Changi as a 'Non-Place'

My year abroad journey began in Changi Airport and that is where it will end in a couple of weeks’ time- and it is certainly a nice place for a journey to begin! It consistently tops the rankings of the best airports in the world boasting amenities such as a cinema, butterfly and cactus garden, swimming pools, foot-massaging machines, the list goes on. For first time visitors, it is a good indication of what they should expect from the city as a whole- clean, efficient, offering everything you could possibly think of.

In these respects, it does work as an example of what Augé has referred to as a ‘non-place’. It is a super-modern, utopian environment. However, according Augé, people do not stay there long enough for it to be a site of social relations that would allow for it be considered a ‘place’. For some, place ‘to be a place, necessarily has meaning’ (Henderson, 2009a).  So from this perspective, even though Changi airport may not hold historical meaning, the airport allows me to live a ‘meaning-filled life’ (Henderson, 2009b). It is a place that incites excitement when I enter it (the anticipation of new adventures) and will be a place of sadness when I leave. However, for others, it will hold different memories and for this reason, ‘non-place’ does not seem like an appropriate term. It should be noted that the area of Changi does hold significant historical importance as it was the site of a prisoner of war camp during WWII and so those with a connection to its pas, may associate multiple meanings, emotions and identities with the general name ‘Changi’ which may be conflicting. Finally, Massey sees place as ‘not constituted by what is internal to it, but by its distinct lines of connection to other parts of the world’ (Henderson, 2009a) and who can deny that airports have some of the best global connections in the world!

References

Augé, M. (1995) Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, London: Verso

Henderson, G. (2009a) ‘Place’ in D. Gregory et al. (eds) The Dictionary of Human Geography, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pg. 539-541

Henderson, G. (2009b) ‘Placelessness’ in D. Gregory et al. (eds) The Dictionary of Human Geography, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pg. 542