The earliest steps taken to preserve some of Singapore’s important monuments and landmarks were carried out through the Preservation of Sites and Monuments (former Preservation of Monuments Board). The first 8 buildings granted legal protection as national monuments in 1973 were:
The 1970s and early 1980s saw the rehabilitation of State-owned shophouses by URA along Murray Street and Tudor Court to change public perception of the value of these pre-war buildings. Singapore was increasingly interested in conservation throughout the 1980s. Some key milestones include the pedestrianisation of Emerald Hill Road in1981, and the unveiling of the Conservation Master Plan for the city’s historic areas in 1986. In 1987, the pilot restoration project by URA at No. 9 Neil Road, was completed and opened for public viewing. Subsequently, restoration was carried out for the rest of the Tanjong Pagar precinct and elsewhere.
1989 marked a milestone in Singapore, when 10 conservation areas in the historic districts of Chinatown (Telok Ayer, Kreta Ayer, Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Pasoh, Little India, Kampong Glam, Singapore River (Boat Quay and Clarke Quay, Cairnhill and Emerald Hill, with a total of over 3,200 buildings, were gazetted for conservation. These were early efforts to conserve our buildings of architectural, historical and cultural significance in Singapore.
To date, conservation status has been given to over 7,200 buildings in more than 100 areas.