We drew up plans to ensure Singapore remains highly liveable for generations to come. The highlight was the launch of the Draft Master Plan 2019, which charts out our city’s development for the next 10 to 15 years. This was the culmination of an extensive review of island-wide plans, carried out in consultation with citizens, stakeholders and agencies.
New homes and neighbourhoods, including major precincts to be built in the longer-term future, will provide citizens a refreshing range of housing options, convenient access to jobs and amenities as well as green community spaces. Each town will also be sensitively planned and designed to complement and strengthen the identity of the area.
Following engagements with residents and stakeholders, we developed more inclusive plans for Farrer Park, Lorong Chuan and Holland Plain that consider their feedback and aspirations. At Farrer Park for example, familiar landmarks such as the swimming pool and former boxing gym will be retained and integrated with a new sports field, park and housing.
Residents contributed ideas for a new housing area at Lorong Chuan – © People’s Association
Familiar landmarks at Farrer Park will be integrated with new housing and community spaces (artist's impression)
Holland Plain will be defined by ample green spaces and water features fit for community bonding (artist's impression)
[WATCH]: The engagement efforts behind the Draft Master Plan 2019
At one-stop hubs, such as Our Tampines Hub, residents can shop, eat, exercise and attend courses at the community centre, all under one roof. More integrated developments have been planned in housing towns, such as the future Bukit Timah Community Building, to maximise convenience and provide shared spaces for residents.
More integrated developments that co-locate multiple facilities have been planned
We unveiled ideas for the Paya Lebar Airbase site and the Greater Southern Waterfront, both to be developed in the longer term. After the airbase relocates, the site can be transformed into a new town with quality homes, jobs and facilities, and with its aviation heritage retained and integrated with community spaces. At the Greater Southern Waterfront, the Pasir Panjang, Labrador and Keppel areas can be rejuvenated as a delightful waterfront node and housing precinct. We are also planning for a variety of new homes and amenities in areas like Downtown, Marina South, Orchard and Rochor, to increase live-in population in the Central Area and provide residents greater access to transport nodes, employment centres as well as recreational options.
Former airport buildings and parts of the runway at Paya Lebar Airbase can be re-purposed into vibrant community spaces (artist's impression)
The future Pasir Panjang Linear Park will seamlessly connect the Greater Southern Waterfront (artist's impression) – © URA and National Parks Board
As we continue to grow our Central Business District and Marina Bay, we also worked with industry partners and experts to shape up the plans for island-wide economic gateways, a key strategy to sustain Singapore’s long-term competitiveness, and to bring jobs and amenities closer to homes. These vibrant hubs will be highly connected to the rest of the island and deepen Singapore’s linkages to external markets. They will also provide flexible spaces that cater to businesses’ needs in the future economy, and facilitate greater collaboration between business, industry, R&D and academia.
We came up with proposals to sustain and enliven the Changi region as a thriving economic and lifestyle hub, and as Singapore’s eastern gateway to the world. They include plans for the Changi Aviation Park and Changi City.
Key nodes at Changi will host a myriad of aviation-related businesses and an innovative lifestyle business cluster
Anchored by Jurong Lake District, Jurong Innovation District and Tuas Terminal, and home to the Jurong and Tuas industrial estates, the western gateway will leverage improved transport linkages to drive collaborations. Its great connectivity will also facilitate seamless movement of goods, services and people, within Singapore and beyond.
Jurong Lake District will tap its natural and heritage assets to enhance the environment for workers and residents (artist's impression) – © KCAP/SAA/Arup/S333/Lekker
The northern gateway will be home to new growth opportunities in innovative sectors, through the development of the Agri-Food Innovation Park at Sungei Kadut and digital economy at Punggol Digital District. Woodlands Regional Centre will serve as a strategic centre that is highly accessible to the rest of the region, other parts of the island, and Malaysia.
Punggol Digital District will facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration between students, faculty and industry professionals (artist's impression) – © JTC
A public plaza will be developed at the new Woodlands station of the future Thomson-East Coast Line (artist's impression)
With increasing global competition, fast-changing aspirations and trends as well as ageing infrastructure, it is important to continuously rejuvenate our city. We worked with stakeholders and agencies to forge plans to revitalise existing places, to ensure our city stays relevant, dynamic and competitive, with diverse lifestyle options for everyone.
Our Central Business District is envisaged to evolve into a dynamic 24/7 mixed-use precinct, defined by vibrant neighbourhoods and people-friendly streets. We developed proposals to make our Downtown more friendly for active mobility and are working with stakeholders to enliven public spaces. In addition, we introduced a package of incentives to encourage a better mix of uses to boost urban vibrancy in these places, as well as other strategic areas.
Robinson Road could be converted into a transit-priority corridor to make the Downtown area more conducive for active mobility and public transport (artist's impression)
[WATCH]: Discover our plans for the Central Area
We exhibited preliminary plans aimed at strengthening Orchard Road as Singapore’s signature lifestyle destination offering multi-faceted experiences to all. Concurrently, we are “bringing back the Orchard” by adding more lush greenery along Orchard Road and a new park attraction at Dhoby Ghaut. Fort Canning Park, Bras Basah.Bugis and the Civic District are also shaping up well as our arts and cultural hub, as we worked with agencies to improve walkability and introduced new parks and event spaces in the precincts.
Exciting mixed-use developments could be added above the future Orchard MRT interchange station to inject new life into Orchard Road (artist's impression)
The recently completed Armenian Street Park provides a space for events and enlivens the Armenian Street and Canning Rise areas
With NParks, we started enhancement works on the central stretch of the Rail Corridor. This includes rewilding the space, ensuring the structural integrity of railway structures and trail improvements to allow people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the rich greenery and heritage of the Corridor. We also unveiled plans for the Greater Rustic Coast, a continuous 50 km belt from Lim Chu Kang to Changi that links areas of heritage, biodiversity and recreation.
The site of the conserved Bukit Timah Railway Station will be transformed into a key community node of the Rail Corridor (artist's impression)
The Greater Rustic Coast will take visitors through a seamless journey immersed in nature, history and leisure
[WATCH]: Take a ride along the Greater Rustic Coast and discover its three distinct attributes
Going car-lite is an important element of a sustainable and people-friendly city. To further support this vision, we collaborated with various partners to provide citizens more opportunities to experience the benefits of a city with fewer cars. We also worked with agencies and the private sector on new initiatives to enhance the experience of walking and cycling.
Last year’s editions of Car-Free Sunday SG transformed the Civic District, Telok Ayer and even one-north, into bustling car-free precincts, enabling more citizens to experience first-hand a car-lite environment. We also introduced the first Car-Free Weekend, where roads were reclaimed over the weekend for walking, cycling and family activities. This was made possible with continued support from our community partners, who made the car-free streets more lively.
Community partners raised awareness on Singapore’s biodiversity through art activities in the car-free streets
As Singapore becomes more conducive for active mobility, more citizens are cycling to work. Some developers are also contributing to the car-lite goal by making their buildings more walking and cycling-friendly. To further drive these outcomes, URA and LTA launched the Walking & Cycling Design Guide to encourage best practices in developing walking and cycling infrastructure. We also expanded the Walking and Cycling Plan to require more developments to consider ways to improve active mobility during their planning stage. In addition, we mapped out plans to expand our cycling network to 1,000 km by 2040, from more than 440 km today.
Well-designed infrastructure, such as dedicated cycling paths, is key in the shift towards adopting greener modes of transport
[WATCH]: Our video series on going car-lite