The Crisis of Sensory Citizenship in Dense Urban Living

Sensory landscapes of urban living in densely populated cities such as Singapore have undergone profound shifts given the current COVID-19 crisis. Singapore is a city-state with a density of 7,796 persons per square kilometer. Ambient noise as recorded in Singapore in the quiet of the night register...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inZeitschrift für Ethnologie Vol. 147; no. 1/2; pp. 119 - 125
Main Authors Low, Kelvin EY, Abdullah, Noorman
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin Dietrich Reimer Verlag GmbH 01.01.2022
Subjects
Citizenship
COVID-19
Crises
Density
Disease transmission
Disputes
Epidemiology
Neighborhoods
Pandemics
Proximity
Smell
Urban areas
Work at home
Singapore
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Sensory landscapes of urban living in densely populated cities such as Singapore have undergone profound shifts given the current COVID-19 crisis. Singapore is a city-state with a density of 7,796 persons per square kilometer. Ambient noise as recorded in Singapore in the quiet of the night registers over 55 decibels, as compared to the range of 40 to 50 decibels recorded in Europe. Already saturated with all forms of sensory transgressions where neighbors can be perceived as being too loud, dirty, noisy, or smelly, the pandemic situation has exacerbated these day-to-day transgressions further. Arising from the current global epidemiological crisis, many countries have gone through periods of lockdown in a bid to curb or slow down transmission of the virus. During this two-month period, residents were not permitted to hold any form of social gathering, and all except those deemed to be working in essential services had to work from home as a mandatory policy. The circuit-breaker period saw a heightening of disputes about sensory issues when working from home increased sensory proximity and intensified tensions in neighborhood living.
ISSN:0044-2666