When Dr. Liu Thai Ker passed away on January 18, 2026, at age 87, Singapore lost not just an architect or urban planner, but the visionary who fundamentally transformed how the nation’s 5.9 million people live, work, and interact. His death marks the end of an era, but his impact on Singapore’s physical and social fabric will endure for generations.
From Squatter Settlements to World-Class New Towns
To understand the magnitude of Dr. Liu’s achievement, one must first grasp the challenge he inherited. When he joined the Housing and Development Board in 1969 as head of the Design and Research Unit, Singapore was barely four years past independence and struggling with a severe housing crisis. Nearly three-quarters of the population lived in overcrowded slums and squatter colonies—a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen.
Over his two decades at HDB, from 1969 to 1989, Dr. Liu orchestrated one of history’s most ambitious public housing programs. He oversaw the planning and construction of 20 out of Singapore’s 24 HDB towns, delivering more than half a million housing units that resettled over one million Singaporeans. But numbers alone fail to capture the revolutionary nature of his work.
The Philosophy: Communities, Not Just Housing
Dr. Liu’s fundamental insight was that building homes wasn’t enough—Singapore needed to build communities. As he famously articulated, constructing a city requires having the heart of a humanist, the mind of a scientist, and the eye of an artist. This philosophy manifested in three transformative contributions during his HDB tenure.
1. Redefining the Housing Concept
Dr. Liu moved Singapore away from large-scale housing estates with localized facilities toward genuinely self-sufficient new towns. Each town was designed to house approximately 200,000 residents and function as a complete urban ecosystem. Drawing from intensive research, including field trips to European new towns and consultations with experts, scholars, and residents, he developed a hierarchical community structure that remains unmatched globally.
Towns were subdivided into neighborhoods, which were further broken down into precincts of 2 to 4 hectares housing up to 1,000 residents. This wasn’t arbitrary—research showed this was the optimal size for fostering genuine community bonds. As Dr. Liu explained, in larger neighborhoods, community spirit takes longer to develop, but in smaller precincts where residents share common entrances and cannot avoid meeting neighbors daily, social cohesion forms naturally.
Within each precinct, Dr. Liu ensured spaces for congregation: playgrounds for children, sports fields for recreation, and void decks—the covered ground floors of HDB blocks that became Singapore’s informal community centers. In the 1980s, he introduced segmented corridors with six to eight units per floor, determining through studies that this was the ideal number for fostering neighborly relationships.
2. Architectural Innovation with Tropical Sensitivity
Dr. Liu transformed functional housing blocks into aesthetically designed homes adapted to Singapore’s tropical climate. He rejected the sterile, purely utilitarian approach common in public housing elsewhere, instead creating buildings that balanced efficiency with beauty. His innovations included long-span pre-stressed concrete beams that allowed more flexible interior layouts and incorporated natural ventilation, addressing tropical heat without relying solely on air conditioning.
Looking at neighborhoods like Bishan, which he designed during his HDB years, one sees his philosophy embodied: public housing integrated with parks, community facilities, and carefully planned green spaces that made living conducive and pleasant, not merely adequate.
3. Social Engineering Through Design
Perhaps most remarkably, Dr. Liu understood that architecture could shape society. When Singapore looked to Western high-rise housing for inspiration, experts warned against it, citing failures in Europe and America where such developments had created ghettos and social dysfunction. Dr. Liu studied these failures intensively and designed policies to avoid them.
His solution was deliberate social mixing: each new town combined one-third former squatters with two-thirds urban residents, and apartments of various sizes were integrated throughout, preventing income-based segregation. This wasn’t just urban planning—it was nation-building, creating the foundation for Singapore’s remarkably cohesive multiracial, multi-income society.
Recognizing that good planning required understanding how residents actually lived, Dr. Liu established a social research unit at HDB—an unprecedented move that brought sociological insights into housing design. Sociologist Chua Beng Huat, whom Dr. Liu recruited in the 1980s, recalled being asked what a sociologist should do at HDB. Dr. Liu’s response was telling: “I don’t know what I expect, but I know I need a sociologist.”
The 1991 Concept Plan: Envisioning Singapore’s Future
When Dr. Liu moved to the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 1989 as Singapore’s first Chief Planner and CEO, he turned his attention to the entire island. His crowning achievement was leading the major revision of the 1991 Concept Plan, a visionary document with a 100-year timeframe that continues to guide Singapore’s development today.
The plan’s vision was to transform Singapore into a “Tropical City of Excellence” that balanced work, play, culture, and commerce. Its key innovations included:
The Green Blue Plan: Decades before “blue-green infrastructure” became a buzzword, Dr. Liu identified and protected a connected network of parks, natural green spaces, and waterways. This wasn’t just aesthetics—it was strategic environmental planning that made two-thirds of Singapore’s land surface into water catchment areas, moving the nation toward water independence.
Conservation and Heritage: Dr. Liu was instrumental in developing Singapore’s first Conservation Master Plan in 1989, advocating tirelessly to preserve historic buildings when demolition was the norm. The Concept Plan consolidated conservation policies that saved thousands of heritage structures, from Chinatown shophouses to colonial buildings, preserving Singapore’s memory and identity alongside its rapid modernization.
Marina Bay and Decentralization: The plan envisioned Marina Bay as an extension of Singapore’s central business district and proposed the Constellation Plan—a network of regional and sub-regional commercial centers across the island that would provide local employment and reduce congestion. Today’s vibrant Marina Bay, with its iconic skyline and waterfront promenade, stands as physical testimony to Dr. Liu’s foresight.
Infrastructure Integration: The plan coordinated long-term infrastructure needs across multiple agencies, ensuring that as new towns were built, water, electricity, sewage, roads, and Mass Rapid Transit lines were integrated from the outset. This disciplined, coordinated approach—treating the nation like a well-managed company—enabled Singapore’s transformation from poverty to prosperity.
The Five E’s Framework: A Blueprint for Sustainable Urban Development
Dr. Liu distilled his planning philosophy into what became known as the Five E’s framework, a toolkit for urban development that remains relevant globally:
Efficiency emphasized optimal land utilization, critical for Singapore’s limited 728 square kilometers. His vertical growth strategy and compact new town designs proved that density need not compromise livability.
Economy focused on cost minimization through standardized designs and mass production, enabling HDB to deliver affordable housing 20-30% cheaper than comparable Western cities.
Environment mandated green corridors and parks within high-density precincts. Despite intensive development, Singapore achieved 47% green cover, exceeding many sprawling cities.
Equity ensured broad access through lottery-based allocation prioritizing lower-income families, achieving 90% homeownership by 2020 and reducing inequality.
Excellence demanded rigorous execution in materials, aesthetics, and variety, producing structures lasting over 60 years with minimal maintenance.
This framework’s success is measurable: by 1985, 80% of Singaporeans lived in public housing; transit-oriented development reduced car dependency to 15% versus 80%+ in American suburbs; and Singapore’s per-capita carbon footprint in housing remained far below sprawling, low-density developments elsewhere.
Beyond Singapore: A Global Legacy
Dr. Liu’s influence extended far beyond Singapore’s shores. After leaving public service in 1992, he served as planning advisor to more than 50 cities worldwide, particularly in China. His connection to China began dramatically in 1978 when he briefed Deng Xiaoping during the Chinese leader’s visit to Singapore. The young HDB architect made such an impression that when Deng returned to China months later, he announced that China would learn urban planning from Singapore.
Dr. Liu’s first Chinese commission came in the early 1980s for Fuzhou, his mother’s hometown and capital of Fujian province. His city plan so impressed then-party secretary Xi Jinping that Xi personally approached him to design Fuzhou Changle International Airport, which opened in 1997. For his contributions, Dr. Liu was made an honorary citizen of Fuzhou in 1994.
His projects spanned from the Weifang Arts and Cultural Centre, covering 294,000 square meters, to urban planning for major cities across China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and in his final years, digital transformation for Fiji’s central hubs.
The Arts and Culture: A Renaissance Man
Public housing and urban planning were only part of Dr. Liu’s story. The son of pioneering Nanyang-style artist Liu Kang, he never lost his artistic sensibility. Skilled in calligraphy and drawing, he held exhibitions in the 1950s and 1960s before his mother convinced him to pursue architecture instead.
As chairman of the National Arts Council from 1996 to 2005, Dr. Liu developed a concept plan for the arts, promoting local culture and film-making. Under his leadership, the council implemented recommendations from the 2000 Renaissance City Report, launching the Singapore Writers’ Festival and Singapore Biennale. He also founded the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, acquiring specialized equipment to promote experimentation in print and paper art.
Jazz pianist Jeremy Monteiro remembered Dr. Liu as a constant presence at performances, “always steady, calm and measured, but there was an underlying passion and energy for everything he did.” Dr. Liu was a devoted supporter of Western opera, English-language theater, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra—embodying the cultured, multifaceted urbanist he believed cities needed.
Never Retiring: The Fire That Burned to the End
What perhaps best captures Dr. Liu’s character is what happened at age 79. After 25 years with RSP Architects Planners & Engineers following his government service, he could have comfortably retired. Instead, in December 2017, he founded Morrow Architects and Planners, joking he was probably “the oldest man to start a company.”
The name honored his father’s Morrow Studio, established during the Japanese Occupation. But it also embodied Dr. Liu’s forward-looking philosophy—”morrow” meaning tomorrow, reflecting his conviction that each generation must build for the next.
As late as December 2025, just weeks before his death, Dr. Liu was making public appearances, encouraging fellow urban planners to persist even though their profession wasn’t yet well appreciated, urging them to “work hard to help the world create a better environment.”
National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat met with Dr. Liu just two weeks before his passing. Even then, recovering from what would prove to be a fatal fall, Dr. Liu spoke “with clarity and conviction about Singapore’s urban future, generously sharing his ideas and reflections on how we can continue to dream boldly and build our city better.”
The Controversial Vision: Planning for 10 Million
No examination of Dr. Liu’s impact would be complete without addressing his most controversial position: his repeated advocacy for Singapore to plan for a population of 10 million. First voiced in 2013, shortly after the government’s Population White Paper projected 6.9 million by 2030, his suggestion triggered public anxiety about overcrowding and infrastructure strain.
Dr. Liu stood by the figure throughout his life, consistently clarifying it was a planning parameter, not a target. As he explained in 2022, forward planning meant being prepared for possibly faster economic growth and global competitiveness. His point wasn’t that Singapore should aim for 10 million people, but that prudent long-term planning—the kind that had made Singapore successful—required envisioning scenarios far into the future.
While politically unpopular, the position reflected Dr. Liu’s core philosophy: cities must be planned not for today or tomorrow, but for the centuries ahead. As he once said of the 1991 Concept Plan, it had a 100-year timeframe “because Singaporeans are going to live here for thousands of years.”
A Living Legacy
Today, more than 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats. Every day, millions traverse neighborhoods Dr. Liu designed, shop in town centers he planned, and relax in parks he integrated into dense urban fabric. Marina Bay’s gleaming towers rise where he envisioned a waterfront extension of the central business district. Heritage shophouses stand in Chinatown and other districts he fought to conserve. The Mass Rapid Transit system follows alignments coordinated in his Concept Plans.
These aren’t mere buildings and infrastructure. They are the physical manifestation of a philosophy that cities should be built for people, not just economic efficiency; that density and livability aren’t mutually exclusive; that planning for centuries ahead isn’t idealistic but necessary; that preserving the past and building the future are complementary, not contradictory goals.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong captured this eloquently: “The buildings, homes and public spaces that Singaporeans use every day stand as a quiet testament to his dedication and vision.” President Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted that Dr. Liu remained convinced until the end that “making the city better would raise the quality of life and people’s spirits.”
In an era of rapid urbanization globally, with billions moving to cities in the developing world, Dr. Liu’s framework offers a proven alternative to the sprawling, automobile-dependent, socially segregated urbanism that dominates much of the world. His belief that good cities require skill, discipline, choosing what matters, anticipating what’s coming, and never losing sight of people represents not just Singapore’s past, but a standard for what cities everywhere must strive to be.
Dr. Liu Thai Ker didn’t just build Singapore—he demonstrated that thoughtful, humanistic urban planning could transform a struggling post-colonial nation into a global model of livability. His legacy lives not in monuments, but in millions of daily lives made better by the communities he envisioned and the spaces he created for them to flourish.
As his son Daniel reflected, not having a stable national identity early in life drove his father’s dedication to Singapore. “Singapore was where he felt a sense of belonging for the first time, and his instinct was to do the best for it.”
In doing the best for Singapore, Dr. Liu Thai Ker showed the world what cities could be.