Many would aver instinctively that as people got more packed together in urban spaces, the less close-knit they became. There’s more to it, of course, than just a reflexive lurch towards privacy triggered by cheek-by-jowl living conditions. The “kampung spirit” of olden days, that the pioneer generation are not alone in still talking about nostalgically, thrived despite the cramped conditions of makeshift homes. People are less neighbourly now perhaps because their emotional, social and instrumental needs are fulfilled increasingly by links formed outside their neighbourhood – at workplaces, schools, recreational spaces and in cyberspace. Yet another commissioned study, the latest being a survey by HDB and NUS’s Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities and Sociology department, has provided further confirmation that interactions tend to be “incidental and minimal” among HDB residents, with few displays of trust among neighbours. What the nation does not know is how to crack the social puzzle, a quandary shared by other cities as well.... Continue Reading