Why S’pore universities lack lively neighbourhoods: S’pore graduate explains ‘university marketplaces’

Why do local universities lack lively neighbourhoods, urban studies major from Singapore explains

A university graduate in Singapore took to TikTok to share her suggestions on why the campuses here lack liveliness and fun.

In a TikTok video posted on 5 Aug, 29-year-old National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate Juliette explores the differences between local and overseas universities.

She highlights that the key differences lie in the integration of campuses and neighbourhoods.

NTU and NUS are located in obscure places

In an interview with MS News, Juliette shares that she had “studied about what makes a city vibrant and good for college” as an urban studies major.

Juliette clarifies that she still had the best time at university. However, she feels that the school’s design is “really quite isolated from the surrounding areas”.

Schools such as Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU) and NUS are located in more obscure parts of Singapore. Their campuses tucked behind lush greenery and perched on hills.

Even if a student lives in the west, they might still “need 40 minutes to reach NTU”. This makes it difficult for campus life to integrate with neighbourhoods.

Juliette tells MS News that NUS is “so hilly and hard to navigate” as a campus, requiring “bumpy bus rides and hikes” to get between faculties.

In comparison, during her semester exchange at the University of Southern California, students could skateboard or cycle around campus.

Although there are overseas universities similarly far from the city, such as Oxford, Juliette mentions a lack of liveliness in local schools.

Juliette shares that she always thought campus universities were “meant to be super closed off and isolated”.  However, after a summer programme at Yonsei University in Korea, she realised it could be so much different.

“There was a huge entrance that leads the surrounding neighbourhood into the campus,” she says. “The neighbourhood itself was always bustling with commercial activity, pop-ups, guerrilla concerts, flea markets and even protests after the martial law.”

These neighbourhoods felt so catered to students, but also welcoming to the general public. Like even the famous Hongdae is a tourist spot now.

Universities should be marketplaces of higher education

In the video, Juliette also asks whether local university culture influenced areas such as Clementi and Buona Vista.

She observes that student life mainly revolves around the campus and does not spill over into the surrounding areas.

Speaking to MS News, Juliette says, “Clementi and Dover, despite having so many amazing schools in the area, don’t seem to have a central neighbourhood or spot for students from secondary school to university just to hang out.”

Thus, she introduces a concept taught by urban theorist Christopher Alexander.

In his 1977 book A Pattern Language, he proposes that a university should be a “marketplace of higher education”. This means that the university is open to people of all ages and anyone can take a class.

Similarly, he believes the university is “very interwoven into the town around it”.

Many potential talents locked behind younger generation in Singapore

In the video, Juliette explains that she is very passionate about “young people in the city”.

She feels that young people can do so much if given the chance.

For example, in Nov 2017, Yale-NUS College staged an original musical called “Overtime”. It was the College’s first original musical.

Speaking to MS News, Juliette feels that there is “so much life, creativity and knowledge” within universities. To her, it would be a “pity” if they are all “contained physically within campus”.

Juliette adds that she still loves and enjoyed her time at NUS, stating that this does not mean that Singapore universities are bad.

She shares with MS News that she really loves UTown at NUS. “Commercial selection is great, and I love seeing how the green space is used by students like NUS Dance Blast!”

“Having all of such student life concentrated at one place really makes college life,” she adds.

Pushing for more spaces built for young people of Singapore

In a recent hearing, Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC Kenneth Tiong proposed creating a special zone at NTU.

During his speech, Tiong talked about universal land pricing and noted that Singapore has been good at “bringing other people’s companies here”.

However, he questioned why people take “a high land price as a law like gravity” in Singapore.

Thus, Tiong proposed a university-centre special zone in which state land is priced at development cost rather than at market scarcity value.

Tiong adds that the zone has its own board, stating that most of what he was asking for did not require new legislation.

In addition, the test “will be zoned for organic messiness, a district that is pro-worker and pro-business, built around the needs of young people and young companies”.

While it is unknown if the test will take place, it is still a fresh and exciting step towards revitalising spaces for young people in Singapore.

Also read: NTU student terrorised by bee on first day in hall, friends gather to help release it

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Featured image adapted from @julsiettes on TikTok and NUSNews.