOD) refers to compact, mixed land-use, pedestrian-friendly development organized around a public transport station. TOD embraces the idea that locating amenities, employment, retail shops, and housing around public transport hubs promotes public transport usage and nonmotorized travel. By adopting the TOD model, the framework for public transport in Hong Kong has established railways as the backbone of public transport, and approximately 90% of people are reliant on public transport. In 2016, railways accounted for more than 40% of passenger trips in the public transport domain (Planning Department, 2016; Suzuki et al., 2015; Verougstraete & Zeng, 2014; Cervero & Murakami, 2009). The Hong Kong government also uses the rail-plus-property policy for land value capture. The rail-plus-property model should serve the interests of the general public

2.6 The Concentration of Poverty in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods

43

as long as transport services and related fares are kept at satisfactory levels (Cervero & Murakami, 2009). The rail-plus-property model has not only helped increase the Hong Kong government’s revenue by selling land premiums to the MTR system but also increased the revenue from the land sales near the MTR lines across the whole territory because of the improvement in accessibility. This land value capture (LVC) technique has been used not only to help finance the construction of transport infrastructure but also to help land revenue compensate for Hong Kong’s low-profit tax rate system (Cervero & Murakami, 2009; Chang & Phang, 2017; Suzuki et al., 2015). In addition, the MTR system has experienced a change in status that took place within a completely new economic context, marked by housing factors such as the transformation of Hong Kong’s real estate groups into powerful and diversified unions (Blandeau & Aveline-Dubach, 2019). Regarding the income of the MTR system, between 2001 and 2005, farebox receipts accounted for approximately 28% of the total income, while the MTR’s involvement in property-related activities produced 62% of its total income. Regarding the share of land premiums in government revenue, in 2017, the land premium or land sale revenue was HK$128.0 billion (US$16.4 billion) and accounted for approximately 22.3% of the revenue (Legislative Council Secretariat, 2017). The risk is that the rail-plus-property model includes private property developers, who are profit-oriented and will try to boost the prices of land near new MTR stations. As a result, many low-income people feel unable to afford the price of land that is located in proximity to the MTR stations. Thus, they choose to live in inaccessible locations, which means that the rail-plus-property strategy causes mobility inequality among high- and low-income workers (Blandeau & Aveline-Dubach, 2019). In addition, a study in Hong Kong indicated that TOD is likely to induce highly educated people to move into and low-income households to move out of rail-served areas (Liang et al., 2022). Many low-income workers feel unable to afford the high land prices in urban areas as a result of the ‘rail-plus-property’ model and thus choose to live in new towns. This study argues that the ‘rail-plus-property’ policy and TOD model use public land for development and that the land uses near the MTR stations should be adjusted. In new MTR projects, the land space near the rail stations should be divided into two parts; one part should be sold to private property developers, and the other part should be used to build PRH for low-income workers who are affected by the projects (Liang et al., 2022).

2.6 The Concentration of Poverty in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods The high land price policy contributes to high housing prices in urban areas. Many low-income workers want to live close to their place of employment, but they feel unable to afford the high rents in private buildings; thus, some of them choose to

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2 Influence of Government Policies and Individual Decisions …

stay in inner urban neighbourhoods. These workers include working mothers who face time-conflict problems between employment and household duties and older workers who want to live close to the neighbourhoods that they are familiar with to develop their social capital and improve their quality of life (Ye & Vojnovic, 2020). A study conducted in Singapore’s nine residential neighbourhoods found that neighbourhood social capital (which refers to the institutions, social relationships, and norms that shape the quality—e.g., trust, helpfulness, and friendliness—and quantity of a society’s social interactions) is important for an older person’s wellbeing (Lane et al., 2020). In older urban neighbourhoods with greater resident participation in groups and organizations (a structural aspect of social capital), older people perceive their quality of life to be higher. Through community activities, the development of social supporting networks, and the provision of accessible public spaces, neighbours in older urban neighbourhoods have greater opportunities to connect and engage with one another and to build social capital; in turn, the quality of life for older people may be promoted. Contact with and support received from family and friends is salient for the quality of life of single mothers and older workers; such support is particularly important for those at risk of loneliness and exclusion. Neighbours can help bolster well-being experiences by providing instrumental and emotional support, for example, by looking out for each other and helping with simple tasks such as grocery shopping, meal preparation, and using public transportation. During the process of gentrification in inner-city neighbourhoods (e.g., gentrification refers to the phenomenon that occurs in inner-city neighbourhoods where the middle class replaces the low-income class during the process of upgrading). Gentrification could undermine neighbours trying to sustain social ties and weaken the affected poor residents’ connectivity with their preform social networks. Gentrification crowds out low-income residents and generally makes low-income residents move to other older buildings in the same district, where high rents force them to live in small, overcrowded spaces, including cage apartments and rooftop huts (Liang et al., 2022; Ye, Vojnovic, & Chen, 2015). Thus, these individuals feel unable to interact with people in other income groups or to participate in the mainstream employment and recreation activities of society, as they tend to find jobs in lowincome living neighbourhoods; the result is reflected in the small activity spaces of these individuals (Li & Wang, 2017; Tao et al., 2020).

2.7 The Influx of New Immigrants from Mainland China One of the major causes of social polarization in Hong Kong is the influx of new immigrants from mainland China (NMI). From 1997 to 2018, 1,032,598 mainland citizens entered Hong Kong through the use of a one-way permit (Legislative Council, 2019). Sassen (2001) discusses the roles of immigration in the economic restructuring processes of global cities, namely, providing labour to both the expanding and declining economic sectors. Migrant workers from mainland China often do the

2.7 The Influx of New Immigrants from Mainland China

45

same job as local workers in Hong Kong but for lower wages and in poorer conditions. Most low-income new immigrants in Hong Kong are spatially concentrated in deprived areas and form their immigrant communities (e.g., Tin Shui Wai New Town and Shamshuipo District in Kowloon). Thus, those who live in new towns have to travel long distances to seek jobs in urban areas, while those who live in older urban areas experience the shrinking activity space for their basic needs; thus, these workers experience mobility deprivation (Li & Wang, 2017; Tao & He, 2021). Hong Kong would have had 700,000 fewer workers over the past 20 years if it were not for a scheme that allowed up to 150 people a day from mainland China to settle in the city. The total number of new immigrants from mainland China between 1996 and 2018 was approximately 1.12 million persons, making up approximately 15.2% of Hong Kong’s population in 2018 (HKCSD, 2006, 2016). Some studies suggest that the wages of low-skilled workers have been depressed and stagnated and that upwards social mobility channels have been hindered by the inflow of new immigrants from mainland China (Hong Kong Economic Journal, 2022). Income distribution in Hong Kong is affected not only by the number of mainland immigrants but also by their characteristics and income level. This is due to the selective immigration policy. According to the current special immigration arrangement between Hong Kong and mainland China, two main categories of mainland people are guaranteed one-way permits to Hong Kong: offspring and spouses of Hong Kong citizens. Understandably, a high share of NMIs are children aged below 15 and middle-aged women. As a result, most of the working-age individuals are females, and the educational attainment of NMIs is generally lower than that of the whole population. The proportion of NMIs who receive an upper-secondary and tertiary education is much lower than the corresponding figures for the whole population (Zhao & Zhang, 2005). For example, for those women born in Hong Kong, the employment rate increased from 64.1% in 1991 to 72.0% in 2006, whereas the employment rates for immigrant women declined from 57.6% in 1991 to 43.5% in 2006 during the first five years of their residence. Hence, the gaps in the employment rate between new immigrants and natives increased from 6.5% in 1996 to 28.5% in 2006 for women. In 2011, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) for new immigrants who arrived from the mainland and had resided in Hong Kong for less than seven years was 47.8%. This LFPR was significantly lower than that of the whole population (Legislative Council, 2013). The disadvantages that Chinese immigrants face in labour markets compared to natives may be associated with disparities in their education, language skills, occupation, or other personal characteristics. The chances of being employed in elementary occupations for newcomers relative to natives are much higher in posthandover years (e.g., years after 1997) than in previous years (Zhang & Wu, 2011). NMIs receive less government subsidization for their housing compared with the whole population. Given these characteristics, it is not surprising to find that when the NMI data are removed, a more equal income distribution pattern is observed (Zhao & Zhang, 2005). In addition, drawing on the 2019 Government Poverty Report, the proportion of lower-skilled workers among working poor persons in newly arriving

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2 Influence of Government Policies and Individual Decisions …

areas is 92.2%, which is somewhat higher than that among all working poor persons (84.1%). This is one of the plausible reasons behind the increasing proportion of lower-skilled workers (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2020). Commuting distances and times are shorter for low-income workers such as new immigrants because they experience the impacts of structural factors, such as low skill levels, a low level of education achievements, social segregation, poverty, and gender gaps. They are spatially and socially segregated from other income groups and are deprived of the capability to commute to the mainstream activities of society. The low income level of new immigrants makes them feel unable to afford public transport fares, and female new immigrants face time conflicts between jobs and employment; thus, most of these immigrants choose to find jobs in retail and service sectors, which are spreading around their living neighbourhoods (Motte et al., 2016; Ye & Vojnovic, 2020).

2.8 Poverty in Hong Kong and Gender Gaps The investigation presented in the preceding sections indicates that some policies in Hong Kong focus on economic growth, resulting in income inequality; due to this inequality, many unskilled and low-educated workers have fallen into the poverty trap and experience commuting problems. Drawing on the 2019 Government Poverty Report, the number of poor people (those who earn less than 50% of the average) in Hong Kong is approximately 1.49 million people (or 21.4% of the population) (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2020). The poverty rate for women is 22.1% (806,000 persons), and the poverty rate for men is 20.7% (685,000 persons). The poverty rate of females is higher than that of males in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the poverty rate of all working households is 12.6%, and that of working households (e.g., single-parent households) with only one working member is 26.8%. Gendered family roles can partly explain women’s inferior employment status, particularly for single working mothers. Because of family responsibilities, women have lower labour force participation and employment rates; even if they are employed, women are more likely to work part-time. Wong and Fong (2012) state that working poverty in Hong Kong is a gendered phenomenon reflecting the extremely low-wage condition of working women. Although women may re-enter the labour market after marriage or childbirth, the majority of them are trapped in low-paid and unskilled jobs in the services sector. Low-income females maintain short travel distances and use public transport on work trips because they face budget constraints with regard to paying transport expenses. Ye and Vojnovic (2020) find that a high share of female new immigrants choose to live in inner-city areas. This is not only because of alternatives and more affordable housing options, such as subdivided flats, in-house rentals, or co-op housing, but also because of highly concentrated services, social support systems, jobs, and transportation. A previous study finds that the walkability of inner-city neighbourhoods

2.9 Study: Based on Data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics …

47

(such as Shamshuipo) can improve the social sustainability and cohesion of migrant working mothers. Walkability refers to all social activities, such as meeting friends, neighbours, and relatives, within walking distance, which promotes social cohesion and social participation (Ho & Cheung, 2011).

2.9 Study: Based on Data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey This study concentrates on the obligatory trips of low-income workers (obligatory trips are herein defined as the trips that people have to undertake to fulfil their survival needs). This study examines the travel behaviour of low-income workers in Hong Kong using data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey (TCS); the main purpose of the study is to determine the influence of structural factors on the mobility deprivation of low-income workers (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). In this study, the term low-income workers refers to those who earn 80% or less of the monthly median household income from work. For example, in 2011, the average monthly household income was HK$20,500 per month; thus, the working members in those households who earned less than HK$16,400 per month (or 80% of the monthly median household income) were regarded as lowincome workers (HKCSD, 2011). The current investigation draws on the concept of the self-organization process, which involves the interaction between structures (such as the ageing population, suburbanization of poverty, gender gap, and urban redevelopment) and individual actions to produce observable travel behaviour and commuting inequality. The 2011 Hong Kong TCS data are obtained from a random sample of more than 35,000 households, which provides a comprehensive database on the journeymaking characteristics of people in Hong Kong. The study investigates 73,521 homebased trips of working respondents. Of these respondents, approximately 15,500 are low-income working respondents who generate mechanized work trips; lowincome workers are the focus of the current study. Of the low-income respondents in the subsample, men account for approximately 60.7%, and women account for approximately 39.3% (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). The sample size of females is smaller because of the differences in the LFPR between males and females. In 2016, the LFPRs for males and females in Hong Kong were 68.6% and 50.7%, respectively (HKCSD, 2017).

2.9.1 Study Area Hong Kong is the study area for this chapter. Hong Kong has a mountainous topography. Of the total land area of 1111 km2 , 24.3% (270 km2 ) is a built-up area, with

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2 Influence of Government Policies and Individual Decisions …

Fig. 2.3 Hong Kong and the MTR network. Source Modified from Google Maps (2020)

the remaining 75.7% (841 km2 ) not being suitable for development. This means that all housing, social facilities, and transport infrastructures in Hong Kong are built within 270 km2 . Its main areas consist of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, including new towns (Fig. 2.3). In 2018, the whole population of Hong Kong was approximately 7.507 million. Furthermore, the New Territories accounted for approximately 52.8% of the whole population, Kowloon accounted for approximately 30.4%, and Hong Kong Island accounted for approximately 16.8% (HKCSD, 2019). The Hong Kong government has developed 12 new towns in the New Territories, and these new towns have failed to achieve self-containment. The majority of these new towns are mainly used to provide housing for the people, who mostly live in PRH estates (Fig. 2.3). The MTR system and public buses are the main transport modes for carrying workers in Hong Kong to their place of employment. Since its opening in the late 1970s, the MTR system has undergone continuous expansion (Fig. 2.3).

2.9.2 Gender Gap in Commuting Women spend less time travelling to work than their male counterparts because women spend more time on household responsibilities than men; women also earn lower pay rates than men. Figure 2.4 depicts the commuting time differences between men and women in Hong Kong. The figures for commuting times indicate that women have shorter travel times than their male counterparts for both short-distance and longdistance trips. Women commute shorter times on work trips relative to men mainly because they are viewed differently in the paid labour force; the gender division of

2.9 Study: Based on Data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics …

49

Commuting Time by Gender in Hong Kong Male

Female

2500

No. of person

2000 1500 1000

130

Travel time (min.)

165

0

18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 68 71 74 77 83 87 90 97 105 119

500

Fig. 2.4 Commuting time by Gender in Hong Kong

household labour is also a factor (Ye & Vojnovic, 2020). Commuting patterns are the product of interactions between structural factors (e.g., gender division of household labour) and individual actions. Structural factors that influence commute time also include wages, suburbanization trends in Hong Kong, occupational segregation, and personality trait differences between men and women (Fan, 2017; Hu, 2021; Lin et al., 2020; Van Ham, 2002). Women mostly engage in jobs related to the public administration sector, the social and personal services sector, and the retail, accommodation, and food services sectors. The average travel time of the workers in the above five industry sectors is 47.1 min. They tend to experience shrinking activity spaces and mobility deprivation because their work locations are mostly located near their homes or inner-city neighbourhoods; thus, a large proportion of their activity spaces do not intersect with the activity spaces of other social groups. Furthermore, low-income women tend to experience time-conflict commuting problems between their household responsibilities and employment. Low-income women prioritize living closer to work due to principal concerns of caring and home responsibilities; therefore, they have a shorter journey to work than men. The short travel time behaviours of the low-income women are reflected in the travel time zone ranging between 21 and 30 min, as shown in Fig. 2.4. Gender differences in economic prospects increase the gender gap in commute time. Female workers are at a disadvantage compared to men concerning pay rates and income. This is because many female workers are excluded from full-time employment because of their home responsibilities and time-budget constraints. These female workers are more likely to have part-time or informal employment.

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These women earn lower pay rates, resulting in a lower return in terms of earnings per commuting time. Thus, they spend less time travelling to their place of employment than their male counterparts. Male-dominated industry sectors involve far more long-distance commuting than female-dominated sectors, and gender differences in access to private cars influence the gender gap in commute time. Women tend to travel more frequently for household maintenance activities, such as shopping, escorting family members, or family management. Men tend to have a higher level of risk and commuting tolerance than their female counterparts. They often engage in transportation, storage, postal and courier services; the information and communications sector; and the construction industry sector. The average travel time of the workers in the above three industry sectors is 60 min. The travel time behaviours of low-income men are reflected in the travel time zone ranging between 30 and 50 min, as shown in Fig. 2.4. In Hong Kong, all male and female respondents who live in new towns have to engage in longer travel times to their place of employment than those who live in urban areas during the process of suburbanization. This trend means that they are more impacts on women than on men. Long commutes caused by job-housing spatial mismatch negatively affect the labour participation of working females, while the effect is much smaller for men; this is because women have tighter time budgets than men. In Hong Kong, approximately 90% of workers depend on public transport to reach their place of employment. For those women who live in new towns and are reliant on public transport, the job-housing spatial mismatch imposes mobility constraints on them with regard to searching for distant jobs in the labour markets; this is one of the factors related to women’s position in the formal labour market that is not on par with that of men. It is most severe among low-income women who endure long work trips to reach poorly paid jobs; these women experienced mobility deprivation. Drawing on the data analysis of the 2011 TCS, the average travel time of lowincome women in new towns is 50.1 min, while the corresponding figure for lowincome men is 54.2 min. Female respondents who live in new towns spend less time travelling to employment than their male counterparts. The travel time behaviours of the low-income women and men who live in new towns are reflected in the travel time zone ranging between 51 and 90 min, as shown in Fig. 2.4.

2.9.3 Mobility Deprivation of the Poor in Urban Areas and New Towns Based on data analysis of the2011 TCS, a total of approximately 73,521 working respondents were interviewed for the survey. Of the total working respondents, approximately 15,500 respondents (or 21.1% of them) are low-income workers whose household income is below HK$16,400 per month (or 80% of the median household income in 2011). Approximately 2094 low-income respondents reported

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living on Hong Kong Island, and the low-income respondents account for approximately 2.9% of the total working respondents in Hong Kong. Among these respondents, approximately 1176 are male workers (1.6%), and 918 are low-income working women (1.2%) (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). Of the lowincome working respondents, approximately 745 respondents are older workers (people who were 50 or older). The average travel time of the low-income male workers on Hong Kong Island is 43 min. In addition, the average travel times of the low-income working women and older workers str 40.0 min and 41.1 min, respectively. The average travel time of the low-income workers on Hong Kong Island is 41.4 min (Table 2.1). The majority of the low-income workers, e.g., working mothers and older workers, are concentrated in PRH estates, such as the Chai Wan in the Eastern District. They travel short-distance trips to work and nonwork trips and have developed small activity spaces as a result of their social segregation. Table 2.1 Travel characteristics of the low-income respondents Living location

No. of respondentsa

Monthly household income (HK$)

Average age

Average travel time (min.)

Female (new town)

3137

12,444

40

50.1

4.3

Male (new town)

5173

12,798

43

54.2

7.0

Older workers (new town)

2589

11,984

56

52.3

46

52.2

Female (Kowloon)

2047

12,076

42

41.9

2.8

Male (Kowloon)

3094

12,598

43.6

44.4

4.1

Older workers (Kowloon)

1718

11,780

56

43.4

47

43.3

Female (HK Island)

918

12,126

43.6

40.0

1.2

Male (HK Island)

1176

12,395

43.7

43.0

1.6

Older workers (HK Island)

745

11,569

57

41.12

48

41.38

Average

Average

Average/total a

% Of low-income workers in the total respondents (%)

21.1

The number of older workers includes male and female workers aged 50 and above

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Drawing on the survey data of the 2011 TCS, approximately 5096 low-income working respondents reported living in Kowloon, and the low-income working respondents account for approximately 7.0% of the total working respondents in Hong Kong. Among these respondents, 3094 are low-income male workers (4.1%), and 2047 respondents are low-income female workers (2.8%). Of the low-income working respondents in Kowloon, 1718 respondents are older workers. Furthermore, the average travel time of male workers is 44.4 min, while the average travel times of low-income women and older workers are 41.9 min and 43.4 min, respectively. The average travel time of the low-income working respondents in Kowloon is 43.3 min (Table 2.1). These figures indicate that Kowloon has the highest level of poverty concentration among the three regions. Most of the low-income workers, e.g., older workers and new immigrants from mainland China, are concentrated in older urban districts, such as the Shamshuipo and Kwun Tong districts; these individuals either live in public housing estates or subdivided flats in obsolete communities. Even though they travel short-distance trips, they experience spatial and social segregation and are excluded from commuting to activities and enjoying life experiences that are common to the majority of individuals within society. As a result, they are deprived of the freedom to commute to work and nonwork activities. There are approximately 8310 low-income working respondents who live in the New Territories, and low-income workers account for approximately 11.3% of the total working respondents in Hong Kong. Among these respondents, approximately 5173 respondents are low-income male workers (7.0%), and 3137 respondents are low-income female workers (4.3%). Of the low-income workers, 2589 respondents are older workers. The majority of the low-income workers are clustered in the new towns of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. Among these low-income workers in new towns, the average travel time of the male workers is 54.2 min, while the average travel times of the working women and older workers are 50.1 min and 52.3 min, respectively. The average travel time of the low-income working respondents in new towns is 52.2 min (Table 2.1). The average travel times of all respondents living in new towns are higher than the average travel time (47.5 min) of the total working respondents in the 2011 TCS because they face job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. For example, most jobs are located in urban areas, which means that they have to travel on long-distance work trips every day to their place of employment. Most of them take public transport services, which always requires one to make transfers and experience long waiting times. The long travel times of the low-income workers in new towns mainly occur because these new towns have failed to achieve selfcontainment. That is, the new towns are not able to develop adequate jobs for their working residents; thus, most of the working residents have to travel long distances from their living neighbourhoods the jobs that are located in urban areas. Furthermore, the structural factor of gender difference in commute time, significantly influences the commuting of low-income workers; for example, working women commute shorter average times than their male counterparts in the three regional areas. Additionally, the structural factor of age difference also influences

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commuting times; for example, older workers commute shorter average travel times than young male workers in the three regional areas (Table 2.1). Table 2.1 depicts that the low-income respondents who live in inner-city neighbourhoods or distant new towns always experience social and spatial segregation, resulting in commuting problems. The concentration of poverty in inner-city neighbourhoods, such as the Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po districts, results in low-income residents experiencing social segregation, shrinking activity spaces, and mobility problems. Many low-income respondents who live in new towns spend long travel times to their place of employment and have fewer time intervals for social and recreational activities than their high-income counterparts. Studies find that despite the marked expansion of public transport infrastructure and urban development, on average, members of the low-income group travel across a significantly smaller area and visit fewer unique activity places (hence, fewer activity opportunities) during a workday than members of other income groups (Tao et al., 2020, Li & Wang, 2017; Yip et al., 2016; Zhou et al., 2015). The main reason is that low-income workers are socially cut off from other income groups and are excluded from commuting to the mainstream activities of society.

2.9.4 Investigation of Trip Origin–Destination of Low-Income Workers Indicating Social and Spatial Segregation A study in the United States finds that the three structural characteristics of decentralization, fragmentation, and long travel times are identifiable with urban sprawl, significantly reduced social interaction potential (SIP) efficiency, or increased social segregation (Farber & Li, 2013). The negative effect of decentralization on SIP efficiency is found to be nearly ten times stronger than that of fragmentation and nearly 20 times stronger than that of mean commuting duration. Therefore, in the case of Hong Kong, poor workers who choose to live in new towns should br found to face high levels of social segregation due to their social interaction potential being hampered by decentralization and longer commutes. Drawing on the analysis of the destinations of low-income workers’ home-based work trips (e.g., the trip destination is regarded as the respondent’s work location), this study investigates the patterns of the work locations of low-income respondents and determines the spatial segregation between rich and poor workers in Hong Kong. The analysis also helps to investigate the impacts of the mobility problems of the respondents in new towns. Based on data regarding the journeys to work of lowincome respondents drawn from the 2011 TCS, approximately 20.3% of the lowincome respondents choose Hong Kong Island as their work location (or work-trip destination). The Eastern District accounts for the highest share of employment opportunities, representing approximately 6.7% of the total work-trip destinations;

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Travel Time and Work Locations of the Low-income Workers by District, Hong Kong 70.0

Average travel time (min.)

Travel time (min.)

60.0

Job opportunity (%)

12.00%

10.00%

50.0 8.00% 40.0 6.00% 30.0 4.00% 20.0 2.00%

10.0

0.00%

0.0

District

Fig. 2.5 Travel time and work locations of the low-income workers by District, Hong Kong

the average travel time of the low-income workers in the Eastern District is 41.6 min (Fig. 2.5). In addition, approximately 38.1% of work locations are located in Kowloon. The Kwun Tong District accounts for the highest share of job opportunities, representing approximately 10.5% of the work-trip destinations; the average travel time of the respondents in Kwun Tong is 45.9 min. Hence, urban areas in Hong Kong account for approximately 58.4% of the work locations for low-income respondents in the 2011 TCS (Fig. 2.5). The majority of the poor respondents who live in urban areas make intrazonal trips near their living places (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). The new towns account for 41.6% of the total work locations. The New Territories account for approximately 52.8% of the total population in Hong Kong. Therefore, the new towns cannot provide adequate jobs for their working population. Thus, many residents living in new towns face job-housing spatial mismatch and commuting problems. On average, these residents travel longer times than members of the average

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working population and face mobility deprivation. There are fewer job opportunities in new towns, such as transportation and logistics, finance and business, and construction industry sectors, meaning that longer commutes must be undertaken for those low-income residents who want to find jobs in the abovementioned industrial sectors (HKCSD, 2019). Therefore, some of the poor respondents who live in new towns make interzonal trips (external). Furthermore, among all the new towns in the New Territories, Sha Tin and Kwai Chung account for the highest share of work trips. The average travel times of the low-income respondents in the Sha Tin and Kwai Chung districts are 50.4 min and 44.8 min, respectively. These figures indicate that a high share of respondents in Kwai Chung can find jobs within their neighbourhoods; thus, this district achieves a certain degree of self-containment. However, many respondents living in Sha Tin tend to seek jobs in urban areas. They have longer average travel times compared to those of the overall working respondents from the 2011 TCS (47.5 min); thus, they face mobility deprivation (Fig. 2.5). The analysis of the trip destinations of low-income working respondents indicates that the activity spaces of these low-income workers are mostly located in either the older urban districts, such as the Kwun Tong, Kwai Tsing, Eastern, and Sham Shui Po districts, or in some new towns, such as Tuen Mun and Shatin. Their home and work locations are spatially segregated from those of high-income workers; e.g., many high-income workers choose to live and work in the Central, Western and Wanchai districts. Therefore, low-income workers in new towns face social and spatial segregation, with a low level of social interaction potential with other social groups, while those who live in older urban areas experience the shrinking of their activity spaces and are deprived of the freedom to commute to the mainstream activities of society. These individuals experience mobility deprivation.

2.9.5 Industry Sector Segregation by Gender of Low-Income Workers Hong Kong has experienced economic restructuring and the informalization of employment, and many low-income women choose to engage in low-wage industries and contract or part-time jobs. Based on the data analysis, many low-income women chose jobs from a broad range of industrial sectors, including the retail service sector, which accounts for approximately 15.5% of the low-income working women; the administrative and support services sector, which accounts for 14%; the food and beverage services sector, which accounts for 11.7%; and the other social and personal services industry sector, which accounts for 10.9%. Additionally, many of them engage in the import and export sector (9.7%), education sector (4.5%), and finance and insurance sector (4.2%). These findings are in line with the government reports on informal workers that have been discussed in the preceding sections. Most of the women who engage in the above industry sectors are informal workers, such

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Industrial Sector Participation by Low-income Social Groups 25.0%

Low-income male workers

Low-income female workers

Low-income older workers

20.0%

15.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0.0%

Industries

Fig. 2.6 Industrial sector participation by low-income social groups

as part-time workers and those with short-duration contracts (HKCSD, 2021, 2012, 2010) (Fig. 2.6). The work locations of the low-income women are segregated from those of the high-income working women, who mostly participate in the professional, science, technology, education, finance, and insurance industry sectors. Hence, a significant part of their activity spaces do not intersect with the activity spaces of high-income working women due to industry sector segregation. The low-income working women experience mobility deprivation because they are deprived of the freedom and choice to commute to the employment activities enjoyed by the other income groups. Informal female workers are employed as retail salesclerks, cleaners, food service assistants, massage assistants, advertising assistants, clerks, and helpers in elderly homes. They choose these industrial sectors mainly because they face time-conflict problems when commuting between their household responsibilities and employment; thus, they tend to find jobs near their homes to save travel time. These results are in line with previous investigations on the gender gap in commute time and occupational segregation. Hence, the work locations of low-income women are different from those of their male counterparts (Fig. 2.6). The activity spaces of women also have a low degree of intersection with the activity spaces of their male counterparts; this spatial segregation hinders their mobility to the mainstream activity of society.

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Since Hong Kong is a city that adopts transit-oriented development, the mode choice patterns of low-income women are similar to those of male and older workers; i.e., they mainly choose the MTR, bus, and public Light Rail Transit for employment commuting. However, the survey utilized excluded the option of walking in the data collection stage; as a result, the picture of their travel patterns is distorted because Hong Kong is a compact city, and many women most likely walk to workplaces to reduce travel times. Survey data from the 2016 Singapore Population Census shows that approximately 10% of workers reach their place of employment by walking; a significant share of these respondents are women (HKCSD, 2017). Figure 2.7 shows that the average travel times of the low-income women working in the retail service and administrative and support service sectors are 44.6 min and 44.1 min, respectively, while the average travel times of the women in the food and beverage and social and personal service sectors are 43 min and 45.4 min, respectively. All of the average travel times are shorter than the average (47.5 min). Additionally, their travel times are shorter than those for the jobs that are mostly chosen by male workers, such as jobs in the construction and transportation sector and the storage, postal, and courier services sector, which are 55.6 min and 48.5 min, respectively. These results are also in line with the investigations discussed in the preceding sections, i.e., that men tend to travel longer travel distances than women because they choose to work in industry sectors.

Travel Time of Low-Income Workers by Industry

Travel time (min.)

60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0

Fig. 2.7 Travel time of low-income workers by industry

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2.9.6 Travel Characteristics of Low-Income Men Hong Kong has experienced economic restructuring and the informalization of employment, and many low-income workers choose to engage in low-wage industries and informal employment. Men mostly are engaged in the construction sector, which accounts for approximately 23.9% of all low-income men, while the transportation, storage, and courier service sector accounts for 15.9%. Of all low-income men, approximately 10% are engaged in the food and beverage service sector, and the average travel time of this sector is 43.0 min; likewise, their engagement in the administrative and support service sector is 9.5%, and the average travel time of this sector is 44.1 min. Some of these male workers also participate in the retail service sector (6.5%), for which the average travel time is 44.5 min. Of all low-income men, approximately 7.6% participate in the social and personal service sector, for which the average travel time is 45.4 min. Only approximately 3.0% of male workers are engaged in the manufacturing sector. These results indicate that due to high land prices, the Hong Kong government has failed to develop the manufacturing sector in recent years, resulting in a reduction in job choices for the poor. In Singapore, the manufacturing sector employed 12.8% of the total workforce in 2019 (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2020). The work locations of the low-income men are segregated from those of the highincome men, who mostly participate in the professional, science, technology, public administration, import and export, and finance and insurance industry sectors. Hence, a significant part of their activity spaces do not intersect with the activity spaces of high-income men due to occupational segregation. Thus, low-income men experience mobility deprivation because they are deprived of the freedom and choice to commute to the same employment activities enjoyed by the other income groups. Furthermore, the occupations and industry sectors of low-income men are different from those of their female counterparts. Therefore, their work locations are also different. The activity spaces between low-income men and women have a low degree of intersection, resulting in the exclusion of low-income men from participating in the activities of women; that is, there is social and spatial segregation between low-income men and women, and they experience mobility deprivation. Based on the survey data, nearly 38.6% of men choose the construction and transportation, storage, and courier sectors, while only approximately 19% of them are engaged in the retail and food service sectors. The retail and food service jobs are mostly spread around their living neighbourhoods and thus offer shorter commute times for work trips (e.g., 43.0 min). The transportation sector jobs, such as drivers of goods vehicles and taxis, always require men to travel longer commutes (e.g., 48.5 min). In the construction sector, many construction sites are located far away from public transport networks; thus, these workers have longer commute times (e.g., 55.6 min). The majority of these men are informal workers, such as self-employed workers. In addition, personality and psychological traits contribute to their long commuting patterns because they want to participate in jobs that are characterized by travelling tolerance, spontaneous decisions, challenges, and a sense of achievement.

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Additionally, some of them are new immigrants from mainland China; they seek construction jobs through social networks, because they want to work with people from their same hometown and speak the same language to avoid discrimination. Based on the investigations discussed in the preceding sections, low-income informal workers tend to concentrate in some industry sectors, such as the transportation, storage, postal, and courier services industry sector and the construction industry sector. These groups of informal workers are shown to travel long distances on work trips; however, the results of this study are different from the evidence provided by other transport studies that show that commuting distances and times are shorter for workers in the informal sector (Motte et al., 2016; Suárez et al., 2016). This study argues that the good performance of public transport services in Hong Kong contributes to providing adequate mobility for low-income workers in Hong Kong to reach distant job opportunities and results in differences in the travel patterns between low-income workers in the US and Hong Kong, since these workers suffer from a spatial mismatch. The affordability of public transport services, the availability of transit stations, and network accessibility by the MTR and public bus systems are significantly linked to low-income workers in distant new towns travelling to different job locations in urban areas and the New Territories; in particular, buses play a more important role in the daily mobility of low-income groups with regard to reaching diverse employment locations (Lau, 1997; Tao et al., 2022).

2.9.7 Male Workers Account for a High Share of Older Workers Among the older low-income working respondents, 65.6% are male. This high percentage might be because many women quit their jobs as they get older. Among the older working respondents, approximately 19.4% are engaged in the construction sector, 18.4% are engaged in the administrative and social service sector, 12.0% participate in the transportation, storage, and courier services sector, and 9.6% are engaged in the food service sector as fast-food workers and kitchen assistants. The majority of these low-income older workers are informal workers, such as selfemployed or short-duration contract workers, and they are employed as taxi drivers, public light rail or bus drivers, restaurant waiters, cleaners, and construction workers. Taxi drivers and restaurant waiters have to work long hours. Regarding the mode choice of the older workers, they choose the MTR, bus, and public light rail systems as their major transport modes for employment. The average travel time of the older working respondents is 47.6 min, which is slightly higher than the average travel time of the low-income groups. The commuting problems are particularly acute in new towns, where many older working residents have to travel long times to seek jobs in urban areas. Therefore, the commuting patterns of older workers in Hong Kong are contrary to the findings of the transport literature (Motte et al., 2016). Many older workers have to travel long distances to find jobs partly

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because of the influences of government policies and economic restructurings, such as high land prices, the informalization of employment, and the inadequacy of the MPF scheme for retirement protection. Some older workers likely choose to live in inner-city areas and find service and retail jobs so that they can live near their jobs and social networks and travel shorterdistances than other social groups. For example, many older workers participate in the administrative and support service sector and food and beverage service sector for which the average travel times are 44.1 min and 43.0 min, respectively.

2.9.8 Mode Choice of the Low-Income Respondents Hong Kong adopts the transit-oriented development model; thus, most low-income workers are reliant on public transport to reach their place of employment. Among all low-income working respondents, over 93% of the daily mechanized trips made by these respondents are done so via public transport, in which buses and the MTR system account for approximately 36.2% and 41.2%, respectively (Fig. 2.8). In addition, the public Light Rail Transit accounts for approximately 11% of the total work trips. Goods vehicles and special-purpose buses (e.g., company and rehabilitation buses) account for approximately 3.3% and 1.9%, respectively. Therefore, living close to a public transport network can improve the mobility of low-income workers. Due to the unaffordable rent prices of parking spaces in Hong Kong, many lowincome workers cannot afford access to a car. Hence, private cars only account for 2.7% of the total trips. Only one percent of low-income working women drive to their place of employment, and low-income workers cannot afford to take a taxi to their place of employment; thus, only 0.7% of them use a taxi to get to their workplace (Fig. 2.8). As a result, many workers, particularly low-income construction workers, who have to work at different places on different days (e.g., having no fixed workplace), experience mobility problems.

2.9.9 Evaluating the Government Policies that Cause Commuting Problems of the Poor in Hong Kong Miles (2015) finds that voting validates fair governance and that people want fair governance. Thus, the government of Hong Kong should regard social justice as the culture of their government operations. The policies in Hong Kong (such as those related to high land prices, education, subcontracting practices, public housing, the suburbanization of poverty, parking spaces, urban decay, and the widening income inequality) have been found to cause poverty and commuting problems for the poor. Rawls’ difference principle urges us to focus on the possible implications of inequality on poverty, i.e., on the lower end of the wealth distribution. That is,

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MODE CHOICE BETWEEN RESPONDENTS IN THE FULL SAMPLE AND SUBSAMPLE 45.0% 40.0%

Respondents in total sample

35.0% 30.0% 25.0%

Low-income workers' subsample

20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Bus

Car

Ferry

Goods vehicle

LRT

MTR

public Special light bus purpose bus

Taxi

Tram

TRANSPORT MODE

Fig. 2.8 Mode choice between respondents in the full sample and subsample

inequalities are unjustified unless they make low-income workers better off (Rawls, 1971). The abovementioned policies have made many low-income people feel unable to afford the land prices in urban areas; thus, they choose to move to new towns, resulting in job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. Additionally, many low-income people feel unable to afford the transport costs to reach distant activities. Sen’s capability approach (Sen, 1981, 1985) focuses on providing adequate freedom and choices for poor workers to choose their commuting strategies with regard to reaching their place of employment. Transit-induced gentrification and suburbanization policies exclude poor people from accessing employment opportunities, as such policies that contribute to resettling the poor from older urban areas to new towns and cause some poor workers to choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods, all of which results in segregation and isolation. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the government of Hong Kong needs to follow the principle of fair governance, and government decision-makers should amend the policies to achieve fair governance; however, this process will evolve for a long period until the social systems return to a balanced state.

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2.9.10 Conclusion This study has introduced the concept of the self-organization process to analyse travel behaviours produced by government policies and the individual actions of workers. All travel behaviour evidenced by low-income workers in this study is constituted by structures and individual actions. Policies that cause income inequality and commuting problems for the poor include high land prices and the rail-plusproperty model, the suburbanization of the poor, easing rules on industrial relations, outsourcing, the influx of new immigrants from mainland China, public housing, and an education system that causes slow social mobility. The investigations herein have confirmed the hypothesis provided in Chapter One that the commuting patterns of low-income workers in Hong Kong are the product of interactions between government policies and individual actions. Based on the self-organization approach, urban transport planners and government decision-makers should modify the abovementioned policies to increase the freedom and choices of low-income workers with regard to commuting to their place of employment. Improving the commuting of the poor is one of the main goals of using the self-organization approach in this chapter that discusses urban transport planning in Hong Kong. In the self-organization approach, the products of interactions between policies and the individual actions of low-income workers can provide ways for decision-makers in Hong Kong to develop strategies to modify policies to tackle mobility deprivation. Two major social justice theories can be used to evaluate the impacts of the policies on provisions of freedom and choices for low-income workers to commute to employment. These theories are the capability approach suggested by Sen (1980, 1981), which proposes the provision of more freedom and choices to workers with regard to commuting to employment opportunities, and the difference principle suggested by Rawls (1971), which permits diverging from strict equality so long as the inequalities in question would make the least advantaged members of society materially better off than they would be under strict equality. This study finds evidence that the high land price policy in Hong Kong contributes to the mobility problems of low-income workers. First, many low-income workers cannot afford high land prices in urban areas and thus choose to reside in new towns. Since most jobs are located in urban areas, they have to travel long distances on work trips and pay high public transport fares. Second, the high land price policy that reduces land supply in urban areas contributes to high land prices in inner-city neighbourhoods and constrains the redevelopment of the older urban areas, resulting in urban decay. Many low-income workers who reside in inner-city neighbourhoods are socially segregated from other social groups and cannot commute to the mainstream activities enjoyed by other members of society. Third, the rail-plus-property strategy that aims to finance the construction of the MTR networks contributes to boosting the prices of property located near the MTR stations. Thus, low-income workers are crowded out from the housing that is in proximity to the MTR stations. They then suffer from mobility problems. Fourth, the government has demolished parking spaces in urban

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areas and cut the number of parking spaces in newly built properties to provide more land space for property development. As a result, many low-income workers cannot afford to own or rent parking spaces, which causes a low level of car ownership among low-income workers. This results in mobility inequality among the high- and low-income workers in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government is not elected by the general population; thus, it focuses more on economic performance than the needs of the general population. For example, the government uses the high land price policy to capture enough revenue and reduce investment taxes, but many middle- and low-income residents feel unable to afford the resulting high housing prices. A previous study conducted in Hong Kong investigated the outcomes when the urban structure varies from monocentric to polycentric. The results show that any accessibility gain due to a change in the urban format will be capitalized by property developers in the form of higher housing prices in the new central business district (CBD) regions, which will in turn cause a high proportion of low-income workers to be relocated out of the CBD (Huai et al., 2021). Therefore, the Hong Kong government should abandon the high land price policy to provide more choices, opportunities, and freedom for low-income workers to commute to job opportunities. The government should first increase the land supply for housing, as proposed by the chief executive’s policy address in 2021 that suggested developing the Northern Metropolis region to provide an additional 600 ha of land for housing. Another massive project is known as Lantau Tomorrow Vision, under which 1000 ha of artificial islands will be built in the waters east of Lantau Island. The Hong Kong government should follow the land sales policy in Shenzhen, China, which caps land premiums at 15% of the total government revenue. In the contracts of land sales, the government should ensure that property developers sell their completed flats at the price limit, such as setting a limit of 6 years of savings for a middle-income household to buy a flat (Standard, 2021b). In addition, the government should take measures to address the hoarding of land by property developers by introducing a heavy tax on developers who have completed housing projects that remain unsold for more than one year. Evidence presented by this chapter shows that many low-income workers are relocated to distant new towns and experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems during the process of suburbanization. Therefore, to provide more choices to and opportunities for these low-income workers, the government should provide more public transport networks to connect distant new towns with job opportunities in urban areas. Furthermore, recently, the government proposed developing a Northern Metropolis region along Hong Kong’s border with mainland China. This plan of developing a polycentric urban structure in Hong Kong will certainly reduce the travel times of the poor to jobs because interzonal commute trips will be converted into intrazonal trips. Furthermore, at present, the Light Rail Transit system operated by the MTR system has monopolized the public transport services in the New Territories Northwest, leaving working residents with little mobility choice. Many low-income workers are clustered in the Light Rail Transit stations in the peak morning hours because of the inadequacy of the available public transport services. Government

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decision-makers should allow more public transport operators to provide service for the working residents in these regions. In addition, evidence from this chapter finds that increasing spatial inequality is concurrent with rapid urbanization in Hong Kong, such as the development of urban decay. Many low-income workers, particularly low-income older workers, and women are clustered in deprived urban neighbourhoods, such as Shamshuipo and Kwun Tong districts. They mostly take the public light rail system and buses to reach their work, meaning that they have shorter travel times than those living in new towns. The concentration of poverty in the inner-city neighbourhoods leads to spatial segregation between the poor workers and the professionals. The workers in the inner-city neighbourhoods mostly participate in informal jobs and earn low incomes. They travel short-distance commutes and develop small activity spaces, resulting in social exclusion and finding it difficult to commute to the mainstream activities of society. Therefore, to improve the capability and mobility of these low-income workers, the government should carry out rapid urban redevelopment, after which the urban poor can choose whether to stay and reside in the redeveloped neighbourhoods. Transit-induced gentrification is a popular approach; for example, gentrification in Kennedy Town was spurred by the construction of the West Island Line. The government should ensure that newcomers with more money do not crowd out the original residents and that the older residents can age in place. The Hong Kong government should negotiate with the MTR corporation to allocate resources to develop properties above the MTR stations for low-income families (Liang et al., 2022). Even though the rail-plus-property approach has exacerbated the transit-induced gentrification and the displacement of the low-income population in Hong Kong, this approach does not apply to all MTR stations; several public and subsidized housing are within 500 m of many MTR stations (Suzuki et al., 2015). In addition, the government should consider increasing the plot ratio or the height of the buildings in the redeveloped neighbourhoods to house more people; in turn, developers could make profits in the redevelopment. Furthermore, as a result of the influences of globalization, job polarization, and loosening rules on outsourcing practices, many low-income workers choose to engage in informal employment. The results of this study show that many low-income workers, including working women, female new immigrants, and single mothers, choose part-time and short-duration contract jobs that are located near their homes so that they can travel short distances to their place of employment and still have time intervals available to take care of their household responsibilities. To provide more choices for and opportunities to these low-income workers, the government should consider increasing the number of childcare centres for children and day centres for the elderly so that female low-income workers would have more time to seek distant job opportunities and improve their mobility. Moreover, many low-skilled and older male workers are employed as selfemployed workers, such as the drivers of goods vehicles or taxi drivers, and casual workers, such as carpenters in the construction sector. Male low-income workers face some mobility problems that have been ignored by the government. For example,

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the ageing of the workforce in Hong Kong has led to a labour shortage and increased occupational safety risks, particularly for physically demanding industry sectors, such as the construction industry sector. Policies should be formulated to ensure the safety of these older workers, such as limiting their working hours and providing them with health care protection services. Furthermore, the government should develop manufacturing and new information technology industries in Hong Kong (which now only account for two percent of the GDP) to provide more choices for low-income workers to select their jobs. Government decision-makers should also develop shipbuilding and manufacturing processing industries in Shenzhen and transport workers from Hong Kong to Shenzhen every day. This strategy has been adopted by the Singapore government, which imports foreign workers from Malaysia. The inadequacy of the MPF scheme for retirement protection and the low qualifications of older workers have caused many older workers to fall into the low-wage labour markets. For example, many older workers in Hong Kong are not yet at the retirement age, but they did not become reemployed when they lost their jobs. However, they need to find jobs because the MPF does not provide adequate savings for supporting their retirement life. Thus, they choose self-employed or casual jobs in the industrial sectors that require them to work long hours under short-duration contracts. They commute for a longer time than the average time of the respondents in the survey, especially those living in new towns. Therefore, to improve the mobility and affordability of older workers with regard to transport costs, the government should reform the tax system and raise taxes on high-income workers and large corporations to improve the income of older workers. It should consider injecting adequate funds into the MPF scheme to ensure that low-income older workers have adequate financial savings for retirement. The results of this study indicate that unfair government policies, such as high land prices and labour laws on employment informalization, interact with individual actions to produce commuting problems that exclude low-income workers from commuting to the mainstream activities of society. The self-organization approach can provide more options for government decision-makers to improve the mobility of low-income workers by either changing the policies of the government-decisionmakers (structures) or modifying individual actions (e.g., reducing transport costs) in urban transport planning. The abovementioned suggestions for the improvements of government policies are the final stage of the self-organization process in the urban transport planning of Hong Kong. The suggestions also indicate that the self-organization approach is used not only to determine the travel patterns of workers but also to investigate the socioeconomic and land-use structural factors that influence workers to generate travel behaviours. Furthermore, the approach goes well beyond observed travel behaviour and explores ideas that aim to resolve mobility deprivation. Following select social justice theories, this study suggests that government decision-makers advocate changing unfair policies to increase the freedom and choices for low-income workers to commute to employment. The author also wishes that the self-organization approach could shed light on transport research and urban transport planning in Hong Kong.

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Chapter 3

Impacts of Government Policies and Individual Decisions on the Commuting of Poor Workers in Singapore

Abstract Singapore is considered to have an authoritarian government, which imposes strict policies with a traditional Confucian culture to ensure the survival and economic growth of the city-state. The self-organization approach explains the commuting problems and income inequality produced by the policies and individual actions of poor workers. These policies include land acquisition, land sales, public housing, the CPF system, and the suburbanization of poverty. Based on data drawn from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the policies have been found to cause commuting problems and exclude low-income Singaporeans from accessing mainstream activities of society. Commuting problems produce an imbalanced social environment. Since people want fair governance, implementing fair governance is the main motivation for the Singapore government to amend policies to return the social system to a balanced state and improve the commuting of the poor. Keywords Singapore government policies · Individual decisions · Economic growth and social justice · The CPF and public housing policies · Ageing population and poverty · Commuting inequality

3.1 Introduction Singapore is a small city-state that has few natural resources. Survival is imperative and depends upon always being economically competitive. In the 1959 Legislative Assembly general election, the People’s Action Party (PAP) won the mandate to form the Singapore government after it enjoyed a landslide victory by capturing 43 out of 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Lee Kuan Yew, who was then the secretarygeneral of the PAP, subsequently became the first prime minister of Singapore in 1965 when Singapore achieved independence. In his book ‘From Third World to First’, Lee stresses that the Singapore government emphasizes the importance of government policies to lead the city-state to achieve rapid economic growth and improve the standard of living for Singaporeans (Lee, 2000).

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 J. Cho-Yam Lau, Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, Quality of Life in Asia 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4_3

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The economic growth of Singapore is mainly due to the government being able to build affordable public housing and efficient public transport services to keep wages low and to establish the Central Provident Fund (CPF) system that finances people to buy public housing. In addition, the government has adequate revenue from land sales to keep tax rates low and attract foreign direct investments. Some studies conducted in Singapore have found that several government policies, which Lee Kuan Yew contributes to formulating, have not only boosted economic growth but also led to inequality and poverty and have negatively influenced the capability of low-income Singaporeans to commute to reach their basic needs (Smith et al., 2015; Teo, 2013). Lee (2000) argues that the Singapore government chooses to acquire private land in urban areas at a low price and sell the land at a high price by public tender to generate revenue to finance the construction of public housing and transport infrastructure. As a result, many people are relocated to new towns by the Housing and Development Board, and many of these relocated residents experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting with regard to their daily work trips (Phang, 2000, 2007). In addition, Singapore’s social welfare policy is based on personal responsibility, with the family and community playing key roles in supporting people through difficulties. For example, the CPF scheme is a mandatory savings scheme that aims to finance a range of different welfare services, such as housing, health care, insurance, tertiary education, and retirement (Phang, 2007). As of 2022, CPF contributions amount to 37 percent of a worker’s wage so that the Singapore government can keep investment taxes low and attract foreign direct investments (Central Provident Fund Board, 2022). Because a high share of income contributes to the CPF system, many low-income workers feel unable to afford the expenses of daily commuting (Phang, 2004). Policies that aim to promote economic growth and finance the construction of public housing and transport infrastructure in Singapore also cause commuting and social exclusion problems. For example, based on information from 2020, approximately 77.3% of the population of Singapore chooses to live in the suburbs because of the government suburbanization and urban renewal policies; however, all the new towns located in the suburbs have failed to achieve self-containment (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). As a result, many working residents in new towns experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems and are excluded from accessing job opportunities. The CPF system and spatial mismatch in new towns have resulted in wide income inequality and commuting problems. Many low-income people choose to live in older urban neighbourhoods; thus, they are socially and spatially segregated from other social groups and are socially excluded from accessing formal jobs. Concerning the relationship between human rights and accessibility, the capability approach (Sen, 1984, 1985) states that a government characterized by justice and equity should provide all people with the freedom, choice, and opportunities to access basic needs. The concept of self-organization and structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) contributes to evaluating the impacts of government policies on the commuting of Singaporeans. Self-organization analysis integrates the individual

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decisions of commuters and socioeconomic and land-use structural factors, and the process produces various patterns of commuting behaviour to reach employment and basic needs. Self-organization is a process in the human social system that takes place in response to external adversity in society. It is a natural and spontaneous mechanism of interactions among individuals in a social system to achieve a state of equilibrium (Portugali, 2000; Zhang & De Roo, 2016). For example, self-organization is seen in the free market system. As early as 1776, Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ referred to a self-organizing mechanism guiding and shaping economic systems (Smith, 1937). The leading economist Paul Krugman shows how principles of self-organization explain the sizes of earthquakes and metropolitan areas (Krugman, 1995). Self-organization is a basic mechanism by which complex urban systems, such as Singapore, organize themselves. For example, certain policies (e.g., the government allows low-income workers to use the CPF system to buy public housing) negatively influence the commuting of low-income workers; thus, they change their daily travel patterns to modify these policies (e.g., the workers have inadequate disposable income to pay for transport fares and therefore reduce their travel distances and trip frequencies). It is important to study the actual mechanisms of self-organization in cities to link the theory of self-organization to transport planning practices. Self-organization is operationalized in the investigation of urban change by using the structuration theory proposed by Giddens (1984); the theory states that the constitution of commuters and government policies are not two independently given sets of phenomena but instead represent a duality. He defines this relationship as a ‘duality of structure’, which views the following: ‘…structure as the medium and outcome of the conduct it recursively organizes; the structural properties of social system do not exist outside of action but are chronically implicated in its production and reproduction’ (Giddens, 1984, p. 374).

The social system in Singapore refers to the major institutions of society (for example, the MRT system, deprived urban neighbourhoods, and new towns); structure refers to rules and policies (for example, the suburbanization policy and the CPF system) that only exist when they are employed in Singapore. Structural properties refer to new features produced by the interaction of policies and individual actions (e.g., commuting behaviour of the working residents in new towns and deprived urban neighbourhoods) that stretch across time and space. In a self-organization social environment, individuals tend to use their decision-making ability to devise commuting behaviour that aims to not only modify and address accessibility constraints imposed by policies and social rules but also improve their ability to commute to basic needs. Since people want fair governance, the government should consider social justice as the major attribute to the daily operations of governing (Miles, 2015); thus, the Singapore government should amend its unjust policies to meet the requirements of fair governance and improve the quality of life of its poor citizens. These unjust policies produce an imbalanced social environment in Singapore, and the selforganization recursive process (e.g., the government amends policies to improve commuting) continues to evolve for a long period until the social system returns to

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a balanced state (e.g., the Singapore government subsidizes low-income workers to pay public transport fares and expenses for basic needs activities).

3.2 Globalization Produces Job Polarization and Widens Labour Market Inequality As a result of globalization and economic restructuring, the services sector in Singapore accounts for almost three-quarters of the GDP and more than three-quarters of the employment. This structural change in the economy has been shifting towards a larger share of services in employment for decades. In addition, Singapore’s economy has shifted towards higher-end services (Chong, 2017). Many unskilled and elderly workers and women have been thrown into poverty traps. There has also been a shift in the balance between labour and capital, with a larger share of income going to the owners of capital, such as entrepreneurs, and a smaller share going to the professionals who work for them (Tai, 2006, 2013). Cross-border trade and technological change (particularly digitalization) have been skewed in favour of more skilled, better-educated, and wealthier individuals. Job polarization has started to hollow out the middle class and those with average skills (OECD, 2017; Tai, 2006). The occupational structure is the common variable for evaluating job polarization. High-income workers can be employed as two types of skilled workers (Tai, 2006): managerial specialists—including legislators, senior officials, and managers—and professionals. Low-income workers can be divided into two categories, namely, the white-collar class of services, including clerical workers and service workers, and the blue-collar class of the manufacturing sector, including production workers, plant and machine operators, cleaners, labourers, and other workers. In addition, middleincome workers can be represented as either technicians or associate professionals (Tai, 2006). Structural properties such as globalization and trade produce job polarization that is characterized by the growth of high- and low-wage jobs, the decline of many middle-wage jobs and the production of the informalization of employment and income inequality. Based on information from 2020, there are a total of 1,062,486 employed resident households. Among those who live in these employed resident households, approximately 43.5% (461,948 households) are high-skilled workers, who work as legislators, professionals, and managers. Among these workers, approximately 64.8% earn more than two times the average monthly household income in 2020. Out of all the employed households, approximately 18.1% (192,245 households) are middle-income workers, and their occupations include executives and technicians in business firms and manufacturing factories. Among the middle-income workers, approximately 30.1% earn 2 times the average monthly household income. Additionally, among the employed residents, approximately 37.4% participate in low-wage occupations, which includes 6.5% who are engaged as clerical support workers, 9.8% who participate as service and sales workers, 10.2% who work as

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plant and machine operators and 6.9% who are engaged as cleaners and labourers. Of the above low-income working households, over 50% live below the poverty line (Fig. 3.1). High- and middle-level workers mostly participate in the industry sectors of information and communications, financial and insurance services, and professional services (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021; Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). On the other hand, the economic restructuring process has produced many lowlevel jobs for unskilled and low-educated employed residents. The 2020 Singapore Population Census investigated resident households’ monthly income from the work and occupation of household reference persons; it found that over 72.3% of the households of those reference persons who work as cleaners and labourers live below the poverty line, (e.g., the average household monthly income is S$10,608 (US$7849). Because the calculation of household income from work includes CPF contributions, the average household disposable income after the deduction of 37% for CPF contributions is S$6683 (US$4945) per month (Central Provident Fund Board, 2022; Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Furthermore, based on information from 2020, the average household monthly income is S$10,680, including CPF contributions; thus, the poverty line is set at S$6000 (US$4440) per month (e.g., approximately 60% of the average income). Hence, approximately 55.3% (57,542 households) of the households of those reference persons who are engaged in service and sales and 53.6% (58,128 households) of the households of reference persons who participate in plant and machine operators earn less than S$6000 per month;

80.0% less than $6000

$6000-$11999

$12000-$20000 & over

70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Legislators, Professionals Associate and Managers professionals

Clerical support workers

Service & sales workers

Craftsmen & related workers

Plant operators

Cleaners, labourers

Occupation

Fig. 3.1 Resident Households’ monthly income by occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021. Note based on Table 39 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

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these households live below the poverty line (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021) (Fig. 3.1). They mostly participate in the industry sectors of administrative and support service, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, accommodation, food and beverage services, and transportation (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). Figure 3.1 depicts that the number of middle-income households is shrinking, while the number of low-income households is increasing, particularly the number of households with low-income older workers and single mothers, who face economic hardship because many jobs are based on temporary contracts in retailing, restaurants, and transportation sectors. Government policies on economic growth, stagnant pay, the top priority of self-reliance on social welfare, and the importation of foreign workers all contribute to the widening income inequality (Hui, 2013; Hui & Toh, 2014). Furthermore, based on information from 2019, approximately 386,800 foreign workers hold employment passes and S passes (they are issued to highly skilled foreign workers who work in business, finance, or other white-collar jobs), accounting for 27.6% of the total foreign workforce, while approximately 981,000 foreign workers hold work permits (who are low-wage foreign workers, such as domestic workers or workers in construction, manufacturing and service industries), accounting for 70% of foreign workers (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2020a, 2020b). The majority of the jobs taken up by foreign workers are considered dirty, dangerous, and difficult, which are the reasons that the locals shy away from construction and manufacturing jobs. Most foreign workers earn an average income of S$700 (US$518) per month; for example, the monthly salary of a live-in foreign domestic helper is approximately S$650 (US$481) per month. Therefore, the majority of these individuals live in poverty (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2020b, Straits Times, 2021). If these foreign workers are included in the workforce of Singapore, the low-income labour force should be approximately 1,812,600 workers, or 69.2% of the total workforce in Singapore; a high proportion of these workers live in poverty (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2019a, 2019b). Based on information from 2020, foreign workers account for approximately 36.9% (or 1,368,400 persons) of the total workforce in Singapore (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). The importation of foreign workers has caused job displacement effects, such as a proportion of local workers facing involuntary job loss due to the importation of foreign workers; the unemployment rate for citizens was 3.5% in 2021 (Channel NewsAsia, 2022). This displacement has also caused the stagnant wage movement of unskilled workers. In 2020, the government took action to help low-income local workers; local firms who employ foreign workers are now required to pay all their local employees a monthly salary of at least S$1400 (US$1036). Technological change is a structural property that influences the income of lowskilled workers. For example, based on information from 2020, many low-income older workers are engaged in self-employed jobs, such as the drivers of goods vehicles and taxis (Chew, 2012; Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). However, these jobs can disappear due to technological change. Singapore’s government has tested

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a driverless taxi scheme by using artificial intelligence technology, which enables taxis without drivers to navigate through traffic and handle complex situations using artificial intelligence. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many low-skilled workers could not find jobs in the food and retail sectors because many people worked from home through high-speed internet. Online shopping in Singapore surged as people wanted to avoid the virus. These technological changes have led to job insecurity for low-income workers (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). Furthermore, structural properties, such as the presence of multinational companies in manufacturing industries, increase the relative demand for skilled labour. In the 1960s and 1970s, Singapore’s industrialization strategy focused on labourintensive manufacturing for the export market. The manufacturing of garments, food products, and electronic assembly absorbed a large share of the semiskilled and unskilled workforce. Given the small size of the domestic market, Singapore did not pursue import substitution but instead developed open, export-oriented manufacturing production. This attracted foreign direct investment, which played a crucial role in providing industrial capital, industrial technology, and export marketing capability. As a result, Singapore’s economy enjoyed double-digit growth and a significant reduction in unemployment and poverty. This was the time when workers in the manufacturing industry enjoyed the highest pay. To better pay for managerial jobs in manufacturing in Singapore, the government adopted the policy of using foreign workers on short-term work permit schemes to perform difficult and dirty manufacturing jobs. This policy brought cheap labour from the surrounding region as a solution to the chronic labour shortage that had started to build up in the 1970s. This dependency on a foreign workforce has over time increased and broadened beyond the industrial sector to fill areas of work that local workers shun (Chong, 2017). This phenomenon results in an income gap between local and foreign labourers. Because of the increasing size of the population of foreign workers, many manufacturing jobs are subcontracted to smaller firms. Many lowskilled local workers complain that their wages have been depressed and stagnated and that upwards social mobility channels have been hindered by the importation of foreign labour (Hui, 2013; Hui & Toh, 2014; Smith et al., 2015). Furthermore, Ng (2020) finds that as a result of structural change in the economy, a higher share of the wealth in Singapore goes to business owners instead of wage earners. She subdivides national income into three components: compensation to employees, gross operating surplus, and government taxes net of subsidies. Roughly speaking, the three components represent the share of the national income that constitutes the wages of employees, the profits of businesses, and the net revenues to the government. The profit-to-wage ratio shows the distributional weight of national income to profits and wages. Singapore’s ratio is high relative to that of other countries at similar stages of development. Among the US, Australia, and Germany, Singapore is the only country in which the share that goes to profits is greater than the share that goes to wages (e.g., the ratio is greater than 1). Singapore’s profit-to-wage ratio has soared, i.e., from 1.11 in 1998 to 1.20 in the last decade. The policy aimed at the wage stagnation of employed residents in Singapore persistently provides investors with a high proportion of profits.

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Economic growth gives rise to a higher share of the wealth in Singapore going to business owners, but this is not true in other advanced economies, such as Germany. This would suggest the need to establish appropriate policies in Singapore to minimize the impacts of income inequality in times of growing globalization.

3.3 Gender Differences in Workforce Participation Rate and Commuting Problems The above investigation indicates that a high proportion of female workers in the labour markets earn lower wages than their male counterparts. Despite the converging roles of men and women in Singapore, the gender pay gap remains stubbornly persistent in the resident workforce (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). One of the roots of mobility problems in Singapore is that women tend to have a lower labour force participation rate (LFPR) than their male counterparts. For example, in 2021, the LFPR for women was 61.2%, and that for male workers was 75.4%. According to World Bank records, the LFPR for women in Hong Kong was approximately 49.3% in 2019. Thus, compared to Hong Kong, women in Singapore have a higher level of LFPR. This contributes to the Singapore government’s self-reliance concept being present in their social welfare policy, which states that residents must first help themselves in the face of financial difficulties; that is, they have to secure jobs and earn income. Another option is to seek help from the friends and family in their support networks; the government’s social welfare system is the last stage of seeking help (Lee, 2000). Figure 3.2 depicts the gender gap in the workforce participation rate by age group; it indicates that the women’s LFPR rate increases at young ages and declines near the 35–39 age group when the majority of them are married and had children, resulting in more household responsibilities. Most female workers face disparities in employment status (e.g., more females have informal jobs) and the division of household roles, in which women usually play a greater role in household activities and childcare. As a result, female workers tend to concentrate on low-paying jobs across core and periphery industries. In addition, a significant share of female workers are required to work beyond their retirement age, such as beyond the age of 60. Female workers experience mobility problems with regard to reaching distant job opportunities because they participate in part-time or contract employment and feel that fast transport modes are unaffordable. According to the data analysis of the 2020 Singapore Population Census, a significant proportion of working women take public buses or walk to their place of employment. The lower mobility of women can be explained by differences in private car access. The gender wage gap results in many women feeling that private cars are unaffordable. On the other hand, driven by personal traits and higher income than women, more male workers choose to drive private cars and take taxis, chartered buses, lorries, and motorcycles to work than their female counterparts.

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14.0% Male

Female

12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% 15 - 19 20 - 24 25 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64 65 - 69 70 & Over

Age group

Fig. 3.2 Gender gap in labour force participation by age, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021. Note based on Table 70 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

This study estimates that the differences in commuting behaviour between males and females result in a longer average travel time (36.5 min) for women to their place of employment than for their male counterparts (34.5 min). For example, among employed residents, approximately 46.9% of women spend 31–60 min on work trips, while only 40.9% of male workers spent the same about of time on travel on work trips. In the Singapore labour market, men continue to be overrepresented in higherpaying occupations, and women tend to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations. The results of a previous study found that the key drivers that contribute to the gender pay gap are industry and occupational differences (Lin et al., 2020; Teo, 2013). Figure 3.3 shows that based on information from 2020, there is a significant gender pay gap in occupations and that some low-income occupations—such as cleaners and labourers, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers—are concentrated among women. Whereas some high-income occupations, such as workers in management and administration, professionals, and associated professionals, male workers account for a slightly higher share of workers than their female counterparts. Local male workers account for a significant share of workers compared to women in occupations such as plant and transport operators and craftsmen sectors, which are low-income jobs. Thus, the gender gap in occupations contributes to the gender income gap. Women are highly concentrated in low-paying jobs across core and periphery industries. The poverty of female workers directly influences their affordability for transport costs to reach locations of employment and mainstream activities of society, and many of

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Female

Cleaner and labourer

Male

Plant and transport operator

Occupation

Craftsmen and related worker Service and sales worker Clerical support worker Associate professional Professional Manager and administor 0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Percentage

Fig. 3.3 Employed male and femaile residents by occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Ministry of Manpower, (2021). Note based on Table 41 of the above study

them feel unable to access private cars (Havet et al., 2021). They experience shrinking activity spaces as a result of the unaffordability of transport and time conflicts between jobs and household responsibilities, resulting in mobility deprivation. The results of transport studies in Western countries always indicate that women tend to commute short-distance work trips more than their male counterparts because women face time-conflict problems between their jobs and household responsibilities, disparities in their employment status (e.g., more female part-time jobs), and lower occupational status (Havet et al., 2021). However, in the case of Singapore, for short-distance work trips, low-income female workers tend to travel longer distances to workplaces than their male counterparts. For example, based on information from 2020, among employed residents, only 43.5% of female workers spend less than 31 min on work trips, while approximately 50% of male workers spend the same travel time range on work trips. Two main factors contribute to this travel behaviour. First, many male workers are engaged in manufacturing and transportation jobs (e.g., drivers of goods vehicles and taxis), which are sectors dominated by male workers. Many manufacturing industries provide company buses to transport their workers, but only approximately 1.5% of female workers participate in this sector according to 2020 data. As a result, a high proportion of male workers in the manufacturing and transportation sectors can reach their place of employment within 30 min. Second, among all employed residents, approximately 21.1% drive to their place of employment. Among the male workers, approximately 25.7% drive to work, while among the female workers, only

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approximately 15.8% drive to work. On average, the average travel time of those who drive to work is 30 min. Therefore, more male workers drive to work than their female counterparts, which contributes to shorter travel times for male workers than for females (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Additionally, the activity spaces of these low-income part-time female workers are segregated from those of other full-time workers; as a result, they are deprived of the capability to commute and participate in the mainstream activities of society and consequently suffer from mobility deprivation. Furthermore, a previous study investigated the influence of the Downtown Line on the accessibility of work locations in Singapore; the results show that while all workers benefit from improved access to consumption opportunities as a result of the expansion of MRT services, low-income jobs, such as retail and food services and cleaning jobs, are located in less attractive workplaces (Tan & Lee, 2021). As a result, the segregation between high- and low-wage work locations and the mass transit expansion in Singapore causes commuting problems for low-income workers.

3.4 Importation of Foreign Workers Contributes to Poverty and Commuting Problems Many developed economies are currently facing a declining workforce due to the ageing of the postwar baby boom generation. Singapore has been the most aggressive developed nation with regard to using immigration policy to sustain its population growth and alleviate pressure on labour markets. Lee (2000) states that Singapore needs to obtain enough talent to fill the jobs needed in its growing economy; thus, he has set out to attract talent. Additionally, Singapore Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat suggests that a sustainable inflow of foreign workers can complement Singapore’s local workforce. Fong and Lim (2015) find that labour market policies in Singapore enable long periods of high GDP growth based on factor accumulation that is heavily dependent on the imported inputs of both capital and labour. Rapid growth during times of full employment cause the prices of complementary inputs (land and labour) to rise, and the policy response is to prevent market adjustments from taking place by continuing to subsidize scarce land (e.g., in state-provided industrial estates) and allowing greater access to foreign labour; this in turn depresses the price of competing local labour. While access to a huge regional pool of unskilled foreign workers most likely depresses the wages of citizen workers at the lower end of the labour market, the opening of the mid-level market to foreigners enlarges the possibilities for employers to substitute foreigners for citizen workers with similar skills. The real wages of resident workers begin stagnating, and income inequality increases over the same period. Based on the labour force reports of the government, a high share of foreign workers are engaged in the manufacturing and construction sectors, which many

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local workers shun (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). For example, the HDB itself does not undertake the construction of public housing but instead contracts out construction projects to private contractors through an open tender system. These contractors employ many foreign workers to build HDB housing. Many residents air their grievances about the inflow of foreign workers, who take their job opportunities and weaken their bargaining power to raise wages. Wage stagnation in Singapore has been strongly generated by the influx of low-wage foreign workers. For example, the share of professionals, managers, executives, and technicians (PMETs) among employed residents increased from 51.4% in 2009 to 58% in 2019. Correspondingly, the share of non-PMET workers (e.g., sales and service workers, cleaners, and transport operators) in the workforce declined over the same decade; for example, non-PMET workers declined from 24.2% in 2009 to 19.5% in 2019 (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2019c). The shrinking share of low-skilled residents in the labour force is due to many low-skilled job vacancies being filled by low-wage foreign workers in industries such as construction, security, and cleaning. Foreign workers can bear lower incomes and more unfavourable terms than residents. Furthermore, the growth in the number of foreign workers results in an increasing unemployment rate of unskilled local workers. For example, the unemployment rate for non-PMET resident workers reached 4.7% in 2019, and the majority of unemployed residents were in retail trade and food services (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2019c). Despite the abovementioned policy measures, the admission of foreign workers has grown over the past decade. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of foreign workers rose from 1.15 million to 1.39 million (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2020a, 2020b). Thus, the importation of foreign workers contributes to the wage stagnation of local workers and widens the income inequality in Singapore (Dhamani, 2008; Hui, 2013). According to information from 2019, approximately 323,000 foreign workers are living in dormitories provided by the government. Additionally, approximately 300,000 Malaysians are living in low-cost accommodations in Malaysia and travel to their workplaces in Singapore through the checkpoint in Woodlands (Straits Times, 2020). Since they earn a low level of income, they cannot afford to have a wide variety of social and recreational activities in their leisure time. Most of their activities are restricted to their living neighbourhoods, and they usually commute short-distance trips to basic needs activities.

3.5 The Inadequacy of the CPF Scheme to Finance the Retirement of Many Older Workers In 2011, of the 3.79 million Singapore residents, 352,600 residents (9.3%) were aged 65 years or over. The proportion of residents aged 65 years or over had risen to 16% by 2021. In 2010, approximately 62.8% of the elderly residents in residential housing depended on their children’s allowances as their main source of financial

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support, and CPF withdrawals accounted for less than 8.1%. Compared to the evermarried elderly, a higher proportion of never-married elderly depend on income from employment or business, savings or interests earned, or other sources as their main source of financial support. Hence, many elderly residents have to seek jobs to support their quality of life (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021, 2011; Ng, 2013). A report of the Tripartite Workgroup on older workers proposed examining the CPF contribution rates of older workers and their impacts on retirement adequacy (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2019d). Older workers in Singapore should have three sources of income for retirement, namely, the CPF, their family, and their savings. However, many workers do not have much savings in their old age. Many seniors in Singapore feel the need to work long hours at low wages, despite the help schemes available for the needy (Ministry of Manpower, 2019c; Channel NewsAsia, 2017). The CPF is a comprehensive social security system that enables employed residents to set aside funds for retirement. It also addresses members’ housing and health care needs. All CPF members have three accounts with the CPF Board, namely, the Ordinary, MediSave, and Special Accounts. Savings in Ordinary Accounts can be used to buy a home, pay for insurance premiums or withdraw for investment and education. MediSave savings can be used for hospitalization expenses, approved medical insurance, and certain outpatient treatments, while savings in Special Accounts are reserved for retirement needs (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2019). The Singapore government allows Singaporeans to use CPF savings to buy HDB flats; as a result, many people do not have adequate retirement savings. Many older adults reside in and own public housing apartments that the majority of them have opted to finance through their CPF savings. This has led to circumstances where older adults, despite owning property, do not have enough money in their CPF accounts to sustain themselves through retirement and old age (Suen, 2019). In addition, in both the 1985 and 1998 recessions, the Singapore government utilized a cut in employers’ mandatory CPF contribution rate as a means of reducing wage costs and restoring competitiveness (from 25 to ten percent in 1986 and 20 to ten percent in 1999). In the absence of other measures and given the prevalence of the use of CPF contributions for housing mortgage payments, CPF cuts would have increased the mortgage default rate and possibly affected the stability of lending institutions. However, adjustments were concurrently made by the CPF to allow the automatic withdrawal of funds from a member’s CPF Special Account (meant for old age) to service mortgage payments, should there be a shortfall. The CPF Board also made bridge loans available for those who had depleted the savings in both their Ordinary and Special Accounts (Phang, 2007; Phang & Helble, 2016). These arrangements made possible through the CPF make many low-income workers feel that they have inadequate CPF savings for their retirement. Due to the mandatory nature of the CPF and households’ inability to withdraw housing equity to finance consumption, households in Singapore face strong liquidity constraints. In 2019, a study was conducted in Singapore to investigate what people aged 55 and above considered to be their basic standard of living (Ng et al., 2019). The results

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of the study found that a single person aged 65 and above would need at least S$1379 (US$1020) a month to sustain his or her standard of living. The study included people who lived in rental HDB flats, as well as the HDB flats owned by the respondents. The household budget study raised a range of policy concerns about whether elderly individuals in Singapore have enough to meet their basic needs. The results of the survey found that basic retirement payouts from the CPF alone might be inadequate, and many elderly workers need to augment their income by finding part-time jobs. Furthermore, to comply with the law (e.g., the Maintenance of Parents Act), Singaporeans spend a significant share of their income on maintaining their parents’ standard of living. As a result, they do not have adequate savings in old age, and they need to seek part-time jobs to support their retirement expenses. Many middle-class workers also face this situation of being asset-rich and cash-poor (Choon, 2010). The poverty of older workers directly influences their affordability with regard to transport costs to long-distance employment opportunities; thus, they maintain short-distance trips to cut transport costs. The low educational achievements of many older workers cause them to choose part-time and self-employed jobs to earn savings for retirement (Ng, 2013; Suen, 2019). As a result, many of the activity spaces of low-income workers are restricted to workplaces, living locations, medical clinics, and social supporting networks. They experience shrinking activity spaces and are excluded from commuting to the mainstream activities of society, which results in their mobility deprivation.

3.6 Master and Concept Plans The Master and Concept Plans contribute to guiding the suburbanization of the population to the new towns. The Concept Plan is the planning instrument used for long-term strategic land use and transportation. It was first enacted in 1971. The Master Plan is the statutory land-use plan that guides development in the medium term. It translates the broad, long-term strategies of the Concept Plan into detailed plans. It contains land use and density guidelines and must be reviewed every 5 years. In 1971, the Singapore Master Plan was supplemented by a new planning instrument called the Concept Plan, which is not a statutory plan; rather, it provides the framework for the preparation (also by the Urban Redevelopment Authority) of the statutory land-use plans—known as Development Guide Plans (DGPs)—which together form what is known as the Master Plan. The Concept Plan initially sought to guide Singapore’s land-use and transport development over the next 40–50 years. It is reviewed every ten years. The 1971 Concept Plan of Singapore has greatly shaped the spatial configuration of the city-state in recent decades. The URA proposed a plan with a polycentric structure. According to the 1971 Concept Plan, a ring-shaped urban morphology and rail network with downtown and natural reserves in the centre was formed. High-density housing estates and commercial centres have been built to encircle the central area. The MRT project proposed in the 1971 Concept Plan was approved by

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the government in 1982 and began operations in stages in 1987. An efficient transport network, such as the MRT and expressway systems, now connects the new towns and the central area (Malone-Lee et al., 2001). Concerning the country’s housing requirements, the 1991 Concept Plan proposed the development of 10 new satellite towns to accommodate a population that was projected to reach 3.23 million by the year 2000. The Concept Plan also revised the “Ring Plan” of the earlier 1971 Concept Plan to a “Constellation Concept”. This plan adopts the radial corridors that interconnect the central core with master-planned new towns. The Constellation Plan has the appearance of a constellation of satellite “planets”, or new towns, which orbit the central core, are distributed by protective greenbelts and are linked by high-capacity rail transit. The commercial centres are classified into the town centre, fringe centre, subregional centre, and regional centre, and they are served by MRT and public bus. The MRT system forms the backbone of Singapore’s public transport system, serving the heavy transit corridors primarily for long-haul travel; it is supported by buses and the Light Rail Transit system, which serve lighter corridors and provide intratown feeder services to connect residential towns to MRT stations and bus interchanges. This concept is known as the “hub-and-spoke” model. The hub-and-spoke model facilitates the commuting flows between the periphery of new towns and the city centre. The new regional centres should be self-contained independent new towns with a mix of urban functions (Malone-Lee et al., 2001; Singapore URA, 1991). The 1991 Concept Plan advocated a polycentric development framework to decentralize the functions of the city centre to different tiers of peripheral commercial centres in addition to town centres, including three regional centres, five subregional centres, and six fringe centres. The regional and subregional centres are secondand third-tier commercial zones connected to the city centre with transit networks. These centres were designed to be a mix of residential, commercial, and institutional uses to bring job opportunities and services closer to residents living in different regions of the city-state, which would reduce the need for long-distance travel. The three regional centres are named Tampines, Woodlands, and Jurong East, which are located between 10 and 13 kms from the city centre, serving the East, North, and West Regions of the city-state, respectively (Hou, 2019; Singapore URA, 1991). Aiming to build ‘self-contained’ planning regions, the three regional centres were planned to increase residential development in each planning region. They were planned to function as substitutes for, instead of complements to, each other, and each of them provides employment opportunities, as well as services and amenities, primarily for the residential population in their nearby catchment areas. The five subregional centres are named Buona Vista, Bishan, Serangoon, Paya Lebar, and Marine Parade. These centres are allocated approximately 5 km from the city centre along the MRT lines linking the regional centres to the city centre and are designed to be approximately 1/3 the size of the regional centres (Hou, 2019) (Fig. 3.4). Based on the 1991 Concept Plan, as of 2020, approximately 75.5% of the population in Singapore is suburbanized into four regions, and a high share of these individuals are low-income residents who have moved from the Central Region to new towns in the four regions because of the new town-led HDB housing programme

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Fig. 3.4 The 2011 Concept Plan That Guides Singapore Land-Use Development. Source Modified from Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (2011)

(Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Additionally, a high share of commercial firms in the CBD remain reluctant to move to regional centres or new towns. As a result, all of the new towns have failed to achieve employment self-containment; thus, approximately 60% of the residents in new towns have to commute to other regional centres or the Central Region to find job opportunities. The 1991 Concept Plan could not predict the failure of self-containment in new towns, which causes many working residents in new towns to commute long distances every day on work trips from their homes to jobs in the city centre. The 2001 Concept Plan re-emphasizes that the hierarchical structure of urban centres is developed in line with the construction of MRT stations and mass transit corridors for the population. The plan’s key proposals focus on three main areas of urban living to make Singapore a great place to live, work and play. The 2011 Concept Plan places sustainable development as the top priority, with a target population range of 6.5–6.9 million by 2030 (Singapore URA, 2011). The land-use nature is carefully specified, as shown in Fig. 3.4; specifically, reserve sites could provide options that extend beyond 2030 to ensure use by future generations. The strategies include providing good affordable homes with a full range of amenities; integrating greenery into the living environment; providing greater mobility with enhanced transport connectivity; sustaining a vibrant economy with good jobs; and ensuring room for growth and a good living environment in the future. The 2011 Concept Plan specifies the spatial distribution of industrial lands, such as industrial parks and warehousing sectors, to ensure that adequate land is safeguarded for industries to grow and provide adequate manufacturing job opportunities for the

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residents who live in new towns to reduce their travel times on work trips. It is important to plan to minimize the impacts of job-housing mismatch commuting problems in the process of suburbanization in Singapore. In 2021, the URA carried out reviews on the Concept Plans. This review found that Singaporeans prioritize green spaces and affordable housing.

3.7 Some New Towns Partially Achieved Self-containment Singapore has achieved polycentric urban development, and there has been a remarkable redistribution among the planning regions (Han, 2005). The Concept Plans have been implemented following the Master Plans; based on the 2020 Singapore Population Census, approximately 77.2% of the resident population has been suburbanized to the regional centres (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Approximately 77.2% of the resident population lives in the new towns spread around the regional centres. Based on information from 2020, slightly over half of the 4.04 million residents in Singapore live in the top 9 residential planning areas. There are four planning areas with more than 250,000 residents each, all of which are located in suburban areas, namely, Bedok and Tampines in the eastern region, Jurong West in the western region, and Woodlands in the northern region (Fig. 3.5) (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021).

Fig. 3.5 Singapore Planning Areas and MRT Networks. Source Modified from Google Maps (2022)

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Sim et al. (2001) investigate the travel patterns of workers in the Tampines Regional Centre (TRC) and find that the majority of the respondents (59.9%) live in the East Region. Most residents (48%) report that it takes them 15–30 min to get to work. Of those working in TRCs, 65% report taking less than 15 min to get to work, while almost all report getting to work within 30 min. For those working in the East Region, their travel time ranges from less than 15 min to 30 min. For those working downtown, their travel time is between 15 min and 1 h. Significantly, 34.6% report taking more than 35 min to travel to work, indicating that approximately onethird travel relatively long distances outside of the East Region to get to work. The dominant modes of work travel are bus (28%), MRT (21%), and car (41%). Proximity to home is only one of many possible factors that could influence an individual’s choice of work location. Many working residents in new towns want to find high-wage jobs in the Central Region, while some who live in Tampines want to seek industrial jobs in the North and West Regions; thus, interdistrict trips are distributed throughout the country along key transportation corridors. For example, the town area of the Jurong West HDB is located in the West Region and contains Boon Lay, Jurong West, Jurong East, and Tuas; these areas have the largest land area for industrial use and easy access to the North–East MRT line, which provides a high level of accessibility for Jurong West residents who want to seek retail and food service jobs in the Central and East Regions (Erath et al., 2016; Zhu & Liu, 2004). According to the analysis of the 2008 Household Interview Travel Survey, Andris and Ferreira (2014) find that the CBD attracts many trips, but these trips are not concentrated in the CBD. Because of the polycentric structure, trip destinations are distributed in the ‘far outer ring’ of the city-state, particularly in the regional centres, such as Tampines and Bedok in the East Region, Woodlands and Yishun in the North Region, and Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok, and Jurong West in the West Region; this allows employed residents to travel either towards the downtown or outwards to commute to the industrial parks and commercial subcentres, which are built along with the MRT stations and surrounded by residential locations. These commuting patterns reduce the problem of heavy one-directional traffic seen in monocentric cities (Fig. 3.5). According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, approximately 77.2% of the population lives in new towns, most of which are located at distances between 10 and 15 kms from the city centre, while only approximately 22.8% of the population in Singapore live in the Central Region or urban areas (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Regarding the spatial job distribution in Singapore, approximately 48.6% of jobs are located in the Central Region (or urban areas), while only 51.4% of jobs are located in different new towns. This figure is in marked contrast to the 77.2% of the population of Singapore living in new towns (Fig. 3.6). Major work locations in Singapore and workplace capacities are denoted by block heights in the map shown in Fig. 3.6 (Erath et al., 2016). The map of work locations indicates that many workers in new towns, such as Woodlands and Jurong West, travel long distances from their homes to job opportunities in the Central and East Regions. Furthermore, Zhang et al. (2018) find that Singapore has been developing rapidly towards a polycentric urban form. Suburban centres, although less dominant

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Fig. 3.6 Distribution of Work Locations in Singapore. Source Modified from Erath et al. (2016). Note workplace capacities are denoted by block heights at building sites

compared to the city centre, have emerged in the eastern, western, and northern regions. The abovementioned study captures more about the spatial interactions among places through the examination of individual travel patterns, and each of the transport modes plays a specific role in connecting certain places in the city. In a comparative study of public transit and taxi usage, the study finds that the travel distance of trips from public transit decays faster than that of taxi trips, highlighting the importance of taxis in facilitating long-distance travel. Both types of trips decay much faster when the travel distance is beyond 20 km, which corresponds to the average distance from the urban periphery to the centre.

3.8 Suburbanization of Poverty The city centre of Singapore has been transformed into a financial and business district to promote economic growth. High levels of accessibility and the construction of MRT networks in the city centre contribute to the rise in land prices. For example, a previous study tested the impacts of the opening of the new MRT Circle Line (CL) in the Central Region on housing wealth in Singapore. It found that the opening of the new CL has increased housing prices by 1.6% on average (Diao et al., 2017). Households living within a 400-m radius (the treatment zone) from the CL MRT

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stations are sold for 4.2% higher prices than comparable houses located outside the 400-m MRT zone. Housing prices have increased in the MRT treatment region by 13.2% more than the prices of houses located outside the treatment regions after the CL opening. Relatedly, many low-income workers in urban areas have come to feel that land prices are unaffordable and have chosen to live in HDB housing estates in new towns instead. The effects of high housing prices in the Central Region are the major driver of the suburbanization of poverty in Singapore. Additionally, to obtain more land in the city centre for land sales, the government has carried out a large-scale HDB housing programme to resettle the poor from urban areas into new towns. According to the statistics presented by Dale (1999), approximately 20% of the population lived in the central area in the early 1960s. This proportion dropped steadily to 4.7% by 1985. Much of this drastic change is attributable to the large-scale development of public housing. Nonetheless, the HDB housing programme contributes resettling the poor population from the Central Region into new towns (Centre for Liveable Cities, 2021). The abovementioned phenomena are reflected in the data of the 2020 Singapore Population Census. Based on data from 2020, there are 1.37 million resident households in Singapore. Among these households, approximately 28.1% of the employed resident households earn less than S$6000 (US$4440) per month from work, which means that they earn approximately 60% of the 2020 average household monthly income from work (including CPF contributions); thus, they live below the poverty line. Among the poor resident households, most choose to live in new towns. Eight new towns have more than 19,000 poorly employed resident households each; specifically, Bedok New Town has 27,990 poor households that account for approximately 28.7% of the total resident households in the new town. Tampines New Town has 22,998 poor households that account for 27.5% of the total resident households in the area; both of the abovementioned new towns are located in the East Region (Fig. 3.7). Sengkang New Town has 20,650 poor households that account for approximately 26.0% of the total resident households in Sengkang. Hougang New Town has 22,442 poor households, which account for approximately 29.9% of the resident households in the area. Ang Mo Kio New Town has 19,898 poor households that account for approximately 33.0% of the resident households in the area. Sengkang, Hougang and Ang Mo Kio are located in the Northeast Region. Yishun New Town has 25,778 poor households, which account for 34.2% of the total resident households in the new town. Woodlands New Town has 25,442 poor households that account for approximately 32.2% of the resident households in the area; both of the abovementioned new towns are located in the North Region. Jurong West New Town has 25,149 poor households that account for approximately 30% of the resident households in the new town, and it is located in the West Region. Therefore, Bedok has the highest number of poor households, and Yishun is the planning area with the highest concentration of lowincome households among all the planning areas in Singapore. As of 2020, the above eight new towns account for approximately 49.4% of all poor employed households in Singapore (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021).

Planning Area

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91

Jurong West (west reg.) Jurong East (west reg.) Clementi (west reg.) Choa Chu Kang (west reg.) Bukit Panjang (west reg.) Bukit Batok (west reg.) Ang Mo Kio (northeast reg.) Serangoon (northeast reg.) Sengkang (northeast reg.) Punggol (northeast reg.) Hougang (northeast reg.) Yishun (north reg.) Woodlands (north reg.) Sembawang (north reg.) Tampines (east reg.) Pasir Ris (east reg.) Bedok (east reg.) Toa Payoh (cent. reg.) Queenstown (cent. reg.) Outram (cent. reg.) Novena (cent. reg.) Marine Parade (cent. reg.) Kallang (cent. reg.) Geylang (cent. reg.) Bukit Merah (cent. reg.) -

5,000

10,000

15,000

Below $1,000

$1,000 - $1,999

$2,000 - $2,999

$3,000 - $3,999

$4,000 - $4,999

$5,000 - $5,999

20,000

25,000

30,000

Number of Households

Fig. 3.7 Poor Resident Households by Selected Planning Areas of Residence, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 110 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census; the poverty line is set at S$6365 (US$4709), including 37% of income for CPF contributions

Bukit Merah is the planning area with the highest concentration of poor working households in the Central Region. In 2009, an estimated 106,100 (2.8%) of Singapore residents lived in HDB 1- and 2-room flats. Approximately 89% of them were concentrated in ten planning areas comprising mostly the older HDB estates. Thus, Bukit Merah has the largest population of HDB 1- and 2-room flat dwellers. According to 2020 data, a total of 18,321 poor working households account for approximately 30.7% of resident households (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2009, 2021). Based on data from 2020, resident workers staying in planning areas in the central business district generally have shorter travel times to work than those staying further away. Based on the estimation of this study, the average travel time of working respondents in the Central Region is 30.5 min, that for the East Region is 34.6 min, that for the Northeast Region is 36.8 min, that for the North Region is 39.4 min, and that for the West Region is 36.8 min. Hence, the average travel time of working residents among the five regions is 35.6 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Based on 2020 data, the median travel time to work is less than 25 min among employed residents staying in Outram and Novena. In contrast, the median travel time to work is 45 min for employed residents staying in Bukit Panjang and Choa

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Chu Kang in the West Region, Punggol and Sengkang in the Northeast Region, and Sembawang, Woodlands, and Yishun in the North Region. A significant share of the poor workers in new towns face job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems; they mostly have to use feeder public transport modes to reach MRT lines, thereby spending long travel times and paying high public transport fares on their work trips, which results in mobility deprivation (Lau, 2011).

3.9 The Study: Based on Data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census This study examines the travel behaviour of low-income employed residents in Singapore using data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census. Households that earn less than 60% of the average household monthly income (or S$6465/US$4784 per month) and persons who earn less than S$2092 (US$1549) per month are regarded as low-income working households and low-income employed residents, respectively (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). The 2020 Singapore Population Census interviewed more than 150,000 households to obtain detailed information on economic characteristics, transport, and household characteristics (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). In the preceding sections, this study has presented the influences of government policies on the actions of employed workers to produce travel behaviour to employment. The following sections will focus on the new travel behaviour of employed residents produced by self-organization processes, especially focusing on the actions of poor workers interacting with government policies to produce work trips, which are the obligatory trips that low-income workers have to undertake to fulfil their survival needs.

3.9.1 The Study Area Singapore has a total land area of 718.3 km2 , which is approximately 65.1% of the physical size of Hong Kong. The population density of Singapore is 7615 persons per km2 . Singapore’s main territory is a diamond-shaped main island with plenty of flat lands for urban development. In 2017, the built-up areas accounted for 72% (518 km2 ) of the total land area of the city-state. Hence, Singapore’s built-up area is more than two times the physical size of Hong Kong (270 km) (Xue et al., 2017). This means that Singapore has more land space to build housing, public facilities, and transport infrastructure than Hong Kong. Singapore consists of five regions: the Central Region (e.g., the CBD) accounts for approximately 22.8% of the resident population, the East Region (e.g., Tampines) accounts for 17% of the resident population, the Northeast Region (e.g., Sengkang)

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accounts for 23% of the resident population, the North Region (e.g., Woodlands) accounts for 14.4% of the resident population, and the West Region (e.g., Jurong East) accounts for 22.8% of the resident population (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). The regions are further subdivided into 55 planning areas. According to data from 2020, Bedok in the East Region is the most populated planning area of residence, with 276,990 residents. This is followed by Jurong West in the West Region, Tampines in the East Region, and Woodlands in the North Region, each of which have more than 250,000 residents (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Public transport continues to be the key mode of transport to work among employed residents. According to data from 2020, 57.7% take public buses or combinations of the MRT/LRT and/or public buses to work, which is up from 54.6% in 2010. Those who travel to work only by car account for 21.1% of employed residents according to data from 2020. The same data shows that the median travel time to work is 37 min for employed residents who commute to work by public bus only and 45 min for those who travel by the MRT/LRT only. For those who travel by car only, the median duration is shorter at 30 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021).

3.9.2 The Transformation from a Monocentric to Polycentric Structure Zhang et al. (2018) find that Singapore has been developing rapidly towards a polycentric urban form; in a comparative study of public transit and taxi usage, the study finds that the travel distance of trips from public transit decays faster than that of taxi trips, highlighting the importance of taxis in facilitating long-distance travel. In addition, the results of travel data analysis based on the 2020 Singapore Population Census indicate that suburbanization of the central population and employment has shifted the city from a monocentric employment structure to a polycentric one, and public transport modes have been developed to link the city centre with the regional centres. The structural changes of the city-state have followed the Concept Plans, with the concentration of employment and population in key regional centres, such as Tampines, Woodlands, and Jurong West, helping to decrease the traffic congestion in the central business district yet increasing the performance of public transport systems. The suburban activity centres have become strong alternatives to the city centre, potentially combining the advantage of sprawl locations with the advantages of regional centres (cheaper land rents, larger working spaces, and development of manufacturing industries), which are connected by a good transport system. Based on estimations made by this study using travel data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the average travel time of employed residents in the Central Region is found to be slightly shorter than in the other four regions. The average travel time for those employed residents who live in the Central Region is 30.5 min, that for the West Region is 36.8 min, that for the North Region is 39.4 min, that for the

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Region

West Region

61 mins or above 46 - 60 mins 31 - 45 mins 16 - 30 mins Up to 15 mins

North Region

North-East Region

East Region

Central Region 0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

50.0%

Percentage of employed residents

Fig. 3.8 Travel Time of Employed Residents by Region, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 105 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

Northeast Region is 36.8 min, and that for the East Region is 34.6 min. The average travel time of the working residents in Singapore is 35.5 min; thus, the working residents in the Northeast, North, and West Regions have longer average commute times than that of an average working resident. The result is in line with the results of a study conducted in Singapore; based on the information graphics (such as line graphs) provided by the study, the median travel time of the working population in 2016 was found to be approximately 37 min (Erath et al., 2016). This is probably because some new towns in these three regions have been only partially able achieve self-containment; thus, a significant share of their working residents are required to travel to other regions to seek employment, resulting in spatial mismatch commuting problems (Fig. 3.8). In the Central Region, approximately 82.9% of the residents can reach their place of employment within 45 min. The shorter commute times of the working residents in the Central Region compared to those in other regions reflect that a high share of these individuals drive to their place of employment, and many employment opportunities are located in the Central Region. Additionally, due to the TOD model, a high share of housing neighbourhoods, such as Outram and Bukit Merah, are located near the MRT stations; thus, the working residents in this region enjoy a higher level of mobility than those who live in the other four regions (Fig. 3.8). In the West Region, a significant share of employed residents are able to find manufacturing jobs located within the region. Hence, these workers commute short distant trips to their workplaces. Additionally, many factories provide company buses to transport their employees to workplaces; this arrangement helps to reduce the travel times of manufacturing workers. Approximately 66.1% of the workers in the West Region can reach their place of employment within 45 min. Approximately 33.9%

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95

of them spend 41 min or more on work trips, and they most likely take public buses, ride the MRT or drive cars to seek job opportunities in the Central Region and other regions (Fig. 3.8). The average travel time of employed residents in the Northeast Region is equivalent to that in the West Region. The main new towns in this region are Sengkang, Hougang, and Punggol. In the Northeast Region, approximately 33% of the employed residents spend 46 min or more to reach their place of employment, and 67% of them spend less than 45 min to reach their place of employment. A significant proportion of the working residents in this region are young workers, and they tend to travel long distances to seek higher-wage jobs in the Central Region. They mostly take the MRT and buses to seek employment. Regarding the East Region, many workers tend to seek employment in their regional centres, such as Tampines, and they are reluctant to travel to the Central Region or other regional centres to seek higher-wage jobs. This is probably because a high share of the employed residents in the East Region are low-income and lowskilled workers; thus, they cannot afford the long-distance transport costs of work trips. Therefore, approximately 71.9% of the employed residents in the East Region spend less than 45 min to reach their place of employment. The manufacturing parks and shopping centres in the region provide adequate employment to these working residents, and the Changi airport is located nearby, which provides many job opportunities for residents seeking employment in the eastern region. Thus, this region has achieved a certain degree of self-containment.

3.9.3 Jobs/Employed Resident Ratio and Commuting Problems in Poor New Towns This section investigates the new travel behaviour of poor workers in certain distant new towns with a high concentration of poverty. Based on the data provided by the 2020 Singapore Population Census, eight new towns are selected for investigation. Each of these low-income new towns consists of more than 19,000 poor households (who earn less than 60% of the average household monthly income). These new towns (or planning areas) include Tampines and Bedok in the East Region; Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, and Sengkang in the Northeast Region; Woodlands and Yishun in the North Region; and Jurong West in the West Region (Fig. 3.9). At least 10.0% of the employed residents in Hougang and Bedok are aged 65 years and over, according to 2020 data. This study estimates that the average travel time of the employed residents in these eight new towns is 36.4 min. Compared to the average travel time of employed residents (35.5 min) in Singapore, the workers in these new towns have a slightly longer average commute to jobs than the average member of the workforce. This is because many high-income working residents in the abovementioned new towns want to seek higher-wage jobs in the Central Region; thus, they spend long travel times on

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Fig. 3.9 Selected low-income New Towns in Singapore. Source Modified from Google Maps (2022)

work trips. The average travel times of employed residents among the new towns are presented in descending order as follows. Woodlands had the longest average travel time, which is 39.6 min. It is followed by Yishun, which has an average travel time of 38.6 min. The average travel time of Sengkang is 38.1 min, that of both Hougang and Ang Mo Kio is 35.8 min, that of Jurong West is 35.7 min, that of Tampines is 34.7 min, and that of Bedok is the lowest at 32.8 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021) (Fig. 3.9). The average travel times of the eight new towns are influenced by the ratio between the number of jobs provided locally and the number of working residents. To determine the imbalance between jobs and employed residents in the new towns, this study uses the ratio of jobs in the new town to employed residents (J/ER) (Cervero, 1996). Based on the data provided by the 2020 Singapore Population Census, this study estimates the working population and job opportunities in each new town and calculates the J/ER ratio for the eight new towns (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Based on the estimations made by this study using data from 2020, the J/ER ratio of Woodlands is 0.32 (e.g., Woodlands provides 43,797 jobs (workplace) in its planning area and has a working population of 132,933 persons (residence)), that of Tampines is 0.57, that of Bedok is 0.65, that of Ang Mo Kio is 0.55, that of Hougang is 0.34, that of Yishun is 0.34, that of Jurong West is 0.30, and that of Sengkang is 0.12 (Fig. 3.10). The figures presented below indicate that among the eight low-income new towns, six have a J/ER ratio lower than 0.5, which means that

3.9 The Study: Based on Data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census

70.0%

Jobs-working resid ratio Average travel time (min)

60.0%

97

45.00 40.00 35.00

50.0%

40.0%

25.00

30.0%

20.00 15.00

20.0%

Travel time (min.)

Job/ER ratio

30.00

10.00 10.0%

5.00 0.00

0.0%

New town

Fig. 3.10 Average Travel Time of Working Residents by Jobs-Working Resident Ratio for Selected New Towns, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Tables 16, 105, and 117 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

nearly half of the working population in these six new towns have to seek employment outside of their living neighbourhoods. They have to take long-distance work trips and experience job-housing spatial mismatch mobility problems. Based on data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, 79.6% of employed workers in Singapore have a workplace that is located in a different planning area from that of their home (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). The figures also indicate that all eight new towns have only been partially successful in achieving self-containment because these new towns cannot provide adequate jobs for their working residents, particularly those who are professionals and managers; thus, a high proportion of them are required to travel to other regions to seek employment. With the exception of Tampines, the suburbanization planning of the new towns failed to follow the stipulations of the Concept Plans to coordinate the redistribution of employment activities and residences, resulting in a high locally balanced worker-to-job ratio. The distribution of travel time in the eight new towns also reflects their degree of self-containment. For example, approximately 48.5% and 44.2% of working residents spend less than 30 min on work trips in Tampines and Ang Mo Kio, respectively. However, approximately 39% and 37.9% of the working residents in Woodlands and Sengkang can reach their workplace in under 30 min, respectively (Fig. 3.11). The travel figures indicate that in new towns with a high degree of self-containment,

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40.0% 35.0%

Up to 15 mins

16 - 30 mins

46 - 60 mins

More than 60 mins

31 - 45 mins

30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Ang Mo Kio

Bedok

Hougang Jurong West Sengkang Woodlands

Yishun

Tampines

New town

Fig. 3.11 Distribution of Travel Time by Selected Low-Income New Towns, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 105 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

there should be a significant proportion of working residents in the new towns who have short-distance work trips because the majority of the low-income workers in these new towns choose jobs near their homes. In addition, for many of the lowincome workers in the above eight new towns, their social networks are developed and located in the city centre, such as Bukit Merah and Outram; thus, they will find that it is difficult to connect with their friends and relatives because of the long travel distances between new towns and the city centre. The travel patterns of the working residents in the eight new towns also reflect their engagement in different occupations. According to data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, a high share of the working residents in the new towns are poor workers whose wages are below the poverty line. They are deprived of the freedom and choice to travel to distant job opportunities. There is a strong relationship between residential location and place of work, and work trips in the informal sector that provide part-time jobs are significantly shorter than those in the formal sector (Sua´rez et al., 2016). When low-skilled employed residents in poor new towns are left without a formal job, they will develop one in the informal sector, such as selfemployed taxi drivers and part-time shop sales; such informal jobs may well be located in an area appropriate for informal economic activity close to their place of residence to further optimize their travel time and reduce their transport costs. As a result, the low-income employed residents generate shorter commutes than other income groups. In low-income new towns, approximately half of the working residents take the MRT, LRT, and buses to reach their workplaces. They undertake long commutes

3.9 The Study: Based on Data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census

Motorcycle/ Scooter Only 4%

No Transport Required 7%

Others 6%

Lorry/Pickup Only 3%

99

Public Bus Only 19% MRT Only 12%

Private Chartered Bus/Van Only 4%

Car Only 23% Taxi Only 1%

MRT & Another Mode 1%

MRT & Car Only 1%

MRT & Public Bus Only 19%

Fig. 3.12 Mode Choice of Employed residents by the Selected New Towns, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 16 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

to reach jobs in the Central Region and other regional centres to secure higherwage jobs. This indicates that during the process of suburbanization, the majority of the financial and tourism employment opportunities are still concentrated in the downtown core, which causes job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems for those poorly employed residents who are employed as office workers or retail workers. Furthermore, the travel behaviour of the employed residents in the abovementioned eight new towns can be reflected in their mode choice of employment (Fig. 3.12). According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, public buses and the MRT/ LRT are the key modes of transport to work among employed residents in the abovementioned eight new towns. Additionally, private cars comprise one of the major transport modes in Singapore. Of all the employed residents in the eight new towns, approximately 23% of them drive to their place of employment, and on average, they spend approximately 30 min doing so; 32.8% of them take the MRT and public buses to employment, and on average, they spend 45 min doing so; 19% of them use public buses to get to work, and on average, they spend 30 min doing so; 7% of them take lorries and private chartered buses; 4% of them ride a motorcycle; approximately 7% of them walk to their place of employment, and on average, they spend approximately 8 min doing so; and only 1% of them can afford to take taxis to their place of employment (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021).

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3.9.4 Social and Spatial Segregation Between Highand Low-Income Workers Social and spatial segregation can be measured by the concept of activity space and social interaction potential. Farber et al. (2015) proposes a reproducible exposure measure based on potential opportunities for social contact for members of different income groups by considering the intersection and segregation of their activity spaces. The study identifies social interaction potential hotspots in different zones of residence, workplace, and specific origin–destination pairs. The results of the study identify spatial variation in social and spatial segregation potential among different income groups. To determine the spatial and social segregation between high- and low-income workers in Singapore, this study selects several planning areas that include the working residents’ place of residence and occupations. According to Fig. 3.13, the workers with low-income occupations include those employed as clerical support workers, service workers and salespeople, craftsmen and tradesmen, plant operators, cleaners, and labourers. Workers with high-income occupations include those employed as senior officials, managers, and professionals.

Yishun* Woodlands* Toa Payoh Tampines* Serangoon Sengkang Sembawang* Queenstown Punggol Outram Novena Marine Parade Kallang Jurong West* Jurong East* Hougang* Geylang* Downtown Core Clementi Choa Chu Kang* Bukit Panjang* Bukit Merah Bukit Batok Bedok Ang Mo Kio*

Planning area

Senior Officials & Managers Professional Associate Professional Clerical Support Workers Service & Sales Workers Craftsmen & Trades Workers Plant Operators Cleaners & Labourers

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

1,00,000 1,20,000 1,40,000 1,60,000

Number of worker

Fig. 3.13 Employed Residents’ Place of Residence by Selected Planning Area and Occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 102 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census. Planning areas with an asterisk (*) indicate that the number of workers with low-income occupations is greater than the number of workers with high-income occupations

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101

To determine the spatial and social segregation of employed residents in their place of residence, Fig. 3.13 marks with an asterisk those planning areas in which the number of workers with low-income occupations in that neighbourhood is greater than the number of workers with high-income occupations. Most large new towns have a higher number of working residents with low-income occupations than working residents with high-income occupations. As far as the place of residence is concerned, the following 11 planning areas have a high concentration of working residents with low-income occupations: Tampines in the East Region; Hougang and Ang Mo Kio in the Northeast Region; Yishun, Woodlands, and Sembawang in the North Region; Jurong West, Jurong East, Chao Chu Kang, and Bukit Panjang in the West Region; and Geylang in the Central Region. Approximately 55.6% of employed workers live in the above 11 planning areas, which are also new towns. Low-income workers live in homogeneous neighbourhoods more frequently than high-income workers, thus reducing their social interaction potential with other income groups. For low- and high-income workers, even though many live in the same new town, only small areas of their activity spaces intersect. Most of the workers in new towns experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems because a high proportion of high-wage jobs are located in the Central Region. For work trips, most of the low-income workers take public transport (such as buses and the MRT), lorries, or motorcycles to their place of employment, whereas a high proportion of the high-income workers drive cars or take taxis to their job. As a result, these two income groups rarely have opportunities for social interactions on work trips. The social segregation effects make it difficult for many low-income workers to commute and participate in the mainstream activities of other social groups, resulting in shrinking activity spaces and mobility deprivation.

3.9.5 Workers’ Occupation and Mobility Figure 3.14 depicts workers with high-income occupations, including legislators, senior officials, managers, and professionals; middle-income occupations, including associate professionals and technicians; and low-income occupations, including clerical support workers, service and sales workers, craftsmen, and related workers, plant and machine operators, and cleaners and labourers. Their actions such as choosing transport modes for employment are influenced by their incomes, living locations, and social backgrounds. Figure 3.14 shows that the majority of the high-income employed residents can afford to drive or take taxis to their place of employment. Among the managers, approximately 47.1% drive to work, and only 10.3% of them walk or take lorries, motorcycles, or private buses to their workplace. A total of 37.3% of them take public transport. In addition, approximately 24.8% of the professionals drive to workplaces, 4.5% of them take taxis, and only 8.4% of them walk or take lorries or chartered buses to their job. Approximately 61.6% of them take public transport to their job

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60.0%

Senior Officials & Managers Professionals

50.0%

Associate Professionals Clerical Workers

40.0%

Service & Sales Workers Craftsmen & Related Workers Plant & Machine Operators

30.0%

Cleaners, Labourers

20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Public Bus MRT/ LRT and Public Bus

Taxi

Car Only Private Bus

Lorry

Motorcycle

Others

Walking

Transport mode

Fig. 3.14 Employed Residents’ Occupation by Mode Choice, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 129 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

(Fig. 3.14). A significant share of the high-income workers choose to live in new towns, and they use fast and comfortable transport modes to get to their workplace. Based on the estimations made in this study, the average travel times of the managers and the professionals are 32.3 min and 37.1 min, respectively. A high proportion of workers who work as senior officials and managers are male workers, and their comparatively shorter travel times compared to those of other income groups contribute to the average travel time of male workers in Singapore being shorter than that of their female counterparts. The average travel time of professionals is longer than that of the managers and legislators because many of them live in distant new towns, such as Tampines and Woodlands; furthermore, a higher share of the professionals use public transport, which means that they spend time transferring between modes. The associate professionals include those who work as chemistry technicians, air traffic controllers, and broadcasting operations technicians. Additionally, approximately 19.1% of them choose to drive to their workplace, and 4.5% of them take taxis. Approximately 14.7% of them walk or take motorcycles, lorries, and chartered buses, and 62.4% of them take public transport to work. The average travel time of the associate professionals on work trips is 38.1 min, and many of them live in new towns and travel long distances from their homes to job opportunities in other regions (Fig. 3.14). Low-income workers can be divided into two categories; one is the white-collar class in services, including clerical support workers, labourers and cleaners, and

Travel Time (min.)

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103

40.0 35.0 30.0

Cleaners, Labourers

25.0

Plant & Machine Operators Craftsmen & Related Workers Service & Sales Workers

20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0

Clerical Support Workers Associate Professionals Professionals Senior Officials & Managers

Occupation

Fig. 3.15 Employed Residents’ Average Travel Time by Occupation, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 135 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

service and sales workers, and the other group is the blue-collar class in the manufacturing sector, including craftsmen, plant and machine operators. Regarding clerical support workers, approximately 10% of them drive to work, and only 1.6% of them take taxis. Approximately 11.7% walk or take lorries, chartered buses and motorcycles to their place of employment, and 75.9% of them take public transport. The average travel time of the clerical workers is 39.1 min (Fig. 3.15). They spend longer travel time on work trips than other low-income workers because many of them live in new towns and travel long distances to suitable office jobs in the central business district. Among the service and sales workers, approximately 9.2% drive to their places of employment, and 4% take taxis. Additionally, approximately 17.4% of them walk or take lorries, charted buses to their job, and 68.2% of them use public transport. The average travel time of the service and sales workers is 34.2 min. The travel times of sales workers are shorter than those of clerical workers because many of them can find retail sales jobs near their homes. Of the total number of labourers and cleaners, only approximately 3.6% drive to their place of employment, and 0.6% take taxis. Approximately 13.6% walk to their place of employment, and 6.8% take charted buses or ride motorcycles to jobs. Approximately 71.3% take public transport. The average travel time of the labourers and cleaners is 33.5 min, indicating that the majority of them find employment near their homes (Fig. 3.15). Among all employed residents who work as plant and machine operators, approximately 6.2% drive to their place of employment, and 0.4% take taxis. Additionally, approximately 44.1% of them walk to their workplace, and 20.5% of them take private chartered buses and lorries or ride motorcycles to their jobs. Only 25.2%

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of them take public transport (Fig. 3.15). The average travel time of the plant and machine operators is 25.0 min, which is the shortest travel time among all occupations. The plant and machine operator occupations produce a colocation process that results in shorter travel times than those necessitated by the occupations dominated by women. Plant and machine operators account for approximately 7.1% of the total employed residents in Singapore, including taxi drivers, MRT train drivers, crane operators, and packing machine operators. Most of them live near their workplaces, such as living in dormitories, or take company buses to jobs and thus have short work commutes. A high proportion of workers in the plant and machine operators are male workers, and their comparatively shorter travel times than those of other occupations contribute to the average travel time of male workers in Singapore being shorter than that of their female counterparts. The final group of blue-collar low-income workers is craftsmen and related trade workers, including carpenters, building painters, bakers, and electricians. They account for approximately 3% of the employed workers. Of these workers, approximately 17.8% drive to their place of employment, and 0.9% take taxis. Additionally, 6.6% walk to their workplace, and 27.4% take lorries, charted buses, or ride motorcycles to work. Approximately 44.7% of them choose to take public transport. The average travel time of craftsmen workers is 35.0 min. The mode choice figures indicate that mobility inequality exists between the highand low-income groups. A high share of workers with high-income occupations can afford to drive a private car or take taxis to workplaces, whereas a high proportion of workers with low-income occupations choose to walk, take public buses, lorries, chartered buses, or ride motorcycles to workplaces. Hence, the differences in mode choice reduce the chances of social interaction potential between these income groups on work trips. The low-income workers use slower transport modes and tend to seek jobs near their living neighbourhoods; thus, they generate shrinking activity spaces and are excluded from commuting to the activities of other income groups.

3.9.6 Gender Gap in Transport Mobility Women’s travel differs from men’s travel in many ways other than the spatial range of travel; for example, women are more likely to use public transportation and engage in occupations that require shorter commutes. According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, gender inequality in mobility has emerged in Singapore. Mobility is influenced by travel time, mode choice, and occupation structural factors. This section investigates the travel time differences between male- and female-employed residents in Singapore. Figure 3.16 depicts the travel time patterns of male and female employed residents. Approximately 16% of male workers and 12.1% of female workers spend up to 15 min on work trips. Additionally, approximately 34.1% of male workers and 31.5% of female workers spend between 16 and 30 min on work trips. Therefore, approximately 50% of men spend less than 31 min to reach jobs, while approximately

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105

61 min and above

Average travel time (min.)

Female Male

46-60 min.

31-45 min.

16-30 mins.

15 min.

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

Percentage

Fig. 3.16 Employed Residents’ travel time distribution by Gender, 2020. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021). Note based on Table 134 of the 2020 Singapore Population Census

43.5% of women spend the same amount of time to reach their jobs; thus, a higher proportion of men than their female counterparts reach their jobs in less than 31 min. Among the employed residents, approximately 22.0% of men and 24.1% of women take between 31 and 45 min to commute to their place of employment, and approximately 18.9% of men and 24.1% of women spend between 46 and 60 min on their work trips. Hence, a higher share of women (46.9%) than their male counterparts (40.9%) reach their jobs after between 31 and 60 min of travel (Fig. 3.16). In addition, approximately 9.1% of male workers and 9.6% of female workers spend more than 60 min or more on work trips. Based on the estimations made in this study, the average travel time of male workers is 34.5 min, while the average travel time of female workers is 36.5 min. Therefore, on average, female workers in Singapore spend a longer travel time to get to work than their male counterparts. This is because many low-income women commute long distances from new towns to job opportunities in the central business district, and they use slow transport modes, such as public buses or walking, more often than men. The occupational and mode choice differences between male and female workers can be used to explain the mobility inequality between men and women.

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3.10 Evaluating the Policies that Cause Commuting Problems of the Poor in Singapore Miles (2015) finds that voting validates fair governance and that people want fair governance. Thus, the government of Singapore should regard social justice as the culture of government operations. The policies present in Singapore (such as the CPF and HDB policies, the importation of foreign workers, land acquisition, the suburbanization policy, wage stagnation, and subcontracting practices) have been found to cause poverty and commuting problems in the population of low-income Singaporeans. Rawls’ difference principle urges us to focus on the possible implications of inequality on poverty, specifically on the lower end of the wealth distribution. That is, inequalities are unjustified unless they make low-income individuals better off (Rawls, 1971). The abovementioned policies have made many low-income Singaporeans feel that they are unable to afford the land prices in urban areas; thus, they choose to move to new towns, which results in job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. Additionally, many low-income people feel unable to afford to use fast transport modes for employment; thus, they develop shrinking activity spaces. Sen’s capability approach (Sen, 1981, 1985) focuses on providing adequate freedom and choice for poor workers to choose their commuting strategies to reach their place of employment. The lean social welfare policy, importation of foreign workers, and suburbanization policy exclude poor people from accessing employment opportunities; for example, the policies contribute to resettling poor individuals from older urban areas to new towns and cause some poor workers to choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods; this results in segregation and isolation. Thus, these policies are unfair. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the government of Singapore needs to follow the principle of fair governance and amend the policies that lead to accessibility problems to achieve fair governance; however, this process will evolve for a long period of time until the social systems return to a balanced state.

3.11 Conclusion This study adopts the concept of a self-organization approach to investigate the impacts of socioeconomic and land-use structural factors on the commuting of lowincome workers in Singapore. Moreover, it also reflects the actions of workers with regard to modifying structural factors that produce mobility deprivations and spatial segregation. The findings of this study confirm the hypothesis provided in Chap. 1 that the commuting patterns of low-income workers in Singapore are a function of the interactions between Singapore government policies and the individual actions of low-income workers.

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This study focuses on the policies set forth by Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore’s first prime minister and responsible for transforming the city-state from one of the poorest countries in the world in the 1960s to being among the most advanced in later decades. The policies he adopted include the CPF system, suburbanization and MRT network plans, an education system with which to train elite and smart groups, land acquisition, HDB flat ownership, the importation of foreign workers, and depressing wage growth to improve productivity. This study argues that the abovementioned policies interact with the actions of low-income workers to produce mobility deprivation. Some structural factors, such as the gender division of household labour, gender inequality, and the ageing population, also interact with workers to produce commuting problems. Evidence presented in this study indicates that the abovementioned policies, which contribute to promoting rapid economic growth in Singapore, constrain the choices, freedom, and opportunities of low-income workers with regard to commuting to job opportunities. That is, some of the policies go against the concept of equity during the process of development in Singapore. According to the sustainable development goals proposed by the United Nations, this chapter has adopted two social justice theories with which to evaluate policies, namely, the capability approach proposed by Sen (1981, 1985) and the difference principle proposed by Rawls (1971). As of 2020, the CPF system requires employed Singaporeans to contribute 37% of their monthly wages to the CPF, which significantly erodes the income of the bottom 20% of workers, thereby limiting their ability to afford transport modes, living locations, and occupations. Evidence from this study finds that many lowincome older workers choose to work beyond the retirement age because the CPF cannot provide them with adequate savings for their retirement. Some low-income workers have to continue to work even in their seventies; they engage in part-time or self-employed jobs to earn adequate income to support their quality of life. They choose slow transport modes, such as public buses or walking, to reach their place of employment and have shorter commute times to jobs than other social groups. They cannot afford to participate in distant social and recreational activities because they are unable to pay for the distance transport costs. As a result, they are excluded from commuting to the mainstream activities of society. Based on the difference principle, the CPF system should make those who are least advantaged, such as older workers, materially better off than they would be under the present social welfare policy in Singapore. Thus, the CPF system should be shut down and replaced with a fairer social welfare system, such as imposing higher taxes on those who are wealthier to subsidize the low-income workers’ health care and help the poor buy HDB flats. Additionally, the contributions of the CPF should be capped at 10% of Singaporeans’ monthly wages so that they can have more disposable income for their daily expenses. Furthermore, the policy of suppressing wage growth produces a poverty trap, which low-income workers feel is difficult to escape. Hence, the Singapore government should prescribe minimum wages for all workers to ensure that they have adequate income to support their quality of life and to afford transport costs to seek distant jobs.

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Moreover, in 1966, with the enactment of the Land Acquisition Act, the government began acquiring and assembling privately owned land into larger plots for the development of central business districts, such as the Golden Shoe district. In this process, the government acquires the targeted land, demolishes the old buildings, resettles the affected residents, and frees up the land for sale. During the process of this urban renewal and suburbanization, many low-income workers are relocated to distant new towns. This land acquisition policy goes against Rawls’ difference principle because the policy does not place a high priority on the least advantaged people in the process of urban renewal. Since a high proportion of new towns have only achieved partial self-containment, a significant proportion of the low-income working residents in new towns experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems; for those who travel by MRT with a transfer from a public bus, the median travel time is 60 min, according to data from 2020. Many of the poor workers cannot afford to drive a car to work. Of the working residents in new towns, a proportion are female workers, such as clerical support workers, who face time-conflict commuting problems and experience budget constraints with regard to paying long-distance public transport expenses. These individuals are hit hard by this commuting problem. In addition, a small share of low-income older employed residents, who do not have inadequate retirement savings, choose to find jobs in the cleaning and labourers’ sector, take public buses, and travel long distances to reach jobs in the Central Region. The suburbanization policy goes against the principles of the capability approach (Sen, 1985) because many low-income workers in new towns do not have adequate accessibility (capability) to employment opportunities. To improve the commuting of poor workers in new towns, the government should create more job opportunities in suburban areas, such as building more industrial parks to provide manufacturing jobs for low-income workers. Additionally, many workers have been able to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and clerical support jobs can be moved from the central regions to the other four regions to reduce commute times for workers who live in new towns. Implementing digital technologies enables firms, especially business service firms, to overcome geographical constraints on business activities so that they can establish their business in new towns. In addition, evidence from this study finds that mobility inequality has emerged between high- and low-income workers such that there is a gender gap in mobility. Many low-income workers are trapped in older urban districts and are socially cut off from other social groups. The major causes of the abovementioned commuting problems for low-income Singaporeans are that they earn low wages and face widening income inequality; furthermore, many of them do not have the opportunity to attend university education and experience slow social mobility. Thus, following the capability approach, the government should modify meritocracy as the principle in the education system and improve the opportunities for students from low-income households to access a university education and increase their freedom to select jobs. Moreover, many older and female unskilled workers feel unable to compete with foreign workers because foreign workers ask for lower wages than local workers.

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The importation of foreign workers has caused job displacement effects, such as an increased proportion of local workers facing involuntary job loss due to the importation of foreign workers. Since foreign workers account for approximately 38.3% of the labour force in Singapore, the government should limit the number of foreign workers imported into the area and restrict their engagement in certain occupations, e.g., within the sectors of construction and domestic helpers, to increase the freedom of local workers when selecting their jobs. The self-organization approach in this chapter has developed a new approach in urban transportation planning, which not only reflects the influences of socioeconomic and land-use policies on commuting behaviour but also reflects the different individual actions that interact with policies to produce new commuting problems. The approach also uses fair governance and social justice concepts to evaluate government policies to help people identify unjust policies and encourage the government of Singapore to amend unfair policies to improve and increase the commuting and quality of life of low-income workers. The author hopes that this approach can shed light on urban mobility and improve urban transport planning models.

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Chapter 4

Neighbourhood Effects Influence the Commuting of the Poor in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods of Hong Kong and Singapore

Abstract This chapter assumes that policies that lead to poverty and urban decay have contributed to producing neighbourhood effects. The policies that cause poverty include slow urban renewal, high land prices, the importation of foreign workers or new immigrants, relaxed rules on subcontracting, and the CPF system in Singapore. Four deprived urban neighbourhoods are chosen for investigation. The concept of self-organization is used to explain the commuting constraints produced by the interaction between neighbourhood effects (e.g., poverty stigma and social disorganization) and individual actions. Drawing on data from the 2011 Hong Kong TCS and the 2020 Singapore Population Census, this chapter confirms that neighbourhood effects cause commuting problems with regard to employment and social networks. The commuting problems produced by neighbourhood effects in turn produce an imbalanced social environment. Since people want fair governance, implementing fair governance is the motivation for the Hong Kong and Singapore governments to amend the policies that minimize the neighbourhood effects on commuting and return deprived neighbourhoods to a balanced state. Keywords Urban renewal policies in Hong Kong and Singapore · Urban decay and individual decisions · Poverty stigma · Social disorganization · Mobility deprivation

4.1 Introduction Hong Kong and Singapore are international cities, and the governments of these two cities have implemented urban renewal policies with the aim of redeveloping and gentrifying urban areas. In Hong Kong, there are still many older buildings that exist in urban areas, while Singapore has taken rapid measures to acquire land, demolish older buildings and redevelop urban areas. Economic restructuring, high housing prices, an ageing population and widening income inequality together with urban renewal policies in these two cities have produced neighbourhood effects, in which many low-income people are concentrated in deprived urban neighbourhoods © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 J. Cho-Yam Lau, Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, Quality of Life in Asia 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4_4

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(e.g., Chinatown in Singapore and Shamshuipo in Hong Kong) to live in proximity to employment. Additionally, some low-income older people prefer to live in older urban neighbourhoods where they have good social networks and are familiar with locations. The widening income inequality in the two cities has consequences for social and spatial segregation between the high- and low-income groups in urban areas. This means that people with high and low incomes are increasingly living separately in different neighbourhoods. Segregation by income is largely driven by the residential choices of members of higher income households who want to live close to both job opportunities and other residents with similar social and economic status. At the same time, lower-income households are living in deprived neighbourhoods where housing is cheap, which are often located in the least desirable parts of a city (Van Ham et al., 2021). This study focuses on the poor residents who live in deprived urban neighbourhoods in Hong Kong and Singapore and experience neighbourhood effects, which are the effects that impose commuting constraints on the low-income residents with regard to reaching employment and social activities. This chapter investigates four neighbourhood effects, such as poverty stigma and social disorganization, that influence poor residents’ commuting in four deprived neighbourhoods, namely, Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong and Chinatown and Little India in Singapore. This paper argues that people who face the poverty stigma effect (which is defined as discrediting attributes attached to poor people) in deprived urban neighbourhoods tend to develop supportive local bonding networks; however, few people are linked in bridging networks that extend outside the neighbourhood. Thus, these individuals develop small activity spaces and are socially cut off from their affluent friends and relatives. Transport studies have confirmed that the socioeconomic and land-use characteristics of deprived neighbourhoods affect the exclusion of residents from commuting to the mainstream activities of society, such as labour market engagement and entry into jobs (Lucas, 2012; Schwanen et al., 2015). The commuting problems that are caused by government policies can be measured by using the concept of accessibility. In this study, accessibility is defined as the capability of an individual to penetrate the constraints imposed by government policies to commute to the mainstream activities of a society. The activity space concept is a method used to measure accessibility. It is defined as a geographic space that includes the activity locations of an individual during a given period. The larger the physical size of the activity space is, the higher the level of accessibility is and the higher the chance an individual has of achieving social interaction and avoiding segregation. A study in Hong Kong found that the activity space of low-income people has not improved over the course of the previous decade, despite the marked expansion of the MTR networks (Tao et al., 2020). Self-organization is a process in the human social system that takes place in response to external adversity in society. It is a natural and spontaneous mechanism of interactions among individuals in a social system to achieve a state of equilibrium (Portugali, 2000; Zhang & De Roo, 2016). For example, self-organization is seen in

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the free market system. As early as 1776, Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ referred to a self-organizing mechanism guiding and shaping economic systems (Smith, 1937). The leading economist Paul Krugman shows how principles of self-organization that explain the growth of hurricanes and embryos can also explain the formation of cities and business cycles; furthermore, the self-organization principle of “order from random growth” is used to explain the size of earthquakes and metropolitan areas (Krugman, 1995). The concepts of self-organization and structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) contribute to evaluating the neighbourhood effects on the commuting of poor residents in deprived urban neighbourhoods. Self-organization analysis integrates the individual decisions of poor residents and neighbourhood effects to produce travel behaviour. The more choices a person has when choosing how to travel to obtain basic needs, the higher the level of his or her ability to penetrate accessibility constraints and access the mainstream activities of society is. The self-organization concept is operationalized by using structuration theory, in which individuals reproduce social rules or policies through their daily activities under discursive and practical consciousness; this concept helps to explain the relationship between transport policy and individual travel action (Giddens, 1984). Giddens defines this relationship as a ‘duality of structure’, which views the following: …structure as the medium and outcome of the conduct it recursively organizes; the structural properties of social system do not exist outside of action but are chronically implicated in its production and reproduction (Giddens, 1984, p. 374).

In Singapore and Hong Kong, the term social system refers to the major institutions of society (for example, urban neighbourhoods and the Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority); the term structure refers to the rules and neighbourhood effects that only exist when they are employed in areas such as Chinatown in Singapore and Shamshuipo in Hong Kong. Structural properties refer to new features produced by the interaction between neighbourhood effects and individual actions (e.g., poverty stigma interacts with individual action to produce segregation in Little India in Singapore) that stretch across time and space. The self-organization approach explains the commuting problems of the poor and the urban gentrification produced by the interaction between neighbourhood effects and individual actions. For example, neighbourhood effects (e.g., poverty stigma) make poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods feel relatively inferior compared with their relatives; thus, they cut off social contact with their relatives, resulting in accessibility constraints.

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4.2 Segregation, Social and Spatial Differentiation Evidence from a previous study found that changes in the levels of residential segregation between socioeconomic groups correlate to changes in the levels of income inequality. Thus, a high level of segregation also emerges in cities with a high level of income inequality, such as Singapore and Hong Kong (Tammaru et al., 2020). Segregation refers to a spatial social differentiation that has many dimensions; however, it is most often related to racial and ethnic segmentation and occasionally related to class or income segmentation. In general, spatial differentiation refers to the spatial representation of uneven development across geographic spaces. Sociospatial differentiation can be produced and reproduced in different life domains, including residential neighbourhoods, workplaces, and schools, which are connected over the life course and across generations, leading to vicious cycles of segregation (Wu et al., 2014). Such differentiation is mainly manifested in housing disparities, residential segregation, and social exclusion. The process of sociospatial differentiation is the interaction between neighbourhood effects (e.g., social disorganization and poverty concentration) and individual actions to produce segregation. Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into different groups based on structural factors, such as income and wealth, social class or ethnic groups. Social stratification and exclusion are mainly present in three dimensions: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and life cycle. Among these dimensions, ethnic segregation is the most common in the world, from highly developed countries to developing countries (Chen, et al., 2022). For example, Chinese Singaporeans are concentrated in Chinatown, and Indian Singaporeans are concentrated in Little India in Singapore. In Hong Kong, such outcomes are more reflective of socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics, such as the poor residents being concentrated in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok. Based on the concept of social differentiation, workers with similar social status tend to cluster together in neighbourhoods within a society, leading to social segregation. Social differentiation appears to have spatial determinants; in particular, spatial segregation contributes to increasing social exclusion. However, it is not enough to simply acknowledge the differences between affluent and low-income social groups and their different living neighbourhoods. The differences in living locations between the two social groups are the products of social exclusion processes excluding poor residents from participating in the activities of other social groups (e.g., the interaction between the poverty stigma effect and individual actions) (Andersen, 2003). Stigma is a particular function of the labelling process by which a label given due to difference becomes associated with negative attributes. The social exclusion process also produces deprivation problems, such as the poor residents in inner-city areas living in bed spaces and subdivided flats and experiencing a lack of ability to participate in activities and commute to basic needs. Neighbourhoods provide unequal resources and opportunities. Place stratification refers to places that are ordered hierarchically and consequently are associated with more or less favourable life chances and quality of life for the people who reside

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in them (Lersch, 2013). To improve their life chances, households prefer to move to good-quality neighbourhoods. However, the affluent groups within a population, e.g., the professionals and managers, manage to constrain access to these areas for members of out-groups, such as low-wage workers, restricting the best areas for themselves. The place stratification model assumes that while affluent and low-income households have the same preferences, they are not equally able to actualize their preferences because of structural constraints, e.g., discrimination and poverty. In Hong Kong, many low-income workers feel unable to afford high rents; thus, they choose to move to an inner-city neighbourhood, such as Mong Kok, which has many dilapidated buildings and subdivided rooms. In 2016, there were 92,700 subdivided units (SDUs) in Hong Kong, which accommodated 209,700 persons; approximately 60% of these SDUs were located in the Yau Tsim Mong district and the Sham Shui Po district (HKCSD, 2017). Hence, it can be assumed that the effect of moves on neighbourhood outcomes is less positive for low-income households relative to affluent households on average. Furthermore, the ethnic background of movers is a highly important determinant of neighbourhood outcomes. In Hong Kong and Singapore, deprived areas, such as Little India and Shamshuipo, have a low neighbourhood quality on average. Low-income households and ethnic minorities are more likely to live in deprived neighbourhoods. In addition, the results of a previous study indicate that some Singaporeans with Indian ethnic backgrounds experience residential segregation within public housing in Bedok New Town, Singapore (Sin, 2002). Due to the ethnic mix quota policy and procedures used in public housing, many low-income single Indian individuals are channelled to one- and two-room flats; these residents have much less freedom to relocate geographically and experience segregation and isolation. Even though the socioeconomic status of ethnic minorities has improved, these groups are still unable to increase their spatial proximity to the dominant group. The consequence of the high segregation level of ethnic minorities or low-income groups in bad locations and deprived areas consisting of dilapidated housing is low levels of social and human capital in the area. Thus, it is a dynamic and self-organizationfocused process of negative neighbourhood effects (e.g., the poverty stigma effect, social disorganization, discrimination) that limits the chance of access to better jobs and social network formation for these individuals, thereby reducing their local resources and trapping them in poverty (Chan, 2018). The concentration of poverty in some urban neighbourhoods appears to have increased significantly during recent decades, as has the concentration of affluence in some high-income communities in Hong Kong and Singapore. Two structural factors contribute to the formation of inner-city neighbourhoods, which causes the segregation of poor workers in deprived areas located away from affluent neighbourhoods. First, the widening income inequality in Singapore and Hong Kong contributes to significant levels of segregation. Second, several social structural factors (e.g., increasing dilapidated buildings, ethnic enclaves, ageing population, economic restructuring) tend to be exacerbated in inner-city neighbourhoods, including crime, informal employment, social disorganization, school dropout, poverty stigma effect and weak social networks in which to

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seek jobs. These structural factors interact with the individual actions of poor people to produce new structural properties, including problems commuting to employment and a high proportion of residents engaging in informal jobs. Therefore, the growing income inequality contributes to spatial differentiation and segregation in Hong Kong and Singapore.

4.3 The Poverty Stigma Effect and Commuting Problems Poverty can be considered a discrediting attribute, and stigma is experienced through the negative labelling of poor people in deprived neighbourhoods. Many young people in Hong Kong who live in public housing estates have always been labelled, stereotyped and discriminated against, such as calling young males who live in public housing ‘slum boys’; this poverty mark negatively influences their job seeking, social capital development and income. For example, a study in Stockholm, Sweden, found that individuals who live with their parents in a poverty-concentrated neighbourhood experience negative effects on their income later in life, even 17 years after they leave their parental home (Hedman et al., 2015). Hence, the poverty stigma effect negatively influences the income of poor residents in deprived areas and their ability to afford transport modes to reach distant job opportunities. The latter part of this section investigates the perceived stigma of poverty of the poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods and the stigma that leads to the shrinking activity spaces of the residents in some deprived urban neighbourhoods in Hong Kong and Singapore. The experiences related to poverty-based stigma may be one psychosocial mechanism through which socioeconomic position influences individual actions and behaviour. The concept of stigma is slightly different from that of discrimination. Stigma is seen as several negative attributes that label a person (e.g., a poor and lazy boy) rather than a designation or tag that other people affix to the person. In contrast to stigma, discrimination focuses the attention of research on the producers of exclusion and those who engage in the discrimination, rather than on the people who are the recipients of this behaviour. Stigma develops in a process during which a social group is disqualified from full social acceptance because it possesses an attribute, such as poverty, which is deeply discrediting. Perceived stigma is the fear of being discriminated against or the fear of enacted stigma, which arises from society’s belief; thus, stigma is experienced as negative labelling and stereotyping by residents in deprived areas (Warr, 2005). Stigma emerges in the process of self-organization. First, dominant cultural beliefs or people in upper-class districts distinguish and label residents in deprived inner-city neighbourhoods. They link the labelled residents to undesirable characteristics, such as being poor, lazy, and selfishness and having a low education; thus, these residents are being negatively stereotyped. Stereotypes are the idea that everyone within a certain group (such as the poor residents in a deprived neighbourhood) shares the same characteristics. Second, the rules produced by the labelling and stereotyping activities interact with the individual actions of individuals to produce new structural

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properties, such as the labelled residents deciding to be socially cut off from their affluent friends because of the poverty stigma effect. Finally, the self-organization process produces a poverty mark on the residents in deprived urban areas, and the labelled residents experience status loss and discrimination that lead to unequal outcomes, such as problems commuting to mainstream activities of society and developing inadequate social networks with which to seek jobs (Link & Phelan, 2001; Warr, 2005). Stigmatized persons may internalize perceived stigma and develop negative feelings about themselves. For example, a previous study explored foodbank use and the feelings of the residents who use foodbanks in two socially contrasting areas in the UK. The study found that the users are labelled, and they feel shame and embarrassment about using a foodbank (Garthwaite, 2016). The users are labelled as undeserving poor people who opt for an easy life, are addicted to alcohol, are a burden to society and are selfish. The respondents expressed that using a foodbank is described as an option to be drawn on only when they have no choice. The low-income residents in inner-city neighbourhoods respond to the poverty stigma effect with a variety of actions; some of them withdraw and isolate themselves from others, limiting their employment and social activities within their living neighbourhoods to avoid discrimination. A study in Australia found that people in deprived neighbourhoods tend to develop supportive local bonding social networks, but few people are linked in bridging social networks that extend outside the neighbourhood or access valuable job networks (Warr, 2005). A study in Hong Kong found that poverty stigma causes mobility constraints for welfare recipients to have social contact with their relatives and friends; self-rated health is also negatively associated with poverty stigma (Chan et al., 2020). As a result, residents in deprived neighbourhoods tend to develop small activity spaces, maintain short-distance work trips and gradually become socially segregated from other affluent social groups; thus, they eventually experience problems accessing their basic needs.

4.4 Poverty in Chinatown and Little India, Singapore Poverty stigma interacts with individual actions to produce commuting problems; these phenomena can be found in the following case studies of Chinatown (in Chinese 牛車水) and Little India. The current study will investigate low-income residents in the above neighbourhoods and the feelings of the residents about the poverty stigma effect. It will also associate the travel times of residents with their living neighbourhoods to reflect their shrinking activity spaces and accessibility problems. Using 2018 data, Ng (2018) estimates that approximately 12% of households in Singapore do not earn enough to meet their basic consumption needs. Regarding the relative poverty rate, approximately 26% of households in Singapore do not earn enough to keep up with the rest of Singapore. According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the median monthly household income of residents in Singapore

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is S$7744 (US$5576) per month, and approximately 56.9% of the households in the Outram planning area, where Chinatown is located, earn less than S$4650 (US$3348) per month (including those households with no employed persons); that is, Singaporeans in this area earn only 60% of the 2020 median monthly household income (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Approximately 60% of the households in Chinatown live below the poverty line. Chinatown is a neighbourhood with a high concentration of poverty; thus, the residents should experience the poverty stigma effect (Fig. 4.1). In 2010, the median household income in Singapore was S$5700, and the poverty line was set at 60% of the median household income, that is, S$3420 (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010b). According to the 2010 Singapore Population Census, approximately 41.7% of the households in Little India earned income that fell below the poverty line, including households with no employed persons (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010a). Hence, approximately 42% of residents in Little India live in poverty, which means that it is an inner-city neighbourhood with a high concentration of poverty. Thus, its residents should experience the poverty stigma effect (Fig. 4.1).

Fig. 4.1 Location of Chinatown and Little India in Singapore. Source Modified from Google Maps, (2022)

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4.4.1 Effect of Poverty Stigma on the Commuting of the Poor in Chinatown and Little India The high concentration of poverty in Chinatown and Little India produce a neighbourhood effect; that is, the residents experience poverty-based stigma. The low-income residents in Chinatown must contend with unfair labels. Many residents in these two deprived areas develop the attitude that other members of society tend to view them as a burden to society, i.e., that they are lazy, disregard opportunities, and are irresponsible; subsequently, these individuals decide to withdraw from others due to their anticipated rejection (see Reutter et al., 2009). The interaction of the poverty stigma effect and the abovementioned action further makes poor residents find it difficult to seek formal jobs, develop inadequate social capital and gain aspirations to work hard enough to succeed. The government has tried to redevelop these two deprived neighbourhoods to minimize the impacts of the poverty stigma effect on the residents. The Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is Singapore’s land-use planning and conservation authority, expressed that in the rebuilding and conservation of Chinatown’s historical and architectural heritage, it would aim to improve the physical environment by providing pedestrian walkways, plazas, and landscaping; controlling the signage; and enhancing the special character of the area through the introduction of new activities (Kong & Yeoh, 1994). However, the authorities have not sufficiently involved the general public, interest groups or the private sector in conservation and urban renewal. Some Singaporeans feel that the URA has focused too much on conservation and directed its efforts too much at attracting tourists; hence, all its historical and architectural heritage plans have become too commercialized. In addition, this study suggests that the URA has ignored making improvements in the quality of life of residents in Chinatown, such as increasing residents’ income and providing inadequate spaces in which to build recreational and social facilities for residents in Chinatown. The author visited Singapore in the 2010s and interviewed several residents in Chinatown. An elderly man was interviewed, and he said that while public transport was affordable for elderly individuals, foods and medical treatments were expensive: Public transport in Singapore is affordable, particularly for the elderly because they are charged concession fares. However, food is expensive in Singapore because Singapore does not have a hinterland, and basic foods are imported from other countries, e.g., Malaysia. Hence, our daily activities are different from those of affluent people. The activities of the residents in Chinatown tend to be restricted to those activities that do not require spending money, such as walking around the living neighbourhood and buying food and cooking dinners at home. If you are rich, you do not have any problems living in Singapore, such as visiting Chinese restaurants. The affluent Singaporeans do not want to make social contact with us, fearing that we may ask to borrow money from them. Furthermore, Chinatown is safe and less densely populated than Hong Kong, but medical treatments are expensive. It is a bit boring in Singapore, with no recreation or cultural activities; many tourists come to Singapore to see its blocks of historical shophouses, traffic control, new town planning and garden city. (Male, 63 years old, Chinatown)

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The expressions of the above respondent indicate that many elderly residents in Chinatown feel unable to afford the costs of social and recreational activities because they live in poverty. Their poverty is mainly caused by government policies. For example, due to the mandatory nature of the CPF (i.e., as of 2022, a worker has to contribute 37% of his wages to the CPF), as well as households’ inability to withdraw housing equity to finance consumption, households in Singapore face strong liquidity constraints. In addition to the welfare loss from consumption being denied, the low percentage of disposable income spent hurts the ability of older people to afford expenses related to social and recreational activities in Singapore (Phang, 2007). Low-income people feel unable to afford the expenses for social activities, and they cannot have dinners with their family members or friends in Chinese restaurants. Because of their poverty, they do not want to have social contact with their affluent friends and relatives. For example, Hou et al. (2020) finds that in Singapore, older adults with the lowest household income level (below $2000 per month) seem not to be able to afford frequent car/motorcycle trips, which are likely to be more expensive than other modes of transport. The recreational facilities cannot fulfil the needs of elderly individuals, as there are too many people. Thus, the government should build more parks and recreational facilities in Chinatown and increase the income of elderly residents so that they can afford to develop diverse social and recreational activities. Some elderly residents cannot find suitable places for recreational exercise (Fig. 4.2). An elderly woman in her 60s was interviewed in Chinatown. She expressed that public housing was affordable in the past, but now it is expensive:

Fig. 4.2 An Elderly man walking along a side street in Chinatown, Singapore. Sources The author took the photograph

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I was born in Singapore, and my mother came from China. It is easy to find jobs in Singapore. Many residents in Chinatown are viewed by other people as a burden to society, such as being lazy and not wanting to work after the age of 60. Therefore, they do not want to visit their affluent friends and relatives. For elderly individuals, medical expenses are rather expensive, but the government cannot afford to take care of all the elderly people. My HDB housing was affordable in the past; I paid just S$10 to own a flat. But now you have to pay a lot to own an HDB flat. Public transport in Singapore is affordable. I usually take buses instead of the MRT for activities. If I take the MRT, I always have to make transfers by bus, which is a waste of time and money. (Female, approximately 62 years old, Chinatown)

To determine the negative influence of the poverty stigma effect on activity space and travel time, this study uses data from the 2010 and 2020 Singapore Population Census to measure the concentration of poverty and the average travel time of the residents in Little India and Chinatown. In the Outram planning area (where Chinatown is located), approximately 69.1% of the working residents manage to reach their workplaces within 30 min, while the average travel time of the workforce in Singapore is 34.3 min. Furthermore, the average travel time of the working residents in Chinatown is 27.9 min, while the average travel time of the working residents in Little India is 30.8 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Therefore, working residents in both Chinatown and Little India have shorter average travel times for work trips than the average working population in Singapore. It is estimated that they commute shorter distances for activities than the average population and thus generate smaller activity spaces than the average population. Hence, the poverty stigma effect contributes to the shrinking activity spaces and short travel times of the employed residents in the above two deprived areas; furthermore, they have fewer opportunities to participate in the mainstream activities of society than the higher-income workers. Thus they experience mobility problems.

4.5 Poverty in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong Shamshuipo is faced with urban decay, and it is one of the poorest and oldest urban areas in Hong Kong. The whole area lacks a good planning strategy; it has inadequate public facilities and neighbourhood security, and most buildings (or Tong Lau) are dilapidated. The residents of Tong Lau are relatively poor and acquire a limited education. There are also a high percentage of senior residents living in Tong Lau. Residents have a negative perception of safety, which eventually exerts an impact on the level of social integration within the community or, even worse, encourages withdrawal from community life. The majority of the residents in this neighbourhood can be characterized as low-income workers who work long hours. The streets are full of people shopping in unregulated street markets, where vendors are selling used electronics or secondhand clothing. Rising up behind the stalls are the historic Hong Kong-style mid-rise residential buildings, also known as “Tong Lau”, in which many low-income people live in subdivided flats. Approximately 70% of the older

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buildings in the core area of Shamshuipo were built before the 1970s. The acute problem of urban decay in Shamshuipo has prompted the necessity of urban renewal (Ng et al., 2017). A government report stated that Shamshuipo is one of the poorest districts in Hong Kong. Among all residents in Shamshuipo, approximately 26.5% of the population (or 109,500 persons) live below the poverty line. In addition, among all households in Shamshuipo, approximately 30% of them (or 14,100 households) receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), and 5.8% of them are new immigrants (or 2700 households) (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021). Shamshuipo is located on the western side of the Kowloon Peninsula and has many dilapidated low-rise buildings (Figs. 4.3 and 4.4). Furthermore, many female new immigrants who live in Shamshuipo are single mothers and have a higher degree of household responsibilities; thus, they travel shorter distances for work than those who are not. Therefore, as working mothers in Shamshuipo have the highest likelihood of travelling the shortest possible distance for work, they develop small activity spaces (Hui & Yu, 2013) (Figs. 4.3 and 4.4). Another research district is Mong Kok, which is located in the Yau Tsim Mong district. Based on data from 2020, among all residents in the Yau Tsim Mong district, approximately 20.8% of the population (or 62,900 persons) live below the poverty line. In addition, among all households in Yau Tsim Mong, approximately 16.2% of them (or 4800 households) receive CSSA, and 4.6% of them are new immigrants (or 1400 households) (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021). The poverty rate of Mong Kok is lower than the average poverty rate because a high proportion of the

Fig. 4.3 Mong Kok and Shamshuipo Districts in Hong Kong. Sources The author took the photograph

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Fig. 4.4 Shamshuipo neighbourhood is located in the Kowloon West area of Hong Kong. Sources Modified from Google (2022)

neighbourhood has been gentrified, and affluent people have moved into the new buildings that have been constructed on the reclaimed land of the neighbourhood (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021) (Fig. 4.3). Mong Kok underwent large-scale government reclamation projects in the 2000s, and many new buildings were built along the Tai Kok Tsui coastal area of the neighbourhood (Fig. 4.3).

4.5.1 Poverty Stigma Effect and Experiences of the Poor Residents in Shamshuipo The author interviewed several residents who live in the Shamshuipo and Mong Kok districts. The first respondent expressed that he has been labelled and discriminated against by their friends and relatives because he lives in the deprived neighbourhood of Shamshuipo: I am living in the public housing estate in Shamshuipo. People who live in private housing always call the young men in public housing estates public estate boys, meaning they are poor and have low educational attainment. Because I live in public housing estates, I feel that it is difficult making friends with the people who live in private housing, particularly finding girlfriends. It is because they know I live in public housing; they will keep a distance from me and limit our social contact. Furthermore, some of my relatives limit their contact with my family for fear that we will ask them to borrow money. They only visit my grandmother,

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who lives with me, during the Chinese Lunar New Year, as the social gatherings are social norms. (Male, 45 years old, Shek Kip Mei public housing estate)

The impacts of the poverty stigma effect that segregate the male respondents in the public housing estate from their affluent relatives and friends negatively influence their activity spaces in social activities. Many poor residents in Shamshuipo experience similar situations in their social life. Furthermore, Shamshuipo is characterized by a high concentration of new immigrants from mainland China. In 2016, approximately 11.6% of the new immigrants from mainland China who had been in Hong Kong for less than seven years lived in Shamshuipo, and they accounted for approximately 4.8% of the population in the district (HKCSD, 2016). A female migrant from China was interviewed, and she expressed that the social environment in Shamshuipo negatively influences the learning of her daughter. The poverty stigma effect and shrinking social networks cause inadequate social stimulation for her daughter. She said as follows: I work in a Chinese restaurant as a part-time worker, and my family has been queuing for public housing for several years. Now I live in a subdivided flat in Shamshuipo. When my daughter was two years old, I became a working single mother. Since my daughter has asthma, I have to bring her to see the doctor from time to time. I find that my daughter has learning difficulties and is a bit slower than other children. I think it is because my daughter experiences inadequate social stimulation. Our social activities are confined to Shamshuipo, and few relatives and friends visit us. (Female immigrant, approximately 43 years old, Shamshuipo older housing)

The female migrant’s abovementioned experiences indicate that poor residents in Shamshuipo face the poverty stigma effect and are socially segregated from other social groups, which results in shrinking activity spaces. The abovementioned stories related by poor residents in Shamshuipo are in line with the evidence of a previous study carried out in Shamshuipo to investigate the poverty of the residents (Cheng, 2012). The small activity spaces of the low-income residents in Mong Kok and Shamshuipo always result in shorter travel times to activities. To determine the association between travel time and activity space, this section adopts the data from the 2011 Hong Kong Characteristics Survey (TCS) to measure the travel times of the low-income residents in Mong Kok and Shamshuipo (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). The term low-income households refers to those who earned 80% of the median household monthly income from work in 2011. In 2011, the average monthly median household income was HK$20,500 per month; thus, working households that earned less than HK$16,400 per month are regarded as low-income households (HKCSD, 2011). According to the data of the 2011 TCS, of the 1088 low-income respondents in Shamshuipo, the average travel time for mechanized trips is 39.8 min. In addition, of the 288 low-income working respondents in Mong Kok, their average travel time for mechanism trips is 36.6 min. The average travel time of the total working respondents in Hong Kong is 47.5 min. Hence, the poverty stigma effect contributes to smaller activity spaces and shorter travel times for the low-income workers in Mong Kok and Shamshuipo than for the total working population in Hong Kong.

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4.6 Social Disorganization Influences Commuting in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong Social disorganization is a neighbourhood effect in which poor residents feel the inability to regulate everyday public behaviour and face commuting problems due to working in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Social disorganization theory focuses on the relationship between neighbourhood structure, social control, and crime and the influences of these effects on the commuting of residents. La Grange (2011) investigates the social disorganization that has emerged in a deprived inner-city neighbourhood, namely, Shamshuipo, in Hong Kong. The interactions between social structural factors (e.g., low level of social cohesion and high levels of unemployment and crime rates) and individual actions produce commuting problems, such as older residents and women not feeling safe walking alone after dark. Some older residents feel very tense and unsafe when they walk on the streets of Shamshuipo and avoid going out after dark. High unemployment rates and low levels of social cohesion in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods are related to the formation of social disorganization. Crime levels are significantly lower than expected in disadvantaged areas with high levels of social cohesion (neighbourhood social cohesion refers to the attitudes of the residents towards neighbourhood relationships, in which residents keep the members of a social system together), and vice versa. Thus, social disorganization can be measured in terms of the prevalence and interdependence of social networks in a community— both informal (e.g., friendship ties) and formal (e.g., organizational participation)— and the level of social network development between ethnic groups. Some studies show that stable communities with longstanding residents tend to have a greater sense of belonging and a higher degree of social cohesion and organization. Since a significant share of the residents in Shamshuipo are new immigrants from mainland China, they have a low sense of belonging and a low degree of social interaction with their neighbours. Many of them move into the neighbourhood for only a short period and thus lack longstanding social ties. Certainly, these new immigrants have little feeling for their neighbourhood. The overall sense of the residential community in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok is low, which follows the generally expressed views of respondents found in a previous study conducted in Hong Kong (Forrest et al., 2002). La Grange (2011) tries to determine the relationship between social cohesion and social disorganization in the Shamshuipo district in Hong Kong. The structural factors that are found to be related to social cohesion include attraction to the neighbourhood, neighbouring and a psychological sense of community. Social disorganization factors include low levels of safety, quality of services, trust, local friendship networks and participation in local organizations. The results of the study indicate that Shamshuipo has low levels of social cohesion and organization. Putnam (2007) suggests that immigration and ethnic diversity tend to reduce social unity and social capital. Therefore, when new immigrants from South Asian countries move to the Shamshuipo neighbourhood—where the majority of the population is

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Chinese—the situation tends to reduce the level of social cohesion and inhibit social network development among neighbours (Fig. 4.5). Some new immigrants from South Asian countries have developed small communities in the ‘Tong Lau’ areas (the low-rise Chinese-style old buildings) in the Shamshuipo and Mong Kok districts, such as Yu Chau Street and Shek Kip Mei Street in Shamshuipo (Fig. 4.5). In 2016, the population of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong stood at 254,700, accounting for 3.8% of the whole population (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2016). South Asians work in urban areas rather than in their location of residence. Based on the 1996 and 2001 Population Census data, South Asians have the highest possibility of commuting long distances, that is, from new towns to urban areas to work in Hong Kong (Hui & Yu, 2013). Alongside the population growth of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, the size of their working population and the number of working households increase in general. Nevertheless, the new entrants to their workforce are still mainly engaged in grassroots positions with lower incomes (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2016). Even though Shamshuipo cannot be compared with the troubled inner-city neighbourhoods of some American cities, the respondents who were interviewed by the author explained that there is prostitution, gambling, drug addiction and other illegal activities in the deprived areas. For example, a nonprofit organization, namely, the Society for Community Organization, claims that approximately half of Hong Kong’s street sleepers, out of an estimated population of 1200 in the city, find shelter in Shamshuipo. Some street sleepers are drug addicts, and they use public parks as

Fig. 4.5 South Asian new immigrants cluster in Shamshuipo to improve their access to jobs and retaining their cultural activities. Sources The author took the photograph

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places in which to take drugs (Asiama et al., 2021; SCMP, 2013). Many residents in Shamshuipo feel that persons with addictions and the homeless are sometimes violent/harmful; thus, their activities constrain residents’ daily commuting. Regarding the degree of safety in the Mong Kok district, the author interviewed residents of Mong Kok. One expressed that Mong Kok is not safe after dark; he said as follows (Fig. 4.6): There is practically no fear of physical crime in Hong Kong; it is one of the safest cities in the world. However, the area between Shanghai Street and Pitt Street in Mong Kok has many dilapidated buildings and hardware stores. The stores close down in the evening, and the streets can be very quiet. Women feel unsafe walking down quiet streets at night in this neighbourhood (Fig. 4.6). (Male, 35 years old, Mong Kok)

In addition, according to the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey (TCS), the average travel time of female workers in Shamshuipo is 37.5 min, while the average travel time of male workers is 41.6 min (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). Hence, women travel shorter distances on work trips than their male counterparts partly because of the accessibility constraint imposed by the social disorganization present in deprived areas and females having more household responsibilities than their male counterparts.

Fig. 4.6 A woman, probably a prostitute, standing on Pitt Street, Mong Kok. Sources The author took the photograph

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4.7 Social Disorganization Influences Commuting in Chinatown and Little India, Singapore Singapore is a multiracial, multireligious city-state with Chinese predominance; i.e., Chinese make up some three-fourths of the total population. Malays are the next largest ethnic group, and Indians are the third. None of these three major communities is homogeneous. For example, according to data from 2020, in Little India, Chinese Singaporeans account for approximately 74% of the population, while Indian Singaporeans account for 24% of the population. In Chinatown, Indian Singaporeans account for approximately 7.5% of the population, and 84% of the population consists of Chinese Singaporeans (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Little India is an ethnic enclave with a share of Indian Singaporeans, but some Chinese and Malay Singaporeans also live in the neighbourhood. Additionally, it is a major gathering place for many temporary foreign workers who are on holidays and want to engage in social gatherings, playing cricket, and shopping. According to data from 2020, foreign workers account for approximately 36.9% (or 1,368,400 persons) of the total workforce in Singapore (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2021). Some foreign workers constantly visit Little India, and their activities contribute to the causes of social disorganization. For example, some foreign workers caused a riot in Little India on 8 December 2013. A foreign worker died under the wheels of a private bus, sparking a riot (Straits Times, December 6, 2014). The victim was identified as Sakthivel Kumaravelu, a 33-year-old construction worker from Tamil Nadu, India. The riot in Little India can be explained in terms of social disorganization. Ethnic diversity within Little India’s social environment and the concurrent linguistic diversity and diversity in social norms may induce feelings of anomie (e.g., the lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group). Blocked communication and a lack of reliable knowledge about shared social norms stimulate feelings of exclusion. Once people experience anomie and no longer know how to behave in public, they are hesitant to meet and mingle with others, regardless of the ethnicity of their coresidents. As a consequence of having less contact, the level of social control will decrease, ultimately sparking feelings of general distrust, anxiety and fear of crime (Van der Meer & Tolsma, 2014). Social cohesion is defined as social ties between individuals. Living in an ethnically heterogeneous environment such as Little India, residents experience little social contact between Indian and Chinese Singaporeans. Figure 4.7 depicts the situation in a food court in Tekka Centre, where the Chinese and Indian customers have lunch at the food court, but they tend to have few social interactions during their lunch. It seems that many residents choose to defer from having social contact with other ethnic groups. Thus, in a community with ethnic diversity such as Little India, mistrust of one’s neighbours undermines social cohesion. Furthermore, prostitution is legal in Singapore; a previous study indicated that prostitution has emerged in Little India. The back lanes between Desker Road and Rowell Road in Little India are notoriously known as a red-light area for prostitution. Female residents avoid walking these back lanes after dark (Yeo, 2013). Singapore’s

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Fig. 4.7 Residents in Little India Having Lunch in Tekka Centre. Sources The author took the photograph

only legal red-light district (e.g., a place somewhere between Lorong 18 and 20) is a part of Geylang’s planning area, which has a concentration of prostitution and sexoriented businesses; Geylang is approximately 10 min from Little India (Greener & Naegler, 2022). Social disorganization affects poor residents’ accessibility to employment. For example, a low level of perceived neighbourhood safety influences the activity space and travel distance of residents to activities. A previous study conducted in Singapore found that lower levels of perceived neighbourhood safety, such as inadequate streetlights and the presence of crime or prostitution, are positively associated with transport-related walking (Song et al., 2018). This is because the lack of perceived neighbourhood safety may encourage residents to walk further distances or take detours to avoid unwanted trouble. Additionally, neighbourhoods that are perceived as being unsafe encourage residents to travel to other neighbourhoods to spend their time, resulting in longer walking distances. In addition, a previous study conducted in Chinatown, Singapore, found that residents in Chinatown demonstrate a low level of social cohesion, such as having a low level of attraction to their neighbourhood and their neighbours and a diminished psychological sense of community (Furlund, 2008). For example, in older time periods, Chinatown used to be characterized by the community spirit. People were warm and friendly, and people who did not even live there would come visit, as it was a place with the characteristics of the Chinese. However, now people are too occupied with themselves and are more selfish than before. People do not trust their

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neighbours, and they lock their doors. Several factors contribute to this low level of social cohesion. First, the HDB was established in 1960 in Singapore to help the housing situation. The first goal of the HDB was to clear the slums. It built new housing estates in new towns, and the residents were resettled in new towns, thereby decreasing their level of social interaction, which used to take place in Chinatown. Second, the rules of the HDB apartments and the government decrease the level of contact between families and neighbours. One can also see this trend in weddings and other celebrations where it is no longer usual for celebrations to spill out on the streets, as the government has regulated the use of public areas for preparing and serving foodstuffs. Third, in Singapore, where loitering in a group of five or more individuals may, if warranted, be charged as an unlawful assembly, which is a criminal offence under the Penal Code, the crowded tourist streets in Chinatown are seen as a contradiction of sorts (Yeo, 2013).

4.8 Ethnic Enclaves in Singapore Historically, Singapore has always grown through migration. As early as the nineteenth century, migrants who were predominantly from nearby countries (Malaysia, China and India) began entering Singapore. These first migrants contributed to shaping the traditions and customs of Singapore’s multicultural society. This chapter investigates the development of two ethnic enclaves in Singapore, namely, Chinatown and Little India. Chinatown is an enclave formed by Chinese immigrants, and Little India is an enclave developed by South Indian Tamil immigrants (Ostertag, 2016). The Singapore government introduced the HDB housing ethnic integration policy in 1989 to ensure a balanced mix of ethnic groups in HDB housing estates and to prevent the formation of racial enclaves. However, ethnic enclaves have been developed in the older urban areas of Singapore. For example, Little India in the Rochor planning area has a high concentration of Singaporeans with Indian and Bangladesh origins (Chang, 2000; Yeo, 2013), and Chinatown in the Outram planning area has a high concentration of Singaporeans of Chinese origins (Furlund, 2008). Residents in ethnic enclaves develop different social and cultural significance within their living neighbourhoods; for example, many Bangladeshi temporary foreign workers tend to gather in Little India after their working hours to engage in shopping and recreation activities. Thus, ethnic-focused businesses and activities play an important role in local retail gentrification and development (Ostertag, 2016; Yeo, 2013). The residents in ethnic enclaves tend to limit their social contacts and activity spaces within their living neighbourhoods, resulting in accessibility problems to distant employment opportunities and small activity spaces. A previous study in Singapore carried out by Yeo (2013) found that street markets have been developed in Little India, where small, independent shophouses are built; these shophouses can sell any combination of fruits, vegetables, rice, and halal. The

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purpose of developing market streets is to revitalize the economy of the neighbourhood. The street market businesses mainly cater primarily to the ethnic needs of South Asians from India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, many of whom have come to Singapore to work as temporary foreign labourers in the construction industry. The environment of the street markets is presented as spontaneous collective patterns, in which makeshift stalls are assembled in residual spaces; street vendors peddle their goods in an ad hoc fashion; restaurant dining extends outdoors on foldable tables and chairs; and raw meat and fish are sold out in the open space. The people who can be found in the street markets include tourists, migrant workers, hawkers, street tradespersons, and elderly residents. They interact comfortably with each other, and the tourists, hawkers and elderly residents feel very relaxed in these areas because they have social contact with coethnic individuals who have similar experiences and may have various social supportive roles; in fact, many of them come from the same origins, namely, Bangladesh or India. Hence, many working residents with Indian or Bangladeshi ethnic backgrounds tend to find jobs in the street markets of Little India. According to data from 2010, approximately 34.8% of the residents in Little India find retail and food service jobs in their living areas (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010a). Furthermore, a study carried out by Furlund (2008) found that in Little India, the majority of the residents are Indian Singaporeans whose region is Hindu. The Hindu temples and religious life are an important part of the life of Indian Singaporeans in Little India. For example, the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple is one of Singapore’s oldest Hindu temples and is a distinctive landmark in the heart of Little India (Fig. 4.8). The residents follow the social norms of their ethnic groups to carry out their daily routine activities. Hence, the daily commuting of residents is mostly confined to deprived neighbourhoods, and they generate short-distance work trips and develop small activity spaces.

4.9 Investigating the Travel Behaviour and Segregation of Residents in Chinatown and Little India, Singapore This section examines the impacts of neighbourhood effects, such as segregation, on the mobility of residents by using data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey and the 2010 and 2020 Singapore Population Census. The first part of this section focuses on Chinatown and Little India in Singapore, and the second part focuses on Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong. Figure 4.9 depicts significant differences in the participation of industry sectors and workplace locations between the residents in Little India and the total employed residents in Singapore. For example, a high share of Little India residents participate in wholesale and retail trade and food service sectors. As a result, based on their differences in workplace locations, the working residents in Little India have been

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Fig. 4.8 The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Little India. Sources The author took the photograph

spatially segregated from the total employed residents in Singapore. That is, a significant share of Little India working residents’ activity spaces do not intersect with the activity spaces of other social groups in Singapore. The poor residents in Little India have fewer chances to engage in social contact with other social groups at their workplace locations, resulting in segregation. This is because the retail and tourism development in Little India promotes retail and food service jobs, resulting in a high share of working residents finding jobs near their living neighbourhood. Gradually, they tend to generate short-distance work trips, develop small activity spaces, and experience mobility and accessibility problems. According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, residents in Chinatown, which is located within the Outram planning area, mainly participate in the industry sectors that are spread around their living neighbourhood, such as wholesale and retail trade (13.5%), accommodation and food services (11.0%), administrative and support services (9.8%), and social and personal services (3.6%). These industry sectors account for approximately 37.9% of the working residents in Outram, according to data from 2020 (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021) (Fig. 4.9). In addition, according to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, only approximately 29.7% of the total employed residents in Singapore participate in the abovementioned four industrial sectors. A majority share of the employed residents in Singapore participate in industry sectors such as manufacturing, transportation and storage, financial and insurance services, and public administration and education. Therefore, there are significant differences in the participation of industry sectors

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Other Community, Social & Personal Services

135

Rochor (Little India)

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation

Outram (Chinatown)

Health & Social Services

Whole Singapore

Public Administration & Education

Industry

Administrative & Support Services Professional Services Real Estate Services Financial & Insurance Services Information & Communications Accommodation & Food Services Transportation & Storage Wholesale & Retail Trade Construction Manufacturing

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

Fig. 4.9 Chinatown, Little India and the Whole of Singapore by Industry. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021, 2010a)

and workplace locations between residents in Chinatown and the total employed residents in Singapore (Fig. 4.9). Hence, based on their differences in industry sectors and workplace locations, the working residents in Chinatown have been spatially segregated from the total employed residents in Singapore. That is, a majority of Chinatown working residents’ activity spaces do not intersect with the activity spaces of the other social groups in Singapore. The poor residents in Chinatown have fewer chances to make social contact with other social groups at their workplace locations. This is partly due to the installation of MRT stations that induce retail gentrification in Chinatown and the government’s tourism policy in Chinatown that encourages spatial segregation effects.

4.9.1 Residents in Chinatown and Little India in Singapore Travel Short Times to Work It is assumed that neighbourhood effects, such as poverty stigma, social disorganization, and the old age and poverty of the residents, negatively influence the travel time of the residents in the deprived neighbourhoods with regard to travelling to work. According to data from the 2010 Singapore Census Population Data, the average commuting times of the residents in Little India and Chinatown are shorter than the average commuting time of the employed residents in Singapore. This study estimates that according to data from 2010, the average travel time of the total employed

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residents in Singapore is 30.4 min, while the average travel time of the working residents in Outram (where Chinatown is located) is 28.2 min. The average travel time of working residents in Rochor (where Little India is located) is 28.6 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010b). The shorter average travel times of the residents in the two deprived neighbourhoods are mainly due to the proximity of the job opportunities in urban areas, the installation of MRT stations, poverty stigma and the social disorganization that emerges in the neighbourhoods. Regarding the commuting patterns of the working residents in Little India, this study investigated the travel patterns of the residents in the Rochor planning area. According to data from 2010, approximately 34.9% of the working residents in the Rochor planning area (where Little India is located) can reach their workplace by commuting 15 min or less, 39.9% commute between 16 and 30 min to reach their place of employment, while only 25.3% spend more than 31 min commuting to reach their place of employment. Of all the employed residents in Singapore, 17.7% travel 15 min or less to reach their place of employment, 37.8% commute between 16 and 30 min to reach their workplace, and approximately 44.5% spend more than 31 min to reach their place of employment (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010a) (Fig. 4.10). Regarding the commuting patterns of the working residents in Chinatown, this study investigated the travel patterns of the residents in the Outram planning area. According to data from 2010, approximately 37.2% of the working residents in Chinatown can travel to their place of employment within 15 min, approximately 38.3% commute to work between 16 and 30 min, and approximately 24.5% spend

45.0% 40.0%

Whole Singapore

35.0%

Outram (Chinatown)

30.0%

Rochor (Little India)

25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Up to 15 mins

16 - 30 mins

31 - 45 mins

46 - 60 mins

More than 60 mins

Travel time (min.)

Fig. 4.10 Chinatown, Little India and Singapore by Travel Time to Work, 2010. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2010a)

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more than 31 min to reach their place of employment. Regarding the travel patterns of the total employed residents, 17.7% travel 15 min or less to reach their place of employment, 37.8% commute between 16 and 30 min to reach their workplace, and approximately 44.5% spend more than 31 min to reach their place of employment (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2010a) (Fig. 4.10). Hence, compared to the total employed residents in Singapore, the working residents in Chinatown commuted shorter times and distances on work trips; thus, they develop shrinking activity spaces. They have fewer opportunities than other employed workers to have social contact with other social groups; thus, they are socially excluded from the mainstream activities of society. The poverty stigma effect, social disorganization, and retail gentrification all partly contribute to the social exclusion of the poor residents in Chinatown.

4.9.2 Residents in Chinatown and Little India in Singapore Use Slow Transport Modes to Get to Work It is assumed that neighbourhood effects, such as transit-induced gentrification, poverty stigma and social disorganization, influence the mode choice of residents in deprived neighbourhoods with regard to getting to work. Residents who suffer from poverty stigma and segregation tend to travel short-distance trips and thus use slow transport modes for activities to cut transport costs. According to the data from the 2010 Singapore Population Census, approximately 20.7% of the residents in Rochor (where Little India is located) walk to their place of employment, 22.8% of them take public buses, 13.3% of them take the MRT, and 16.2% of them take both buses and the MRT to work. A total of 15.1% of them drive to their place of employment, and 11.9% of them use other transport modes to get to work. All employed residents in the city generate different travel patterns. Of all the employed residents in Singapore, approximately 7.5% walk to their place of employment, 19.3% take public buses, 11.5% take the MRT, and 19.8% take both buses and the MRT to work. A total of 24.8% of the employed residents in Singapore drive to work, and 10.1% of them use other methods of transport to get to work (Fig. 4.11). Therefore, the workers in Rochor (where Little India is located) have fewer chances to engage in social contact with other social groups during their work journeys, resulting in social segregation. Compared to all employed residents, a significant share of residents in Little India (20.7%) walk to work, and 22.8% take buses to reach their place of employment. This is because they are influenced by the installation of MRT stations that induce retail gentrification; many residents find retail and food service jobs (34.8%) within their neighbourhood (Fig. 4.11). Additionally, some residents are affected by the poverty stigma effect, and they tend to find part-time or low-wage jobs within their living neighbourhood. To reduce transport costs on work trips, they choose slow transport

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walking

Rochor (Little India)

Others

Outram (Chinatown)

Motorcycle/…

whole Singapore

Lorry/Pickup Only

Mode Choice

Private Chartered Bus/Van… Car Only Taxi Only MRT & Another Mode MRT & Car Only

MRT & Public Bus Only MRT Only Public Bus Only

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Fig. 4.11 Chinatown, Little India and Singapore by Mode Choice, 2010. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2010a)

modes, such as walking and public buses, to reach their place of employment. Furthermore, the built environment, which provides adequate pedestrian connections, pedestrian safety, proximity to potential employment opportunities, and a mixed land-use environment, could encourage the residents in Little India to walk to employment. According to the data from the 2010 Singapore Population Census, approximately 26.5% of the residents in Outram (where Chinatown is located) walk to their place of employment, 24.0% of them take public buses, 12.4% of them take the MRT, and 18.0% of them take both buses and the MRT to work. Nine percent of them drive to their place of employment, and 10.1% of them use other transport modes to get to work (Fig. 4.11).

4.9.3 Investigating the Travel Behaviour and Segregation of Residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong The following sections examine the impacts of neighbourhood effects, such as social disorganization, the poverty stigma effect and transit-induced gentrification, on the commuting of the residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok, Hong Kong. The investigation uses data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey (TCS) to

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analyse the travel patterns of Hong Kong working residents in the deprived neighbourhoods to reflect the impacts of the neighbourhood effects, such as taking mechanized transport modes to work. The current study tries to determine the residents’ experiences with segregation, travel time, and mode choice when travelling to work (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). According to data from the 2011 TCS, the average commuting times of the residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok with regard to work are shorter than the average travel time of the total employed residents in Hong Kong. Using data from 2011, this study estimates that the average travel time of the total mechanized work trips in Hong Kong is 47.5 min, while the average travel time of the working residents in Shamshuipo is 38.8 min, excluding walking trips. The average travel time for mechanized work trips in Mong Kok is 36.3 min, excluding walking trips (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). Regarding the distribution of the respondents in different industry sectors, among the respondents in Mong Kok, approximately 15.6% participate in the construction sector, 12.5% participate in the retail sector, 8.4% are engaged in the food and beverage service sector, 8.9% participate in other social and personal services, and 10.4% are engaged in the import and export sector. Thus, a majority of the working respondents in Mong Kok participate in low-wage jobs (Fig. 4.12). The 2011 TCS interviewed 70,672 respondents across all districts in Hong Kong. Among all working respondents in Hong Kong, approximately 11.3% and 9.2%

Wholesale Real estate Public administration Profession, science and technology Information and communications

Industry

Import and export Human health

Whole Hong Kong Mong Kok Shamshuipo

Finance and insurance Electricity and water supply Education Other social and personal services Administrative and support service Food and beverage service

Transportation, storage and courier services Retail Construction Manufacturing

0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0%12.0%14.0%16.0%18.0%

Fig. 4.12 Shamshuipo, Mong Kok and Hong Kong by Industry. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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participate in the construction and retail sectors, respectively, and other workers in various industry sectors are evenly distributed; for example, 8.4% participate in the transportation, storage and courier sector, 7.5% are engaged in administrative and support services, 7.1% participate in the finance and insurance sector, and 7.9% are engaged in the professional, science, and technology sectors (Fig. 4.12). The workplace locations of the residents in Mong Kok and the total working population in Hong Kong are significantly different. This study estimates that a majority of residents’ activity spaces in Mong Kok do not overlap with the activity spaces of the total working population in Hong Kong. Thus, the poor residents in Mong Kok have fewer chances to make social contact with other social groups at their workplace locations. According to data from the 2011 TCS, approximately 3426 working respondents in Shamshuipo were interviewed for the survey. Among these working residents, approximately 12.1% reported being engaged in the construction sector, and 12.1% participate in the retail sector. Furthermore, approximately 8.8% of them are engaged in the food and beverage service sector, 6.7% of them participate in another social and personal service sector, approximately 7.0% of them participate in the transportation, storage, and courier sector, and approximately 7.4% of them are engaged in the finance and insurance sector. It seems that a high share of the working residents in Shamshuipo are engaged in low-wage jobs (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014) (Fig. 4.12). There are many street markets in Shamshuipo, and many working residents depend on selling second-hand products, clothing, iPhones, and toys to earn their low income. A majority of these individuals participate in the retail, construction, and food service sectors. Compared to the distribution of industry sector participation among the total working respondents in the 2011 TCS, the industry sector participation among the residents in Shamshuipo is significantly different. Therefore, as far as workplace locations are concerned, a majority of residents’ activity spaces in Shamshuipo do not overlap with the activity spaces of the other social groups in Hong Kong; thus, these individuals face spatial segregation.

4.9.4 Residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong Commute Short Distances to Work Shamshuipo is a deprived urban neighbourhood in Hong Kong. Because retail and food service jobs are mostly located in proximity to the neighbourhood, most poor residents manage to commute to their workplaces within short periods of time. According to the 2011 TCS, nearly 50% of residents can reach their workplaces within 30 min by taking mechanized transport modes. Furthermore, approximately 27.3% of the working residents in Shamshuipo spend between 31 and 45 min reaching their workplace, and approximately 19.0% of the residents spend between 46 and 60 min travelling to work. Only 4.2% of the residents take 61 min or more to reach their place of employment (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014) (Fig. 4.13).

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Travel time (min.)

76-180 min.

Mong Kok

61-75 min.

Shamshuipo

46-60 min.

Whole Hong Kong 31- 45 min. 16- 30 min. 15 min.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Fig. 4.13 Residents of Mong Kok, Shamshuipo and the Whole of Hong Kong by Travel Time. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

Regarding travel time patterns of the whole working population in Hong Kong, according to data from 2011, approximately 35.2% of the workers in Hong Kong commute to their place of employment within 30 min, and approximately 22.8% of the total working population spend between 31 and 45 min reaching their workplace. In addition, approximately 27.1% of these workers spend between 46 and 60 min reaching their place of employment, and approximately 14.8% of them take 61 min or more to reach their workplace (Fig. 4.13). Nearly 50% of the working residents in Shamshuipo can reach their place of employment within 30 min; that is, their activity spaces are limited to a 30-min travel time range, and they take public transport modes to travel within that range. Their workplace locations are most likely located in the Kowloon area. According to data from 2011, the travel time patterns of the working residents in Mong Kok are similar to those of the working residents in Shamshuipo. Approximately 6.7% of the working residents who take mechanized transport modes in Mong Kok commute to their workplaces within 15 min. Approximately 46.6% of them spend between 16 and 30 min reaching their place of employment. That is, approximately 53.3% of them spend less than 31 min reaching their place of employment (Fig. 4.13). The short travel times of the residents in Mong Kok are mainly due to the presence of many retail and food service jobs, with social and personal service jobs also being located in proximity to the deprived neighbourhood. In addition, approximately 28.8% of the residents in Mong Kok spend between 31 and 45 min reaching their workplace, and 14.5% of them commute between 46 and 60 min to reach their place of employment. Only 3.4% of the residents spend 61 min or more reaching their workplace (Fig. 4.13). Compared to the travel time patterns of the whole working population of Hong Kong, working residents in Mong Kok

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experience shorter travel times to work; in addition, on average, they generate smaller activity spaces than those of the total working population. The working residents in Mong Kok are socially excluded from accessing the mainstream activities of society.

4.9.5 Residents in Shamshuipo and Mong Kok in Hong Kong Use Public Transport Modes to Work In Shamshuipo, approximately 19.6% of the working residents reported taking public buses to work in 2011, approximately 66.0% of them reported using the MTR to reach their place of employment, and approximately 6.3% of them reported taking the public light rail to work. Therefore, according to data from 2011, the abovementioned three public transport modes account for approximately 91.9% of all work trips in Shamshuipo. In addition, approximately 2.5% of the respondents reported using goods vehicles, taxis, ferries and special purpose buses to get to work. Additionally, only 5.6% of them reported driving private cars to reach their place of employment (Fig. 4.14). In 2011, among all working respondents in the 2011 TCS, approximately 31.4% of them reported taking public buses to work, 42.7% of them reported using the MTR to employment, and 10.2% of them reported taking the public light rail to work. Hence, according to data from 2011, the abovementioned three public transport modes account for approximately 84.3% of the total work trips among all working respondents in Hong Kong. In addition, approximately 1% of them reported taking

Tram

Mong Kok

Shamshuipo

Whole Hong Kong

Taxi Special purpose bus Public light bus MTR Light Rail Transit Goods vehicle Ferry Car Bus 0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Fig. 4.14 Shamshuipo, Mong Kok and Hong Kong by Mode Choice. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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goods vehicles to reach their job, 0.5% of them reported taking the ferry, 2.1% of them reported using the Light Rail Transit, (which provides public transport service for the residents in the New Territories Northwest), 2.2% of them reported using special purpose buses, 1.6% of them reported using taxis, and only 1.1% of them reported using the tram service, (which provides service for the residents of Hong Kong Island). Approximately 7.3% of the total working population in Hong Kong reported driving to work (Fig. 4.14). There is a greater share of working residents in Shamshuipo who use the MTR than in the total working population because older urban areas such as Shamshuipo and Mong Kok always have traffic congestion; thus, the residents in these neighbourhoods choose the MTR to avoid congestion. Furthermore, the installation of MTR stations in the neighbourhood has encouraged more residents in Shamshuipo to use the MTR for work trips. The MTR service is affordable for many low-income residents in these two neighbourhoods. Compared to the total working population, a higher share of the residents in Shamshuipo tend to use the MTR and public buses to reach their jobs; thus, they have fewer chances to have social contact with other social groups during their work journeys, resulting in social segregation. In 2011, approximately 17.3% of the working residents in Mong Kok reported taking public buses to work, 68.4% of them reported using the MTR to employment, and approximately 8.8% of them reported using the public light rail to reach their workplace. Thus, approximately 94.5% of working residents in Mong Kok use the abovementioned three public transport modes to reach their place of employment. In addition, approximately 0.2% of them reported taking the ferry, approximately 0.3% of them reported taking goods vehicles, 0.6% of them reported using special purpose buses, and 1.8% of them reported taking taxis. Only approximately 2.7% of them reported driving to their place of employment (Fig. 4.14). Compared to the total working population, there is a high share of working residents who use the MTR system, buses and the public light rail for job travel. This indicates that the abovementioned three public transport modes are affordable for low-income residents in Mong Kong. These individuals only make short-distance work trips; thus, the working residents in Mong Kok have few chances to have social contact with other social groups during their work trips, which results in social segregation.

4.9.6 Research Evidence Based on the self-organization concept, the segregation and commuting problems of poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods are constituted by interactions between neighbourhood effects (or structural factors) and the individual actions of residents. The residents exhibit different commuting patterns because of their different decisions and actions with regard to modifying the neighbourhood effects among the four deprived neighbourhoods. The results of data analysis using the 2011 Hong Kong TCS and the 2010 and 2020 Singapore Population Censuses in this study confirm that a high share of residents in Chinatown, Little India in Singapore and Shamshuipo

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and Mong Kok in Hong Kong experience mobility problems and shrinking activity spaces.

4.10 Poverty Stigma Effect and Commuting Problems of the Residents A high share of residents in these deprived neighbourhoods feel that they are marked and devalued by their affluent friends and relatives. On the other hand, many rich people believe that the poor are not doing enough to help themselves and regard the poor as lazy people; thus, they are reluctant to build social ties with poor people. This poverty stigma effect makes poor residents reduce their level of social contact with affluent people. The interactions between the poverty stigma effect and the individual actions of residents produce new travel behaviour; that is, poor people made decisions to discontinue their social networks with friends because of the poverty stigma effect. The interactions produce new structural properties, including the short-distance trips of the poor to reach both work and social activities. They develop small activity spaces, which results in segregation. The results of the travel behaviours of the poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods indicate that the industry sectors and workplace location differences between the residents in the four deprived neighbourhoods and the high-income workers cause segregation. This study argues that the poverty stigma effect contributes to this commuting problem. The activity spaces of these poor residents rarely intersect with the activity spaces of the other social groups; thus, they have few opportunities to make social contact with each other in their workplaces. Furthermore, the mode choice and travel times of the poor residents are significantly different from those of the total working populations in Singapore and Hong Kong. In Singapore, most poor residents use slow transport modes to reach their place of employment, while a high share of the working population in Singapore use fast transport modes, such as private cars. These two social groups have fewer opportunities to meet each other during their work trips, resulting in social segregation. In addition, a high share of the poor residents travel only short-distance trips for employment, while a significant share of the total working population in both Hong Kong and Singapore commute longer travel times to work. Because of the differences in the travel-time range between the poor residents in the deprived neighbourhoods and the total working population, the poor residents have few chances to make social contact with the other social groups, which results in social segregation.

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4.11 Social Disorganization and Commuting Problems of the Residents This study investigates the impacts of social disorganization on four deprived neighbourhoods in Hong Kong and Singapore. Social disorganization refers to the relationship between neighbourhood structure, social control, ethnic groups and crime; it is one of the neighbourhood effects that negatively influences the commuting of residents. The interactions between social disorganization and the individual actions of the residents in the deprived neighbourhoods produce shrinking activity spaces for the residents, who in turn only travel short distances for activities and thus have problems commuting to employment opportunities. This process can be explained in terms of self-organization. In Little India and Mong Kok, structural factors, such as the high concentration of poverty in the neighbourhoods, diverse ethnic populations, and high population turnover in the neighbourhoods, influence the actions of residents. In Little India, a riot broke out in 2013 after a fatal accident occurred at the junction of Racecourse Road and Hampshire Road; angry mobs of passersby attacked both the bus involved and emergency vehicles. Approximately 400 migrant labourers were involved in the riot. This situation indicates problems related to social control and social mistrust between ethnic groups. The Singapore government implements strict social control. For example, the Singapore government prohibits loitering in a group of five or more individuals; those who break this rule, if warranted, can be charged with unlawful assembly. The riot in Little India negatively influenced the social network development within the neighbourhood among the different ethnic groups. Individual actions (e.g., feelings of distrust among neighbours, withdrawal from community life) interact with factors of social disorganization to produce new structural properties, such as residents tending to develop weakened social bonds, which impedes the ability of residents to be socially integrated into other social groups. In Shamshuipo, the neighbourhood has developed social disorganization, there is prostitution in the area, and the neighbourhood has low levels of effective property management. In deprived neighbourhoods, social disorganization deters trips for social activities and imposes mobility constraints on the residents of Shamshuipo with regard to walking within the neighbourhood after dark because of crime. Since a significant share of the poor residents in Little India and Mong Kok walk to their place of employment, many residents may choose to reduce their walking trips because of social disorganization, which would in turn negatively influence their commutes to work. Ethnic minorities living in deprived neighbourhoods in Hong Kong tend to face discrimination and reduced levels of social capital in the areas; an example is the inflows of new immigrants from South Asian countries into Shamshuipo, which negatively influences the level of social cohesion between immigrants and Chinese residents. The mistrust between Chinese residents and South Asian immigrants in Mong Kok results in social segregation between the two social groups.

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Furthermore, some better-off residents in the research neighbourhoods choose to move away because of the impacts of social disorganization on personal safety; their actions lead to social segregation. Affluent people in other districts also reduce the number of social trips they take to these deprived neighbourhoods, e.g., Shamshuipo, which are influenced by social disorganization; thus, the residents experience social segregation and commuting constraints.

4.11.1 Evaluating the Policies that Cause Neighbourhood Effects in Singapore and Hong Kong Miles (2015) finds that voting validates fair governance and that people want fair governance. Thus, the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong should regard social justice as the focus of their government operations. The policies in Hong Kong and Singapore (such as the CPF and public housing policies, the importation of foreign workers/new immigrants, the high land price policy, the suburbanization policy, easing the rules on industrial relations, and subcontracting practices) have been found to cause widening income inequality, resulting in neighbourhood effects and commuting problems in Singapore and Hong Kong. According to Rawls’ difference principle, inequalities are unjustified unless they make low-income people better off (Rawls, 1971). The abovementioned policies have led to poverty, neighbourhood effects and commuting problems for low-income people in Hong Kon and Singapore. Many low-income residents in deprived urban neighbourhoods are influenced by poverty stigma and social disorganization, resulting in problems commuting to their places of employment. Additionally, many low-income people feel unable to afford to use fast transport modes for employment; thus, they develop shrinking activity spaces. Hence, based on the difference principle, the abovementioned policies are unjust. Sen’s capability approach (Sen, 1981, 1985) focuses on providing adequate freedom and choice for poor workers to choose their commuting strategies to reach their place of employment. The abovementioned policies exclude the poor people in deprived urban neighbourhoods from accessing employment opportunities; for example, transit-oriented development and transit-induced gentrification in Chinatown and Shamshuipo have made many low-income residents move to new towns, resulting in spatial segregation and isolation. Thus, the policies are unfair. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong should follow the principle of fair governance and amend the policies that lead to neighbourhood effects to achieve fair governance; however, the process will evolve for a long period of time until the social systems return to a balanced state.

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4.11.2 Conclusion This study investigates the impacts of neighbourhood effects on the commuting of residents in four deprived neighbourhoods in Hong Kong and Singapore. The study confirms the hypothesis provided in Chapter One that the commuting patterns of the poor workers in deprived urban neighbourhoods of Hong Kong and Singapore are the function of the interactions among neighbourhood effects and individual actions. Neighbourhood effects are defined as the independent, separable effects on commuting and the social and economic behaviour of the residents in deprived neighbourhoods. The self-organization approach is adopted for analysis, which suggests that commuting is the product of the interactions between neighbourhood effects and the individual actions of residents. Neighbourhood effects are structural factors that include the poverty stigma effect and social disorganization of neighbourhoods. According to the self-organization approach, neighbourhood effects are the media and the product of actions. For example, the poverty stigma effect influences poor residents, who are labelled lazy poor persons. During the reproduction of the rules and norms in their routine activities, the residents of these neighbourhoods make use of their decision to interact with the poverty stigma effect; thus, they actively cut off social ties with their affluent friends who have labelled them as such. This process produces new structural properties, such as spatial and social segregation, which in turn result in mobility problems. This study finds that the interactions between neighbourhood effects and the actions of residents in the four researched neighbourhoods produce different kinds of travel patterns; for example, the working residents in Chinatown tend to limit their social and employment activities to within their ethnic groups, and approximately 26.5 of them walk to an employment location that is within their living neighbourhood. Thus, these individuals develop small activity spaces. In contrast, approximately 66% of the working residents in Shamshuipo use the MTR to reach work, and many of them commute longer travel times and distances than the poor people in Singapore. Thus, they developed larger activity spaces than those residents in Chinatown. This study finds that government policy is an important structural factor that influences the self-organization process to produce different travel behaviours among the residents in the four research neighbourhoods. Singapore is known for strong government intervention, while Hong Kong is famous for its positive nonintervention policy. Therefore, the Singapore government strictly implements its land-use, public transport and public housing policies in the redevelopment of the two abovementioned historic neighbourhoods, e.g., Chinatown and Little India, while the Hong Kong government adopts a policy to retain the longstanding socioeconomic fabric and social networks of Shamshuipo and Mong Kok neighbourhoods in the process of urban renewal. Additionally, a high share of the residents in the four research neighbourhoods experience poverty, and the concentration of poverty in the four neighbourhoods

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negatively influences the commuting of the residents. For example, among all the residents in Shamshuipo, approximately 26.5% of the population (or 109,500 persons) live below the poverty line, and most of them take public transport to reach employment opportunities that are located in proximity to their homes. In addition, approximately 41.7% of the households in Little India earn an income that falls below the poverty line, including households with no employed persons. A majority of the population either walk or take public buses to work to reduce their transport costs. Therefore, policies that lead to widening income inequality and increasing poverty are important social structural factors that cause neighbourhood effects and the commuting problems of poor residents. The residents’ decisions and actions in Little India have modified the government’s plans, which aimed to change the neighbourhood into a historic and tourist centre. The Indian Singaporeans and the Hindu Endowments Board in Little India want to preserve their cultural significance, such as Hindus temples and their religious lifestyle, rather than developing tourist attractions. The religious activities and beliefs of the residents in Little India hold the Indian Singaporeans together. They have close social contact with each other and have transformed their neighbourhood into a multiple-ethnic enclave. As a result, they tend to use slow transport modes to reach activities, which means that most of their social trips are limited within the neighbourhood. Chinatown in Singapore is an ethnic enclave with a high concentration of Chinese Singaporeans, and a majority of them live in the HDB flats built by the government. They earn a low level of income, and a significant share of the population consists of elderly people. They residents have built temples and started up small retail businesses, such as shophouses with shops on the ground floor and housing above. Indian Singaporeans account for approximately 7.5% of the population in Chinatown, and 84% of the population are Chinese Singaporeans. As a majority of the population is Chinese Singaporeans, the residents managed to develop social cohesion. The residents are influenced by the poverty stigma effect; thus, they tend to be socially cut off from other social groups and take short-distance social and work commutes. Little India in Singapore is also an ethnic enclave, in which most of the buildings are HDB flats built by the government, and a significant share of the residents are Indian Singaporeans. The residents earn a low level of income, and a significant share of the residents are elderly people. Little India is a historic area that reflects the best of Singapore’s Indian community, such as mosques and Hindu temples and Indian-style retail shops. The residents experience the poverty stigma effect, and they are socially segregated from other social groups. Religion is very important for the residents, and religious beliefs help to hold the Indian Singaporeans together and form a socially integrated community within their ethnic group. According to data from 2020, Chinese Singaporeans account for approximately 74% of the population in Little India, while Indian Singaporeans account for 24% of the population. Many South Asian foreign workers also choose to have social gatherings on holidays in deprived neighbourhoods. Foreign workers caused the riot in 2013, which resulted in heightened levels of social disorganization. It seems that there is a lack of strong social networks to link the Chinese and Indian Singaporeans in

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Little India. These individuals commute short-distance work trips and develop small activity spaces, which results in social and spatial segregation from the high-wage workers in other districts. Shamshuipo in Hong Kong is experiencing the impacts of urban decay, and many older buildings do not receive proper maintenance and repair. As a result, the better-off residents have moved out of the district, and the low-income people have moved into the neighbourhood, resulting in a high concentration of poverty. A significant share of residents experience the poverty stigma effect, in which residents are largely socially cut off from their affluent relatives and friends and have little social contact with them. This effect negatively influences the residents to seek distant job opportunities in other districts. Shamshuipo is an ethnically mixed neighbourhood with a small proportion of the population being South Asian immigrants and a high share of the population being Chinese. The South Asian immigrants’ high unemployment rate sometimes leads to crime and violence and a breakdown of social norms. The commuting behaviour of the residents is influenced by the interaction between the abovementioned neighbourhood effects and individual actions. The residents make short-distance work trips and mainly use the MTR system to reach their place of employment. A majority of them develop small activity spaces, resulting in their exclusion from participating in the mainstream activities of society. According to data from 2011, the average travel time of the working residents in Shamshuipo is 39.8 min, which is shorter than the average travel time of the working population in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). Mong Kok in Hong Kong is rapidly transforming from a crime-ridden and lowincome neighbourhood to a neighbourhood undergoing retail and residential gentrification. A high share of the previously present criminal activity has been removed from the neighbourhood during the process of gentrification. The current study focuses on the central areas of the neighbourhood, where most low-income populations and older buildings of the neighbourhood are located. The older buildings are under repair and maintenance. Prostitution has emerged in the central areas containing older building. Residents experience the poverty stigma effect and are socially segregated from their highincome relatives and friends who live in other neighbourhoods. As a result, they feel that they have difficulty finding distant job opportunities. According to data from 2011, the average travel time of the low-income working residents in Mong Kok is 36.6 min, which is shorter than the average travel time of the working population in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). This chapter shows that urban transport planning and neighbourhood effects can be investigated in terms of the self-organization approach, which is represented by the interaction between structural factors and individual actions. It also indicates that travel patterns vary among the four deprived neighbourhoods because the neighbourhoods themselves vary in regard to structural factors and individual actions. Government decision-makers can improve the commuting of poor residents in deprived neighbourhoods by amending the unjust policies that lead to poverty or providing more choices and freedom for individuals to access social activities and employment

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via their actions. The Singapore government should abolish using the CPF to buy public housing, stop the importation of foreign workers and establish a minimum level of affordability for poor unskilled workers in deprived neighbourhoods. The Hong Kong government should consider making more of an effort to redevelop older buildings, abolish the high land price policy, avoid the displacement of residents in gentrified neighbourhoods, and reduce criminal activities in the Shamshuipo and Mong Kook districts. Additionally, residents’ daily activities in their living neighbourhood should not be influenced by tourist activities in Chinatown and Little India, and the daily walking habits of residents in Shamshuipo should not be influenced by street markets and social disorganization activities. Shamshuipo is facing the acute problem of urban decay, and rapid urban renewal is the best solution. In addition, to avoid the impacts of the poverty stigma effect, the two governments should narrow the income gaps between the rich and the poor by imposing higher tax rates for professionals.

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Chapter 5

Impacts of the Suburbanization Policy on the Spatial Mismatch Commuting of Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore

Abstract This chapter investigates the impacts of the suburbanization of poverty policies present in Hong Kong and Singapore on the commuting behaviour of residents. Tuen Mun New Town in Hong Kong and Woodlands New Town in Singapore are chosen for investigation. The spatial mismatch commuting problems are mainly caused by business investors being reluctant to move to new towns and a concentration of low-income residents being present in the suburbs. Singapore’s government has developed industrial jobs near new towns to minimize the impacts of spatial mismatch, while a high share of new town residents in Hong Kong face spatial mismatch commuting problems. The self-organization approach is used to explain the commuting problems produced by the interactions between the suburbanization policy and individual actions. Drawing on data from the 2011 Hong Kong TCS and the 2020 Singapore Population Census, this chapter confirms that working residents in new towns face accessibility problems. Spatial mismatch problems produce an imbalanced social environment. Since people want fair governance, the implementation of fair governance is the main motivation for the Hong Kong and Singapore governments to amend the at-fault policies and return the social systems to a balanced state, thereby improving the commuting of low-income workers. Keywords Government suburbanisation policies · Individual decisions · Jobs-housing spatial mismatch · Poverty and commuting inequality · Evaluation of the policies by self-organization approach

5.1 Introduction Both Singapore and Hong Kong experienced rapid urbanization in the 1960s, and the two cities have faced increasing constraints in regard to urban development, such as increasing populations in urban areas, improving the living conditions of those in urban slums, providing adequate jobs for the population, and other social and environmental issues. Both cities lack any natural resources that could be used to facilitate economic growth. The city governments are aware of these limitations and © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 J. Cho-Yam Lau, Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, Quality of Life in Asia 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4_5

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have mandated that the cities need to suburbanize the population from urban areas to the suburbs and demolish the older buildings in the city centre to make available land space for building new business and financial centres to attract foreign investments and boost economic growth (Lee, 2000). To gain adequate urban land for economic growth, the city governments have implemented new town programmes led by large-scale public housing. In Singapore, the government has established the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for rapid suburbanization and urban redevelopment. The URA makes use of Concept Plans to suburbanize the poor population from older urban areas to new towns. The government acquires urban land for sale, and the affected poor urban residents are then resettled in new towns. At the same time, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has been established and is responsible for building new HDB housing estates in new towns. Based on Concept Plans, all new towns should be selfcontained, but they are also connected with the city centre via mass public transit. The government sets aside land in new towns for clean industries that can provide jobs for young women and housewives whose children are already in school. In 2022, over 75% of the residents in Singapore reported living in new towns (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Singapore’s government wants to promote a home-owning and stable society; thus, approximately 80% of Singaporeans in new towns live in the HDB housing that they used the Central Provident Fund to buy. In Hong Kong, the government also planned to suburbanize the urban poor population to the New Territories. In 1972, the Governor-in-Council announced the vigorous Ten-Year Housing Target Programme to provide adequate housing for 1.8 million people and to alleviate the urban overcrowded living environment by the mid-1980s. More than half of the new housing has been provided in new towns. As a result of this large-scale new town programme in Hong Kong, in 2016, the new town population of Hong Kong was 3.44 million, constituting 46.9% of the total population in Hong Kong (HKCSD, 2017c). A high share of the population living in 12 new towns reside in public rental housing (PRH) estates. Recent transport studies in Hong Kong and Singapore indicate that all new towns in Hong Kong and Singapore have failed to be self-contained as planned; approximately 60% of Singaporeans and 80% of Hong Kong people who live in new towns do not work in the same area where they live (Cervero, 2006; Lau, 2010, 2011; Malone-Lee et al., 2001; Wong, 2011). According to the 2016 Hong Kong Population Bycensus, among six major new towns in the New Territories, the average job/employed resident ratio is 0.17, which means that only 17% of the working residents in the six new towns work in the same new town where they live (HKCSD, 2017a). In Singapore, on average, approximately 60% of new town residents work outside the areas where they live (Cervero, 2006). As a result of the failure of the new towns in Singapore and Hong Kong to achieve employment self-containment, many working residents in these new towns experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. A study in Hong Kong has found that spatial mismatch has significant adverse effects on unemployment, especially concerning disadvantaged workers. Furthermore, with higher levels of spatial

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mismatch, workers in the low-skilled labour market are more likely to find informal employment (Jin et al., 2022). The commuting problems of the working residents in new towns can be measured by using the concept of accessibility. In this study, accessibility is defined as the capability of an individual to penetrate the constraints imposed by neighbourhood effects to commute to the mainstream activities of his or her society. Capability is the set of freedoms and opportunities available for individuals to choose from and act on, including commuting to one’s basic needs. The concept is based on the capability approach proposed by Sen (1985). Concerning the relationship between human rights and accessibility, the capability approach (Sen, 1984) states that a government characterized by justice and equity should provide the working residents in new towns with the capability of freedom, choice, and opportunities to commute to their basic needs. Accessibility is a human capability. Thus, the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should formulate policies to minimize the impacts of the job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problem in new towns. This study uses the self-organization approach to explain the process of suburbanization in Hong Kong and Singapore. In the process of urban development, selforganization is a process that takes place in response to external adversity in society, such as a high population density in urban areas causing traffic congestion and an overcrowded living environment. It is a natural and spontaneous mechanism of interactions among individuals in a social system to achieve a state of equilibrium (Portugali, 2000; Zhang & De Roo, 2016). For example, self-organization is seen in the free market system. As early as 1776, Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ referred to a self-organizing mechanism guiding and shaping economic systems (Smith, 1937). The leading economist Paul Krugman shows how the principles of self-organization that explain the growth of hurricanes and embryos can also explain the formation of cities and business cycles; furthermore, the self-organization principle of “order from random growth” is used to explain the sizes of earthquakes and metropolitan areas (Krugman, 1995). The current approach uses Giddens’ structuration theory as the mechanism of the self-organization process. Giddens observes that in social analysis, the term structure generally refers to rules and policies. Structuration theory explains the essential recursiveness of social life and the evolution of social systems, i.e., that structure (or policy) is both the medium and outcome of the reproduction of individual action. Human social systems are self-organizing to maintain balanced states, in which an individual’s actions are influenced by structures (or policies), and policies (or structures) are maintained and adapted through the exercise of actions (Giddens, 1984). For example, in the self-organization process of suburbanization, which involves land acquisition, public housing, rail-plus-property models and the building of new town policies, all the policies are the media and product of individual actions of lowincome workers; furthermore, the process produces travel behaviours, such as poor workers deciding to relocate from older urban areas to distant new towns (Giddens, 1984). Additionally, relocated working residents face job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. The process produces accessibility constraints and imbalanced

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situations in the suburbanization process. Some workers develop coping behaviour to address suburbanization policies, such as taking public buses instead of mass rapid transit to reach workplaces that are located in nearby new towns, while some choose to drive to workplaces in city centres to reduce their travel times. Accessibility constraints also activate the decision-makers in the Hong Kong and Singapore governments to amend suburbanization policies to minimize the impacts of spatial mismatch problems on new town residents (Giddens, 1984). In the self-organization approach, structures or policies are ordered through time and space in Hong Kong and Singapore. People in the two cities act as knowledgeable individuals in conjunction with a social order that is guided by policies to shape and change daily routine activities and social systems. Furthermore, the self-organization approach to urban transport planning aims to explain and evaluate the commuting patterns that are produced by the interactions between suburbanization policies and individual decisions. When government policies (e.g., in 1991, the Concept Plan developed self-containment new towns in Singapore, but Singaporeans later realized that the new towns had failed to be self-contained as planned) cause imbalanced situations in new towns of Hong Kong and Singapore, such as spatial mismatch commuting problems and reaching critical points, the people living in new towns and the government of the city should modify the policies to make the social system return to a balanced state. This approach also introduces the concept of social justice and fair governance to evaluate the policies formulated by the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore. Based on two social justice theories, namely, the difference principle proposed by Rawls (1971) and the capability approach proposed by Sen (1985), the suburbanization policies of the two cities are allowed to produce inequalities among residents in regard to commuting to their basic needs, unless the policies make the poor workers no longer have the capability to commute to their basic needs. Since a high share of low-income workers in new towns in the two examined cities face spatial mismatch commuting problems, and many of these workers feel unable to afford the public transport fares required obtain distant job opportunities, the suburbanization policies in Hong Kong and Singapore are regarded as unfair. Since people in these two cities want fair governance (e.g., the governments have added social justice as a major attribute to their daily operations of governing) (Miles, 2015), the governments of the two cities should amend the suburbanization policies and find ways to provide more choices and freedom for low-income working residents with regard opportunities to commute to work, such as building more mass rapid transit lines to connect new towns with the CBD. According to the self-organization process, such change in policies will last for a long period of time, i.e., until the social systems achieve balanced states again.

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5.2 Tuen Mun New Town, Hong Kong The development of Tuen Mun can be explained in terms of self-organization, in which the spatial and transport structures, such as public housing-led development and public transport networks, interact with individual decisions of working residents to find jobs in urban areas to produce not only the failure of self-containment but also long commutes on work trips. Compared to other new towns, Tuen Mun has developed more jobs for its working residents because the history of Tuen Mun Bay and village development in the Tuen Mun area can be traced back to the Ming and Qing Empires. Tuen Mun lies in the western part of the New Territories. Tuen Mun Bay is surrounded by mountains on three sides, thus forming a good typhoon shelter from the strong easterlies. It is also the waterway from which one enters the Pearl River estuary of Guangdong Province. Tuen Mun Bay has been an important harbour for the Chinese army and traders, such as Portuguese, Persians, Arabs, and people from India. Their trading fleets have to anchor and gather at Tuen Mun before entering the Pearl River. Because it is one of the first-generation new towns, many residents in Tuen Mun have developed good social networks within the neighbourhood; thus, many working mothers and elderly people can find social support networks for childcare and social interactions within their neighbourhood and the nearby new towns of Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai (Fig. 5.1). Urban development activities in the New Territories were minimal before the urban riots of 1966 and 1967. After the riots, to pacify the restless population, the colonial government started to build public housing by developing new towns in the

Fig. 5.1 The location of Tuen Mun new town in Hong Kong. Source modified from Google Maps 2020

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1970s (Glaser et al., 1991). In addition, urban areas of Hong Kong have experienced rapid population growth and a severe housing shortage, as evidenced by the chronic overcrowding in dilapidated buildings and squatter slums. In 1973, the Hong Kong government launched a massive suburbanization plan by implementing a large-scale public housing programme and building new towns to address the overcrowded population densities in urban areas. In 2016, 12 new towns were developed: Tuen Mun, Sha Tin, Tseung Kwan O, Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan, Tin Shui Wai, Tai Po, Fanling/ Sheung Shui, Ma On Shan, Tsing Yi, Yuen Long and North Lantau. Three first-generation new towns were developed in the early 1970s (Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, and Tuen Mun). Tuen Mun was developed in the northern New Territories because of the availability of land and the potential to develop more commercial activities in the area. Three second-generation new towns were developed in the late 1970s (Tai Po, Fanling/Sheung Shui, and Yuen Long), and three third-generation new towns were developed in the 1980s and 1990s (Tin Shui Wai, Tseung Kwan O, and Tung Chung) (Fig. 5.1). The original idea behind building new towns was to build self-contained towns. Thus, major facilities and infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, shopping centres, markets, and facilities for leisure activities, were built. Self-contained new towns involve balancing jobs and housing development within the new towns. For example, Tuen Mun New Town provides light manufacturing industries, warehousing, and commercial activities to create job opportunities within the area so that residents do not have to travel to urban districts for work, which saves both their time and transport expenses. Transport between Tuen Mun and urban districts was inconvenient when the town was first built because the government believed that all residents could find jobs in the new town.

5.2.1 Failure to Achieve Self-containment in Tuen Mun To assess the degree of Tuen Mun’s self-containment and balanced development aspects, this study examines the population characteristics, jobs-to-employed resident ratio, and commuting patterns of workers in the new town. Based on data from the 2016 Population By-Census, the job-to-employed resident ratios of the major new towns in Hong Kong are estimated as follows: that of Tuen Mun is 0.22 (e.g., approximately 55,226 working residents of Tuen Mun found jobs in the new town, while Tuen Mun has a working population of 245,334 persons; thus, the job-toemployed resident ratio is 0.22), that of Tai Po is 0.17, that of Yuen Long is 0.10, that of Fanling/Sheung Shui is 0.16, that of Tsuen Wan is 0.16, and that of Kwai Tsing is 0.15. On average, the J/ER ratio of the above six new towns is 0.17 (HKCSD, 2017a). This figure indicates that nearly 83% of the working residents in new towns are required to seek jobs outside the new town in which they live. All of the abovementioned new towns in Hong Kong have failed to achieve selfcontainment because approximately 70% of the job opportunities are located in urban

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areas. The main employment centres in Hong Kong exhibit strong location agglomeration, and most of them are located in the CBD. The agglomeration economies in new towns have not gained much momentum in attracting a larger proportion of the city’s total employment (He et al., 2020). According to data from 2016, approximately 12.9% of all employment is located in the Central and Western districts, 18.9% is located in other districts on Hong Kong Island, and 38.3% is located in Kowloon. Only approximately 30.3% is located in the New Territories or new towns, which contrasts with the fact that 52.3% of the population lives this region (HKCSD, 2017c). In urban areas of Hong Kong, the phenomenon of an agglomeration economy occurs when economic activities of similar financial and business sectors are located in proximity and workers can thus have face-to-face interaction, thereby allowing companies to benefit from cost reductions and efficiency gains because of their proximity to customers and easy information spillover. In addition, the main government administration offices, large hospitals and well-known schools are all located in urban areas, and households with heterogeneous members seek a common residence to optimize their proximity to activity resources (Huai et al., 2021). The agglomeration of economic activities and government planning contributes to the concentration of jobs and population in urban areas. Therefore, the proportion of jobs in urban areas remains stable, while the agglomeration economies in new towns have not gained much momentum in attracting a larger proportion of Hong Kong’s total employment.

5.2.2 Job-Housing Spatial Mismatch Problems in Tuen Mun According to data from 2016, Tuen Mun New Town has the largest population size among all new towns in Hong Kong. The population size of Tuen Mun is 489,000 persons, and its physical size is 87.5 km2 ; thus, the population density of Tuen Mun New Town is 5589 persons per km2 . Tuen Mun New Town has the largest population size among all new towns. Of the population in Tuen Mun, approximately 50.1% (or 245,334 persons) are working residents. The majority of Tuen Mun’s working residents have to travel long distances to seek job opportunities in other districts or urban areas. According to the data from the 2016 population census, approximately 11.6% of the working residents in Tuen Mun choose to find employment on Hong Kong Island (HKCSD, 2017a). Thus, this group of workers has to travel the longest distances on work trips. Approximately 18.3% of the working residents choose to find jobs in Kowloon; they mostly find jobs in the Kwun Tong and Yau Tsim Mong districts, which provide more job choices and higher wages for residents. Approximately 19.6% of them commute to other new towns, and 6.0% of them find jobs in districts located in the New Territories. Most of this group of workers go to the new towns of Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing to find suitable employment. Furthermore, approximately 13% of them have no fixed workplace locations, which means that they may commute long distances to the Hong Kong islands or Kowloon to find their workplaces. They

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Location of Workplace

160

Place outside Hong Kong Work at home No Fixed place

Work in another districts in the New Territories Work in another district in new towns Work on Kowloon Work on Hong Kong Island Work in Tuen Mun 0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

Fig. 5.2 Workplace location of the working residents in Tuen Mun, 2016. Source HKCSD (2017a)

are mostly informal workers who participate in the transportation, storage, postal, and courier services sector and the construction sector, in which they are employed as part-time, casual, self-employed, and short-duration contract workers (HKCSD, 2010, 2012) (Fig. 5.2). This study also uses data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey (TCS), which mainly uses household surveys to collect the commuting behaviour and the social and economic backgrounds of working respondents in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). The 2011 TCS project interviewed 5047 working respondents who live in Tuen Mun and determined their travel patterns. The average travel time for the mechanized work trips for the working respondents in Tuen Mun was found to be 55.8 min, while the average travel time of the total working respondents in Hong Kong was found to be 47.5 min (walking was excluded). Thus, there is mobility inequality between the working residents in Tuen Mun and the average working population. The longer average travel time of the working residents in Tuen Mun is because many working residents have to seek jobs in urban areas, such as Hong Kong Island and Kowloon; thus, the radial hub-and-spoke public transport system cannot provide adequate services to meet the demands of the working residents. Furthermore, a high share of these workers participate in industry sectors that require long commutes, such as the construction, the import and export and the transportation, storage, and courier sectors. According to data from the 2011 TCS, approximately 19.0% of working residents choose to find jobs within the Tuen Mun neighbourhood, and their average travel time is 26.3 min (Fig. 5.3). A previous study suggests that keen competition exists among

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workers in distant new towns to find jobs that are located within their new towns. Thus, it follows that when working residents are left without a formal job, they will find one in the informal sector, which may well be located in an area appropriate for informal economic activity close to their place of residence to further optimize their travel time (Suárez et al., 2016). All other things being equal, commuting times are shorter for the informal sector, and informal workers walk more from their homes to their place of work because retail and service jobs in the informal sector are more dispersed than commercial and financial jobs in the formal sector. According to the 2011 TCS, approximately 36.4% of the working residents in Tuen Mun find employment in other new towns and districts in the New Territories, and their average travel time is 53.9 min. Approximately 41.6% of the working residents in Tuen Mun find jobs in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. For those who choose to find jobs in Kowloon, their average travel time is 65.8 min, and for those who find employment on Hong Kong Island, their average travel time is 78.8 min (Fig. 5.3). Many of the working residents are required to take the feeder-system Light Rail Transit (LRT) service first and transfer to the MTR or bus system for long work trips to other districts and urban areas; therefore, they spend much longer times commuting than those who work within the Tuen Mun neighbourhood. Those working residents who want to find jobs in Tsuen Wan New Town and Kwai Tsing New Town can take either public buses or the MTR. Those who take public buses can use Tuen Mun Road, which is the major trunk road connecting Tuen Mun to Tsuen Wan and has a rather high volume of traffic; thus, traffic accidents and severe traffic congestion often occur there.

% of workers

travel time (min.)

90 80

Percentage of woreker

35.0%

70

30.0%

60

25.0%

50

20.0%

40

15.0%

30

10.0%

Travel time

40.0%

20

5.0%

10 0

0.0% Within Tuen Mun

Kowloon

Hong Kong Island

Other new towns

Location of workplace

Fig. 5.3 Residents’ workplace by travel time in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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5.2.3 Travel Time Distribution of Working Residents in Tuen Mun Based on data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey, the travel time distribution of the employed residents in Tuen Mun is investigated. Among the working residents, approximately 4.2% spend approximately 15 min reaching their workplace, and approximately 19.3% spend between 16 and 30 min travelling to their workplace. The abovementioned workers who spend less than 30 min on work trips are most likely those who find jobs within Tuen Mun New Town or nearby Yuen Long New town, such as part-time older and female working residents (Fig. 5.4). In addition, approximately 15.8% of these workers spend between 31 and 45 min commuting to work; this group of workers most likely consists of those who find jobs in nearby new towns, such as Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing and Tai Po industrial park. That means that only approximately 39.4% of the working residents in Tuen Mun can reach their workplaces within 45 min. This is because Tuen Mun has failed to achieve self-containment, which means that many working residents cannot find jobs within their living neighbourhoods (Fig. 5.4). In addition, approximately 28.9% of working residents spend between 46 and 60 min travelling to their place of employment, and approximately 31.8% of them spend more than 60 min travelling to their workplace. The average travel time of this group of working respondents is 1 h 23.8 min. These groups of commuters mostly take public buses or the feeder-system LRT and the MTR system to workplaces located in the CBD and other new towns (Fig. 5.4). In addition, approximately 60.7% of the working residents in Tuen Mun have to spend between 46 min to one hour and 20 min to reach their place of employment;

Travel time

more than 60 min. 46-60 min. 31-45 min. 16-30 min.

15 min. 0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

% of Working resident

Fig. 5.4 Travel time distribution of working residents in Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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thus, they are faced with the impacts of job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. The average travel time of the working residents fails to reflect the impacts of the spatial mismatch commuting problems experienced by low-income female and older workers in Tuen Mun; their travel problems will be investigated in the latter part of this chapter.

5.2.4 Public Transport System that Connects Tuen Mun and Urban Areas Transport studies have investigated the inequality in public transport-based accessibility to various socioeconomic resources. Cities such as Hong Kong have extensive public transport routes and nodes that produce a unique type of public transport accessibility called nodal accessibility. Nodal accessibility can comprehensively reveal how connected residents are from one neighbourhood to all kinds of socioeconomic opportunities, such as employment and health care services, in other neighbourhoods around the city by public transport. A study in Hong Kong found that the richest 20% of the population in Tuen Mun New Town has a higher level of nodal accessibility than the poorest 20% of the population (Liu et al., 2022). In Hong Kong, public transport accounts for over 90% of the total passenger trips each day, which is the highest in the world. Among the public transport modes, railways are safe, efficient, reliable, comfortable, and environmentally friendly mass carriers. They are the backbone of Hong Kong’s public transport system, which accounts for approximately 41% of all trips made on public transport each day. Hong Kong’s railways are run by the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). The government’s plan aims to have the MTR network cover areas accommodating some 75% of the local population and some 85% of job opportunities (Hong Kong Transport & Housing Bureau, 2017). However, this study finds that the radial route network of the MTR service fails to transport workers in Tuen Mun to the job opportunities that are spreading around the new town. Regarding daily work trips between Tuen Mun and urban areas, the MTR, e.g., the Tuen Ma Line, provides the major trunk services, while taxis, buses, and the LRT system function as feeder modes in the integrated public transport system. There are plans for the MTR to build the Tuen Mun South Extension, which will extend the Tuen Ma Line from Tuen Mun Station to a new rail station near Tuen Mun Ferry Pier. Construction of the project is expected to commence in 2023 and is targeted to be completed by approximately 2030. Currently, there is no ferry service to connect Tuen Mun to urban areas. The ferry service came to a stop in 2000 because it was not financially viable, and no private operators showed interest in resuming the service. In the development of the integrated public transport system, the role of buses and the public light rail is set to complement mass transit systems. In places where there is no rapid transport, trunk bus services and the public light rail aim to fill the gap. For some working residents in Tuen Mun, the public light rail and public buses

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serve for taking medium- to long-distance journeys, such as from Tuen Mun to Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing, and Tai Po new towns. The LRT plays an important role in the public transport system in New Territories Northwest, such as Tuen Mun, Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long new towns. It takes on dual roles; on the one hand, it provides feeder service for the Tuen Ma Rail Line, while on the other hand, it serves as an important internal rail-based public transport mode within the New Territories Northwest. In 2016, the LRT had 12 lines in total that carried approximately 490,000 passenger trips per day, which was higher than that a decade ago, accounting for approximately 3.9% of the public transport patronage in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Transport & Housing Bureau, 2017). In Tuen Mun, public transport interchange stations are connected with other developments and other forms of transit to provide shielded access in all weather conditions. The establishment of a transit location occurs through the integration of amenities within the premises of transit stations. For example, the Tuen Mun MTR interchange with a three-level design facility offers transfers between the MTR, buses, and the LRT. In addition, the V-city shopping mall is also built near the Tuen Mun MTR station. In the 1980s, the government introduced the concept of the “light rail service area” in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long new towns, within which the LRT monopolized all public transport services, forcing all internal public bus services to withdraw in favour of the LRT. This system also forced public buses to impose boarding and alighting restrictions for long-distance and external routes. It was decided that public transport services between Tuen Mun town centres and settlements would be provided solely by the LRT, while feeder buses operated by the MTR would connect remote sites to the Tuen Ma Line, replacing public bus-equivalent services (Wikipedia, 2022). An interchange fare discount system was launched with the introduction of the Tuen Ma Line, in which passengers pay no more fare (and in some cases less) to travel on the Tuen Ma Line instead of the LRT for the main part of their journey to encourage passengers to use the Tuen Ma Rail Line instead of the LRT for longer journeys, such as from Tuen Mun to Yuen Long, thereby freeing up LRT vehicles for passengers making shorter journeys. Because of the inadequacy of train frequencies and poor intermodal integration between the LRT and the Tuen Ma Line, working residents usually experience overcrowded LRT services during peak periods (Fig. 5.5). Hence, the residents in Tuen Mun experience mobility deprivation. Hong Kong’s mass railway transit is in a radial route format, such as Singapore building radial corridors that interconnect the central core with master-planned new towns (Cervero, 2006). In Hong Kong, the MTR routes link the CBD of Hong Kong with new towns in a radial format; such radial routes are operated in the form of a hub-and-spoke system. The MTR Tuen Ma Line links Tuen Mun and urban areas and is operated under the hub-and-spoke public transport system. The working residents (who live in the neighbourhoods and want to go to work) have to travel from their living neighbourhoods to the MTR stations by first taking feeder LRT services; then they transfer to the MRT to commute to their workplaces in other districts or the CBD. This means that they have to spend time travelling and transferring between

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Fig. 5.5 Overcrowded LRT compartments in the Tuen Mun MTR station. Sources The author took the photograph

public transport modes, which always leads to long travel times and high public transport costs. The disadvantage of the hub-and-spoke network is that the radial MTR routes, such as the Tuen Ma Line, lack direct services between the job centres located around Tuen Mun New Town. Many nonradial commuters have to take intermodal transfers between indirect nodes on work trips and thus increase their travel times. The system always requires commuters to pay higher public transport fares than those who take public buses. Public buses that have a higher route density than the MTR can always fill the service gap of the hub-and-spoke system, and they can provide door-to-door services to interconnect job centres within the region of the New Territories Northwest (Stanley et al., 2017). Tao et al. (2022) investigated the role of public transport accessibility on the activity space of high-, medium- and low-income groups in Hong Kong. The results showed that both the availability of transit stations and the network accessibility of the MTR are significantly linked to the spatial extensiveness of the activity space of the higher- and medium-income commuters, while buses play a more important role in the daily mobility of the low-income group. The findings of the study indicate possible mobility and social inequality in using public transport services between the highand low-income groups. The higher-income commuters demonstrate significantly larger activity spaces and a higher likelihood of nonwork participation than their lowincome peers. For low-income commuters, the availability of bus stops and network accessibility by bus appear to play a more important role in their daily mobility. In

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this sense, particular attention can be given to better considering the travel needs of the low-income in arranging and planning bus services, e.g., enhancing bus service in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long new towns and scrapping the policy of the “light rail service area” in the New Territories Northwest.

5.2.5 The Mode Choice of the Working Residents in Tuen Mun According to data from the 2011 TCS, most working residents in Tuen Mun find jobs in other districts and urban areas; thus, the MTR, the LRT, and buses are the major transport modes for them to reach their place of employment. Among the 5047 working respondents in Tuen Mun, approximately 41.8% of them take public buses to their place of employment; this suggests that most of these individuals have found jobs in the New Territories that the MTR network does not cover. Approximately 19.7% of them use the MTR for employment travel, and most commute to workplaces in urban areas, such as Hong Kong Island. Even though the Tuen Ma MTR Line is faster and more comfortable than public buses, more working residents choose to take buses to their workplace than the MTR. This is mainly because public buses provide higher levels of route density and cheaper fares than the MTR. For example, in 2022, bus route 67X travelled from Siu Hong district in Tuen Mun to Mong Kok district in Kowloon and costed only $13.4, whereas taking the Tuen Ma Line costed $20.5 (Fig. 5.6). Thus, compared to the MTR, the bus system plays a more important role in daily mobility for the low-income group in Tuen Mun.

Fig. 5.6 67X Bus station in Siu Hong, Tuen Mun. Sources The author took the photograph

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Furthermore, approximately 41.8% of working respondents take buses to work via the hub-and-spoke system; that is, the feeder LRT service and the MTR system account for 36.8% of the total working commuters in Tuen Mun. The commuting figures indicate that the hub-and-spoke service and the Tuen Ma radial route fail to meet the travel demands of the major share of commuters. Many of them are nonradial commuters, and they take public buses to reach workplaces that are dispersed around the Tuen Mun neighbourhood, such as jobs in Tsuen Wan and Tai Po new towns. Therefore, the government should strengthen nonradial public transport services, such as allowing public buses to compete with the LRT in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long new towns. In addition, approximately 17.1% of these workers take the LRT to reach their place of employment; thus, they normally seek jobs within Tuen Mun and Yuen Long new towns and travel short distance trips. Approximately 7.2% of them take the public light rail to work; these individuals most likely commute to workplaces in nearby new towns, such as Kwai Tsing and Tsuen Wan. Additionally, approximately 6.1% of them take special-purpose buses to work; they might use the private buses provided by their housing estates or chartered buses provided by their employers and travel long distances to work in urban areas. Only 5.7% drive to work, which means that many of the working residents cannot afford to own private cars. Most of those who drive to work are high-income workers; they commute to workplaces in shorter times than those who make use of public transport services (Fig. 5.7). Approximately 0.9% of the working residents take taxis to work; these individuals most likely travel short-distance trips and find jobs within Tuen Mun New Town. Approximately 1.4% of them take goods vehicles to reach their place of employment; these individuals most likely participate in transportation and logistics sectors and drive goods vehicles to their workplace (Fig. 5.7).

5.2.6 Commuting Problems of Poor Workers in Tuen Mun Both economic restructuring and the polarization of jobs in Hong Kong have contributed to widening the income inequality between high- and low-income workers. Many unskilled workers are thrown into poverty, and many of these workers concentrate in informal labour markets, such as casual, part-time, and contract workers; many are without long-term contracts or labour protection. They earn low wages and suffer from job insecurity. Furthermore, many of these low-income workers have been relocated from older urban areas to distant new towns, such as Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, by the government’s public housing programmes during the process of suburbanization in Hong Kong. As a result, the suburbanization policy contributes to aggravating the problem of poverty in distant new towns. In 2020, the Hong Kong government’s Poverty Situation Report used a relative poverty line to measure the rate of poverty in each district in Hong Kong; the poverty line was set at 50% of the median monthly household income. For 2020, the poverty line was set at HK$12,750 (US$1634) per month. The report found that in Hong

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Private car 5.7%

Special purpose bus Taxi 6.1% 0.9%

Goods vehicle 1.4% MTR 19.7%

LRT 17.1%

Bus 41.8% Public light bus 7.2%

Fig. 5.7 Mode choice of the working residents in Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

Kong, the poor population and the poverty rate stood at 1.6 million and 23.6% of the total population, respectively. This means that approximately 23.6% of the population in Hong Kong live below the poverty line (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021). The report found that Tuen Mun is one of the poorest new towns in Hong Kong. Among all residents in Tuen Mun, approximately 24.0% (or 115,100 persons) live below the poverty line (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021). Among the households in Tuen Mun, approximately 23.7% of them (or 11,800 households) receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA). Furthermore, among all thee households in Tuen Mun, approximately 12.5% of them (21,634 households) are composed of single parents and unmarried children (HKCSD, 2017a). In addition, according to the 2016 Hong Kong Population Census, approximately 28.6% of the households in Tuen Mun live in PRH; of these households, approximately 59.6% actively participate in the labour force. The median monthly income of economically active households in PRH is HK$18,000, while the median monthly household income for all households in Hong Kong is HK$25,000 in 2016. That means, the economically active households living in PRH earn only approximately 72% of the median monthly household income and thus live in poverty. Most of these workers find elementary jobs, such as part-time cleaners in restaurants or self-employed casual workers on construction sites (HKCSD, 2017a, 2017b).

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In addition, this study also uses the data from the 2011 TCS to analyse the poverty situation of the working population in Tuen Mun. In 2011, the average monthly household income was HK$20,500 per month, and the working members in those households who earned less than HK$16,400 per month (or 80% of the monthly median household income, which is regarded as the poverty line) were regarded as poor workers (HKCSD, 2017b, 2011). Among 5047 respondents, approximately 1312 respondents had a household income below HK$16,400, which means that in 2011, approximately 26.0% of the working households in Tuen Mun lived in poverty and were defined as poor workers. These findings are in line with the results of the government’s poverty report. The average travel time of this group of poor workers is 55.2 min, which is longer than the average travel time of working respondents (47.5 min) in Hong Kong. This means that many poor workers in Tuen Mun spend long travel times and pay high transport fares to take work trips (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014) (Fig. 5.8). To determine the travel time differences among income groups, this section divides the respondents into four social classes: working respondents who earn less than HK$17,000 per month household income are defined as poor workers, working respondents whose household income is between HK$17,001 and HK$27,000 per month are defined as low-income workers, those workers whose household income is between HK$27,500 per month and HK$37,500 per month are defined as middleincome workers, and those whose household income is between HK$38,000 or above per month are defined as high-income workers. This study finds that approximately 27.9% of the workers have a low-income household and an average travel time of

% of worker

57

Travel time (min.)

30.0%

56.5

25.0%

56

20.0%

55.5

15.0%

55

10.0%

54.5

Travel time

% of worker

35.0%

54

5.0%

53.5

0.0% poor worker

low-income worker

middle-income worker

high-income worker

Household income of worker Fig. 5.8 Income distribution of workers by travel time, Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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56.4 min, while approximately 32.5% of the workers have a middle-income household and travel an average travel time of 56.3 min. In addition, approximately 13.6% of workers in Tuen Mun have a high-income household and an average travel time of 54.5 min (Fig. 5.8). Figure 5.8 indicate that 53.9% of the working residents in Tuen Mun belonged to poor or low-income households, and approximately 13.6% of workers belong to high-income households. Tuen Mun is a new town with a high concentration of low-income workers; many high-income workers are unwilling to relocate to Tuen Mun because the new town fails to provide adequate jobs for them. Low-income workers who cannot afford high land prices in urban areas choose to live in distant new towns. A previous study conducted in Hong Kong analysed the relationships between household income poverty and living locations in two consecutive five-year periods (2001–2006 and 2006–2011) in Hong Kong. The findings indicated that lowincome households are more likely to cluster in new towns than in inner-city regions when property prices are surging (Hui et al., 2016). Due to keen competition in low-wage labour markets, many poor workers tend to find part-time jobs within Tuen Mun; thus, a significant share of them commute shorter times than other workers. Research evidence finds that a high share of poor workers commute to other new towns and urban areas to find jobs, and they commute for more than 50 min to reach these workplaces (Fig. 5.8). In addition, a high share of low-income and middle-income working residents travel to other new towns and urban areas to find jobs, and they most likely take public buses instead of the huband-spoke public transport system to do so; therefore, they commute longer average times than other income groups. For example, the average travel time of low-income male workers in Tuen Mun is 57.0 min, and their average monthly household income is HK$13,062. The high-income group spends a shorter average travel time to reach their jobs than the other social groups because a high share of them live in proximity to the MTR stations and can walk to the MTR stations instead of taking feeder LRT services. In addition, many of them drive to job opportunities in other new towns and the CBD and thus travel for shorter time periods than the other social groups.

5.2.7 Low-Income Workers by Industry Sector in Tuen Mun The focus of this study will be on the interaction between structural factors, such as low income, job-housing spatial mismatch, and industry sectors, which interact with the individual decisions of low-income workers to produce commuting problems. The study also tries to determine the share of low-income working residents who participate in the industry sectors, in which a high share of jobs do not provide formal full-time employment. Of all low-income working residents in Tuen Mun, a high share are engaged in four major industry sectors. For example, of all the low-income workers, approximately 16.7% participate in the transportation, storage, postal, and courier services

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industry sector, with an average travel time of 51.9 min, and many of them are selfemployed workers. Approximately 16.3% of them participate in the construction sector, with an average travel time of 65.3 min; a significant share of these individuals are short-term contract workers. Approximately 11.1% of them choose to work in administrative and support services (e.g., contract workers in cleaning and security services), with an average travel time of 44.4 min. Approximately 10.3% of them are engaged in the import and export trade sector (e.g., logistic truck drivers who transport goods between Hong Kong and mainland China), with an average time of 62.4 min (Fig. 5.9). High shares of low-income workers participate in the import and export trade, transportation, and construction sectors, and they experienced longer commute times than workers in other sectors. Thus, they are the groups that are hit hard by job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. Furthermore, of all the low-income working residents, approximately 8.2% are engaged in the retail sector (e.g., shop sales), and their average travel time is 47.1 min. A high share of these workers are part-time workers. Approximately 8.9% of them are engaged in other social and personal service sectors (e.g., repairing motor vehicles or working in fitness centres), and their average travel time is 54.6 min. Approximately 4.6% of them participate in the manufacturing sector, and their average travel time is 51.9 min. Finally, approximately 7.0% of them are engaged in the food and beverage

18.0%

% of worker

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Fig. 5.9 Poor workers in Tuen Mun by industry sector and travel time. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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service sector (e.g., restaurant waitresses), and their average travel time is 45.9 min. Many of them are contract workers (Fig. 5.9). Among the industry sectors, some have a high concentration of informal workers, such as the transportation, storage, postal, and courier service sector (e.g., selfemployed taxi drivers), construction sector (e.g., casual jobs in tile setting in construction sites), retail sector, food and beverage service sector and other social and personal services (e.g., part-time workers in beauty or massage services). Wong (2011) indicates that approximately 52.5% of female workers in Tuen Mun find part-time jobs. This is because working women always face time conflicts between their household responsibilities and employment; thus, they choose to find part-time employment within the Tuen Mun neighbourhood and travel short distances for work trips. Since the average travel times for retail and food and beverage services are 47.1 min and 45.9 min, respectively, their workplaces are most likely in Tuen Mun or Yuen Long new towns. Of the low-income workers in the transportation, storage, postal, and courier service sector, 87% are male. Additionally, among the workers in the construction sector, 95% are male. Thus, low-income male workers dominate the abovementioned two industry sectors. Of these group of workers, a high share take public buses, the MTR, and the LRT to get to work, and they tend to find higher wage jobs than their female counterparts; however, their job nature consists of short-term contract, self-employed or casual jobs. In addition, the workers in the abovementioned two industry sectors tend to commute longer times than their female counterparts. For example, the construction workers’ average travel time is 65.3 min, which is much longer than those who find jobs within the Tuen Mun neighbourhood. A high share of the workers in the transportation, storage and courier service and the construction sectors are low-income men, who traditionally stay in the job market after marriage and are often seen as the major breadwinners of their families; thus, compared to their female counterparts, once these men became unemployed, they are often under greater financial and social pressure to seek jobs, even if they have to travel long distances. Regarding the low-income construction and transportation workers in Tuen Mun who choose to commute long distances to secure informal employment, the provision of affordable and good public transport services in Hong Kong contributes to helping to improve their mobility and quality of life. The government has developed the Transport Support Scheme to provide transport allowance to low-income employees in distant new towns, which should help a significant share of the low-income men who participate in industry sectors that required long commutes. The scheme significantly decreases the probability of unemployment for low-income workers, especially among low-income middle-aged male residents (Sha et al., 2020).

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5.3 Woodlands New Town, Singapore The new towns of Singapore are distributed in the suburbs, and they are connected to the central business district (CBD) through cross-island major expressways and public transport networks. Woodlands is a new town and a regional centre in the North Region of Singapore. According to data from 2020, the population size of the Woodlands planning area is 245,109 persons, and its physical size is 13.6 km2 ; thus, the population density of the Woodland new town is 18,023 persons per km2 . Among the subzones of Woodlands, Woodland East has 98,980 persons, Woodland South has 41,000 persons, Woodlands West has 33,910 people, and Midview has 35,270 persons (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Woodlands also serves as one of the two land border connections on the Singaporean side between the countries of Singapore and Malaysia, called the JohorSingapore Causeway. Woodlands is a Housing and Development Board (HDB) town because the town is mainly formed by HDB housing estates. Before development occurred in the area, early Woodlands was dotted with rubber plantations and poultry farms and occupied by squatters and villagers who made their living as shopkeepers and vegetable farmers. In 1972, HDB housing estates were built near MRT and bus stations to provide residents with easy access to public transport services. This landuse development follows the principles of the transit-oriented development (TOD) planning model. The TOD model refers to compact, mixed land use and pedestrianfriendly development organized around a public transport station. The TOD model embraces the idea that locating amenities, employment, retail shops, and housing around public transport hubs promotes public transport usage and nonmotorized travel. In Woodlands, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations are located in the town centre, and their main function is to link Woodlands to the CBD and other towns (Fig. 5.10). Residents of Woodlands are currently serviced by five MRT stations across two MRT lines intersecting each other, namely, the North–South Line and the Thomson-East Coast Line. Buses provide internal loops and function as feeder services for the MRT and transport residents in different neighbourhoods to the MRT station in the town centre (Diao, 2019). Due to the government’s plans to develop a new town centre in the geographical centre of Woodlands, the town’s bus interchange was relocated from the previous Woodlands Town Centre to the current town centre at Woodlands Square in 1996. A shopping centre, namely, Causeway Point, was built next to the MRT station. A bus interchange was built near the MRT station, which is called the Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange; it was the first underground bus interchange in Singapore, having been built under the Woodlands MRT station. It was built in this way to maximize space. A civic centre with a regional library was built at the MRT station, which has a road that connects the HDB housing neighbourhoods to the MRT station. Therefore, many working residents can walk along the road to reach MRT services without taking feeder bus services (Fig. 5.10).

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Fig. 5.10 MRT station in woodlands new town. Sources The author took the photograph

The Singapore government adopts the TOD model to provide public transport services, and the government has built radial corridors that interconnect the central core with master-planned new towns (Cervero, 2006). The MRT forms the backbone of Singapore’s public transport system, serving the heavy transit corridors primarily for long-haul travel; it is supported by buses and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system, which serve lighter corridors and provide intratown feeder services to connect residential towns to MRT stations and bus interchanges. This concept is known as the “hub-and-spoke” model. The radial pattern also adopts a hub-and-spoke system to improve the mobility of workers in new towns with regard to reaching job opportunities in the CBD. For example, the radial public transport route, which links Woodlands and the CBD, is operated under the MRT North–South Line and the hub-and-spoke public transport system. The working residents (who live in the neighbourhoods and want to go to work) have to travel from their living subzones to the MRT stations first by taking feeder public bus services; then, they transfer to the MRT to commute to their workplaces in other districts or the CBD. The disadvantage of the hub-and-spoke network is that the MRT routes are always in radial format; thus, many nonradial commuters, who live in subzones and find jobs in the industrial parks near Woodlands, have to make transfers among public transport modes on their work trips, which increases their travel times. In addition, the public transport system always requires commuters to pay higher public transport fares than those who take public buses. This system is not suitable for female workers who face time conflicts between their household responsibilities

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and employment. Thus, public buses that have a high route density can always fill the service gap left by radial routes and hub-and-spoke systems, and buses can provide door-to-door services to interconnect job centres within the North Region, where Woodlands is located (Cervero, 2006; Stanley et al., 2017). Many female workers and older workers who participate in part-time retail employment in nearby new towns of Woodlands tend to take buses instead of the MRT to their place of employment to reduce their travel times and public transport fares (Grant-Smith et al., 2017). Similar to other HDB towns, the land-use development of Woodlands New Town has a hierarchical structure with three levels: precinct, neighbourhood and town. A precinct is a basic unit for planning and normally contains four to six public housing blocks. A few precincts form a neighbourhood; Woodlands is composed of several similar neighbourhoods. The provision of commercial space and amenities follows the hierarchical structure (Diao, 2019). Since a high share of working residents in new towns cannot find jobs within their living neighbourhoods, they have to seek jobs in other regions and the CBD (Yu & Ho, 2006). In Woodlands, under the hub-andspoke public transport system, the working residents (who live in the neighbourhoods and want to go to work) have to first travel to the town centre by taking feeder bus services; once in the town centre, they transfer to the MRT system to commute to their workplaces in other regions. This means that they have to spend time travelling and transferring between public transport modes, which always leads to longer travel times and higher public transport costs compared to working residents who take public buses directly from their home to their workplace. The town centre of Woodlands has a variety of large suburban malls, such as Causeway Point and Vista Point. Causeway Point is the seventh-largest suburban shopping mall in Singapore. Within the neighbourhoods of Woodlands, low-density developments, such as schools and parks, are placed side by side with high-density public housing to form a checkerboard pattern and control land use intensity. Children and older workers can always take public buses to reach schools and medical clinics. The revised Concept Plan of 1991 aimed to further decentralize commercial and economic activities by developing regional and subregional centres around MRT stations, and Woodlands was one of the targeted regional centres. The main purpose of the 1991 Concept Plan was to develop self-contained new towns in the suburbs. The transport system was to be designed in a hub-and-spoke type to facilitate the commuting flows between the periphery of new towns and the city centre (Fig. 5.11). According to the 1991 Concept Plan, new towns in Singapore should be complete communities that provide employment for most residents and contain a mixture of income levels. In practice, these new towns do not provide sufficient employment, such as manufacturing jobs. Many residents in Woodlands find manufacturing jobs in nearby industrial parks or the Jurong Industrial Estate developed by the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC), which was formed as a statutory board with the aim of building industrial parks around new towns to provide jobs for residents in new towns (Fig. 5.11). The JTC has provided manufacturers with their choice of industrial land sites on which to build their factories or ready-built factories for the immediate start-up of manufacturing operations (Yu & Ho, 2006). Figure 5.11 shows that the government plans to develop industrial parks near Woodlands in the North Region. Yu

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Fig. 5.11 The concept plan 2011 guides Singapore land-use development. Source Modified from Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority, 2011

and Ho (2006) find that the JTC has built a significant number of light manufacturing factories near Woodlands to provide jobs for residents and reduce their travel distance on work trips. The investigation results of this study find that the industrial parks developed by the JTC have provided a significant share of low- and middle-income job opportunities for the working residents in Woodlands. As a result, many of them can take short-distance commutes to work by engaging chartered buses, motorcycles or lorries to reach their workplace. This land-use development minimizes the impacts of the job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problem on the working residents in Woodlands.

5.3.1 Commercial Firms Do not Follow the Population to Relocate to New Towns A study in Singapore that aimed to investigate the level of self-containment in the Tampines Regional Centre found that 44% of firms choose to be located in the Tampines Regional Centre because of the large population base and because they are located in proximity to clients and labour in the East Region. Only strong motivating factors can influence the initial dispersal of firms from the city centre (Sim et al., 2001). However, the study argues that if firms that are attracted to the regional centres are to be primarily in the service-related categories, then the employment base in these regional centres should remain extremely narrow. This is a factor that

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could seriously undermine their attractiveness and relevance to employees in other occupational sectors. For example, in a case study of Tampines Regional Centre, there is a noticeable underrepresentation of firms in the professional category this points to a limited scope for developing the more varied and richer clustering of opportunities that are necessary for greater economic agglomeration and resultant social benefits. The study suggests that decentralization works best when it is able to capitalize on the heterogeneity of central area offices and commercial agglomerations that are internally differentiated in terms of functions, spatial organizations, and communication. Their dispersal should give rise to more diverse, vibrant and balanced work environments in the regional centres. Many commercial firms in the CBD do not follow the population by choosing to relocate to new towns; thus, many new towns fail to achieve employment selfcontainment. Thus, the new town development in Singapore has failed to achieve the objectives that were spelled out in the 1991 Concept Plan. The failure to achieve employment self-containment in new towns has caused long travel times on work trips for the employed residents in new towns. For example, according to data from 2020, resident workers living in planning areas in the central business district generally have shorter travel times to work than those living in new towns. Based on the estimations of this study, the average travel time of working respondents in the Central Region is 30.5 min, that of the East Region is 34.6 min, that of the Northeast Region is 36.8 min, that of the North Region is 39.4 min, and that of the West Region is 36.8 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Government Concept Plans can initiate the urban decentralization process, as in the case of the Woodlands and Tampines Regional Centres; however, market forces are also found to be critical to fully realizing the viability of regional centres in Singapore.

5.3.2 Urban Agglomeration and Clustering of Service Jobs in the Central Region An urban agglomeration is a collection of labour, transport infrastructures, business firms and government offices that aim to produce economic growth in a place. Urban areas form and grow to exploit economies of agglomeration. Proximity to other related firms and staff being able to have face-to-face interactions are the driving forces behind the economic growth of a place. When competing firms in the same sector cluster, there may be advantages because the cluster attracts more suppliers and customers than a single firm could achieve alone (White, 1999). Singapore’s government tends to develop efficient public transport networks in urban areas to relieve traffic congestion caused by agglomerations. As a result, many hotels, e.g., Marina Bay Sands, and commercial centres, e.g., the Golden Shoe district, are located near MRT lines. In addition, the Singapore government’s main administration offices, large hospitals and famous schools are all located in urban areas, with households of heterogeneous members seeking a common residence to optimize their proximity to

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activity resources (Huai et al., 2021). Hence, the agglomeration of economic activities and government land-use planning contribute to the concentration of jobs and population in urban areas. The proportion of jobs in these urban areas remains stable, while the agglomeration economies in new towns do not gain much momentum in attracting a larger proportion of Singapore’s total employment. The government can kick start the process of urban decentralization, as in the cases of Woodlands; market forces that produce agglomeration effects within these new towns are an important factor in fully realizing their employment self-containment. For example, the government can relocate its offices to regional centres and attract high-income workers to new towns with cheaper land prices. According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, approximately 77.2% of the population lives in new towns, most of which are located at distances between 10 and 15 kms from the city centre, while only approximately 22.8% of the population in Singapore lives in the Central Region or urban areas (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Regarding the spatial distribution of jobs in Singapore, approximately 48.6% of jobs are located in the Central Region (or urban areas), while only 51.4% of jobs are located in different new towns. This figure is in marked contrast to the 77.2% of the population of Singapore living in new towns (Fig. 5.12). In 2022, Singapore jumped to third place behind New York and London as the top three global financial centres. Professionals, law firms, bank offices and other financial buildings tend to cluster in the CBD of Singapore to share access to face-to-face interaction, common infrastructure, and geospatial proximity. The Singapore government has also developed good transport infrastructure, land, and government services and utilities to stimulate economic development (supply-side development) in the Central Region. The government also encourages an enabling business environment in which businesses and governments can stimulate, create, and respond to opportunities and changes in consumer markets and purchaser needs (demand-side development), such as low tax rates, keeping the government clean, following the rule of law and acting as an independent judiciary (Choe & Roberts, 2011). Hence, this urban agglomeration helps to lower production and transaction costs and improve work efficiency in the CBD. For example, according to 2020 data, approximately 58.4% of professionals and 56.6% of senior officials and managers in Singapore choose to work in the CBD. A significant share of service jobs have been relocated to the East Region, such as Tampines (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021) (Fig. 5.12). Even though many commercial and financial jobs have not followed the population to suburbanize to new towns, a high share of manufacturing industries have been dispersed to the suburbs. Many new towns in Singapore have spatial concentrations of manufacturing industry activities. According to data from 2020, approximately 40.6% of jobs have relocated to new towns. Additionally, among those workers who work in plants as machine operators and assemblers, approximately 84.2% of them choose workplaces outside of the Central Region. In addition, among employed residents who participate in the occupation of craftsmen and related trade employment, approximately 71.9% of them choose workplaces outside of the Central Region. Therefore, many workers in new towns can find light industry jobs in the West and North Regions, such as Jurong East and Woodlands (Singapore Department

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Fig. 5.12 Regional centres and workplace locations in Singapore. Note Workplace capacities are denoted by block heights at building sites. Source Modified from Erath et al. (2016)

of Statistics, 2021) (Fig. 5.12). This study finds that a high share of working residents in Woodlands are professionals and managers, who tend to find commercial and financial jobs in the CBD; thus, they travel long-distance work trips every day from Woodlands to the CBD. This spatial mismatch commuting problem negatively influences the life-and-work balance of high-income female workers in Woodlands.

5.3.3 Affordability of the Poor for Public Transport Fares in Woodlands, Singapore Urban transport planning in Singapore has always considered the travel demands of large flows of passengers by using the traditional urban transport planning model without investigating the travel demands of individual social groups, such as poor workers. Hence, the poor population in new towns, such as Woodlands, not only face affordability problems but also experience long travel times and commuting distances for work trips. Lau (2011) finds that in distant new towns of Singapore, the poor workers who utilize the hub-and-spoke public transport network have to spend 13.6% of their household income per month and an average of 60 min per trips from their home in Woodlands to job opportunities in the Central Region. Other poor workers who

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travel by bus spend up to 9.8% of their household income per month and 70 min per trip from Woodlands New Town to the city centre. Thus, these low-income workers in Woodlands experience mobility problems. Furthermore, in 2013, the Singapore government set up a committee to investigate the affordability of Singaporean public transport fares. The committee’s report indicated that in terms of fare affordability, a majority of respondents (61.2%) feel that public transport fares are affordable. However, a sizeable one-third of the respondents (33.6%) feel that fares are too expensive. This group of respondents is comprised mainly of those with low income, those with lower educational qualifications, and elderly individuals (Phang, 2013). The government has taken measures to provide target assistance for these low-income public transport users. Route tests are conducted to test the affordability, travel time, and travel distance of members of poor working households located in Woodlands to reach job opportunities in other regions and the CBD. This study first establishes a poverty line and then determines the proportion of poor working household members’ monthly expenses on public transport fares. Based on travel data from Google Maps and the Singapore Land Transport Authority, this study aims to determine the travel times and travel distances of poor working residents in Woodlands to reach various workplace locations by taking the MRT North–South Line. Ng (2018) uses data from 2018 and estimates that approximately 12% of households in Singapore do not earn enough to meet basic consumption needs. Regarding the relative poverty rate, approximately 26% of households in Singapore do not earn enough to keep up with the rest of Singapore. In addition, according to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the average monthly household income from work in Singapore is S$10,608 (US$7531); thus, if the poverty line is set at approximately 60% of the average monthly household income, then the working households that live below the poverty line are those who earn less than S$6365 (US$4519) per month (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Approximately 32.3% of the households with employed household members in Woodlands earn less than S$6000 per month; thus, these households live below the poverty line. Additionally, working households must contribute 37% of their monthly income (S$2355 or US$1672) as their contribution to the CPF, which is a mandatory savings scheme. Thus, the disposable household income of poor households in Woodlands is approximately S$4010 (US$2847) per month (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). In addition, according to data from 2020, the average household income from work per household member in Singapore is S$3488; thus, if the poverty line is set at 60% of the average household income from work per household member, a worker who earns less than approximately S$2093 per month is regarded as a poor worker. Approximately 22.7% of the employed workers in Woodlands earn less than S$2000 per month, which means that they live below the poverty line (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). The tests herein are based on the income of the poor households and are limited to dual-earner households whose members take the hub-and-spoke public transport system from their homes to their place of employment; that is, they first take feeder buses from their neighbourhoods or subzones in Woodlands to the MRT stations in

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Fig. 5.13 The North–South MRT line in Singapore. Source Modified from Google Maps (2022)

the town centre of Woodlands, after which they transfer from the buses to the North– South MRT Line to reach their workplace locations in either other regions or the CBD (Fig. 5.13). The North–South Line forms an incomplete loop from Jurong East in the West Region of Singapore, north to Woodlands and Sembawang, and south to the Central Region. To complete the route test, the test will also include a part of the East– West MRT line, which connects the MRT stations between Jurong East in the West Region and Tanjong Pagar in the Central Region. The travel distance of the whole line is 45 kms. Each dual-earner household should include two workers (e.g., male and female members of the household), and each adult working household member is assumed to make approximately 40 trips per month using the hub-and-spoke system. According to data from 2020, the median travel time for commuters using feeder buses and the MRT system is 60 min; thus, it is estimated that most working residents in Woodlands who use the hub-and-spoke system should spend more than 60 min reaching their workplace in the CBD (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). In addition, approximately 35% of the working residents in Woodlands use the huband-stoke network to commute to their place of employment (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Because this group of commuters tends to use fast public transport modes (e.g., the feeder buses plus the MRT system) to reach distant employment opportunities, they most likely find jobs in the CBD (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). For the feeder bus trips in the hub-and-spoke public transport network, it is assumed that the average fare of each feeder bus trip is S$0.95, the average travel distance is 3 kms, and the average travel time is 20 min, including walking and waiting times (e.g., from homes to the MRT stations). Thus, the expense of public transport is one of the key barriers to employment for the poor in Woodlands in Singapore, and

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there is a spatial mismatch between jobs and housing in the city-state. It is assumed that the accessibility of employment for poor workers in Woodlands is a function of spatial mismatch, the affordability of public transport, and the individual decisions of poor workers to produce travel behaviour to work.

5.3.4 Route Tests The first part of the route test is to estimate the difference in travel times between public buses and the hub-and-spoke network from Woodlands to the city centre (a common destination) near the Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar MRT stations. The second part of this section measures and compares the variables of public transport affordability in the hub-and-spoke network in Woodlands. Low-income workers tend mainly to take the feeder bus and the MRT system for employment purposes. The affordability index suggested by Carruthers et al. (2005) is modified in an attempt to discover the percentage of their household income that transport costs represent for poor workers in Woodlands New Town. The tests try to determine the affordability index among poor workers who take the hub-and-spoke network to reach nearby new towns and the Central Region. The index takes the following form: Affordability index (Female adult member ∗ ttrip ∗ fare) + (Male adult member ∗ ttrip ∗ fare) ∗ 100% = Income

Female adult member = the working female household member, Male adult member = the male adult household member, ttrip = the total number of trips per month, fare = the average public transport cost per trip, and income = households earned monthly income that is below the poverty line.

5.3.4.1

Results of the Travel Time and Distance Tests

The members of working households in Woodlands New Town take the MRT North– South Line to workplaces that are located along the MRT stations in the Northeast and Central Regions. Regarding travel distances, the workers have to take feeder buses to travel approximately 3 km from their living neighbourhoods or subzones to the MRT stations located in the town centre. For those who find jobs within the areas of the North Region, where Woodlands is located, their travel distances are between (Admiralty) 4.7 km and (Khatib) 11.7 km; for those who find jobs in the Northeast Region, their travel distances are estimated at to be between (Yio Chu Kang) 16.5 km and (Ang Mo Kio) 18 km; and for those who find jobs in the Central Region, their travel distances are between (Bishan) 20.3 km and (Raffles Place) 28.8 km (Fig. 5.14). The travel distance route test indicates that poor households in Woodlands have to travel at least 20 kms if they want to find jobs in the Central Region. Most business

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and administrative job opportunities are located in the CBD, which includes Newton, Orchard, City Hall, and Raffles Place. A long travel distance is a major accessibility constraint for poor workers with regard to finding jobs in the CBD. The average travel distance for the poor workers commuting from Woodlands to the CBD is approximately 26.7 km (Fig. 5.14). It is estimated that a share of working residents find jobs in the East Region, where the international Changi Airport is located; this group of workers have a longer travel distance than that of those who find jobs in the Central Region. Regarding the travel time route test, the poor working residents in Woodlands have to spend approximately 20 min using a feeder bus service to reach the MRT stations in the town centre of Woodlands. It is estimated that for those workers who find jobs within the North Region, their travel time is between (Admiralty) 34 min and (Khatib) 45 min, and for those who find jobs in the Northeast Region, their travel time is between (Yio Chu Kang) 50 min and (Ang Mo Kio) 52 min. For those who find jobs in the Central Region, their travel time is between (Bishan) 56 min and (Raffles Place) 73 min (Fig. 5.14). The travel time route test indicates that poor households in Woodlands have to travel at least 56 min if they want to find jobs in the Central Region. A long travel time is a major commuting constraint for poor workers with regard to finding jobs in the CBD, which includes Newton, Orchard, City Hall, and Raffles Place. The average travel time for the poor workers commuting from Woodlands to the CBD is approximately 69.1 min. A share of working residents find jobs in the East Region, where the international Changi Airport is located; this group of workers will have to spend longer travel time than those who find jobs in the Central Region. The study uses Google Maps to determine the travel time of a work

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Fig. 5.14 Poor workers’ MRT trips from Woodlands to employment in the northeast and central regions. Source Singapore Land Transport Authority, 2022; Google Maps (2022)

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journey for a working resident in Woodlands who takes a feeder bus and the MRT system to reach the Tampines Regional Centre in the East Region. The result is that he or she has to spend approximately 1 h 26 min (Google Maps, 2022). Therefore, a long travel time is the major constraint for the workers in Woodlands with regard to seeking higher-paid jobs in the Central and East Regions. The employed poor households in Woodlands New Town take the MRT North– South Line to workplaces that are located in the North and West Regions. Some working residents in Woodlands want to find jobs in Queenstown, Redhill, and Commonwealth, which are older urban areas located in the Central Region; thus, they have to take the North–South Line through the West Region to reach Queenstown or Redhill. In addition, some want to find industrial jobs in Jurong East, which means that they have to take the North–South Line and transfer to the East–West MRT Line to reach the industry parks (Fig. 5.15). Regarding travel distances, the workers have to take feeder buses to travel approximately 3 km from their living neighbourhoods to the MRT stations located in the town centre. For those who find jobs within the areas of the North Region (e.g., Woodlands is located in the North Region), their travel distance is between (Marsiling) 5.9 km and (Kranji) 7.6 km. For the working residents who find jobs in the West Region, their travel distance is between (Yew Tee) 11.7 km and (Clementi) 23.2 km. For the working residents who find jobs in the Central Region, their travel distance is between (Dover) 24.9 km and (Tanjong Pagar) 28.6 km (Fig. 5.15) (e.g., the MRT stations located between Jurong East and Tanjong Pagar belong to the East–West MRT Line). The working residents who want to travel to find manufacturing jobs in

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Fig. 5.15 Poor workers’ MRT trips from Woodlands to employment in the West and Central Regions. Source Singapore Land Transport Authority, 2022; Google Maps (2022)

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Jurong East, which is the regional centre of the West Region, have to take the North– South Line directly to Jurong East; their travel distance is approximately 19.7 km (Fig. 5.15). The employed poor households in Woodlands New Town take the MRT North– South Line to workplaces that are located near the MRT stations in the North and West Regions; these poor working residents have to spend approximately 20 min using the feeder bus service to reach the MRT stations located in the Town Centre. For those poor workers who find jobs within the North Region, their travel time is between (Marsiling) 35 min and (Kranji) 37 min. For those poor workers who find jobs in the West Region, their travel time is between (Yew Tee) 44 min and (Clementi) 62 min. For those poor workers who take the North–South Line and find jobs in the Central Region, their travel time is between (Dover) 64 min and (Tanjong Pagar) 79 min. For those who find manufacturing jobs in Jurong East, such as the regional centre of the West Region, their travel time is approximately 55 min (Fig. 5.15).

5.3.4.2

Affordability for the Poor Workers Who Find Jobs in the Northeastern and Central Regions

Based on the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the poverty line for working households is S$4010 per month, excluding CPF contributions. This section investigates the poor workers who take the North–South Line from Woodlands to reach jobs in the Northeast and Central Regions. The members of poor working households whose workplaces are located within Woodlands neighbourhoods spend between 3.6 and 4.7% of their household income commuting to work by taking a feeder bus and the MRT system to the town centre of Woodlands. Those who find jobs in the Northeast Region spend between 5.1 and 5.2% of their monthly household income commuting to work, while those who find jobs in the Central Region spend between 5.5 and 5.9% of their monthly household income commuting to their place of employment (Singapore Land Transport Authority, 2022) (Fig. 5.16). On average, household members who find jobs within Woodlands spend approximately 3.6% of their income on travelling to work by taking public transport. On average, those who find jobs in the Northeast Region spend approximately 5.2% of their monthly household income reaching work by taking public transport, while those who find jobs in the Central Region, on average, spend approximately 5.7% of their monthly household income commuting to their place of employment by taking public transport (Fig. 5.16). Furthermore, those members of poor working households who live in Woodlands and find employment in Tampines Region Centre in the East Region, on average, spend approximately 6.0% of their monthly household income commuting to their place of employment by taking public transport.

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Percentage in household budget

7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0%

Workplace

Fig. 5.16 Percentage of poor household income on public transport in Woodlands by workplace in the northeast and central regions. Source Singapore Land Transport Authority, (2022); Singapore Department of Statistics (2021)

5.3.4.3

Affordability for the Poor Workers Who Find Employment in the West and Central Region

This section focuses on those poor workers who find industrial jobs in the West Region or service jobs in the Central Region by taking the North–South MRT Line. Those poor workers who find jobs within Woodlands neighbourhoods spend between 3.8 and 4.2% of their household income on public transport fares. Those who find jobs in the West Region spend between 4.8 and 5.7% of their household income on public transport expenses. Those poor workers who find jobs in the Central Region spend between 5.8 and 6.0% of their household income on public transport expenses (Fig. 5.17). Furthermore, those who find industrial jobs in the Jurong East regional centre, on average, spend approximately 5.5% of their household income on public transport fares. The employed poor residents in Woodlands who find jobs in the Central Region, on average, spend approximately 5.9% of their monthly household income on public transport (Fig. 5.17). The results of the route tests indicate that the poor working residents in Woodlands who find jobs in the Central Region have to spend an average of 70 min on work trips and approximately 5.9% of their monthly household income on public transport expenses. Therefore, the hub-and-spoke public transport network is affordable for poor households. However, the poor workers have to travel at least 1 h and 10 min from Woodlands to their workplace in the Central Region, which is

5.3 Woodlands New Town, Singapore

187

Percentage in household budget

7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0%

Workplace

Fig. 5.17 Percentage of poor household income on public transport in Woodlands by workplace in the west and central regions. Sources Singapore Land Transport Authority (2022) and Singapore Department of Statistics (2021)

a commuting constraint. Many older workers and female workers will find such a journey to employment exhausting. In addition, the results of route tests reflect that many female workers and older workers in Singapore choose to take public buses to reach their place of employment instead of the MRT and bus systems because they want to avoid making transfers among public transport modes in the hub-and-spoke public transport network. In addition, the hub-and-spoke networks are always laid out in radial patterns, while many low-income older and female workers tend to find jobs near their homes and thus travel in nonradial commuting patterns. The route test concludes that the poor workers in Woodlands New Town experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems and have to experience long travel times on work trips. Many female workers also experience inadequate time intervals to take care of household responsibilities and childcare, which negatively influences their work-life balance.

5.3.5 Travel Time of Working Residents in Woodlands Based on the data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the travel time distribution of the employed residents in Woodlands is investigated. Among the working residents, approximately 14.0% spent roughly 15 min to reach their workplace, and approximately 25.0% spend between 16 and 30 min to travel to their workplace.

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The abovementioned workers who spend less than 30 min on work trips are most likely those who find jobs within Woodlands neighbourhoods, such as part-time older and female workers. In addition, approximately 19.4% of them spend between 31 and 45 min commuting to work; this group of workers most likely consists of those workers who find jobs in nearby new towns and industrial parks. This means that nearly 58.4% of the working residents in Woodlands can reach their workplaces within 45 min. This is because the government has developed retail and commercial facilities in the town centres. The government has also built industrial parks on the northern side of the new town. Additionally, approximately 20% of the working residents drive to their place of employment (e.g., private cars, lorries and vans), and many of them can reach their workplaces within 45 min (Fig. 5.18) (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Furthermore, approximately 23.7% of working residents spend between 46 and 60 min travelling to their place of employment, and approximately 17.9% of them spend more than 60 min doing so (Fig. 5.18). These groups of commuters mostly take the MRT system only or both the feeder bus and MRT systems to reach workplaces located in the Central Region. Approximately 41.6% of the working residents in Woodlands spend between 46 min and more than one hour to reach their place of employment, which means that they face impacts related to job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. The above figures are in line with mode-choice figures, such as 48.5% of working residents using the hub-and-spoke system or the MRT system only (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021).

Travel time (min.)

more than 60 min

46-60 min

31-45 min

16-30 min

15 min 0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Percentage of working residents

Fig. 5.18 Travel time of employed residents in Woodlands. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021), Table 105

5.3 Woodlands New Town, Singapore

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It is estimated that the average travel time of working residents in Woodlands is 39.6 min, which is the longest travel time among those living in major new towns. However, the average travel time of working residents fails to reflect the impacts of spatial mismatch commuting problems on low-income female and older workers, who fail to find jobs in the distantly located new town. According to data from 2020, the population of Woodlands is 255,130 persons, yet only 54.3% of the population (or 138,703 persons) participate in the labour markets; this suggests that many of the low-educated women and elderly workers within the population have difficulties finding jobs in Woodlands (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Since data from 2020 suggest that the job/employed resident ratio of Woodlands is 0.32, only approximately 32% of the working residents find jobs within Woodlands New Town (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Those who travel to a workplace located in the Northeast or West Regions spend between 46 and 60 min to reach their place of employment, while those who find jobs in the Central and East Regions spend more than 60 min commuting. Regarding poor households, most of those working residents who find jobs outside of Woodlands spend more than 1 h reaching their place of employment and approximately 6.0% of their household budgets on public transport expenses. These groups of poor workers not only feel unable to afford public transport fares but also experience serious job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems.

5.3.6 Mode Choice of the Working Residents in Woodlands According to the data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the mode choices of the working residents in Woodlands indicate that most of the workers take public transport to their places of employment. Among all workers, approximately 35.2% use the hub-and-spoke public transport system for employment, approximately 13.3% take only the MRT system to work, approximately 11.2% use only the public bus system to reach their place of employment, and approximately 1.8% take taxis to work. In addition, approximately 15.0% of them drive private cars to work, 5.9% of them ride a motorcycle to work, and 4.9% of them take lorry or chartered buses to work. Approximately 10.1% of them walk to their place of employment (Fig. 5.19). In Woodlands, approximately 62.0% of working residents use the public transport service for employment travel. They use taxis and public buses to reach short- and medium-distance workplaces, and they use hub-and-spoke systems to reach longdistance workplaces. The MRT is the high-capacity, high-performance rail transit system used to carry commuters from Woodlands to different workplaces. An investigation of the 1991 Concept Plan can help to understand the roles of different public transport modes in serving the working residents of Woodlands. In Woodlands, similar to most new towns in Singapore, an average of approximately 60% of the residents work outside of the new town area. The 1991 Concept Plan is the country’s second Concept Plan for land-use and transportation planning.

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Private Chartered Bus/Van Only, 3.1%

Others, 2.1% Walking, 10.1%

Motorcycle/ Scooter Only, 5.9%

Public Bus Only, 11.2% MRT Only, 13.3%

Lorry/Pickup Only, 1.8%

Car Only, 15.0% Taxi/Private Hire Car Only, 2.2% Other combinations of MRT/LRT or Public Bus, 3.1%

MRT & Public Bus Only, 32.1%

Fig. 5.19 Mode choice of the working residents in Woodlands. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2021), Table 104

According to the 1991 Concept Plan, most of the working residents commute within the radial corridor that connects new towns to the CBD. The structure of the radial corridor is called the Constellation Plan; it has the appearance of a constellation of satellite “planets” (e.g., new towns) that orbit the central core and are linked by the MRT (Cervero, 2006). The public transport system is designed in a hub-and-spoke manner to facilitate the commuting flows between Woodlands and other new towns and the city centre. Transit stations located in the town centre of Woodlands are developed into integrated transport hubs, and different transit services intersect at the hubs, including feeder buses, taxis, and the MRT, which enable working residents in Woodlands to make seamless transfers within the transit system (Diao, 2019). The route tests in the preceding section have been used to test the affordability, travel times, and distances of low-income working residents who use the hub-and-spoke system in Woodlands. According to data from 2020, the median travel time of those taking the MRT only is 45 min. For some working residents who live close to the town centre of Woodlands and can walk to MRT stations without taking feeder buses, their median travel time should be nearly 45 min (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). In addition, the median travel time of those taking public buses in Singapore is 37 min; thus, most of the commuters in Singapore take buses to workplaces that are located near their living neighbourhoods. Hence, it is estimated that many workers, particularly female workers, in Woodlands take public buses to nearby new towns or industrial parks that are located near Woodlands (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Approximately 15.0% of the working residents in Woodlands drive private cars to their workplace. Among these groups of workers, many are male high-income

5.4 Evaluating Suburbanization Policies

191

workers who are professionals and senior managers in the business and financial services sector and have jobs in the CBD. They drive cars and commute from Woodlands to the CBD in a shorter travel time than those workers who take public transport. According to data from 2020, the median travel of those who drive private cars to their workplace is 30 min. It is estimated that the working residents in Woodlands who drive private cars can reach their place of employment within 45 min (Fig. 5.19). Approximately 10.1% of the working residents walk to their workplaces, which should be located near their living neighbourhoods. There are many retail and commercial services job opportunities located in the town centres and civic facilities of Woodlands; thus, workers who live in the neighbourhoods near the town centre can walk to their job. In addition, approximately 10.9% of the working residents take lorries or chartered buses or ride motorcycles to work. Approximately 15% of the working residents in Woodland participate in manufacturing industries, which are located in the industrial parks near Woodlands. It is estimated that most of the workers who participate in the manufacturing sector take lorries or chartered buses or ride motorcycles to the industrial parks.

5.4 Evaluating Suburbanization Policies Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), both Hong Kong and Singapore governments should amend the policies that are found to go against the principles of justice. Fair governance is defined as the government of a city adding fairness as an evaluative attribute to the process of governing. Fair governance represented in suburbanization policy would suggest that the Hong Kong and Singapore governments actively monitor the conditions of the commuting behaviour of disadvantaged workers who live in new towns based on the interaction between the suburbanization policy and the actions of these residents; if necessary, the governments should amend the policies to restore the commuting abilities of the new town residents, such as subsidizing low-income residents to take mass transit railways to cut their travel time on work trips and to maintain the level of fairness in the governing of the two cities (Barucca, 2021). John Rawls’ difference principle holds that social and economic inequalities are just only if they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged (Rawls, 1971). The suburbanization policies in Hong Kong and Singapore go against the difference principle because many disadvantaged people in new towns feel unable to afford long-distance public transport fares to reach job opportunities in urban areas. In addition, the public housing-led new town programmes in both cities have relocated many low-income people from older urban areas to distant new towns, where they experience spatial mismatch commuting problems. The capability approach advocates that policies are fair if they give rise to adequate capabilities or the level of accessibility needed to reach employment opportunities

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for all, including low-income workers in new towns (Sen, 1981, 1985). The capability approach focuses on the unaffordability of the poor regarding transport costs to reach their workplace. The suburbanization policies discussed herein go against the capability approach because the poor in new towns do not have adequate choices or the freedom to commute to and access jobs, transport modes, and social activities. They are socially and spatially excluded from the mainstream activities of society. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore should follow the principle of fair governance by amending the suburbanization policy to achieve fair governance; however, the process will evolve for a long period of time until the social systems return to a balanced state.

5.5 Conclusion This chapter investigates the impacts of suburbanization policies in Hong Kong and Singapore on the commuting behavior of working residents in two distant new towns. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis provided in Chapter One that the commuting patterns of the poor workers in the new towns of Hong Kong and Singapore are a function of the interactions among suburbanization policies and individual actions. As a result of land acquisition, high land prices in urban areas, urban redevelopment, and public housing programmes, a high share of poor working residents choose to live in distant new towns. They also choose to travel a long distance from their living area to their workplace in the city centres. Both governments have used public housing-led suburbanization programmes to resettle poor residents who cannot afford the high land prices in urban areas into new towns. Additionally, the governments have also adopted transit-oriented development models in regard to urban renewal policies, which have resulted in many older urban areas being affected by transitinduced gentrification. Some low-income workers have been displaced to new towns and suffered from spatial mismatch commuting problems as a result. The results of this chapter reflect that it is increasingly urgent to integrate analyses of gentrification and urban renewal into the suburbanization of poverty. People who are influenced by suburbanization policies make different choices and actions when interacting with the development of new towns. In Woodlands New Town, Singapore, some low-income workers choose to find retail and industrial jobs that are located near their living areas, while a high share of high-income workers choose to commute to the CBD to find high-wage jobs. Regarding Tuen Mun New Town in Hong Kong, since there are only a few industrial jobs in the new town, many of the residents choose to find service jobs in other new towns or the CBD and commute long distances for work. Many low-income workers, such as female workers and older workers, are influenced by commuting problems. Some of them choose to find informal jobs within Tuen Mun, while a high share of them choose to commute long distances to seek jobs in the CBD. These individuals suffer from accessibility problems.

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193

Investors in commercial and financial firms contribute to producing the failure of self-containment in new towns and spatial mismatch problems. In the presence of strong agglomeration economies in the urban areas of Singapore and Hong Kong, employment tends to aggregate in the CBD. When competing firms in the same sector cluster, there may be advantages because the cluster attracts more suppliers and customers than a single firm could achieve alone (White, 1999). In addition, both the Hong Kong and Singapore governments build main government offices, hotels, famous schools, and hospitals in urban areas; thus, people tend to choose to live in city centres to access major public amenities. Because they want to be located near customers and workers, investors in firms are reluctant to move to new towns. The agglomeration economies in Tuen Mun and Woodlands new towns are so weak that they have not gained much momentum in attracting commercial and financial jobs. These two new towns have failed to achieve employment self-containment, resulting in a spatial mismatch commuting problem. Based on the social justice theories proposed by Sen (1981, 1984) and Rawls (1971), government fair suburbanization policies should not only put top priority on the benefits of the least advantaged members of society in their land-use planning but also provide all community members with freedom and opportunities to access employment. The capability approach is in line with the concept of self-organization, which stresses the interaction between structure and individual decisions to produce commuting behaviour; the more choices and freedom an individual has to make decisions, the better the social environment is for the individual to improve his or her quality of life. Therefore, the Singapore and Hong Kong governments should ensure that there are adequate job opportunities in new towns so that the low-income working residents in these areas can access job opportunities with freedom and choices. This chapter proposes that governments should not only relocate major public amenities, e.g., government offices, schools, and hospitals, to regional centres to attract people to live in new towns but also encourage financial and commercial firms to relocate to new towns by providing lower land rents. In addition, the results of the study of Woodlands indicate that the Singapore government has attracted many high-income workers to live in this new town; thus, a high share of the high-income residents in Woodlands choose to drive to job opportunities in the Central Region, while a high share of low-income workers choose to find industrial and retail jobs near Woodlands. High-income workers can drive private cars to reach jobs in the city centre with short travel times. Land-use planning can reduce the impacts of spatial mismatch. Furthermore, the government should provide a diversity of public transport mode choices for the low-income workers in Tuen Mun. In the New Territories Northwest, where Tuen Mun is located, the Hong Kong government has introduced the concept of the “light rail service area”, within which the LRT has monopolized all public transport services, forcing all internal public bus services to withdraw in favour of the LRT. As a result, many low-income workers who find jobs in nearby districts suffer from accessibility problems because there are only a small number of LRT routes in the New Territories Northwest; thus, many workers have to make transfers to

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other transport modes during work trips. To improve the accessibility of the working residents in Tuen Mun, the government should amend this transport rule. In addition, planners in both governments have adopted rapid railway transit to connect new towns and city centres, and most of the MTR/MRT routes are in radial patterns. As a result, many working residents in new towns who seek jobs in nearby new towns and who choose nonradial travel commuting experience accessibility problems. They must choose public buses to reach workplaces and sometimes must make transfers during work trips. Thus, both governments should provide a diversity of public transport services in new towns for working residents to commute to work. Finally, this chapter proposes that the policy of suburbanization of poverty is unjust; thus, the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should avoid relocating the urban poor to new towns. Instead of suburbanizing the poor to new towns, the government should encourage high-income workers to relocate to new towns by such incentives as offering lower land prices. Since professionals can afford to own and drive private cars, they can reach city centres with short travel times and minimize the impacts of spatial mismatch. In addition, many commercial firms may also follow workers by relocating to new towns and thus increase the number of job opportunities in new towns.

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Chapter 6

Comparing Policies Between Hong Kong and Singapore with a Focus on the Commuting of the Poor

Abstract Based on the results from the preceding chapters, the section identifies several major policies in Singapore and Hong Kong and compares their impacts on the affordability and commuting of low-income workers. The self-organization model is adopted to explain the commuting and urban changes produced by interactions between policies and individual actions. These policies include land acquisition, land value capture, high land prices, public housing, the CPF system, and the suburbanization of poverty. All the abovementioned policies have contributed to causing income inequality, unaffordability, and wage stagnation that result in accessibility constraints and social segregation. In the self-organization model, fair governance and social justice theories are introduced to evaluate unjust policies. Implementing fair governance is the motivation for decision-makers within the two cities to amend the unjust policies as a way in which to improve the commuting of poor workers. Keywords Urban development · Economic growth · Land value capture · Public housing and the suburbanisation policies · Social justice and fair governance · Evaluation of the policies by self-organization approach

6.1 Introduction Based on the concept of self-organization, this chapter focuses on comparing and evaluating several policies between Hong Kong and Singapore, with a focus on the impacts on the commuting of the poor. Singapore and Hong Kong are both former British colonies. Singapore gained independence in 1965, while Hong Kong returned to the People’s Republic of China in 1997; under a “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China (SAR) for 50 years. Singapore and Hong Kong, as two cities that were part of the initial group of high-growth Asian tiger economies, have much in common and are thus frequently compared to each other. For example, both cities have attracted substantial amounts of foreign direct investments by providing low tax rates, cheap labour costs, and world-class transport © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 J. Cho-Yam Lau, Self-Organization and Mobility Deprivation of Poor Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore, Quality of Life in Asia 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-7265-4_6

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infrastructures. Both city governments have chosen meritocracy as the principle in the education system that is used to select students for enrolment in higher education and to participate in government and elite business teams. As a result, many students from grassroots families face slow social mobility and social exclusion. In addition, both city governments have adopted the policy of transit-oriented development (TOD) and use the land value capture policy to finance the construction of rapid transit railways to connect new towns and CBDs. As a result, many low-income workers, who feel unable to afford high land prices near the railway networks, are forced to move to distant new towns. Despite these similarities, Singapore and Hong Kong are increasingly different in some policies that aim to achieve economic growth and social development. This is partly due to the different political and geographic contexts of Singapore and Hong Kong but, importantly, has also been reinforced by different policy choices. There are a few areas in which the impacts of these policy choices can be seen. For example, the Singapore and Hong Kong governments adopt different policies to provide public housing for people. Singapore adopts a top-down public housing planning system in which the central government controls the whole process of development. The government acquires private land, earns land revenue to finance the construction of public housing and allows Singaporeans to use their Central Provident Fund (CPF) to buy public housing or Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats. As a result, approximately 80% of Singaporeans live in and own HDB flats; however, a high share of low-income older workers in Singapore feel that they have inadequate CPF savings for their retirement (Phang, 2004). The Hong Kong government provides public housing for poor people only, who account for approximately 30% of the population. It adopts a high land price policy to earn adequate land revenue to finance the construction of public rental housing in new towns and to build railway networks to link public housing estates in new towns with the city centre. The policy causes many young people to feel unable to afford to buy flats in the private market simply through their savings, resulting in social grievances (Standard, 2021). Hong Kong’s housing affordability situation was one of the reasons for the political and social dissatisfaction that arose in 2019. During the process of suburbanization in Hong Kong and Singapore, many lowincome workers have been resettled to new towns, while a high share of job opportunities have remained in urban areas. As a result, working residents in new towns face job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. Since manufacturing represents approximately 20% of Singapore’s GDP, a high number of manufacturing jobs are distributed around new towns. Many low-income workers in new towns of Singapore can find jobs near their living neighbourhoods and thereby reduce their travel time. In Hong Kong, manufacturing industries account for only 1% of Hong Kong’s GDP because a high share of manufacturing jobs has moved to mainland China. As a result, many low-income workers in new towns of Hong Kong have to seek jobs in urban areas and travel long distances for work. All the abovementioned policies that cause social change and commuting problems can be explained in terms of self-organization. Self-organization is a process that takes place in response to external adversity in society; for example, a high land

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price policy in Hong Kong results in many low-income people choosing to live in subdivided flats in deprived urban neighbourhoods, which causes neighbourhood effects such as poverty stigma and social disorganization. It is a natural and spontaneous mechanism of interactions among individuals in a social system to achieve a state of equilibrium (Portugali, 2000; Zhang & De Roo, 2016). The self-organization approach is operationalized by using the structuration theory proposed by Giddens (1984), which states that structure (or policy) is the medium and product of human action. These policies shape the commuting and activities of Hong Kong and Singapore people; however, at the same time, people will develop adaptive behaviour to modify the policies to maintain the social systems in balanced states. In the process of self-organization, policies (structures) interact with individual action to produce new structural properties, including commuting problems. People or actors will modify the policies in the process of following the them to produce and reproduce their daily activities. The self-organization approach explains the commuting problems produced by the interaction between policies and actions in people’s daily lives. Drawing on data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristic Survey and the 2010 and 2020 Singapore Population Census, the results of the studies in the preceding chapters of this book indicate that changes in employment, the gender gap, living locations, occupation and household income in Singapore and Hong Kong have been heavily influenced by government policies, which play a decisive role in the formation of social inequality and commuting problems of low-income workers. The self-organization approach argues that those policies that cause income inequality, neighbourhood effects, and commuting problems are usually unfair. For example, Rawls’ difference principle states that policies are allowed to produce inequality among residents in income and commuting as long as they make the least advantaged better off (Rawls, 1971). Miles (2015) finds that for a high share of people, voting is not motivated by a desire to influence the outcomes of elections or by a sense of civic duty; rather, voting expresses validation of fair governance. Thus, the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore should regard social justice as the culture of their governing. When governments identify that their policies are implemented against social justice and produce commuting constraints, they will amend the policies (such as the Singapore government reducing the quotas for the importation of foreign workers) to increase wages and improve the commuting of unskilled workers. The recursive process will last for a long period, i.e., until the social systems return to a balanced state.

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6.2 Comparing the Influence of Public Housing Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Singapore and Hong Kong This section investigates the influence of public housing and lean social welfare policies in Hong Kong and Singapore and the impacts of the policies on the commuting of low-income people in the two cities. According to Ho (1996) and Castells et al. (1990), subsidized public housing in the urbanization stage of the two cities has a significant impact on economic development through its initial dampening effect on the cost of living and wages. By holding wage costs down, the governments enhance the price competitiveness of the two cities’ exports and facilitate economic growth. Hence, the governments of the two cities choose to build public housing for the workers and their families; by doing so, public housing became social welfare. The governments of Hong Kong and Singapore try to build adequate public housing for their low-income workers to reduce production costs. However, public housing provisions in Singapore and Hong Kong are challenged by one fundamental issue, namely, finding adequate revenue and land to finance and build enough public housing flats for the rapidly increasing low-income populations. The governments of the two cities use different policies to resolve this problem. Hong Kong has constantly suffered from spiralling housing prices and affordability problems over the last three decades. Both places, interestingly, exhibit a high degree of state intervention in regard to public housing. In Hong Kong, approximately 46.0% of the Hong Kong population lives in public housing (public rental housing and subsidized sale flats), while in Singapore, approximately 80% live in HDB flats (Lee, 2018).

6.2.1 Public Housing in Singapore Public housing in Singapore is not just a social welfare programme that provides shelter for the poor who are unserved by the private housing market. It also aims at improving the overall living conditions of the whole population and ultimately achieving the goal of a fully property-owning society. Lee (2000), who ruled Singapore for more than 30 years, stated that his goal was as follows: ‘My primary preoccupation was to give every citizen a stake in the country and its future. I wanted a home-owning and stable society’ (Lee, 2000, pp. 95–97). The housing market in Singapore is dominated by public housing built in the form of HDB flats, including rental (4.6%) and subsidized sale housing (74.1%), which provides homes to nearly 80% of the resident population. The HDB provides public rental housing for the poorest families, and the waiting time for applicants is approximately 2 months. In 1959, approximately 8.8% of the Singapore population lived in public housing built by the Singapore Improvement Trust, with the majority living in overcrowded prewar rent-controlled apartments that lacked access to water and modern sanitation. Others faced housing conditions comparable to today’s slums.

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After Singapore gained independence, the People’s Action Party body of government developed a housing policy that was supported by three pillars: the establishment of the HDB in 1960, the enactment of the Land Acquisition Act in 1966, and Singaporeans being allowed to use the Central Provident Fund (CPF) to buy HDB housing in 1968. By the 1970s, the HDB–CPF housing framework, which represented a tightly integrated land–housing supply and financing system, was working effectively to channel resources into the housing sector. With the integration between the HDB and the CPF system, the housing shortage was resolved by the 1980s (Phang & Helble, 2016). Singapore adopts the self-reliance policy, in which Singaporeans own and purchase their public housing flats by using the CPF, a mandatory savings scheme mainly for retirement, to purchase HDB flats (Phang, 2007). In 2022, CPF contributions amounted to 37% of a worker’s monthly wage (Central Provident Fund Board, 2022). The HDB uses the loans to provide mortgage loans and mortgage insurance to buyers of its leasehold HDB flats. The typical loan represents 80% of the price of the flat. The maximum repayment period is limited to 25 years. The CPF Act 1968 was introduced to allow members to withdraw up to 80% of their total CPF savings to purchase homeownership flats. In Singapore, HDB flat buyers who purchase a new 99-year lease flat out own the rights to their flats for 99 years. If you purchase a resale flat, you will gain ownership of the remaining lease years. Leasehold HDB flats are returned to the state upon lease expiration (Singapore Government, 2023). Against the backdrop of increasing life expectancy, high-income inequality and the rising cost of living, many Singaporeans have begun to express concerns about various aspects of the CPF. These range from a lack of flexibility over the use and withdrawal of their CPF monies to fears of insufficient CPF savings for their retirement (Lim et al., 2015). Unlike other high-income Asian countries, Singapore has relied on single-tier mandatory savings (e.g., the CPF system) to finance retirement, housing, and, to a lesser extent, health care, resulting in widening income inequality in this rapidly ageing city-state. Furthermore, the government has adopted inadequate and inequitable arrangements in regard to social welfare, requiring individuals and their families to bear disproportionate risks in financing retirement, health care, and short-term income support (Asher & Nandy, 2008). The CPF collects from Singaporeans more than what is required for housing. This approach could crowd out consumption for other basic needs, such as public transport fares becoming unaffordable for new town residents. In addition, the large allocation of savings for housing and the risk of housing price declines poses risks for retirement financing. The phrase “asset rich and cash poor” neatly captures the basic problem. Although many low-income ageing workers own public housing flats, they face problems finding adequate savings for their medical care and retirement (Lim et al., 2015; Phang, 2004). The investigation in Chapter Four of this book indicates that many low-income workers feel unable to afford transport fares to distant job opportunities and social activities because of their low level of disposable income after the CPF contributions. In 1966, the Land Acquisition Act came into effect, which gave the government the power of compulsory land acquisition at low cost for housing projects and the ability

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to move people out of the overcrowded city centre. A high proportion of government land was used to build HDB flats (or public subsidized housing), which were leased to residents on a 99-year leasehold basis; such homeownership was financed through CPF savings (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). As a result, many people were relocated to new towns by the HDB, and many of these relocated residents experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting on daily work trips (Phang, 2000, 2007). The public housing welfare approach has enabled Singapore to mobilize longterm resources (e.g., the CPF) on the demand side to finance the rapid supply of housing by the public sector with minimal involvement in government expenditure. According to data from 2021, the homeownership rate among residents in Singapore is 88.9% (Phang & Helble, 2016). Empirical estimates suggest that the CPF cannot provide adequate retirement incomes, with benefit levels failing to meet those achieved by other advanced economies in the OECD. Financial support from adult children is decreasing, and the ageing population is finding that they have inadequate savings for their retirement (Ho & Tan, 2020). According to data from 2022, the employment rate of seniors aged 65 and over in Singapore is 31%, indicating that a significant share of elderly Singaporeans have to find jobs to maintain their quality of life because the CPF is not adequate to financially support their retirement (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2022). Disposable personal income refers to the amount of personal income that remains after the payment of income, estate, certain other taxes, and payments to governments (Moody’s Analytics, 2022). In Singapore, disposable income is defined as how much money a worker has left over after taking into account government taxes, including CPF contributions. The current author visited Outram and Little India in the 2010s and found that many low-income workers feel that they are unable to afford their daily food costs and public transport fares because they have a low level of disposable income. In addition, since a high share of their wages is contributed to the CPF, many low-income workers, particularly those who live in new towns, feel unable to afford commuting costs for long-distance job opportunities because of their low levels of disposable incomes and are thus excluded from access to major job opportunities.

6.2.2 Influence of Singapore Public Housing Policy on the Commuting of the Poor Hou (2019) finds that in Singapore, most age groups exhibit a lower propensity of engaging in nonwork outings by walking if their residence is proximate to the CBD. This result implies that the city centre is not an attractive destination for walking trips, possibly due to its high traffic volumes and congestion. Evidence from the studies discussed in Chapter Four of this book indicates that many elderly Singaporeans and low-income households are concentrated in HDB housing estates because a large

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Mode Choice of Residents in Chinatown, Little India and the Whole of Singapore, 2010 walking

Rochor (Little India) Outram (Chinatown) whole Singapore

Others Motorcycle/… Lorry/Pickup Only

Mode Choice

Private Chartered Bus/Van… Car Only Taxi Only MRT & Another Mode MRT & Car Only

MRT & Public Bus Only MRT Only Public Bus Only

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Fig. 6.1 Mode Choice of Residents in Chinatown, Little India and the Whole of Singapore, 2010. Source Singapore Department of Statistics (2010)

percentage of these groups contribute a high share of their wages to the CPF system and thus feel unable to afford public transport fares and the expenses related to social and recreational activities. As a result, they generate low trip rates by walking to decrease the expenses spent on activities. The investigations of the walkability of the environment and the walking behaviour of older people in Chinatown and Little India in Singapore confirmed this assumption. Based on data from the 2010 Singapore Population Census, Fig. 6.1 depicts that many low-income workers in deprived urban neighbourhoods, such as Chinatown and Little India, either walk or take public buses to their workplace. Because a high share of their income is contributed to the CPF, they choose to use affordable and slow transport modes to reach their workplace.

6.2.3 Public Housing in Hong Kong Although Hong Kong has earned a worldwide reputation for its laissez-faire policies, there is a widespread misconception that the Hong Kong government never intervenes in the markets. A disastrous fire on Christmas Day in 1953 pushed the government to

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implement the first public housing programme in 1954. Since then, the Hong Kong government has participated aggressively in the housing market. Between 2011 and 2022, on average, the construction of public housing accounted for approximately 5.4% of the total public expenditure in Hong Kong (Statista, 2023). Public housing is mainly built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA), which is a statutory body established in 1973 that is responsible for implementing the majority of Hong Kong’s public housing programmes. The Government’s Housing Department is the executive arm of the HKHA. According to data from 2018, approximately 30% of the Hong Kong population lives in public rental housing (Liang et al., 2020). The share of people in Hong Kong who live in public housing is much lower than that of people in Singapore. This is because the public housing building costs are fully financed by the government, and the Hong Kong government policy is to provide housing for low-income households only. The main financing sources of the HKHA mainly come from public sources, i.e., direct injections of capital from the Hong Kong government, a high share of which comes from land revenue. Other financial resources are made through selling and leasing properties (e.g., a home ownership scheme), the rental income of public housing, and the rents and charges collected from car parks and shops within or near residences (Fig. 6.2).

6.2.4 Hong Kong Public Housing Policy Facilitates High Land Price Policy The Hong Kong government implements a high land price policy by limiting the land supply for housing, excluding 70% of the population from applying for public rental housing and adopting a rail-plus-property model to implement he high land price policy and boost land prices in Hong Kong. For example, the rail-plus-property model has helped increase the Hong Kong government’s revenues by selling land premiums to the MTR; it has also increased revenue from the land sales near the MTR lines across the whole territory because of the improvement of accessibility. Changes to the MTR have transformed Hong Kong’s real estate groups into powerful and diversified unions (Blandeau & Aveline-Dubach, 2019). The Hong Kong government provides public rental housing (PRH), mainly through the Housing Authority, to low-income families who cannot afford private rental accommodations. The government also provides subsidized sale flats to enable low-income families to own their own homes under the sale of a home ownership scheme (HOS). According to data from the second quarter of 2022, approximately 2.16 million people (approximately 30% of the population) live in PRH flats, while the PRH stock is approximately 850,700 units. Subsidized home ownership is one of the essential elements of the housing ladder. It serves as the first step for lowincome families to achieve home ownership. It also provides an opportunity for PRH tenants whose financial conditions have improved to achieve home ownership, thereby releasing their PRH units for other PRH applicants. According to 2022 data,

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Fig. 6.2 Self-Organization Model Explains and Compares the Impacts of Public Housing Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong and Singapore

there are approximately 436,600 subsidized sale flats (SSF), which are mainly flats under an HOS (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2022b). According to data from 2022, approximately 45.7% of Hong Kong’s population lives in public housing, of which 30.0% live in PRH and 15.7% live in SSF. Approximately 53.7% of the population in Hong Kong lives in private housing (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2022b). The housing policy that aims to provide PRH and SSF flats for low-income families is also related to facilitating the high land price policy in Hong Kong. Under the high land price policy, the government can receive considerable land revenue; for example, in 2019, the major sources of revenue included land premiums (19%) and stamp duties (13%) (Hong Kong Yearbook, 2019). This high amount of land revenue allows Hong Kong to continue to be a low-tax free port.

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The Hong Kong government’s role in housing is that it serves as the main supplier of rental public housing for the lower class only; the government avoids becoming involved the supply of housing in the private market as much as possible. For example, the government ceased building HOS units in 2002 during a downturn in the property market. In addition, the standards of PRH units are kept to the basic level to avoid overlapping public and private markets. With the low-income workers being taken care of by the government through its PRH scheme, private property is left to the higher-income group; of course, both the sales prices and the government’s land revenue from land sales could be higher. The public housing policy’s aim to avoid overlapping public and private markets can be demonstrated in the case of the cessation of production and sale of HOS flats in 2002. To avoid an oversupply of private housing during a downturn in the property market, in November 2002, the government and the Housing Authority decided to cease the production and sale of flats under home ownership schemes; the Secretary for Housing, Planning, and Lands, Mr. Michael Suen stated as follows: In view of the increasing overlap between the Home Ownership Scheme and private residential market amidst a gross imbalance between supply and demand, the Government and the Housing Authority have decided to cease the production and sale of Home Ownership Scheme flats. The aim is to facilitate the property market to gradually restore its balance, which in turn will help the economy. (Hong Kong Legislative Council, 2003)

One important measure through which the Hong Kong government screens out middle- and high-income families’ applications for public rental housing is the imposition of tight restrictions on the income and net asset limit of the families who are eligible for applying public housing flats; this limit is approximately 10% below the medium household income. For example, in 2022, the monthly median household income in Hong Kong was HK$27,100, while the income limit for a threeperson household to apply for public housing was HK$24410 per month (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2022a). Hence, a two-worker family with a child who earned approximately 10% above the median household income in Hong Kong was not eligible to apply for PRH flats. As a result, approximately 53.7% of the population in Hong Kong has to find accommodation in the private property market, which creates a huge demand for private housing and boosts housing prices in Hong Kong (Fig. 6.2).

6.2.5 Limiting the Supply of Public Rental Housing Following the high land price policy, limiting the land supply will boost land prices, and the public housing policy in Hong Kong focuses on providing housing for lowincome households only; therefore, before 2022, the Hong Kong government had no determination to develop new land spaces for housing. The Hong Kong government has found it difficult to seek adequate land spaces for building public housing flats. The government has established a long-term housing

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strategy, which plans housing units for the next 10 years. In December 2020, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan announced that between 2020 and 2029, the target would be 430,000 total units, with target ratios of 70% public and 30% private. However, since 2014, the government has never hit its target of building enough public flats. This has led many citizens who are unable to afford private housing to seek accommodation in subdivided flats in deprived urban neighbourhoods. As a result of the shortage of public housing provisions, the demand for subdivided flats (with the relevant population estimated to exceed 200,000) in deprived urban neighbourhoods has increased. Three factors contribute to the demand for subdivided flats from grassroots families. First, this demand suggests that for those who live in the private rental housing market, their real income growth may not be able to catch up with the growth of housing prices or rents, which means that these individuals choose to live in subdivided flats. Second, the demand highlights the shortage of public housing and relatively cheaper flats; lower-income groups have no choice but to live in the more affordable yet ill-conditioned subdivided flats. Third, many low-income people in Hong Kong are not eligible to apply for PRH flats, such as new immigrants from mainland China. In 2022, the number of applicants for PRH exceeded 150,000, and the waiting time for PRH hit a record high (6.0 years). In 2022, Chinese president Xi Jinping listed “four hopes” for the Hong Kong SAR Government, namely, better governance, stronger development, improved lives for ordinary people and overall harmony with a focus on housing (CNBC news, 2022). Since then, the housing policy in Hong Kong has been modified to provide adequate housing for ordinary people in Hong Kong. The government decided to build 30,000 ‘light public housing’ flats (or transitional homes) for low-income people who live in subdivided flats. In addition, in 2022, the government decided to obtain more land for building public housing, and it planned to increase the land supply by 4100 ha, with the majority coming from the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands and the Northern Metropolis (Fig. 6.2). Regarding the plan for the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands, the government would spend HK$580 billion to reclaim the three artificial islands with 1000 ha of land near Lantau Island. The reclamation project would adopt a public-to-private housing ratio of 70:30 in the planning stage to accommodate a population of 550,000. However, the first batch of residential development for population intake would not be available until 2033 at the earliest (Hong Kong Legislative Council, 2022; Hong Kong Legislative Council Secretariat, 2022). Other land-related measures include conducting a further review of “Green Belt” zones, studying the relaxation of the sale restrictions on Tso/Tong lands in the New Territories, and invoking the Lands Resumption Ordinance as appropriate. The provision of rental public housing in Hong Kong improves the income inequality problem. Compared to the HDB housing residents in Singapore, the residents of Hong Kong public housing do not have to contribute their wages to purchase public housing because the government has used land revenue to build PRH. As a result, they have more disposable income to afford both transport costs to commute to distant employment activities and expenses related to social and recreational activities.

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6.2.6 Hong Kong Public Housing Policy Influences the Commuting of the Poor Hong Kong’s public housing policy focuses on providing housing for low-income households and interacts with the decisions of low-income residents to produce several commuting problems for low-income people. The details are as follows. First, many low-income people who are waiting to move into public housing flats or who are not eligible to apply for public housing flats, choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods so that they can live near job opportunities. They face commuting problems as a result of crime, dilapidated buildings and living in crowded housing conditions (see Chapter Four). Many of them are socially segregated from other social groups because of their deprived living environment. Second, the public housing policy in Hong Kong aims to provide housing for those who earn approximately 90% of the median household income; thus, a high share of people who earn above the median household income are excluded from applying for public housing. These people have to pay high rent to live in private housing. As a result, many people whose income does not allow them to afford the high housing rents in urban areas choose to live in new towns, where the housing rents are lower than in urban areas. In 2016, the new-town population was 3.44 million, constituting 46.9% of the total population of Hong Kong; a high proportion of these residents live in private housing. The Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan and Tai Po new towns have a relatively large proportion of their population residing in private permanent housing, at 71.4%, 79.3%, 76.4% and 52.0%, respectively (HKCSD, 2017a). A high proportion of these new town residents have to commute long distances from new towns to urban areas to reach job opportunities every day (Figs. 6.2). Third, the difference in neighbourhood characteristics, such as low-income residents and high-income professionals, contributes to segregation between high- and low-income neighbourhoods. This is because high-income people do not want to live in a neighbourhood with a high share of low-income residents (Sampson, 2019). For example, as of 2023, half of the light public housing developments are located in urban areas in Ngau Tau Kok, Kai Tak and Chai Wan; however, the chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, Stewart Leung Chi-kin, has stated that such development in Kai Tak goes against the original plan, i.e., to provide upper- and middle-priced residences (Standard, 2023). As a result, many public housing estates are constructed in inaccessible locations. For example, many low-income people are resettled to distant new towns, such as Tuen Mun, and consequently experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems (Fig. 6.2). According to the 2016 Hong Kong Population Census, approximately 28.6% of the households in Tuen Mun New Town live in public rental housing, and of these households, approximately 59.6% actively participate in the labour force. According to this 2016 data, the median monthly income of economically active households in public rental housing is HK$18,000, while the median monthly household income for all households in Hong Kong is HK$25,000. That means that economically active households living in public rental housing earn only approximately 72% of

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the median monthly household income; thus, they are considered poor households (HKCSD, 2017b). Based on the data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey, this chapter tries to determine the travel time differences among income groups. The respondents are divided into four social classes: working respondents whose monthly household income is less than HK$17,000 are defined as poor workers, working respondents whose household income is between HK$17,001 and HK$27,000 per month are defined as low-income workers, those workers whose household income is between HK$27,500 per month and HK$37,500 per month are defined as middleincome workers, and those whose household income is between HK$38,000 or above per month are defined as high-income workers. This study finds that approximately 27.9% of the workers have a low-level household income, and their average travel time is 56.4 min, while approximately 32.5% of the workers have a middle-level household income, and their average travel time is 56.3 min. In addition, approximately 13.6% of workers in Tuen Mun are considered high-income households, and their average travel time is 54.5 min (Fig. 6.3). In Tuen Mun New Town, a significant share of the working residents who live in either public rental housing or private housing tend to travel longer average travel times than the average travel time (47.5 min) of the workforce in Hong Kong. Thus, these individuals experience commuting inequality.

Income Distribution of Workers by Travel Time, Tuen Mun

% of worker

Travel time (min.)

57

30.0%

56.5

25.0%

56

20.0%

55.5

15.0%

55

10.0%

54.5

5.0%

Travel time

% of worker

35.0%

54

0.0%

53.5 poor worker

low-income worker

middle-income worker

Household income of worker

high-income worker

Fig. 6.3 Income Distribution of Workers by Travel Time, Tuen Mun. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

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6.2.7 Evaluating Public Housing and Social Welfare Policies Fair governance adds principles of justice as an evaluative attribute to the process of governing. Fair governance in public housing and social welfare suggests that the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should actively monitor the conditions of the commuting behaviour of both disadvantaged workers who live in public housing and Singaporeans who use the CPF to buy HDB housing; these situations produce commuting constraints, such as the low-level disposable income of low-income Singaporeans negatively influencing their commuting to basic needs activities, which in turn possibly helps amend the policies to improve the commuting of these individuals to their place of employment and social activities when inequality emerges as a way in which to maintain fairness in the governing of the two cities (Barucca, 2021). Because people are unequal in their abilities, Rawls’ difference principle can be used to resolve the problems of distributing resources to poor people who come from different social and economic backgrounds. John Rawls’ difference principle holds that social and economic inequalities are just only if they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged (Rawls, 1971). The public housing policies in Hong Kong and Singapore go against the difference principle because many disadvantaged people are resettled to new towns, new immigrants are not eligible to apply for PRH, and many young people cannot afford to own a flat and are not eligible to apply for PRH. In Singapore, many low-income Singaporeans are faced with inadequate savings for their retirement because of the policy that enables individuals to use CPF money to buy HDB flats. Thus, these people do not have adequate disposable income to pay the transport costs for long-distance journeys (Fig. 6.2). The capability approach advocates that the policies are fair if they give rise to adequate capabilities or freedom and choices for all, including low-income workers who live in the HDB or PRH flats, to access employment and basic needs (Sen, 1981, 1985). The capability approach focuses on poverty as the lack of freedom to act. Public housing policies go against the capability approach because the poor who live in HDB flats in Singapore do not have adequate income to travel or to spend on nonwork activities. Regarding low-income people living in PRH, many of them are faced with spatial mismatch commuting problems, and many new immigrants who are not eligible for PRH choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods; thus, they experience social segregation and shrinking activity spaces. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore should follow the principle of fair governance and amend the suburbanization policy to achieve fair governance; however, the process will evolve for a long period until the social systems return to a balanced state (Fig. 6.2).

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6.3 Comparing the Impacts of Land Value Capture Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Singapore and Hong Kong This section investigates the impacts of land value capture (LVC), land acquisition and high land price policies on the commuting of the poor in Singapore and Hong Kong. LVC is a policy approach that enables communities to recover and reinvest land value increases that result from public investment, such as the construction of mass transit railways. The primary objective of the LVC policy for TOD is to make money to finance the construction and operations of transit services. In transport studies, TOD refers to compact, mixed land-use, pedestrian-friendly development organized around a public transport station. The framework for public transport in Singapore and Hong Kong has set TOD as the backbone of public transport to connect urban areas with new towns during the process of suburbanization (Fig. 6.4). Urban rail investment can increase land values by reducing residents’ commuting costs, increasing accessibility, and strengthening agglomeration benefits. Urban rail transit investments always result in higher property values near stations, and travel time savings become capitalized as land value enhancement. The overall higher density of land use and increases in population that are permissible from the development of urban metros constitute another important agglomeration benefit of urban rail systems in land-scarce cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore. In Hong Kong, 75% of the city is mountainous, the built-up area only accounts for 25.4% of the total land area, and only 7% of that area is for residential use (Hong Kong Planning Department, 2022a). Due to the limited land availability and high population density, the Hong Kong government promotes TOD and the controlled growth of private cars by charging various fees and taxes, as well as limiting the number of parking spaces. The Mass Transit Railways (MTR) system in Hong Kong makes substantial profits by applying LVC instruments to cover a significant proportion of transit investment, operation, and maintenance costs. The MTR projects fall under the rail-plus-property (R + P) system (Fig. 6.4). In the 1960s, the Singapore government acquired urban land at a relatively low cost, converted the land into commercial and financial uses by building rail transit networks along the acquired land, and then leased the land-use rights of the rezoned land to developers through auctions and tenders. Hong Kong applies the LVC policy directly to finance its urban transit development projects, while in Singapore, the capture of land value from rail infrastructure projects is indirect via government ownership of land and the sale of long-term land leases to developers.

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6 Comparing Policies Between Hong Kong and Singapore with a Focus … Structures: Singapore government acquires land and implements land value capture

Structures or Policies: LVC for the construction of MRT. Acquiring land is an important policy for obtaining land on which to build HDB housing and boost economic growth.

Structures: Hong Kong government implements a high land price policy.

Structures or Policies: Rail-plus-property system to finance the building of MTR and increase land revenue. High land price policy is adopted to finance urban development.

Actions and Travel Behaviour: The high land price policy makes low-income people experience accessibility problems. Some low-income people choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods and thus experience social segregation from other people.

Modification: Land acquisition, high land price and rail-plus-property policies are unfair; the governments should amend these policies to achieve fair governance.

Fig. 6.4 Self-Organization Model Explains and Compares the Impacts of Land Value Capture Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong and Singapore

6.3.1 Influence of Land Value Capture Policy on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong Cervero and Murakami (2009) investigate the interaction between the rail-plusproperty (R + P) model adopted in Hong Kong and TOD on housing prices around rail stations. The analyses unearth evidence that R + P projects boost land prices relative to fairly comparable non-R + P housing projects. Additionally, transit-oriented designs (e.g., mixed land use, walking-friendly paths, integrated commercial and residential development) fairly substantially increase the land prices associated with both R + P and TOD. The presence of price premiums in both R + P projects and TOD settings could be expected to spur real estate developers to redevelop the land for higher-value uses; it also contributes to transit-induced gentrification (Fig. 6.4).

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The MTR acquires land at relatively low prices, builds railway stations and changes the land use both around and above stations. Both MTR operators and private property developers can capture land value increments by building new residential flats, shopping malls, and business offices above the MTR stations. The development rights can then be sold to developers, who pay land premiums and development costs. This strategy provides a steady long-term revenue stream that can be used to subsidize the operating expenses of the MTR. However, this development strategy leads to mobility problems for low-income people, as many low-income workers cannot afford to live near the MTR networks because of the increase in land prices (Chang & Phang, 2017). The government of Hong Kong has enabled the MTR to make money from the property-value increases that typically follow the construction of rail lines. For new rail lines, the government provides the MTR with land “development rights” at stations or depots along the route. To convert these development rights to land, the MTR pays the government a land premium based on the land’s market value, which contributes to a significant proportion of government revenue.

6.3.2 High Land Price Policy in Hong Kong The stark policy differences between Singapore and Hong Kong are evident in terms of housing. Hong Kong has become one of the most expensive housing markets in the world. Hong Kong housing prices increased by 65% between 2011 and 2019 in real terms, compared to a reduction of 5% in Singapore during the same period. The different domestic policy choices made in these two cities are central to these different outcomes. Hong Kong has adopted a relatively hands-off approach to housing policy, with few restrictions on the demand side and ongoing constraints on the supply side of housing. In contrast, the Singapore government has imposed a series of demand-side measures and increased the supply of HDB units (Straits Times, 2019). The Hong Kong government has adopted a high land price policy to earn land revenue to keep tax rates low to attract investments and finance the construction of public housing and transport infrastructure (Yau & Cheung, 2021). In 2020–2021, land premiums and stamp duties from stock and property speculations accounted for 31.5% of the total revenue of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Legislative Secretariat, 2021) (Fig. 6.4). In Hong Kong, all land is owned by the government, which has total control over land supply and land use. The government disposes of land by either competitive auction or tender. From time to time, the government influences the property market through public housing policies, the land supply for housing, mortgage lending, and property taxes. For example, in 2001, the government stopped the sale of the Home Ownership Scheme (e.g., a subsidized sale flat scheme) for ten months. In times of economic downturn, the government takes measures to revive the property market, including the suspension of land sales and allowing property developers to hoard new flats to widen the supply–demand gap (Poon, 2011; Wong et al., 2011).

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Before the 2022 Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands and the Northern Metropolis projects, the Hong Kong government had not implemented large-scale land development plans, causing the supply of land available for development to dwindle. Hong Kong does have available land; approximately 70% of Hong Kong’s land has not yet been developed. However, the government is reluctant to develop new land to boost land prices. Limiting the land supply for housing produces an effect in which housing prices are expected to be higher in the future; thus, people are lured to buy housing now and are more willing to pay more than the current market prices for a house. According to the Hong Kong Housing Bureau statistics on private housing supply in the primary market in 2022, the number of unsold flats in private housing projects is approximately 16,000 units (e.g., the figure refers to those private residential units completed since 2015 that remain unsold) (Hong Kong Housing Bureau, 2023). In other words, while there is an acute housing shortage in Hong Kong, there are at the same time 16,000 new flats being hoarded by property developers. Although government decision-makers do not admit to pursuing a high land-price policy, their actions have contributed to high land prices (Fig. 6.4). Additionally, the index of home purchase affordability in Hong Kong reached a high level of 74% in the fourth quarter of 2021, much higher than the 45% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2011. As a result of the high housing prices in Hong Kong, the proportion of owneroccupier households has decreased from 52.1% in 2011 to 48.6% in 2021, with the proportion of young adult households that are owner-occupiers falling from 49.7 to 41.5% over the same period. Young people are increasingly priced out of Hong Kong’s housing market, which is becoming a major source of grievance (Hong Kong Legislative Council Secretariat, 2022). The high land price and rail-plus-property policies boost the land prices in urban areas to an unaffordable level, making Hong Kong’s property among the most expensive in the world. High land prices boost living costs, rents, and transport fares. As a result, many low-income workers feel unable to afford high land rents and living costs; thus, they choose to live in distant new towns, where food prices and rents are lower than those in urban areas. Consequently, they suffer from spatial mismatch commuting problems. Some low-income people choose to live in older urban areas where the rent prices for dilapidated buildings and subdivided flats are affordable. These poor people face spatial and social segregation in deprived neighbourhoods.

6.3.3 Land Value Capture Policy Influences the Commuting of the Poor in Singapore In Singapore, the rail network totalled approximately 280 km by approximately 2020. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) plans, finances, builds and owns the rail infrastructure. Train operating and maintenance (including infrastructure maintenance) licences have been awarded to the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) system;

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thus, the city relies exclusively on private sector companies to operate train services. Similar to the Hong Kong government, the Singapore government is also the largest landowner and auctions land to private developers through its government land sales programme. However, unlike Hong Kong’s MTR, which is also a property development company, the SMRT does not have the same access to transit-oriented real estate development opportunities. The Singapore government captures the land value increment largely through fee-based LVC, including land leasing, property taxes, and development charges (Fig. 6.4). Land sales revenues are channelled to a specific fund, namely, past reserves, and these reserves are not permitted to be used to finance the current government’s expenditure without the permission of the president. The rail infrastructure is built and owned by the LTA. The government finances the LTA’s budget, including rail projects, from its general budget; therefor, there is no direct link between urban rail financing and the LVC model. Since the SMRT does not capture land value increments directly, and the Singapore government imposes strict fare caps on train services, there are costs and revenue risks imposed for the SMRT system (Chang & Phang, 2017; Murakami, 2018). The Singapore government has to use land revenue to indirectly finance train service operations. Housing prices near the rail transit line are boosted because of the improvement of accessibility due to the construction of a new railway line. Thus, low-income residents in the Central Region move further out to lower-cost locations because they cannot afford the high rents in the city centre (Murakami, 2018) (Fig. 6.4).

6.3.4 Land Acquisition and Land Sales Policies in Singapore Since the homeownership rate in Singapore is 88.9%, and over 80% of these homeowners live in HDB housing, the Singapore housing market is closed; only citizens can buy or sell HDB flats. Housing prices in Singapore are affordable for many workers. Land acquisition and land sales policies in Singapore influence the living locations and commuting of Singaporeans. Revenue from land sales is an important financial source of revenue, and Singapore has a high ratio of nontax revenue to GDP. Sales usually occur at market price to the highest bidder through the Government Land Sales programme. The ratio is partly dependent on the volume of government land leases for the year. According to the 2022 Singapore Budget, the government received approximately S$11.2 billion from land sales, and the total revenue of the Singapore government was S$109.2 billion; thus, land sales accounted for approximately 10.3% of the total revenue that year (Singapore Ministry of Finance, 2022). Land revenue is always used to fund the construction of transport infrastructure and pay for the upgrading of high-rise public housing estates. In 1966, with the enactment of the Land Acquisition Act, the government acquired and assembled privately owned land into larger plots for development. For example, to facilitate private sector redevelopment, legislation for the block decontrol of 770 privately owned properties on thirty-two hectares of commercial land in the heart of

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the central business district was introduced in 1969. The tract of land subsequently became known as the Golden Shoe district due to its high value and shape. Landacquired territory is leased to private developers (usually for 99 years) through a public tender process (Phang, 2000). The difference between the price paid by private developers for state land leases and the compensation (at 1973 prices until 1987) given to dispossessed landowners represents the land value captured by the government. This land acquisition system has allowed the amount of the Singapore government’s state land, as a proportion of the total land, to grow from 44% in 1960 to 76% by 1985; this percentage was approximately 90% by 2005 (Phang & Helble, 2016) (Fig. 6.4). Land acquisition or land sales programmes allow the government to change central regions into business and financial centres and decentralize densely populated urban areas (Phang, 2000). The Singapore government established the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to build public housing in new towns, it established the Jurong Town Corporation to construct industrial estates in the suburbs, and it set up the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to develop concept plans and master plans to coordinate the development of urban renewal, building the CBDs and new towns. The URA acquired the targeted land, demolished the old buildings, resettled the affected residents, and freed up the land for sale. As competition to attract investments between global cities heightened in the 2000s, the land acquisition and land sales programmes played a vital role in helping Singapore maintain its edge by expanding the central business district to Marina Bay, creating a brand new, world-class business, financial, and entertainment district (Fig. 6.4). During large-scale land acquisition, land sales programmes and urban renewal between the 1960s and the 2020s, many low-income workers in urban areas were relocated to distant new towns. As of 2022, approximately 77.3% of the population in Singapore has been relocated to the suburbs, while only 22.7% of the population remains in the central region (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). Since a high proportion of new towns achieve only partial self-containment, a significant proportion of the low-income working residents in new towns experience job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems; for those who travel by MRT via transfers from public buses, the median travel time is 60 min, according to data from 2020. Many of the poor workers cannot afford to drive a car to work (Fig. 6.4).

6.3.5 Impacts of LVC on the Commuting of the Poor in Hong Kong and Singapore The interaction between the LVC policy and the actions of workers in the Hong Kong and Singapore governments produces commuting problems for poor workers. According to the preceding chapters of this book, these commuting problems include the following. First, city governments use the transit-induced gentrification policy for LVC to increase land sale revenue. For example, the Singapore government acquired land

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in the central region in the 1970s and constructed MRT networks in the CBD to produce agglomeration effects. The Hong Kong government has also redeveloped older urban areas, such as the Western and Eastern districts on Hong Kong Island, and constructed MTR Island to induce gentrification; however, many low-income residents in these gentrifying areas have been displaced to distant new towns. Chapter Five of this book indicates that many low-income workers who have been relocated to new towns experience social and spatial segregation, as they are socially cut off from the social networks that they have developed in older urban neighbourhoods. Hence, they experience mobility deprivation (Fig. 6.4). Second, housing prices for property located near the rail transit line will be boosted because of the improvement of accessibility through the construction of a new railway line (Murakami, 2018). For example, a previous study tested the impacts of the opening of the new MRT Circle Line (CL) in the Central Region on housing wealth in Singapore. It found that the opening of the new CL increased housing prices by 1.6% on average (Diao et al., 2017). Households living within a 400-m radius (the treatment zone) from the MRT CL stations were sold for 4.2% higher prices than comparable houses located outside the 400-m MRT zone. Many low-income residents feel unable to afford the increasing land rents in the areas near the railway lines; thus, they move to inaccessible neighbourhoods. Third, in Hong Kong and Singapore, mass rail transit services are used to provide a high level of both accessibility in urban areas and reclaimed land to not only facilitate property development but also cover the costs of land reclamation. For example, based on the final recommendations of ‘Hong Kong 2030+’, the Hong Kong government plans to construct three artificial islands near Lantau Island at a cost of HK$580 billion. The railway link stretches west from Hong Kong Island to Hung Shui Kiu in Yuen Long. The government is considering financing the transport projects by issuing bonds, and there would be a rail-plus-property model for railways, which would boost the property prices of the properties in the artificial islands (Hong Kong Legislative Council, 2022). Within the three artificial islands, the residential and business properties that would be built along the railways would be sold to high-income residents, while those low-income residents living in public housing estates will be allocated to locations away from the railway lines. The low-income residents have to take feeder buses to railway stations then take mass transit railways for activities (Fig. 6.4). Fourth, due to the land acquisition, land sales and high land-price policies in the two cities, a high share of low-income older people and new immigrants or foreign workers choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods, such as Little India and Chinatown in Singapore and Shamshuipo in Hong Kong. Due to neighbourhood effects, such as poverty stigma and social disorganization, these individuals are socially segregated from their friends and relatives and feel unable to access the mainstream activities of society; thus, they experience problems commuting to basic needs (Fig. 6.4). The above cases indicate that LVC and land sales policies lead to commuting problems for low-income people. The LVC policy boosts land prices along railway

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lines, and a high land price policy contributes to eroding the affordability of lowincome people for housing and travelling to daily basic needs activities. Many lowincome people feel unable to afford high land prices and choose to live in inaccessible areas. Drawing on data from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey, Fig. 6.5 depicts the workplaces of low-income workers in Hong Kong; their workplaces are distributed among districts in urban areas (e.g., Hong Kong Island and Kowloon areas) and the New Territories (e.g., new towns). Figure 6.5 depicts the average travel time of the low-income workers in each district; those workers whose workplaces are located in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon tend to travel shorter average times than those who live in new towns (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014). This is because most jobs are located in urban areas, which are provided with a high density of MTR networks. For example, Kwun Tong District accounts for the highest share of job opportunities, representing approximately 10.5% of the work-trip destinations, and the average travel time of the respondents in Kwun Tong is 45.9 min. For the low-income workers who work in Yuen Long New Town; their average travel time is 54 min. This is because the MTR networks in the New Territories are laid out in a radial pattern, while many job opportunities in new towns are spreading around the suburbs; thus, working residents tend to have nonradial travel patterns. Because of high land prices and LVC policies to aim to finance the construction of mass transit railways and urban development, a high share of workers chose to live in new towns, and they tend to take buses and the public light rail on work trips and travelled longer times than better-off workers in urban areas. It is commuting inequality.

6.3.6 Evaluating the LVC, High Land Price, and Land Acquisition Policies that Cause Commuting Problems Fair governance adds principles of justice as an evaluative attribute to the process of governing. As far as high land prices, LVC, and land acquisition policies are concerned, fair governance implies that the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore should actively monitor the impact of policies on LVC and land acquisition on the commuting of poor people in both cities. The interactions between the policies and actions of poor people always produce commuting problems that lead to social exclusion. Government decision-makers should judge the problems by considering social justice theories and amending the policies, such as lifting the land acquisition policy after the Central Region of Singapore has been redeveloped to restore the freedom and choice of the Singaporeans to achieve basic needs and to maintain fairness in the governing of the two cities (Barucca, 2021) (Fig. 6.4). The LVC, high land prices, and land acquisition policies in Hong Kong and Singapore contribute to the commuting problems of the poor. Rawls’ difference principle can be used to resolve the problems of distributing resources to workers. Rawls’ difference principle urges one to focus on the possible implications of inequality on

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Travel Time and Work Locations of the Lowincome Workers by District, Hong Kong 70.0

Average travel time (min.)

Travel time (min.)

60.0

Job opportunity (%)

12.00% 10.00%

50.0

8.00%

40.0 6.00% 30.0 4.00%

20.0 10.0

2.00%

0.0

0.00%

District

Fig. 6.5 Travel Time and Work Locations of the Low-income Workers by District, Hong Kong. Source Hong Kong Transport Department (2014)

poverty, specifically on the lower end of the wealth distribution. That is, inequalities are unjustified unless they make the least advantaged or informal workers better off (Rawls, 1971). The LVC, high land prices, and land acquisition policies have made many low-income people feel that they are unable to afford the land prices in urban areas; thus, they choose to move to new towns, thereby reflecting on the job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. Therefore, the LVC, high land price, and land acquisition policies are unjust (Fig. 6.4). Sen’s capability approach (Sen, 1981, 1985) focuses on providing adequate freedom and choice for poor workers to choose their commuting strategies to reach employment. LVC, high land prices and land acquisition policies exclude poor people from accessing employment opportunities, as such policies that contribute to resettling the poor from older urban areas to new towns and cause some poor workers to choose to live in deprived urban neighbourhoods, resulting in segregation and isolation. The. LVC, high land price, and land acquisition policies go against the principles of the capability approach. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore need to follow the principle of fair governance; specifically, they should amend the LVC with the addition of high land price and land acquisition policies to achieve fair governance; however, the process will evolve for a long period of time until the social systems return to a balanced state (Fig. 6.4).

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6.4 Comparing the Impacts of Suburbanization Policies on the Commuting of Workers in Hong Kong and Singapore The suburbanization policy implemented in both Hong Kong and Singapore is a structural factor that interacts with the people who are relocated to new towns to produce job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. The Concept Plan used in Singapore and the new town programmes used in Hong Kong include public housing-led suburbanization; that is, a high share of the urban poor population is relocated to new towns, and the concentration of poverty in these new towns creates many commuting problems. This section evaluates the suburbanization policy in terms of the theory of justice. Hong Kong’s suburbanization plan was in the more systematic programmes available in 1972 when Sir Murray Maclehose, the then British Governor in Hong Kong, decided to launch a major ten-year public housing programme to provide selfcontained accommodations to resolve the densely populated housing environment in urban areas. A target of providing house units for 1.8 million persons was fixed for 1983. As a result, six major new towns—Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Taipo, and Fanling—were projected to provide housing for low-income people (Ng, 1989). Castells et al. (1990) suggest that the whole project entailed much more systematic long-term planning and that the public housing programme caused the start of the suburbanization policy in Hong Kong. Since the 1970s, a comprehensive review of the territorial development strategy has been updated once every decade for future planning, land, and infrastructure development in Hong Kong, including suburbanization plans and the building of new towns. In 1967, the Sha Tin and Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan new towns were formulated to be self-contained and balanced new towns. According to the Hong Kong Planning Department, the basic concept of developing new towns is to provide a balanced community with a reasonable level of self-containment where people can work within their living areas and they can play, grow and learn in a pleasing and enjoyable environment (Hong Kong Planning Department, 2022b). In addition to residential areas, the Hong Kong government included commercial, industrial and recreational areas in the planning of these new towns such that the new towns could provide their residents with enough job opportunities. The government has also built MTR networks to link the new towns with the CBD so that people can choose to find jobs in the city centre. The MTR forms the backbone of Hong Kong’s public transport system; it serves the heavy transit corridors primarily for long-haul travel and is supported by buses, while the light rail transit (LRT) system, which serves lighter corridors, provides feeder services to connect residential towns to MTR stations and bus interchanges. This concept is known as the hub-and-spoke model. In addition, the government has introduced the concept of the “light rail service area” in the New Territories Northwest, thereby forcing the public bus system and the public light rail systems to withdraw all internal bus services in favour of LRT, thereby reducing the

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freedom of the low-income residents in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai to choose public transport modes for work. Furthermore, according to a recent poverty report in Hong Kong, among the residents in Tuen Mun New Town, approximately 24.0% of them (or 115,100 persons) live in poverty (Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021). Thus, the suburbanization plan is also a policy that aims to suburbanize poor people from urban areas to new towns. As a result of implementing the large-scale new town programme in Hong Kong, in 2016, the new town population of Hong Kong was 3.44 million, constituting 46.9% of the total population in Hong Kong. However, all the new towns failed to achieve employment self-containment because the government failed to attract large commercial firms enough for them to relocate to new towns. As a result of the weakening local economy in new towns, many working residents have had to seek employment opportunities outside their living neighbourhoods (Lau, 2010). Many industrial jobs in the new towns have been moved to mainland China because of cheaper labour and land costs. For example, according to 2016 data, the jobs/ employed resident (J/ER) ratio in Tuen Mun New Town is 0.22, which means that only 22% of the employed residents are able to find jobs within Tuen Mun. Tai Po’s J/ER ratio is 0.17, that of Yuen Long is 0.10, that of Fanling/Sheung Shui is 0.16, that of Tsuen Wan is 0.16, and that of Kwai Tsing is 0.15 (Cervero, 1996). On average, the J/ER ratio of the above six new towns is 0.17. A high share of employed residents in new towns suffer from job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems (HKCSD, 2017a, 2017b). Figure 6.6 depicts data analysis results from the 2011 Hong Kong Travel Characteristics Survey, which show that a high percentage of workers in Tuen Mun are required to travel long distances from their living new towns to workplaces in other districts (Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014).

6.4.1 Singapore Suburbanization Policy By the 1950s, Singapore’s population grew significantly as many people from the regional countries and elsewhere arrived in search of work. With job opportunities concentrated in the Central Area and limited housing available, squatter settlements and the extensive subdivision of shophouses (e.g., traditional two- to three-storey terraced buildings) proliferated in the city centre, resulting in dreadful living conditions. In the 1960s, the problem of overcrowding in the Central Area was exacerbated by the poor provision of physical infrastructure, which led to traffic congestion and an unsanitary environment in which contagious diseases spread easily. The government decided to clear the slums, acquire privately owned land and subdivided flats, build public housing and provide adequate land space for business development in the city centre (Centre for Liveable Cities, 2021a). The Singapore government used Concept Plans to decentralize population and commercial activities from the city centre to new towns. The government policies involved transforming the traditional city core into a new and verticalized built environment characterized by high-rise offices and residential

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Residents' Workplaces by Travel Time in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong % of workers

90

travel time (min.)

35.0%

80

30.0%

70 60

25.0%

50

20.0%

40

15.0%

30

10.0%

20

5.0%

10

0.0%

Travel time

Percentage of woreker

40.0%

0 Within Tuen Mun

Kowloon

Hong Kong Island

Other new towns

Location of workplace

Fig. 6.6 Residents’ Workplaces by Travel Time in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. Source Hong Kong Transport Department, 2014

blocks. Three policies were mobilized, namely, the resettlement of affected families in slum areas, the compulsory acquisition of private lands and the engagement of the private sector in generating new job opportunities following renewal. With heavy state involvement empowered by the Land Acquisition Act, private sector participation was largely passive. By 1970, the Central Area population had fallen to 241,300 from the 1957 level of 360,000, despite the significant national growth of over 40% from 1,456,000 to 2,075,000 during the same period (Wong, 2006). The HDB was established on 1 February 1960 and was dedicated to the goal of homeownership for every person; it vigorously developed low-price public housing to guide and improve the living environment of the city. The HDB planned and built flats in new towns for affected people whose housing was cleared and demolished by urban redevelopment. By the end of its first decade in existence, the HDB had built 117,000 flats, and a high share of the public housing flats were located in new towns. In 1980, the proportion of those living in HDB housing rose to 67%. That figure had reached more than 80% by 2021 (Centre for Liveable Cities, 2021a). Singapore’s suburbanization plan prioritizes the strong integration of transport and land uses in responding to economic development in a land-scarce city-state. The 1971 Concept Plan (which is the strategic land use and transportation plan that guided Singapore’s development) pushed planners to consider the best approach for how to get the backbone of Singapore’s public transport system to cater to future demands. Transport considerations in the 1991 Concept Plan took this a step further by adopting a “constellation concept” to decentralize commercial and other activities (Centre for Liveable Cities, 2021b). According to the 1991 Concept Plan, the government

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planned to develop three self-contained regional centres at Woodlands, Jurong East, and Tampines, with each regional centre achieving a one-to-one worker-resident population match so that residents can make short-distance trips. However, the results of a study in the Tampines Regional Centre indicate that even though residents in the Tampines Regional Centre are provided with work and shop closer to home to minimize travel time, many residents chose to travel long distances to seek high-paid jobs in the Central Region (Lau, 2011; Malone-Lee et al., 2001; Singapore URA, 1991). All new towns were planned with employment self-containment in mind so that residents can work within the new towns rather than commute to other districts to find work; this approach has helped decrease the commuting distance (Cervero, 1996). Cervero uses a J/ER ratio of 1 to signify balance. According to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the J/ER ratio of Woodlands New Town was 0.32. Approximately 68% of the working residents in Woodlands have to find jobs in other districts, mainly the Central Region. (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). The J/ER ratio of Ang Mo Kio New Town is 0.53, that of Yishun New Town is 0.45, and that of Bedok New Town is 0.41. Figure 6.7 depicts the data from the 2020 Singapore Population Census, which shows that there are not adequate jobs within Woodlands New Town and that many employed residents in Woodlands have to seek jobs in other districts.

Jobs in Woodlands by Employed Residents in Singapore Others Jobs in Woodlands

Cleaners, Labourers & Related Workers

Employed Residents

Occupation

Plant & Machine Operators & Assemblers Craftsmen & Related Trades Workers Service & Sales Workers Clerical Support Workers Associate Professionals and Technicans Professionals Senior Officials & Managers -

5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000

No. of person

Fig. 6.7 Jobs in Woodlands by Employed Residents in Singapore. Source Singapore Department of Statistics, (2021)

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6.4.2 Suburbanization Policies of the Two Cities Produce Spatial Mismatch The suburbanization plans have failed to achieve their original objectives with regard to develop self-contained new towns. In Hong Kong and Singapore, more than 60% of the working residents living in new towns have to seek jobs outside their living new towns, and many of them have to seek jobs in the CBD, resulting in a job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problem. The J/ER ratios of new towns in Singapore are higher than those of new towns in Hong Kong; the figures indicate that the Singapore government provides more job opportunities in new towns than does the Hong Kong government. According to the results of the investigation discussed in Chapter Five of this book, this outcome is mainly due to the Singapore government developing industrial parks near new towns, particularly in the western and eastern regions. Many low-income residents in new towns can find industrial jobs near their living areas. During the process of suburbanization, several structural factors contribute to influencing the travelling behaviours of the working residents in new towns in Hong Kong and Singapore. First, many workers in new towns in both cities have to travel long distances every day from their homes to the city centre. They experience spatial mismatch commuting problems, and many working women feel that long work trips negatively influence their life-work balance (Fig. 6.8). Second, both city governments adopt a public housing-led suburbanization policy. As a result, a high share of the working residents in the new towns of Singapore and Hong Kong are poor workers, and most of them are low-educated and unskilled workers. For example, according to the 2020 Singapore Population Census, the average monthly household income from work in Singapore is S$10,608 (US$7,531); thus, if the poverty line is set at approximately 60% of the average monthly household income, the working households that live below the poverty line are those that earn less than S$6,365 (US$4519) per month (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). According to data from 2020, approximately 32.3% of households with workers in Woodlands New Town in Singapore earn less than S$6000 per month, which means that they live below the poverty line (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2021). The low-income workers in Woodlands feel unable to afford the long-distance public transport fares required to travel from the Woodlands to jobs in the city centre. As a result, many of them choose to find part-time retail jobs that are located in their living neighbourhoods and commute short distances for work trips. Some of them choose to remain unemployed, particularly older workers. Evidence suggests that older people do not have choices with regard to work participation because land-use design in new town neighbourhoods ignores the work aspirations of old people in both Singapore and Hong Kong. Third, in Singapore, a significant share of high-income workers in Woodlands New Town drive to job opportunities in the CBD, while a significant share of low-income workers find industrial and retail jobs near their living areas. Thus, compared to high-income workers, low-income workers in Singapore’s new towns tend to travel

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Fig. 6.8 Self-organization model comparing the impacts of suburbanization policy on the commuting of the workers in Hong Kong and Singapore

shorter distances during work trips. Since a high share of industrial jobs in Hong Kong have moved to mainland China, many low-income workers in Hong Kong’s new towns fail to find industrial jobs within their living neighbourhoods. Thus, a high share of the working residents in Hong Kong’s new towns must travel long distances from new towns to urban areas, where most job opportunities are located. Therefore, low-income workers in new towns of Hong Kong experience higher impacts of jobhousing spatial mismatch commuting problems than their counterparts in Singapore (Fig. 6.8). Fourth, the hub-and-spoke public transport system is used to transport the employed residents from new towns to the city centre; however, this radial network system fails to provide direct public transport services for the workers who need nonradial commutes and the workers who want to find jobs that are spread around new towns. Thus, workers who participate in retail and manufacturing jobs located near their living new towns tend to take public buses. In addition, the Hong Kong

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government has introduced the concept of the “light rail service area” in the New Territories Northwest; this policy constrains workers from choosing public transport modes for employment. Fifth, the residents in new towns of Singapore and Hong Kong face accessibility problems with regard to nonwork activities. Because of their poverty level and because they cannot afford to pay long-distance public transport fares, they tend to make fewer visits to their relatives and friends who live in urban areas. Additionally, because of their low income and inability to afford to pay for the expenses required for social and recreational activities, these individuals tend to make fewer social activities trips to reduce their daily expenses. Therefore, low-income people in new towns tend to suffer from spatial and social segregation as a result of the abovementioned suburbanization policies (Fig. 6.8).

6.4.3 Evaluating Suburbanization Policies Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), both the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should amend the policies that are found to go against the principles of justice. Fair governance adds principles of justice as an evaluative attribute to the process of governing. The addition of fair governance to the abovementioned suburbanization policies suggests that the Hong Kong and Singapore governments should actively monitor the conditions of the commuting behaviour of disadvantaged workers who live in new towns based on the interaction between the suburbanization policies and the actions of new town residents; if necessary, these governments should also amend the abovementioned policies to restore the commuting abilities of the new town residents, such as by subsidizing low-income residents to take mass transit railways to cut their travel time on work trips and to maintain fairness in the governing of the two cities (Barucca, 2021). When directed towards making policy decisions, a utilitarian philosophy aims for the betterment of society as a whole. According to utilitarianism theories, a fair policy should be based exclusively on the consequences of maximizing the total benefits or well-being of the people in a city. Therefore, suburbanization policies should be regarded as just policies in Hong Kong and Singapore because they have facilitated the clearing of older buildings in urban areas, the resettling of the population to new towns to reduce the overcrowded environment in urban areas, and the making of space for building commercial buildings and transport infrastructures to maximize the economic growth of the two cities (Pereira et al., 2017). However, utilitarianism theories ignore individual social groups in the process of implementing suburbanization policies. These policies have been found to produce some morally wrong consequences, such as many low-income people being resettled in distant new towns and experiencing job-housing spatial mismatch commuting problems. In addition, many poor residents in new towns are socially segregated from their friends and relatives because they feel unable to afford long-distance travel costs.

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Because people are unequal in their abilities, Rawls’ difference principle can be used to resolve the problems related to distributing resources to poor people who come from different social and economic backgrounds. John Rawls’ difference principle holds that social and economic inequalities are just only if they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged (Rawls, 1971). The suburbanization policies utilized in Hong Kong and Singapore go against the difference principle because many disadvantaged people in new towns feel unable to afford the long-distance public transport fares required to reach job opportunities in the city centres. Many low-income working mothers do not have adequate time to take care of their children because they spend too much time commuting between new towns and urban areas. In addition, the public housing-led new town programmes in both cities have relocated many low-income people from older urban areas to distant new towns, where they experience spatial mismatch commuting problems. The capability approach advocates that policies are fair if they give rise to adequate capabilities or freedom and choices for all, including low-income workers in new towns being able to access employment and basic needs (Sen, 1981, 1985). The capability approach focuses on poverty as the lack of freedom to act. The suburbanization policies go against the capability approach because the poor individuals living in new towns do not have adequate choices and freedom to commute to and access jobs, transport modes, and social activities. Thus, they are socially and spatially excluded from the mainstream activities of society. Since people want fair governance (Miles, 2015), the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore should follow the principle of fair governance; they should amend the suburbanization policies to achieve fair governance and improve the commuting of the residents in new towns. However, the process will evolve for a long period of time until the social systems return to a balanced state (Fig. 6.8).

6.5 Conclusion Major government policies interact with individual actions to produce accessibility constraints. Government policies should be influenced by social justice because people want fair governance. The planning process includes identifying and explaining the impacts of unjust policies on the commuting and commuting problems of the poor and providing strategies to amend these policies. Evidence from the preceding chapters indicates that policies influence the commuting of workers and are an integral part of urban transport planning. However, few transport planning models focus on the impacts of policies on commuting. The wide discrepancies between actual and estimated travel demand in the conventional transport planning models are due to the models having missed some important elements, such as government policies, when estimating travel flows. Hence, the self-organization approach should be added to the transport planning models as an essential step to understanding the influence of policy on the daily travel patterns of workers in Hong Kong and Singapore.

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Another important contribution of the self-organization approach is that evidence from this chapter also confirms that the self-organization approach explains to the decision-makers of the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore that since people want fair governance, social justice is an important variable that should be observed in the formulation of government policies. Thus, it is important that the governments should observe fairness in the distribution of accessibility for all people. In the case of any policies that are implemented that go against the principles of social justice, unfair policies will interact with the actions of people to produce commuting problems and imbalanced social environments. The interactions between unjust policies and individual actions will evolve for a long period of time within social systems, such as those in Hong Kong and Singapore, until governments amend these unfair policies to return the social environment to balanced situations. In addition, based on the concept that the people of the two cities desire fair governance, several suggestions are proposed by this study to help the decisionmakers of the two governments amend the policies that have been identified by this study as being unjust and in need of amendment to improve the commuting and quality of life of the people in both Hong Kong and Singapore. First, in Singapore, the government’s housing strategy has been criticized for the overallocation of resources to housing, resulting in the crowding out of consumption; that is, many low-income workers do not have adequate disposable income to pay for public transport fares to reach basic needs and pay for the expenses required for social and recreational activities (Phang, 2004). Owing to the mandatory nature of the CPF and workers’ inability to withdraw housing equity to finance consumption, low-income workers face household budget constraints. Chapter Four of this book indicates that low-income older residents in Chinatown generate only a few walking trips. They are reluctant to participate in activities, as they have an inadequate level of disposable income to spend on activities. Thus, this study proposes that the government of Singapore should reduce the level of required contributions to the CPF, reduce the quota on the importation of foreign workers, and establish minimum wage standards so that low-income workers have more disposable income to spend. In addition, the government should ensure that the CPF can provide elderly workers with adequate savings for their retirement. In addition, in Singapore, HDB flat buyers who purchase a new 99-year lease flat out own the rights to their flats for 99 years. If you purchase a resale flat, you will gain ownership of the remaining lease years. Leasehold HDB flats will be returned to the state upon lease expiration. Thus, even though parents can transfer ownership of HDB flats to their children when they get older, the remaining lease years will be short. Many young people have to buy new HDB flats, and the negative influences of the CPF system on consumption continue to influence them (Singapore Government, 2023). Therefore, this study proposes that the lease should be increased to 999 years to increase the disposable income of low-income workers. Second, in Hong Kong, the government adopts a high land price policy, which causes many low-income workers to feel that they are unable to afford the land prices in urban areas; thus, they move to deprived urban neighbourhoods or distant new towns, which results in accessibility constraints and social segregation. Hence,

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the Hong Kong government should abolish the high land price policy by increasing the land supply for housing, restricting property developers from hoarding new flats, and allowing middle-income households to apply for public rental housing. In 2020–2021, land premiums and stamp duties from stock and property speculations accounted for 31.5% of the total revenue of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Legislative Secretariat, 2021). The government should change this policy as it relies too much on land revenue for economic growth. In turn, the government should raise tax rates for foreign direct investment, property and stock speculations and high-income professionals to cover the reduction in revenue from land revenue. In 2022, Chinese president Xi Jinping listed “four hopes” for the Hong Kong SAR Government, which includes resolving unaffordable housing prices; the government also plans to develop 4100 ha of land for housing in the New Territories Northwest and Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands. The author expects that these will be new changes in the housing policy of Hong Kong. Third, the suburbanization policy in both cities aims to relocate a high share of low-income people from old urban areas to distant new towns. This results in spatial mismatch commuting problems. Although both governments have constructed mass transit railway networks to link new towns and CBDs, many of the low-income residents in new towns still have to long commutes to jobs. One of the major urban development policies for both cities aims to build up the financial centres in urban areas and construct high-density transport networks and urban infrastructures in urban areas. Thereby ignoring new town development. This study suggests that governments should motivate commercial jobs and high-income workers to relocate to new towns by providing low land prices in new towns. In addition, some government offices and famous shopping malls, hospitals, and schools should also be relocated to new towns to make it attractive to jobs and professionals to also relocate to the suburbs. In addition, the government should provide adequate parking spaces in new towns and lower land prices than those found in urban areas to attract middle- and high-income residents to drive to work. The amendment of the abovementioned policies will increase both income and employment opportunities. Such changes would also increase the ability of lowincome workers to afford to take public transport and thereby enlarge the size of their activity spaces for basic needs. By comparing policies between Hong Kong and Singapore, this study demonstrates the application of the self-organization approach in urban transport planning. It identifies and explains the impacts of unjust policies on the commuting of low-income workers in both cities, and it investigates the travel behaviour produced by the interaction between policies and individual actions. The final stage of the self-organization process is to provide strategies to amend unjust policies to improve accessibility and the quality of life of the poor. The whole planning process will evolve for a long period of time until the social systems in Hong Kong and Singapore return to a balanced state. It is expected that the self-organization approach can be applied to transport studies by more transport researchers in the future.

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