About the speaker
Vanessa Chan is an urban studies student from Singapore, currently based in Tokyo.
She organises an online book club focusing on Southeast Asian literature.
Urbanist Meet-up on Singapore
Jun 21, 2025 – Jun 21, 2025For this meet-up, Vanessa shared with us urban insights from Singapore, focusing on its development and impacts on the communities.
What did we talk about?
The speaker, Vanessa, first gave a presentation about urban development in Singapore based on various research papers. The talk focused on sand and land reclamation and the impacts on the local community. She also shared organisations fighting for community and indigenous rights.
After that we had a discussion among the participants. We talked about the meaning of "island mentality" based on a speech by the former prime minister of Singapore.
It was an informative session with insights on topics beyond the common view of Singapore as a highly modern and urbanised place.
Some topics discussed- What does "Island mentality" mean?
- Dislocation & ruralization
- Sand extraction & imperialism
- Water as a connector of people and communities in Southeast Asia