Archives Invites: Dr Kristy H.A. Kang – City Stories: Digital Placemaking and Public History in Singapore
This project aims to show how the everyday activities of ethnic communities in Chinatown have created a more complex understanding of place and public history in the city.
Developed by Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design and Media, and supported by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, “City Stories: Mapping the Narratives of Singapore’s Landscapes” is a community storytelling platform and online resource on the multicultural identity and evolution of Telok Ayer and Amoy streets.
Both streets were the earliest to be developed in the 1820s and are today part of Chinatown, the largest conserved historic district in Singapore.
“City Stories” lets viewers discover the evolution of these streets, select individual shophouses to uncover their stories, and explore the transformation of the area from Singapore’s shoreline to skyline through maps.
This project aims to show how Chinatown has historically been home to multiple ethnic communities beyond the Chinese, and whose everyday activities have created a more complex understanding of place and public history in the city.



