<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Singapore's public housing apartments are also referred to as HDB flats.Kandl</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Singapore's public housing apartments are home to about 80% of the country's resident population.</li><li>In recent years, some flats have gone on to fetch over 1 million Singapore dollars on the market.</li></ul><p>Singapore's skyline would not be complete without its candy-colored, high-rise public housing apartment blocks.</p><p>Constructed by the Housing Development Board, these apartments are colloquially known as HDB flats.</p><p>Like many Singaporeans, I grew up in an HDB flat in central Singapore — and I've been living in the same one with my family for almost two decades.</p><p>It's an old housing complex by Singapore's standards, considering it was constructed in 1976. Most of my neighbors have lived here for as long as I have — and even longer. I know an elderly grandma downstairs who moved in just a few years after the block was built.</p><p>I went to elementary school five minutes from where I live, and my friends from back then — some of whom I still keep in touch with — all live nearby.</p><p>The older I get, the more I appreciate living in such a meticulously planned community — one of many in the country. Where else in the world can I find a hospital, a market, and a mall within a 15-minute walk — half of which has shelter from the rain?</p><p>Singapore and New York City are tied as the <a target="_blank" rel href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-living-where-are-the-most-expensive-cities-eiu-2022-11?_gl=1*ysyq1k*_ga*MTkyMjM0ODQ2Ni4xNjY4MDUyNjEz*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY4MjQ4MTE0NS40NzAuMS4xNjgyNDgyODk5LjUxLjAuMA..&_ga=2.159959610.600422903.1682387398-1922348466.1668052613"><u>most expensive cities in the world</u></a> to live in, but their public housing systems are worlds apart.</p><p>In the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usa.gov/public-housing#:~:text=Public%20housing%20is%20designed%20for,PHAs)%20manage%20public%20housing%20properties.">US</a>, public housing is intended for low-income families, seniors, or people with disabilities.</p><p>In Singapore, however, it's a different situation: Public housing units are where about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hdb.gov.sg/about-us">80% of the country's resident population</a> lives. It's considered <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/what-about-singapore-lessons-best-public-housing-program-world">one of the most successful public housing systems in the world</a>.</p><p>And in Singapore, public housing does not mean inexpensive housing.</p><p>Despite being conceived as affordable housing for the masses, some HDB flats have sold for over $1 million on the resale market in recent years. In June, a 4-room flat was sold for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.99.co/singapore/insider/most-expensive-hdb-flat-50-year-old-tiong-bahru-flat-sold-for-s1-5m/">$1.5 million Singapore dollars</a>, or $1.1 million.</p><p>In 2021, there were 261 million-dollar HDB flats sold on the resale market, per the local paper <a target="_blank" href="https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2021/06/singapore-million-dollar-hdb/index.html?shell=">The Straits Times</a>.</p>