Optimization of Public Housing Type Mix in Singapore

Joddie Neo Yu Mei

Abstract

Public housing in Singapore is managed by the Housing Development Board (HDB) and they strive to provide affordable housing which are of quality living environments for Singaporeans. HDB have continually pursued improvements to achieve cost effective homes of quality standards in the midst society’s ever-changing needs. However, massive debates have sparked among Singaporeans on whether the public housing in Singapore is indeed affordable and efficient in providing quality living standards.

Thus, this paper will be studying the effect and influence of the current public housing policies on the quality of living in Singapore. A Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique is proposed to evaluate and analyze the current public housing policies due to the complex nature of the decision-making process in such real-life situations. Relevant criteria affecting the goal will be identified with respect to the specific context in this paper. Thereafter, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model is utilized to evaluate the current public housing policies on quality of living based on the various identified factors that affects standard of living.

The results obtained from the AHP model concluded that housing mix possesses significant influence on the quality of living in Singapore and is a potential factor for development in enhancing quality living among Singaporeans. Thus, an optimization model is developed to help the decision maker better understand the allocation of housing mix as it provides them with an abstraction model of the allocation process. This model can also be utilized by authorities as a decision support tool to gain further insight of the impact of affordability and ethnic quotas on quality of living of Singaporeans as these were modeled as constraints in the allocation model.