How might we visualise the Ethnic Integration Policy quota in a HDB block to help people understand how it works?
Singapore’s Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) allocates quotas in public housing blocks based on ethnicity. In our final longform piece of 2024, we examined the EIP and its impact on homeowners, particularly those from minority ethnic groups. In this process, we created interactive visuals to help explain the EIP. In this behind-the-scenes article written by our Frontend Web Developer Siti Aishah, she provides a closer look at the ideas, prototypes, and key decisions that guided the development of one of the key visuals in the story.
In Singapore, Housing & Development Board (HDB) blocks and neighbourhoods must follow the racial quotas prescribed under the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP). This policy requires homeowners to check if their ethnic group is eligible when purchasing a HDB flat, based on the quota for that specific block and the neighbourhood it is part of.
The current EIP quota for a single HDB block cannot exceed this proportion: Chinese (87%), Malay (25%), and Indian and Others (15%).
It’s important to note that these quota figures represent the maximum proportion for each ethnic group within a single HDB block, rather than the cumulative total. In a recent project with Kontinentalist, my team and I delved into how we might visually represent the quotas for a single HDB block in a meaningful way for our readers.
To simplify this visualisation, let’s imagine a single HDB block that has 100 flats. Using one square to represent one HDB flat, we can visually represent one block comprising 100 squares. Here’s one way we can show the maximum limits for each ethnic group under the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), using three blocks of flats:
