While many aspects of Singapore’s development have been described internationally in glowing terms, the island’s public spaces have often faced a cooler response.

Public space, as we know it, is a designated area in a governed human settlement that is accessible to everyone. As it is named, public space functions as a place for public gathering—one of the earliest examples is the square in ancient Greek metropolis and similar space that other cities built through the span of the last millennium. The more recent takes on public spaces include parks, pedestrian path as well as other accessible infrastructure, and sometimes, institutional buildings. Public space then functions more than as a place to gather, but also to relax, spend time doing almost anything, up to being a deliberate pause in a dense urban design, and as an ecological element, for instance, an area of water reserve or for nature to thrive.