Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia 5 Dec 08;
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has gazetted its Master Plan 2008.
It is a statutory land use plan that guides physical development of the country for the next 10 to 15 years.
Some 200,000 people visited the exhibition of the Draft Master Plan 2008 over the past six months.
And as part of public consultation process, the urban planners also reviewed 300 feedback received during the exhibition.
URA says relevant suggestions have been incorporated into the final Master Plan 2008.
The plan will introduce new commercial and sub-regional hubs at various parts of the island.
They include the Jurong Lake District, Kallang Riverside and Paya Lebar Central.
A new leisure plan has also been developed to provide more recreational options.
Meanwhile, the city area will continue to be Singapore's key commercial centre, with seamless extension of the existing Central Business District into Marina Bay.
URA plan draws strong interest
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 6 Dec 08;
THE Master Plan 2008 - an ambitious blueprint setting out Singapore's physical development for the next 10 to 15 years - has attracted plenty of attention from the public.
Its exhibition received more than 200,000 visitors over the past six months, and about 300 submissions have been made - 80 per cent of them online - according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.
The feedback ranged across several aspects of the plan, which was unveiled in May by National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
It contains ambitious schemes to transform Jurong East, Kallang and Paya Lebar into sub-metropolitan hubs of offices, hotels, education and entertainment centres, parks and homes.
Some of the feedback included calls for the allocation of space for activities in Paya Lebar Central. The Station Plaza in front of the Paya Lebar MRT station and the plaza space next to the civic centre at Geylang Serai were cited as possible venues.
Feedback on the Leisure Plan was generally positive, including comments from members of the public that they were excited about the 150km round-island route, added the URA. Suggestions were also made on ways to enhance Jurong Lake District to improve transport with people movers and river taxis.
The URA said it would study the suggestions and is 'working with other agencies to see how we can incorporate (the public feedback) in our plan'.
The Master Plan was gazetted - or made official - yesterday. It can be viewed at the URA Centre in Maxwell Road.
