As a planning and research tool, the time budget is sadly neglected and falls far short of its potential. Existing studies that apply to this methodology are limited in their focus on human activities and have overlooked time budgets as a means of comparing the life styles of people in different living environments. The results of two time-budget surveys of residents in an urban-fringe squatter area and high-rise public flats in the Republic of Singapore are reported, stressing those aspects that, at best, are usually paid lip service. An analysis of the various ways in which people in these divergent living environments used their time reveals important contrasts in life styles. Implications for urban planners are briefly drawn.
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