The politics of ethnic integration in Singapore: Malay 'regrouping' as an ideological construct

Research on ethnic residential patterns is overwhelmingly empiricist in focus. The discursive context surrounding the socio-spatial phenomenon needs to be acknowledged since it can have concrete impacts on the practice of urban social planning as well as the spatial behaviour of individuals and groups. Using Henri Lefebvre's insights into the production of social space, this article looks at how a dominant representation of space is constructed, with its implications for 'lived' spaces and the spatial practices which circumscribe them. The case of Singapore is examined, where the government has appropriated the discourse surrounding 'ethnic regrouping' in an attempt to legitimize the unpopular policy of ethnic quotas in public housing. Alleging that 'ethnic regrouping' had been taking place during the 1980s, this was portrayed as undesirable and contrary to the ideal of integration. The imposition of ethnic quotas was thus justified as necessary and appropriate. Systematic analysis using the index of dissimilarity, however, problematizes this representation of space. The rhetoric surrounding ethnic regrouping is revealed to be a means of social discipline whereby the government imposes a particular representation of space and seeks to manipulate the social landscape via technocratic means. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.