Orchard Road’s real problem? It forgot how to host a good weekend afternoon
The decline of one of Singapore’s most iconic streets is not a retail problem. It has simply stopped being the place where people want to spend time together.
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Orchard Road’s wide pedestrian boulevard could host concerts, festivals and performance art, its public spaces less corridors between malls than destinations in themselves, says the writer.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Samer Elhajjar
Every few months, Singapore has the same conversation about Orchard Road. A department store closes. A mall announces another refurbishment. And the question never changes: How do we make this a great shopping destination again?
That may be the wrong question. It may have always been the wrong question.