Urban sustainability trade-offs and liveability priorities in a high-capacity island state: public priorities from Singapore

Source abstract

This study examines how residents of a high-capacity island state perceive and prioritize urban sustainability and liveability challenges within a context shaped by spatial constraint, resource dependency, and climate vulnerability. Focusing on Singapore as an exceptional island case rather than a representative Small Island Developing State, the study examines three interrelated questions: which sustainability challenges residents perceive as most urgent, how competing urban priorities are evaluated, and what trade-offs are considered acceptable in pursuing sustainable urban futures. Drawing on a national survey of 400 respondents, the study combines ranking exercises, scaled assessments, resource-allocation tasks, and qualitative responses to analyse public attitudes toward sustainability priorities, governance approaches, and policy transferability. Findings reveal strong concern for land scarcity, water security, and climate-related vulnerability, alongside support for compact urban development and infrastructural efficiency. Respondents also expressed concerns regarding affordability, environmental comfort, density-related liveability pressures, and technocratic governance approaches. The findings demonstrate that sustainability transitions are evaluated not only through infrastructural performance, but through their perceived implications for wellbeing, liveability, and social legitimacy. The study contributes to debates on islandness, sustainability governance, and healthy urban futures by positioning sustainability as a socially negotiated urban condition.