Singapore's pioneers saw beyond immediate challenges to plan for Singapore's future, opening our worlds, creating many possibilities today.
Writer: Serene Tng
We catch a glimpse into the earlier years of laying the foundation for modern Singapore, as captured in the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC)’s book, Singapore, Unlimited.
Singapore, Unlimited pays tribute to the vision and hard work of those who planned, shaped and built modern Singapore. It is an adapted translation of CLC’s 2017 publication, Xiao hongdian, da geju (小红点, 大格局) edited by Dr Liu Thai Ker, authored by Singapore writer Han Xin Yu and produced by CLC researchers, Dr Lin Guangming and Wong Chock Fang.
The front and back covers of the book by CLC and Studio Swell feature glossy raised pointillist patterns, inspired by the curving boundaries of areas and regions in the Master Plan 2019. These patterns, which are composed of a series of small circles, are also a play on Singapore as a “Little Red Dot”. Image credit: CLC.
In putting together the book, 13 individuals were interviewed, who had made significant contributions to the country’s transformation into a leading global city. We present very brief highlights from interview transcripts contributing to this book, with two of the 13 individuals, Chua Peng Chye and Joseph Yee, reflecting on the importance of long-term planning and the earlier years of shaping some critical aspects of the city, its land use and transport.
The responses have been edited for clarity and brevity. Access the book here for more stories and insights.
Chua Peng Chye was one of Singapore’s pioneering urban planners, and served as the country’s Chief Planner from 1973 to 1976. Peng Chye joined the public service in 1959 as a town planner with the Singapore Improvement Trust. In 1967, he was appointed to a project team established by the Singapore government with the support of the United Nations, to develop the country’s first island-wide land-use plan — the Concept Plan of 1971. This plan served as a blueprint for the physical development of Singapore, guiding the creation of infrastructure such as housing estates and transport networks across the country. He passed away on 16 April 2019 at the age of 87.
Tell us more about the process and effort behind the 1971 Concept Plan.
Peng Chye: As part of the State and City Planning project formed to work on the plan, we had an Australian firm, Crooks Michel Peacock Stewart, who provided specialists, town planners and others from related planning fields, who were stationed in Singapore for four years.
We also formed a team of Singapore planners, transport planners and statisticians, to come and learn from these people who came to help us prepare Singapore’s first Concept Plan. The comprehensive study [in preparing for the Concept Plan 1971] over four years was intensive.
There was a massive survey done to try and track down where people lived, where they go to work, where they went to visit families, where they went for recreation and so on, to establish the travel patterns, because we wanted to integrate land uses with means of communication, whether public or private transport. We also carried out a range of other studies, both on the macro and micro basis.
The egg and finger plans above were part of a series of 13 alternatives explored before arriving at the final 1971 Concept Plan
Ultimately, we came up with a series of alternative plans. We did a series of tests, which was an unusual thing because we didn’t have the resources earlier. We tested the different alternatives proposed and simulated them to see which was the most cost-efficient in terms of traffic implications, economic benefits, people’s satisfaction and so on, and all these led to the Concept Plan formulated.
The Ring Plan was the eventual option selected as the basis for the final 1971 Concept Plan.
Peng Chye: We explored different patterns of development before arriving at the Ring Plan. With a growing population and increasing needs then, we had to urbanise and organise more areas.
Some of the urbanised areas had sub centres such as Woodlands, Bukit Panjang and Ang Mo Kio for example. We also proposed additional settlements in the urbanised areas with emphasis on heavier density in the sub centres. The safeguarded MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) lines followed this pattern.
One of the key focus then was how to arrange urbanisation so that traffic flow, particularly for motorists, for travel from home to work and work to home, was as optimal as possible and we found that the Ring Plan option offered this.
What was it about planning for the future that was challenging?
Peng Chye: In planning for the future, one must anticipate and project diverse needs and balance these altogether. For example, for employment, we had to predict or forecast what the growth potential was like and what was likely to happen. Whether it was for employment that was labour-intensive or less labour-intensive, their land needs were different.
Industrial and commercial spaces allocated depended on the demand for shops and where they were and so on. For housing, where should people live? For employment, where do people work? For commercial, where do people go for recreation and shopping? For education, where do people send their children to schools? Are they nearby enough? All these had to be thoroughly studied, assessed and then the land areas allocated accordingly in the urbanisation areas.
Planning is a very all-embracing subject. I always draw examples when I was teaching planning. I explained, you know how difficult it is, for just a family, husband, wife and let’s say one child, how to plan for the child 20 years ahead? Now imagine you are doing this for the future of an entire city and country, with all different needs, different capacities, different skills. What determines the best option for each of us?
While we cannot accurately predict the future, you do the best you can. You make decisions and projections based on past experiences, surveys and other insights and based on what you know today.
Joseph Yee has four decades of experience in the transport, planning and engineering sectors. He was the Director of Roads and Transportation at the Public Works Department (PWD) from 1992 to 1995. He moved to the newly formed Land Transport Authority (LTA) in 1995, where he first served as the Director for Engineering and Traffic Management (1995–1999) and then as the Director for Planning and Transportation (1999–2003). During his public service career, Joseph participated in the development of Singapore’s Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) and the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system. After leaving the LTA, Joseph joined CPG Corporation as a Principal Consultant, where he has worked on transportation and engineering projects in China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
What were the conditions like in the 1960s and 1970s in terms of the road networks and public transport?
Joseph: There was no integrated and long-term planning for transport and land use then. Thus, decisions made on transport were more ad hoc and focused on the short-term. Nevertheless, roads had to be built because traffic was growing rapidly. Even in 1965, there was traffic congestion.
In the mid-1960s, the public transport system was also just buses. There were 11 bus companies, each with their own areas of operation and fare structure. Any travel between any part of Singapore to another part at that time meant, quite often, transferring from one bus to another, or one bus company to another bus company, and having to pay fares twice or three times more.
The road network then was developed initially for a scenario where the car population could grow in an unimpeded way as it was growing in the 1960s. As incomes rose, people bought cars. And they bought cars to travel because they could not rely on the public buses alone.
The forecasts of traffic (up until 1992) showed that if traffic and car ownership continued unrestrained, some roads in the city area may need nine traffic lanes per direction.
What was the significance of the 1971 Concept Plan in relation to transport planning?
Joseph: In the 1960s, the key plan used in planning for and managing land use then was the Master Plan. It was a static plan that showed the permissible land uses and intensities but only for a short-term period. It did not look at traffic in a more comprehensive way.
Even at that time when we were grappling with addressing urgent challenges and needs, there was already a recognition that we needed a more comprehensive plan and something that was longer-term.
Thus, the decision to develop a longer-range plan. In working towards the 1971 Concept Plan, we embarked on a more comprehensive study of both land use and transport. The study recommended not only to restrain car ownership but usage as well. A good part of the study also involved collecting data that allowed us to forecast future traffic or land-use conditions in a desired year even if it was many years away.
All these meant that we could confidently plan and develop a road network for the whole of Singapore that was more sustainable in the long run and could serve new areas of development such as public housing, new towns, and industrial areas. Road networks and MRT lines could also be safeguarded to be built later and over time. All nine expressways planned in the 1971 Concept Plan have been implemented.
The 1971 Concept Plan had planned for MRT lines even though it was not a clear decision then on whether to pursue this option.
Joseph: The State and City Planning project team working on the 1971 Concept Plan saw the potential to consider the MRT option and thus recommended that this be safeguarded for future implementation.
We followed up to carry out a separate mass transit study to explore an MRT system that worked best for Singapore’s future. We went through many phases of that study before the eventual decision to build the MRT system was announced in 1982.
The first line was opened in 1987. We had to be very systematic and thorough about the entire process in considering the options and alternatives.
What were some key lessons from planning and building up our transportation network, the critical backbone for any city?
Joseph: We recognised very early on that we had to have a good long-term land use and transportation plan as a blueprint to guide Singapore’s long-term land use and transport development. This was based on the belief that we needed to invest in and build a good transportation system, whether it is good roads, expressways, buses or MRT. This was essential for our growth and quality of life.
Beyond just the long-term blueprint, there was a series of many more studies and efforts throughout to realise the plans and to draw up detailed plans for the purpose of safeguarding the building of future roads or rail lines for example.
The work of safeguarding is important. If you don’t safeguard something that you intend for implementation years down the line, you would lose the right of way.
We also learnt that given how critical transport is for any city including ours, you need to deal with transport in a very comprehensive and sustainable way. Transport is more than just building roads. It’s addressing the whole policy in a consolidated fashion. You must look at it for the long-term, not just five years ahead.
You’ve also got to look at land use and transport together. Don’t do land use alone, don’t do transport alone, because one leads to the other.
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Top image: The 1971 Concept Plan was based on this "Ring Plan" approach, after exploring various options and alternatives