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Prime Minister Lee shared with Singaporeans URA's plans for Orchard Road, Bras Basah.Bugis and Marina Bay at this year's National Day Rally. A travelling exhibition showcasing these plans also made its way to ten HDB towns and the National Library Building over a month, bringing the exciting plans closer to the heartlanders.
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An artist's impression of the
soaring Orchard Turn
development
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"TO REMAKE THE economy and attract talent we've also got to remake our city. This has to be a city which is full of life and energy and excitement, a place where people want to live, work and play, where they are stimulated to be active, to be creative and to enjoy life....It will be a city in our image, a sparkling jewel, a home for all of us to be proud of, a home that would belong to all of us."
These words by Prime Minister Lee at the National Day Rally 2005 summed up the government's vision to remake and create Singapore's city centre as a vibrant, global city, in the next fiveto 10 years.
Orchard Road - the great shopping street
The vision of Orchard Road is to make it one of the greatest shopping streets in the world. Tasked to rejuvenate Orchard Road with various government agencies, URA has put in place a slew of initiatives. One of them is the sale of sites along this much coveted street. URA released two prime land parcels, two of the last few remaining available along Orchard Road, for sale this year. Both sites have been triggered for sale on tender, which clearly demonstrated developers' confidence in our vision.
The site along Orchard Turn, above Orchard Road MRT station, will be a landmark building. It is envisaged to be the tallest building along Orchard Road at about 40 storeys. When developed, it will have an observation deck which allows visitors to have a panoramic view of Orchard Road, something which is not possible from other buildings now. It will also have an open public events space on the ground level that is seamlessly integrated with the pedestrian mall. This can be a new focal point for activities along Orchard Road. The tender for the site was launched on 26 September 2005 and will close on 8 December 2005.
The other sale site is located near the Somerset MRT station. The Somerset site is envisaged as an anchor retail development that will have an extensive frontage along Orchard Road. It is planned to be connected to the Somerset MRT station and surrounding developments through an underground link. This will facilitate commuter and shopper flow between the MRT Station and the surrounding developments on both sides of Orchard Road.
Bras Basah. Bugis - arts, learning, cultural and entertainment hub
The Bras Basah.Bugis area is all abuzz as URA's plans of developing it into an arts, learning, culture and entertainment hub began to take shape.
The new Singapore Management University campus just opened its doors to some 1,200 students in August. Last July, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts begun classes in its new campus buildings along Bencoolen Street. The campus of another arts school, LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, will be ready in 2007. The huge influx of students in the area - some 14,000 in total - means that Bras Basah will once again become a lively education hub. The new National Library building, too, had created a lot of buzz in the area.
Another unique character of the district is its eclectic mix of arts facilities and religious institutions, which draws Singaporeans from all quarters. The Kwan Im Tong Hood Che Chinese Temple stands side by side with the Sri Krishnan Hindu Temple, attesting to Singapore's multi-racial harmony.
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An artist's impression of the
Integrated Resort at Marina Bay which is envisaged to provide a public attraction, performances, hotels, convention, retail and gaming facilities |
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