Eileen Poh Channel NewsAsia 20 Nov 13;
SINGAPORE: The Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA's) Draft Master Plan offers a good balance between Singapore's economic and social needs, analysts said.
But they also pointed out possible areas of concern, such as the potential over-development of certain areas, which could affect their original character.
Holland Village is known for its quaint shophouses, restaurants and bars. And its unique character will be further expanded under the URA's Draft Master Plan.
A new extension is planned to be built in the next two years, and it has also been designated as an identity node. This means that the area's charm will be conserved and enhanced.
But some analysts said there is the risk of over-development.
Colin Tan, director and head (research & consultancy) at Suntec Real Estate Consultants, said: "The danger is that as you add on more density, and you build around Holland V, you may interfere with the natural evolution process.
“Sometimes making it more accessible and popular, you draw in other groups that may interfere with the original group that went to Holland V. When you have the accessibility, the MRT, you may bring in other people – tourists -- who may change the character of the whole place."
And with more crowds, challenges such as insufficient parking may surface.
Mr Tan said: "I think, for example, like in Joo Chiat itself -- Joo Chiat has come up because there are a lot of conserved shophouses.
“Next thing you know, there's overcrowding, illegal parking, and URA telling eateries that you can't have in-house dining, you can only have takeaways because they don't want to add to the congestion and to the problems of the residents there.”
But experts also said the Master Plan reflects a good balance between Singapore's economic and social needs.
Liang Eng Hwa, MP and deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for National Development, said: "We need to continue to allow Singapore to grow, and then to balance our other challenges like ageing, the desire to have more green space and so on.
“So this Master Plan actually strikes a very good balance between that. And I think it does take in a lot of inputs and feedback from a lot of areas and quarters."
Mr Liang also applauded the fact that the Master Plan builds on earlier efforts to make estates more liveable. These include better transport connectivity, more greenery and bringing jobs closer to homes.
The plan also aims to set aside land at the Woodlands Regional Centre specifically for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Analysts welcomed the move, saying that there has been too much focus on multi-national corporations.
Mr Tan said: "The strategy for us has always been an open economy, and we always depend on external trade and services. But we seem to have neglected the domestic sector."
But observers said more details are needed of the specific support to be provided to SMEs.
- CNA/nd
New residential developments announced under Draft Master Plan 2013
Eileen Poh Channel NewsAsia 20 Nov 13;
SINGAPORE: Singaporeans can expect some 15,000 new homes in central Singapore, more commercial hubs outside the city centre, and a new waterfront area in the future.
These are some of the plans laid out in the Draft Master Plan 2013.
The plan guides Singapore's development in the medium term and is reviewed every five years.
It was launched on Wednesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
New developments are expected at Marina South - an area which is currently largely occupied by construction.
These include an 800 metre-long pedestrian street with an underground shopping mall connecting two MRT stations - Marina South and Gardens by the Bay, a high-rise walkway from Gardens by the Bay right to the seafront, as well as 9,000 new homes.
Development of the area is expected to begin after 2017.
Over at Holland Village, a new extension has been planned to create more walkways and meeting spaces.
Some 1,500 residential units and a community park have also been proposed.
The first batch of developments is expected to be up and running in the next one to two years.
And for Kampong Bugis, the third residential development outlined in the Master Plan, it is set to be an eco-friendly and car-reduced precinct.
There will likely be fewer car parks in the area and water taxis could be offered as an alternative commuting mode to the city.
Some 4,000 housing units have been planned for the area as well.
Kampong Bugis has also been identified as a pilot site to serve as a model for sustainable water management practices internationally.
And like in earlier plans, the draft adopts the decentralisation strategy which means having people working closer to where they are living.
Other than creating sustained growth of the City Centre, more commercial hubs will be developed in areas like the Jurong Lake District and Woodlands.
A mixed-use integrated township in the west is one such project. Named 2 West, the URA says it will create a work, live, play and learn ecosystem integrated within a manufacturing environment.
2 West will comprise of the 50 ha CleanTech Park, Nanyang Technology University, Wenya Industrial park and part of the future Tengah Town.
The relocation of Tanjong Pagar, Keppel and Brani terminals by 2027 and Pasir Panjang terminal thereafter will free up 1,000 hectares of land. Some ideas have been planned for this vast area which will be called the Greater Southern Waterfront.
These ideas include building of a new reservoir between Tanjong Pagar and Pulau Brani, and creating an eco-corridor by joining up green spaces in the area such as Labrador Park, Southern Ridges and the Rail Corridor.
Other initiatives include dedicated cycling paths in the Central area, and new identity nodes at Holland Village, Serangoon Garden and Jalan Kayu.
This means URA will explore ways to conserve and enhance the special character of these three places as part of their land use planning.
The Draft Master Plan is on display at The URA Centre and on URA's website.
The public can give their feedback on the proposed plans, from Wednesday until December 19.
- CNA/fa
Waterfront provides recreation space, helps with water needs
Waterfront provides recreation space, helps with water needs
Sumita D/O Sreedharan and Woo Sian Boon Today Online 21 Nov 13;
SINGAPORE — The idea of building a reservoir at the Greater Southern Waterfront caught the eye of urban planners and experts, who felt the proposal could provide a new recreational space and additional water-catchment area.
Planners and experts described the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Draft Master Plan as grand and comprehensive, but evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
But most were taken by the plans for the waterfront, which has an area about three times the size of Marina Bay.
The URA unveiled yesterday six preliminary conceptual plans for the waterfront, which includes a 30km stretch of waterfront promenade that extends from Labrador Park to Marina South, and encompasses Pulau Brani, a new reservoir created between the offshore island and Tanjong Pagar, and new residential and commercial districts along the coastline.
Associate Professor Ng Wai Keen, Programme Director at the National University of Singapore’s Urban Planning Programme, sees the Greater Southern Waterfront as crucial to Singapore’s growth, with intensified development in the area allowing for preservation of other pockets of greenery around the island.
“With the projected increase in population, the amount of green spaces per person will (decrease), so intensifying development in existing areas would allow us to hold off developing other pockets of land for as long as possible,” he said.
Mr William Lau, President of the Singapore Institute of Planners, felt some of the concepts are “fairly generic” and similar to earlier ideas that had been floated in past projects. An idea that piqued his interest was that of a possible reservoir between Tanjong Pagar and Pulau Brani.
“It is a fantastic plan and will be an engineering feat that will allow Singapore to create waterfront recreational spaces and help with our water needs in the future,” he said.
The area for the new waterfront will be freed up after all container-port activities are consolidated in Tuas after 2027.
With plans for two new residential areas — Kampong Bugis and Marina South — situated around the southern coast and along major waterways, some observers were less enthusiastic about URA’s push of water taxis as an alternative mode of transport.
Residents of ‘identity nodes’ hope for end to congestion woes
Xue JianYue and Amanda Lee Today Online 21 Nov 13;
SINGAPORE — They are glad that a slice of their past will be preserved for posterity. But some residents in estates earmarked as “identity nodes” under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) latest plans also hope to see an end to a more current problem: Congestion woes.
Under the draft Master Plan 2013 announced yesterday, Jalan Kayu, Serangoon Garden and Holland Village — famed for their eateries and shophouses — have been added to the URA’s list of identity nodes, which means the character of these places will be preserved and enhanced even after redevelopment.
The housing estate at Jalan Kayu, famed for its roti prata stalls, draws crowds of people in cars on weekends. On weekdays, heavy vehicles drive through a one-lane road to a new aerospace park in Seletar, generating noise and dust.
Mr Ong Ah Chong, a 61-year-old resident, hopes that urban planners can cap the number of eateries at the Jalan Kayu shophouses due to the noise, smoke and heavy traffic past midnight.
On weekends, cars owned by non-residents occupy the scarce parking spaces in the estate.
“You can have preservation, but you shouldn’t have eateries,” the retiree said, pointing to six chimneys belonging to eateries behind his home. “All the washed laundry is affected.”
Another long-time resident, 85-year-old M Sinniah, hopes the shophouses can be preserved as they are the only surviving buildings from his younger days as a Royal Air Force store superintendent at Seletar Air Base. “The buildings are ... like my children,” he said, referring to the shophouses.
At Holland Village, shop owners and residents felt that more needs to be done to preserve the heritage of the area.
Mr Sam Thambi, whose family has been operating a magazine store there since the 1940s, said there used to be an open-air theatre in the 1980s.
“There were also mango trees, rambutan trees. But, with time, suddenly there are so many tall buildings. It feels like a city ... no more kampung atmosphere,” said the 39-year-old.
Like Jalan Kayu’s Mr Ong, he complains about congestion problems, noting that there are not enough car park lots. “Sometimes, my store becomes a drive-through magazine store. Customers just sit in the car, ask for a magazine and drive off,” Mr Thambi said.
For several other residents, preservation is not only about keeping old buildings intact — it also involves maintaining the ties among neighbours.
Serangoon Garden resident Low Moi In is worried that familiar faces will disappear from the estate if it undergoes redevelopment.
The 70-year-old said that for people of her age, “if we can keep the (things of the) past, it is the best”.
