To sustain Singapore’s economy and ensure a diversity of job opportunities, workplaces, and environments for all, we will continue to strengthen the variety of commercial, business park and industrial nodes as part of our polycentric approach for workplaces to be closer to homes.
Our survey on lifestyle preferences in Singapore found that:
As flexible work arrangements become more popular, alternative types of workspaces are being explored, such as community co-working spaces and work booths in community centres. As new work preferences and needs emerge, our planning for workspaces remains flexible to cater for new possibilities.
Job nodes will continue to be designed with people in mind, becoming more mixed-use to provide a range of job options and amenities to support businesses and the community.
In a post-pandemic world, our City Centre will continue to remain vital to anchor Singapore as an international business and financial hub. It is undergoing transformation to become a vibrant place for work, live and play.
We will continue injecting more mixed uses and housing to create lived-in neighbourhoods. A good variety of amenities and uses will be provided to create inclusive, family-friendly neighbourhoods.
Development incentives are in place to encourage existing, older office developments to transform into mixed-use projects that are bold and innovative.
More Public Destinations and Spaces for the Community
We will have welcoming public destinations and spaces that are open to all. People who live or work in the city, or who are just visiting, can make use of these spaces to interact or enjoy the city.
© MINDEF and MND
Anticipating New Economic Trends and Work Practices
We will have to consider how the distribution and configuration of workspaces could evolve to support the needs of businesses and workers.
Redistributed Arrangement
Headquarters in the City Centre would be mainly for in-person meeting and collaboration. It would be supported by distributed offices in polycentres or workspaces near homes, where day-to-day work will be carried out.
Sharing of Spaces
Sharing of facilities and workspaces by different companies will enable more efficient use of space in the City Centre. This also increases opportunities for cross sector collaboration and interaction.
Our industrial areas—both upcoming and existing ones—will continue to support new economic needs while accommodating a greater diversity of uses. JTC has been collaborating with the private sector to envision what renewed industrial estates such as Kallang, Kolam Ayer and Yishun could look like in the future.
New types of buildings and spaces can enhance our workspace. For instance, in future, a building can be designed with clean manufacturing on the lower levels and co-working spaces on the mid-floors, which create a buffer for residences on the upper levels.
This “vertical zoning” concept can enable integration of many activities in a single development and save land.
Our industrial estates can become more vibrant with live and play options. The ground level of the estate can be accessible to the public with amenities or even maker spaces, showrooms and production facilities that open to the street to showcase their products and technology.
Co-living spaces such as studio lofts above industrial blocks can provide homes for workers in the estate. Community events will create a greater sense of belonging for workers, residents and businesses too.
While the Western Industrial Area will continue to house mostly industrial activities, we are exploring ways to introduce more amenities for those who live and work in the area, as well as different businesses around its MRT stations.
© JTC
Weaving in Nature and Recreation
More greenery and leisure options can enhance the health and wellness of workers. More trees and plants will improve the ambient temperature and air quality, while a connection to recreational corridors and cycling paths makes the estate more accessible and attractive. Building designs can also foster more collaboration and have greater focus on health and wellness.
We can leverage some industrial estates’ locations along the waterfront, to offer a range of leisure activities and create vibrant public spaces when they are revamped, such as in Kallang and Kolam Ayer Industrial Estates.
There are also ongoing efforts to plant more trees in industrial areas.
Businesses, research and other related activities and infrastructure can be linked for greater synergies.
Our City Centre will continue to remain vital to anchor Singapore as an international business and financial hub. It is undergoing transformation to become a vibrant place for work, live and play.
Tuas Port, Jurong Lake District and Jurong Innovation District will complement the existing industrial uses and turn the West into a stronger engine of growth.
Our maritime sector’s competitiveness will be enhanced by clustering of strategic and complementary industries that have synergies with the port, such as e-commerce and logistics, advanced manufacturing and cold chain. This port-industry integration will improve services, streamline supply chain arrangements and also reduce overall load on our road networks.
Jurong Lake District will focus on the green economy, sustainability and innovation. It will support test-bedding, for companies to trial and showcase innovative solutions that optimise resources and minimise ecological footprint. In addition, the district will offer a range of land use options and flexibility, including “White” zoning to encourage more innovative concepts that integrate live, work and play spaces.
Anchored by Changi Airport, the region will become a thriving business hub that supports our global trade flows.
Industries related to aviation, such as logistics and the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircrafts, will be housed at Changi Aviation Park located north of Changi Airport. This is an expansion of the existing air cargo cluster at Changi Airfreight Centre and the Airline Logistics Park of Singapore. The area will be progressively developed over the next 40 years.
Changi City, which is located south of the airport, will connect existing developments in the area with the future Changi East Urban District to form a vibrant live-work-play-learn dimension.
New lifestyle and employment hubs will be developed for innovative sectors such as agri-tech & food, digital technology and cybersecurity. They are supported by seamless connections to key locations in Singapore and Johor Bahru through Woodlands.
Located at the junction of the North-South and Thomson-East Coast Lines, Woodlands Regional Centre will be the thriving commercial hub and community node for the North Region. Attractive workspaces will cater for headquarters and customer-facing services to complement industrial activities in the region, and mixed-use developments provide convenient amenities for residents in the North.
The area around the Rapid Transit System link to Johor Bahru will be developed into a unique, mixed-use waterfront destination with new homes and flexible industrial workspaces.
Woods Square, the first integrated commercial development in Woodlands, brings together multiple uses ranging from offices to a childcare centre, F&B and retail. It has a variety of collaborative spaces, shared facilities as well as workplace options to meet different needs.
Woods Square © Far East Organisation
Sungei Kadut Eco-District will house a vibrant mix of industrial and non-industrial activities to support future workers and surrounding residential areas. There will be opportunities to catalyse innovation in the agri-tech ecosystem within the district’s Agri-Food Innovation Park and pilot circular economy concepts such as district cooling, waste management and recycling systems within Sungei Kadut.
Sungei Kadut Eco District © JTC
The Lim Chu Kang agri-food cluster is envisioned to be a high-tech, highly productive and resource-efficient agri-food production hub. Initiatives to better support innovation and resource optimisation in Singapore’s food manufacturing industry at Senoko are also underway. An example is the FoodPlant, which is a shared facility operating on a pay-per-use basis for small-batch food production and experimentation. This will strengthen Singapore’s food security and create jobs in the green sector for Singaporeans.
Seletar Aerospace Park is home to top industry players such as Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney,with activities spanning from engine manufacturing omaintenance, repair and overhaul, R&D and training. Recreational uses at The Oval and Hampstead Wetlands Park also add vibrancy and serve the community.
Punggol Digital District will bring together global technology companies and a thriving ecosystem of start-ups. Integration with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will also facilitate industry academia partnerships. This will help to cement Singapore’s position as the region’s digital innovation hub.
Punggol Digital District © JTC