‘Village’ as a metaphor, propelled by mobilizing nostalgia for the ‘rural’ as counter to urban fragmentation, has been used across nations to engender a sense of place and community in urban spaces. In Singapore, the narrative of kampung (Malay for village), rooted in restorative nostalgia, has been used repeatedly to foster living in harmony. However, it remains unclear in what ways ‘kampung’ and related social policies resonate with current citizens. The main objective of this research is to generate a grounded, interpretive lens on the term kampung to better understand its meaning and relevance in the context of urban living. A mixed methods approach comprising discourse analysis, in-depth interviews and Q-methodology was used to engage a diverse group of residents in generating grounded perspectives around the construct. We show ‘kampung’ is a heterogenous concept that can be understood through five analytically distinct perspectives wherein race, place, neighbouring, and personal agency vis-à-vis the role of government are recurring themes. The findings lend a social constructivist perspective to wider geographical debates around the urban/rural dichotomy and outline some possibilities for ‘kampung’ under present conditions.

中文翻译：

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重新思考新加坡和新加坡人（重新）塑造中的“甘榜”或“村庄”

“村庄”作为一个比喻，通过动员对“农村”的怀旧情绪来对抗城市碎片化，已被各国使用，以在城市空间中产生一种地方感和社区感。在新加坡，根植于恢复性怀旧的 kampung（马来语为村庄）的叙事被反复使用，以促进和谐生活。然而，目前尚不清楚“甘榜”和相关社会政策以何种方式与当前公民产生共鸣。这项研究的主要目的是对 kampung 一词产生一个扎根的解释性镜头，以更好地理解其在城市生活背景下的含义和相关性。包括话语分析、深度访谈和 Q 方法在内的混合方法被用来让不同的居民群体围绕构建产生扎根的观点。我们展示了“甘榜”是一个异质的概念，可以通过五个不同的分析视角来理解，其中种族、地方、邻里和个人机构与政府角色的关系是反复出现的主题。研究结果为围绕城市/农村二分法的更广泛的地理辩论提供了社会建构主义的观点，并概述了在当前条件下“甘榜”的一些可能性。