Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 12 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE'S system of land use planning ensures that the infrastructure and amenities are adequate to meet the needs of a growing population, said the Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Grace Fu, yesterday.
She told Parliament that enough land is provided for supporting facilities and infrastructure such as parks.
'Additional infrastructure is set aside when we release (land) parcels... In our planning system, we've taken into consideration the planned residential area.
'So when new parcels of land are being released, that will ensure that there's sufficient infrastructure, including roads, as well as recreational needs (that) are already provided for in the area. That goes for new estates as well as mature estates,' she said.
Ms Fu was responding to questions by MPs Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC) and Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Marine Parade GRC) on whether existing infrastructure can meet growing population needs and whether reviews are being conducted to assess the impact of this growth.
The questions come amid growing concern that a larger population, boosted mainly by immigrants, will strain facilities and infrastructure.
Ms Fu said that as part of the Concept Plan 2011 Review, which the ministry began last July, the public will be consulted for feedback on how to optimise land use.
The Concept Plan 2011 is a major review of Singapore's long-term land use strategies to cater to the changing needs of a growing economy and population.
Ms Fu said the Government will also create an additional 900ha of parkland and triple park connectors by 2020. Major improvements will be made to the transport network.
'We will plan for higher density housing and commercial uses around these transport nodes to provide greater connectivity to our population,' she said.
Still, she noted that there will be cases where 'short-term demand may not be easily met'.
'It's very hard to predict demand accurately, especially when you look at supply of commercial as well as residential buildings, there's always a lead time involved. So we will do our best to try to reduce the volatility in the market,' she said.
'But it is not possible to predict demand accurately because we can never foresee conditions that may affect Singapore, such as the dip in demand in the last 18 months. So that's really what we plan to do in our planning horizon.'
On a query by Dr Muhammad about bringing forward the rejuvenation of heartland housing estates, Ms Fu said this was something 'that we have been doing all the time'. For example, lift upgrading is a focus as many elderly residents have been asking for lift access.
'But we have been undertaking home improvement programmes as well as neighbourhood renewal programmes. That's to continuously remake, rejuvenate our housing estates to make them more suitable for our current population,' she added.
