End of the line for Golden Mile Complex?

Possible plans for the mixed-use development that will replace Singapore's landmark Golden Mile Complex sparked frustration online.

Golden Mile Complex. Photo credit: Jonathan Lin/Flickr

Saturday night, around 3am, in early March 2023. At a time when most of Singapore is quiet, the halls of Golden Mile Complex, a landmark mall along Beach Road, were bustling with crowds and music blaring behind the walls of the many bars the establishment was home to. On the ground floor, ravers donning their favourites were lining up by the mall’s iconic Thai food stalls, waiting for tom yum fried rice and an iced milk tea before heading home.

The setup to this scene was particularly significant; that night, the complex played host to The Last Mile, a giant farewell rave organized by a dozen local collectives taking over different venues across the mall to showcase a variety of sounds and atmospheres, all to pay homage to the soon-to-be-gazetted mall.

The event’s success was guaranteed from the start: tickets sold out within just a few days of going live. That night, the entire building was aswarm with people making their way across floors and between rooms to catch as many performers as possible.

As a foreigner, it would seem odd that people would be so emotionally invested in hosting and attending a large-scale event commemorating a mall. In a way, this kind of collective dedication to the space is reflective of mall culture across Southeast Asia, as third places grouping together food, shops, and leisure, offering not just shopping opportunities but a social experience as a whole.

Making my way through the crowded corridors that night, I could sense the particular attachment Singaporeans had to Golden Mile Complex. Colloquially known as Little Thailand, owing to the many Thai restaurants in the building, the complex laid adjacent to Golden Mile Tower, home to one of Singapore’s landmark independent movie theatres, The Projector.

For many of my peers, these places became teenhood staples: catch a movie with your friend at the cinema, then walk over next door for Thai food. It helped that many independent shops catering to local subcultures were also located across the complex and the tower, further cementing Golden Mile’s role as a place for food, shopping, and leisure.

Several months after The Last Mile, and after Golden Mile Complex had effectively closed its doors to the public, I visited M+ during a trip to Hong Kong. The museum was holding a temporary exhibition titled “Things, Spaces, Interactions,” which looked at the interplay between design and architecture and the global social, political, and economic change in Asia over the past 70 years.

Among the many examples of noteworthy architecture that helped shape national identities in the region was Singapore’s very own Golden Mile Complex, cited as an example of a megastructure offering solutions to challenges associated with population density and climate change. Clearly, the building’s significance extended well beyond the city-state’s small borders.

It’s not just the community that kept Golden Mile Complex so close to many (younger) Singaporeans’s hearts, there was also a unique and easily distinguishable aesthetic, on par with other local landmarks such as Marina Bay Sands or the Merlion. Many were concerned, upon learning the mall would be gazetted for redevelopment, that in addition to losing a valued communal space, Singapore would also lose a part of its architectural excellence.