URA launches “Space For Our Dreams” exhibition for the Long-Term Plan Review

Following a year-long public engagement, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has launched a public exhibition for the Long-Term Plan Review (LTPR). Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, officially opened the exhibition today, titled “Space For Our Dreams”.

The exhibition showcases planning concepts and strategies to guide Singapore’s development over the next 50 years and beyond. Presented under seven pillars representing elements of Singapore’s future urban environment – Live, Work, Play, Move, Cherish, Steward and Sustain – they were developed based on future trends and challenges, as well as the aspirations, ideas and feedback shared by Singaporeans. Our planning strategies also took into consideration the need to enhance flexibility and optionality of our land use given the increasingly complex and uncertain environment. We must also find ways to better optimise the use of our limited land to balance more acute trade-offs for various land use needs. Concept proposals for specific projects that incorporate key LTPR strategies are also featured, to illustrate possibilities on how our urban environment could be transformed in the longer term. See Annex A [PDF, 87 KB] [PDF, 87kb] for more details on the LTPR.

Mr Lim Eng Hwee, Chief Executive Officer, URA, said, “We thank Singaporeans for their active involvement and valuable contributions to the Long-Term Plan Review. The ideas and feedback have given us greater insight into our hopes, priorities and aspirations as a nation, as well as helped shape the planning strategies for our future. The review has been particularly significant and rewarding as we have engaged more than 15,000 people in the past year. But the journey does not stop here. We will continue to engage Singaporeans and stakeholders to refine the strategies, and progressively translate them into detailed plans over the next few decades, to build a better Singapore together.” 

Planning concepts and strategies to chart Singapore’s future

Live: Well and Together – key highlights
We will provide a variety of inclusive housing options to meet the increasingly diverse aspirations and needs of Singaporeans and strengthen community relationships. 

URA and agencies will explore planning for a wider variety of internal layouts for homes that support demographic and lifestyle changes, as well as unforeseen needs, such as the shift to hybrid modes of working that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, to cater for more housing options for our ageing population, we will also experiment with housing concepts for assisted living. In addition to the Community Care Apartments, which were piloted at Bukit Batok and to be launched in Queenstown, we will be launching a tender to pilot a private model of assisted living at Parry Avenue in Kovan. URA and agencies will review the take-up of these concepts and assess the feasibility of having more of such developments. 

To support aspirations for more inclusive housing towns, agencies will plan for more towns and estates with a good mix of public and private homes. For example, the future residential estate at Bayshore will have a mix of public and private housing that are well-supported by amenities and recreational options for the community to enjoy. Another example is the area near Upper Changi MRT station, where more public housing and amenities will be developed, and seamlessly integrated with the existing private housing estate.

We also aim to build towns and communities that are close-knit and future-ready. For example, to better optimise our land use and enhance the flexibility of spaces, we will explore more time-sharing of spaces for different uses, setting aside reserve space for new or unanticipated needs, and more ways to activate underused spaces for community uses. Refer to Annex B [PDF, 62 KB] [PDF, 62kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Live pillar.

Work: Anywhere and Everywhere – key highlights
To provide more jobs closer to homes and sustain Singapore’s competitiveness, we will continue to build up our islandwide polycentres and rejuvenate the city centre. 

Our city centre, including the Central Business District (CBD), will continue to anchor Singapore as a globally attractive destination for business and leisure. Plans are already underway to transform the area into a more mixed-use and vibrant precinct, to support the evolving nature and modalities of work vis-à-vis more varied needs of modern lifestyles, which have been made more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will build on these efforts to reshape our city centre by introducing a wider range of amenities and recreational/lifestyle offerings, as well as more residential options.

In both our city centre and polycentres, we will also plan for more attractive and flexible workspaces to support innovation and new needs for businesses and workers in the future economy. For instance, we will explore a “vertical zoning” concept in our industrial estates which integrates different but complementary uses within a single development – clean industrial activities can occupy the lower floors and co-working spaces the mid-floors, which then creates a buffer for residences on the upper floors. To provide flexibility for new business models and support more vibrant industrial developments, we are also exploring suitable locations for Business-White Zones to accommodate non-industrial uses such as co-working spaces, retail, and food & beverage spaces – the Kolam Ayer and Yishun industrial estates are potential areas, when they are redeveloped. At the same time, we plan to make our industrial estates healthier and more convenient for workers, by injecting more greenery, leisure options and active mobility networks. 

As we continue to monitor the longer-term impact of flexible work arrangements on office space demand, we plan to introduce some sites in selected areas in the nearer term, for commercial and office uses on shorter lease tenures. This will enable our land uses to be refreshed in shorter cycles to support businesses in adapting their operations more nimbly to fast-changing economic trends. Refer to Annex C [PDF, 89 KB] [PDF, 89kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Work pillar.

Play: Healthy and Happy – key highlights
Planning for a range of recreational options remains a priority to make Singapore an attractive city that supports an active and close-knit citizenry. We will continue to bring recreational spaces closer to homes and activate more attractions for both Singaporeans and visitors to enjoy. 

We seek to better integrate “play” with other land uses in our neighbourhoods by making innovative use of space. As an enhancement of the Dual-Use Scheme, which allows the community to make use of school sports facilities, we are exploring more intentional design for new or upgraded schools to provide a greater variety of social and community spaces. Where possible, under-utilised open spaces, such as rooftops of multi-storey car parks, can also be repurposed for uses such as community gardens.

We will leverage our islandwide network of green spaces, waterbodies and coastal areas to bring more nature-based recreation to residents. In line with feedback from Singaporeans, we will explore further unlocking the Southern Islands as our very own tropical island destination over the longer term. As a start, parts of the Southern Islands could be activated to pilot new recreation and tourism concepts, including nature and heritage learning journeys, and low impact eco-accommodations and leisure activities. 

In addition, major infrastructure plans present opportunities to inject more recreational spaces. For instance, coastal protection infrastructure can be designed to double up as leisure spaces. Refer to Annex D [PDF, 40 KB] [PDF, 40kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Play pillar.

Move: Efficient and Connected – key highlights
Our focus is to strengthen our mobility networks and shift towards more sustainable and efficient modes of travel within our city and with the world. With the expansion of our rail network to 360km by the 2030s, eight in 10 households will be within 10 minutes’ walking distance of a train station. We will also tap on technology and innovation to develop a sustainable and people-centric mobility network, and support an efficient urban logistics system. 

For instance, we will strengthen public transport and active mobility as means to move around the city, by prioritising more road space for public buses and expanding our cycling network. We will pilot new ideas such as courier hubs to facilitate more efficient logistics operations and seek to leverage technology such as Autonomous Vehicles to transform the way we move. Refer to Annex E [PDF, 87 KB] [PDF, 87kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Move pillar.

Cherish: Distinctive and Loveable – key highlights
As we rejuvenate our city to meet future needs, we are also committed to shaping an endearing and loveable home for many generations to come. The planning concepts and strategies under Cherish, focus on enhancing our heritage and identity sites to grow wider appreciation and ownership for these places. 

We have developed a Heritage and Identity Structure Plan that maps out our heritage and identity assets from national monuments, conserved buildings, marked historic sites and identity nodes, to heartland heritage and identity corridors. It also maps out other sites with heritage and identity value where their heritage considerations could be studied carefully as part of any future development plans. The plan will guide our long-term efforts to protect, enhance and sensitively integrate built heritage into the urban environment.

We also unveiled the new concept of Identity Corridors, which are corridors in our city that are defined by their distinctive characteristics – unique streetscapes, heritage and experiences – that resonate with Singaporeans across generations. We have identified five Identity Corridors – Historic East, Thomson-Kallang Corridor, Inner Ring, Rail Corridor, and Southern Ridges and the Coast – and will develop strategies to enhance their character and accessibility, so that future generations can continue to appreciate and enjoy them. 

Refer to Annex F [PDF, 268 KB] [PDF, 269kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Cherish pillar, and more information on the Identity Corridors.

Steward: The Green and Blue – key highlights
Environmental considerations remain an essential tenet of our long-term planning approach. We have not only safeguarded and enhanced our natural capital, but have also purposefully planned for and introduced more green and blue spaces into our urban environment, as we transform Singapore into a City in Nature. With the widely recognised value and benefits that these spaces bring to our environment and lives, we have enhanced our approach to balance between planning for green and blue spaces vis-a-vis other land uses in the long term. 

To this end, we have conducted a series of in-depth engagements with partner agencies and stakeholders from various fields over the past year to shape long-term strategies for planning our green and blue spaces. These include adopting a science-based approach towards the stewardship of green and blue spaces underpinned by the National Parks Board’s (NParks’) Ecological Profiling Exercise (EPE), integrating multi-functional green and blue spaces into the urban landscape, and tapping on these spaces for nature-based solutions to enhance traditional engineering solutions, as well as reinforce Singapore’s climate resilience. These focus areas have been incorporated into an islandwide Green and Blue Plan to guide more detailed planning for developments downstream.

Based on the EPE findings for the northern part of Singapore, NParks has identified Khatib Nature Corridor as a new Nature Corridor¹, to enhance ecological connectivity between the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and Khatib Bongsu Nature Park is maintained. The broad connectivity strategies under the Green and Blue Plan have also been reflected in the concept proposals for the future Springleaf housing estate, which include adopting a biodiversity-sensitive approach and providing for an ecological corridor through the site, to enhance connectivity. 

In addition, as part of efforts to better integrate greenery into our urban landscape and improve the ecological functions of greenery for buildings, URA will partner stakeholders – industry, nature groups, academics and relevant agencies – to review the Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (LUSH) scheme. Refer to Annex G [PDF, 318 KB] [PDF, 318kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Steward pillar, including the concept proposals for Springleaf. Refer to Annex H [PDF, 1.6 MB][PDF, 1,630kb] for more details on the findings from NParks’ EPE and the Khatib Nature Corridor.

Sustain: Low-carbon and Resilient – key highlights
Creating a clean and green environment for all Singaporeans, and pursuing sustainable development to ensure we meet both present and future needs, is key to securing a sustainable future. We have developed strategies that support national goals of becoming a low-carbon city, and will also focus on enhancing climate resilience, adopting a systems-level planning approach to drive sustainability objectives, as well as optimising our space resources. 

For instance, we will explore creating more underground caverns that could potentially be used to store goods or other materials that need large land area, or even house utilities and suitable industries as we move towards more automated processes. They could also be connected by an underground logistics system to move goods efficiently and reduce surface road traffic. 

Amongst various options being studied to protect our coastline is to create a “Long Island” – along the south-eastern coast from Marina East to Changi – by integrating coastal protection measures with planned future reclamation. This could include creating a new reservoir to enhance our flood and water resilience. The “Long Island” can be developed for new homes and integrated with coastal parks and recreational spaces. Refer to Annex I [PDF, 92 KB] [PDF, 92kb] for a summary of the planning concepts and strategies under the Sustain pillar.

The Next Flight – concept proposals for Paya Lebar Air Base 
The planned relocation of the Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) in the 2030s will free up about 800ha of land in the East Region. It presents an exciting opportunity to improve connectivity between the north-east and eastern parts of our island, and transform the PLAB by injecting new homes, jobs and amenities. The lifting of height restrictions around the air base will also allow us to better optimise land and rejuvenate the surrounding areas. To explore forward-looking ideas and concepts for the redevelopment of the PLAB and its surrounding areas, URA engaged the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) and Singapore Institute of Planners (SIP) to re-imagine how the site can be transformed into a new generation town with homes, jobs and lifestyle amenities that meet the needs of a community of the future. 

The SIA and SIP teams presented their ideas and concepts through a conceptual master plan and precinct designs that showcase new forms of live, work, play and mobility, with well-being as a key outcome. One proposal is to develop a heritage district anchored on the PLAB’s heritage as a former international airport, where existing infrastructure such as the old airport runway, terminal building and other historic buildings form the foundation of its transformation through adaptive reuse. A network of signature parks and waterways has also been proposed to embed nature with future developments. In addition, URA together with SIA and SIP, organised an Ideas Competition titled “Runway for Your Imagination” to solicit additional ideas from the public on how they would like to see the PLAB developed in future. Some of these ideas are also featured in the exhibition. Refer to Annex J [PDF, 83 KB] [PDF, 83kb] for more information on the concept proposals for the PLAB.

Be part of the “Space for our Dreams”

The exhibition is held at The URA Centre Atrium at 45 Maxwell Road, from 6 June 2022 to 4 August 2022. Opening hours are as follows:

a. Mondays to Fridays: 9.00 am – 6.30 pm

b. Saturdays: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm

The public can also sign up for guided tours of the exhibition hosted by URA volunteers at https://go.gov.sg/spaceforourdreams. The exhibition will subsequently be brought to several locations islandwide, as shown below. Admission to the exhibition is free. 

The public can also view an online version of the exhibition and share their feedback at go.gov.sg/ltprexhibit.

¹ Nature Corridors comprise nature parks, parks, park connectors, Nature Ways and trails within an Ecological Corridor to strengthen connectivity between source habitats islandwide. They also play a secondary function of providing new nature-based recreational opportunities for the public.

Updated as of 7 June: The exhibition opening hours were updated.