One Square Mile: Tiong Bahru, Singapore, Guide

Built in the 1930s, Tiong Bahru is Singapore’s oldest housing estate, a leafy enclave packed with prewar Art Deco walk-up flats unlike anything else you’ll find in the city. They were awarded special conservation status in 2003, and the prices of apartments and real estate here have skyrocketed ever since. The quiet, walkable neighborhood — a favorite with expats and young couples — epitomizes how Singapore’s young artists, baristas and bakers are finding a growing space for themselves, yet it blends perfectly with the neighborhood’s rich history and heritage. There is economic sense in preservation, as Tiong Bahru’s bustling cafes and bookshops will show.

Meet Shibani Mahtani

Shibani Mahtani is a Singapore-based international investigative correspondent for The Washington Post. She focuses on accountability-driven investigations across the Asia-Pacific region. She joined The Post's foreign desk in 2018 as the Southeast Asia and Hong Kong Bureau Chief after seven years as a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.

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