Pitch
Ground-up crowdfunding effort will intensify as residents seek to fund customized amenities for their own neighbourhood/ workplace.
Description
Make life easier/more difficult for Singapore?
Easier
Describe the change
Crowdfunding activities have so far been restricted to individuals who see it as a form of investment in promising products or ideas. Moving forward into 2030, we may begin to see more coordinated forms of crowdfunding activities that seek to impact our social and community infrastructure.
For instance, residents could kickstart a crowdfunding exercise to raise fund for building childcare facility in their neighbourhood, rather than waiting for fund allocation from the government to the Town Council.
This could profoundly alter the dynamics between the government and the citizens, with the former no longer seen as the sole provider of greater social goods.
As a constituent part of a new Sharing Economy (in this case, community sharing), which are increasingly popularize by new companies such as AirBnB and GrabCar, this could impact Singapore beyond the economic sector. We could catch a glimpse of this future through NParks' community garden project.
How will this change impact Smart Nation Singapore in 2030?
The community crowdfunding could be an issue for the government in three ways:
1. The facilities requested by the residents do not fit well with existing urban development plans. Residents may be enraged if their plan is rejected by the government, given that they are willing to fund the project.
2. The increased sense of community spirit and cohesiveness may not lead to a stronger sense of national identity or harmony. Unequal levels of community-driven developments in wealthier districts may heighten sense of discrimination among the less well-to-do communities.
3. One of the key role of government is to provide social good that could not be achieved by individuals or smaller groups. However, the emergence of crowdfunding activities may create new sub-national groups that are equally capable of delivering social good with "mandate" from the people. Local leaders may have to be given more say in community developments.
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