Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lee, Wai Kin, 1975-
Other Authors: J. Mark Schuster.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16604
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author Lee, Wai Kin, 1975-
author2 J. Mark Schuster.
author_facet J. Mark Schuster.
Lee, Wai Kin, 1975-
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description Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003.
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spelling mit-1721.1/166042019-04-10T12:38:09Z Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city Lee, Wai Kin, 1975- J. Mark Schuster. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003. Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-180). This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. The arts have been used by many cities as a way to regenerate their urban environments and rejuvenate their economies. In this thesis, I examine an approach in which city-wide efforts are undertaken to create a "city of art". Such attempts endeavor to infuse the entire city, not just specific districts, with arts and cultural activities and to develop a strong artistic inclination among its residents. Singapore"s recent plan to transform itself into a "Renaissance City" is an example of such an attempt to create a "city of art". I conceptualize urban cultural policies used to create "cities of art" as having two possible policy orientations. An externally-oriented policy is used to project a city"s cultural achievements into the international arena, often with the intention of generating economic growth and enhancing the city's image. An internally-oriented policy, on the other hand, is focused on cultivating cultural growth within the city and is more directed at achieving local socio-cultural advancement. While some cities may adopt urban cultural policies that are either strongly externally- or internally-oriented, other cities may have urban cultural policies that endeavor to balance both orientations. For Singapore, I will show that the urban cultural policy adopted to transform itself into a "Renaissance City" tries to be simultaneously externally- and internally-oriented. Despite the attempt to address both policy orientations, I argue that the Singapore government has inappropriately placed undue emphasis on external at the cost of internal strategies for arts and cultural development. To evaluate Singapore's vision of becoming a "Renaissance City", I will compare its recently proposed strategies under the two policy orientations to those of two other cities, Glasgow and Chicago, which have implemented their urban cultural policies since the 1980s. While Glasgow"s urban cultural policy is strongly externally-oriented, Chicago's policy is more internally-oriented. Through this comparative analysis, I propose recommendations that will help to enhance Singapore"s strategies to develop a "Renaissance City". by Lee, Wai Kin. S.M. 2005-05-17T14:38:20Z 2005-05-17T14:38:20Z 2003 2003 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16604 55074407 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 180 p. 1460175 bytes 1470848 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf a-si--- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Urban Studies and Planning.
Lee, Wai Kin, 1975-
Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city
title Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city
title_full Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city
title_fullStr Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city
title_full_unstemmed Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city
title_short Creating a "city of art" : evaluating Singapore's vision of becoming a renaissance city
title_sort creating a city of art evaluating singapore s vision of becoming a renaissance city
topic Urban Studies and Planning.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16604
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