5-foot Walkways

5-foot Walkways and the Architecture of Buildings

The way buildings were built then were very different from modern day Singapore. The current architecture of our buildings now evolved and adapt accordingly from past buildings.
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Shophouses as show in the picture above are the most popular shaped buildings here in Chinatown. Also known as Shophouses, these types of buildings were long in depth but short in width, usually comprising of 2 to 3 storeys high. The name shophouses suggests, that buildings like these were used as both for businesses and homes. The ground flow was meant to run a business whilst the second and third floor are more commonly used as living quarters for the Shop Owners and their family.

Following the architecture of the houses are also the prominent walkways of the time -5 foot walkways.

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Measuring just 5 foot long in width from shophouses, these walkways were were adopted from  Raffles Town plan to be able to provide residents with shelter from both the sun and rain. Alternative names for this 5-foot walkways are Wu jiao ji (五脚基) in Chinese and Kaki lima in Malay.

Having these 5-foot walkways also helped freed up spaces on the street so that other businesses can be set up there.

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