Dakota Crescent

In 2014, Dakota Crescent was earmarked for further future redevelopment under Mountbatten's estate-renewal plans and all remaining residents relocated and moved out by the end of 2016.

After the Second World War, Singapore experienced a significant influx of immigrants, many of whom settled in urban kampongs at the edge of the Central Area.

[7] As the central area of Singapore became gradually congested, the British colonial government decided to come up with new public-housing estates to tackle this growing problem.

One of the plans included developing the Kallang area (just to the east of the town-centre) into Singapore's equivalent of London's Hyde Park.

[13] The Old Airport Estate had a total of 2,936 housing-units which are equipped with modern amenities such as piped running water, cooking-gas, flush-toilets and electricity.

The christening of the estate's name also supposedly commemorates an aviation disaster at the airport which happened on 29 June 1946, in which a Royal Air Force Dakota aircraft crashed leading to the death of everybody on board.

[10] In December 2017, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong announced that Dakota Crescent's central cluster of six blocks (10, 12, 14, 16, 18 & 20) and the Dove Playground will be conserved while the rest will be redeveloped.

[15] The design of these SIT-built flats was largely modelled after similar towns back in the UK and done by architects who worked for the British colonial government.

[1] This can be seen from the existence of many wide open spaces,[16] like that of London's Hyde Park earlier mentioned and the red-bricked flats at Dakota Crescent in the past.

The open spaces of Dakota Crescent's estate, much of which still exist today, are pedestrian-friendly and have many uses, one of which is for children to play around in a large area at ease.

Open public spaces such as these are no longer commonly found in modern housing estates of Singapore nowadays, since these newer flats are built in a more compact manner in order to save land-space.

[18] Unfortunately, the flats at Dakota Crescent were eventually repainted in order to prevent erosion from the rain, termite infestation and other damaging natural elements.

In addition, the popular Old Airport Road food centre at the same area provides for the main source of dining for the residents today.

[14] Khor had been asked by HDB to come up with play spaces for a new generation of public housing that would “go beyond providing just a roof over Singaporeans’ heads".

[26] One of the residents, Xue Ling, mentioned that the playground often gets flooded when it rains, and that she would put on her swimsuit to swim in the muddy water with her sister.

When all of us have to shift out in 2016, hopefully, the bond between our neighbours will remain intact.”[24] A portion of the Geylang River runs nearby to Dakota Crescent which resulted in frequent flooding in the area.

[27] Led by architect Jonathan Poh, they put together a conservation paper to save 12 blocks of flats and transform it into a mixed-used complex with offices, food and beverages businesses and residential units for rent.

[27] This campaign was set up as its founders felt that Dakota Crescent had a unique architecture- one that had open spaces, iconic buildings and an interesting streetscape.

Many residents still hold fond memories of the place, as can be seen by the personal recounts above, and has appealed to the government to conserve certain parts of this estate.

Projects that the group has embarked on include conducting walking trails for people who wanted to know more about the history and architecture of the estate.

The group has also created Facebook page ‘Save Dakota Crescent’ to raise awareness about their plans to the members of the public.