Down the Vertical Refuse Chutes in Singapore High-rise Living

Abstract

In the first three decades of post-independence (1960–1990), Singapore underwent a radical housing transition into high-rise, high-density housing that required technical innovation to manage new scales and heights of household waste. Drawing on perspectives from urban political ecology, three questions are examined: What were the key challenges of household waste management policy and technology across this period? Who were the key actors and development partners? What was the environmental and social rationale for everyday waste management, and how did it change over time? We discern a pattern of innovation, which was driven by intersecting challenges around accessibility, affordability and adoption.