Public feedback sought for Jurong Lake District master plan

AMANDA LEE Today Online 25 Aug 17;

SINGAPORE – From having pockets of green space and a new water channel to rolling out various car-lite initiatives, these are some of the master-plan proposals for the Jurong Lake District.

The developments in the district, slated to be the Republic’s second central business district, are expected to be completed after 2040.

Features of the draft master plan can now be seen at a public exhibition being held at the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Centre Atrium till the end of this month.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who launched the exhibition on Friday (Aug 25), said the Jurong Lake District is a major project in Singapore’s new phase of infrastructure development.

“Here, we are not just building another ordinary district. We are aiming to create a better, smarter and more sustainable centre for businesses, which will provide more jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans,” he said.

With the developments in the Jurong Lake District taking between 15 and 20 years or longer, the URA aims to create 100,000 jobs and add 20,000 new homes.

The developments will begin around the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) terminus area, which will be also located within the lake district.

In his speech, Mr Wong said that the Government is studying the possibility of putting out land parcels for sale within the next few years, which will create a critical mass of developments once the HSR terminus begin operations by end-2026.

The blueprint for the Jurong Lake District was first unveiled in the 2008 URA Master Plan. It is set to be a new growth area with two precincts – the commercial hub at Jurong Gateway, and leisure and recreational activities at Lakeside.

One of the key strategies of the new area is to make it a car-lite and commuter-centric one, where public transport will be seamlessly connected. For example, in public transit areas, only buses are allowed on the road. Residents will also have access to the new Jurong Region Line and the Cross Island Line, apart from the existing North-South and East-West MRT lines.

With a target of more than 80 per cent for public transport mode share in the district, roads will be prioritised for public transport, with more space for pedestrians, cyclists and personal mobility device users.

The introduction of a new water channel by the eastern shores of the Jurong Lake will create another island, increasing the total length of waterfront space to 17km. This will provide more space for social and community activities, as well as spaces for recreation, retail and food and beverage.

There will also be a new road to the Ayer Rajah Expressway, which will be used as an alternative route to divert traffic away from roads such as Jurong Town Hall Road.

To cater to the changing needs of developers, businesses, and workers, a regular grid structure for land parcels has been adopted for the district. This means that land parcels have to be adjusted through sub-division or amalgamation, and allows for flexibility to provide large land parcels for larger floor plates, or provide smaller parcels to meet evolving business needs. The bulk of the mixed-use business area will be zoned “white” to allow for flexiblity in uses.

Landlords can either combine or co-locate non-traditional uses, such as schools, community facilities, hotels and event spaces for companies and universities to meet and showcase their prototypes, to accommodate the needs of tenants and the market, the URA said.

Sixteen hectares of new parks and opens spaces will also be added in the district. They include the Central Park above the HSR terminus and the area around the former Jurong Hall. A green connector loop may be used for various sports and recreational activities.

EXTENSIVE GREENERY, OPEN SPACE

Together with the 90-hectare Jurong Lake Gardens, there will be over 100 ha of extensive greenery and open spaces in the district.

The Jurong Lake Gardens West, which started its development last year, is scheduled to be completed next year.

The Jurong Lake Gardens Central, where the existing Chinese and Japanese Gardens are located, will feature tropical horticultural gardens within a rustic setting. It will be completed in stages from 2020.

The seven-storey pagoda will be retained and there are plans to create spaces near it for park users to rest and enjoy nature.

Meanwhile, the existing science centre building and the Jurong Town Hall building could also be repurposed with new uses.

All new developments within the district will also feature sky-rise greenery that will form a “green carpet” in the sky.

As the Jurong Lake District will be one of the most sustainable districts, all new buildings will be required to achieve a Green Mark rating to reduce energy consumption by up to 30 per cent.

Integrated urban systems will also be implemented in the district to tap the area around the future HSR terminus. They include common services tunnel, district cooling system, pneumatic waste system and urban logistics management system.

These urban systems will be placed undergrounds wherever possible, to free up above-ground space for people-centric uses, such as homes, offices, parks, and other community facilities.


Singapore’s ‘second CBD’ could see 24-hour business operations: Analysts
AMANDA LEE Today Online 25 Aug 17;

SINGAPORE – The upcoming Jurong Lake District, which is slated to be the second central business district (CBD) here, could be more bustling than the first, said property analysts on Friday (Aug 25).

Businesses within the new district – which also includes the future Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail (HSR) terminus – could include tour agencies, dining establishments, offices, banks and businesses in information technology.

Mr Colin Tan, director of research and consultancy at Suntec Real Estate Consultants, pointed out that businesses could operate around the clock, unlike the CBD area at Raffles Place, which becomes “quite dead at night”.

He said the 24-hour operation is possible due to the lake district’s population density and catchment area, something which the Raffles Place area lacks.

Mr Tan also pointed out that there could be tour agencies to organise day-trip packages to Malaysia, as the HSR promotes tourism and dining establishments which cater to a different audience, such as budget tourists.

Mr Wong Xian Yang, head of research and consultancy at real estate firm Orange Tee, said that businesses which have headquarters in Singapore with satellite offices in Malaysia, such as those in medical or education, could also set up offices in Jurong Lake District.

“(The) HSR could enable these businesses (to) expand their research into Malaysia by providing a convenient and fast mode of transport between (the two) countries,” he added.

As the HSR terminus is the focal point in Jurong Lake District, analysts also expect office rents to increase overtime.

“If Jurong Lake District manages to position itself successfully as a credible commercial hub, I would expect office rents (and home prices) to rise in the long run,” said Mr Wong.

However, Mr Tan pointed out that whether businesses are sustainable in the long-term would depend on the HSR’s attractiveness.

“In the initial stages, I’m sure (due to the novelty)... everybody wants to take (the HSR), but at the end of the day it got to make commercial sense (and) economic sense,” he added.

Meanwhile, other initiatives to make Jurong Lake District a more attractive place include having the district adopt a regular grid structure for land parcels. By doing so, land parcels can be adjusted through sub-division or amalgamation, and allows for flexibility to provide large land parcels for larger floor plates, for example.

The bulk of the mixed-use business area will be zoned “white” to allow for flexibility in uses.

Ms Christine Li, research director of Cushman & Wakefield Singapore, said the grid structure is a right move to respond to challenges of the fast-evolving real estate industry”.

“As real estate development tends to have long ‘gestation’ periods, landlords need to be much more flexible in order to future-proof the development,” she added.

Agreeing, Mr Chris Koh, director of property firm Chris International, said that this would give the Government the flexibility to adjust the land parcel sizes and usage.

As for white zoning, Ms Li felt that this “laissez-faire approach may backfire as developers who opt to fully fill their developments with the traditional residential, office and retail components will be able to outbid those developers who incorporate non-traditional spaces”.

This is because traditional spaces “command higher rents and capital values” than non-traditional spaces, she said.

“Therefore, URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) should consider tendering the sites using a two-envelope system, or imposing a requirement that a percentage of the white space be allocated for non-traditional uses," said Ms Li.


Much of road space in Jurong Lake District to be for public transport
AMANDA LEE Today Online 26 Aug 17;

SINGAPORE — Bus-only roads and consolidated deliveries from a central warehouse are among the initiatives to be rolled out in the Jurong Lake District, to reduce traffic and make it car-lite.

The district in western Singapore is set to be re-developed into a second Central Business District, and the authorities are planning to have public transport seamlessly connecting it to the rest of Singapore, as well as for connections within the district.

Apart from the existing North-South Line and East-West Line, other MRT networks to serve the district are the new Jurong Region Line and the Cross Island Line. The upcoming Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail terminus will also be located there.

At the launch of a public exhibition on Friday (Aug 25) to gather public feedback on the district’s development, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said that one of the plans is to increase the district’s public transport mode share. This refers to the number of trips that commuters make using public transport compared to the total number of trips they make (which may include commutes using private vehicles).


The target is for this share to be more than 80 per cent, which would be higher than the national figure of 66 per cent. So roads will be prioritised for use by public transport.

Within the district, an MRT station or bus stop is expected to be at least a five-minute walk, or not more than 400m, away.

Ms Yvonne Lim, group director of physical planning at the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), told reporters that it has planned for an area within the district to be a public transit zone, where only buses will run.

Outside of this public transit zone, there will be at least four consolidated underground car park hubs in the district for private vehicles.

To manage traffic contributed by private transport, the URA is looking at several measures, such as cutting down on freight trips.

In particular, to prevent traffic congestion during peak hours, and to reduce the volume of freight vehicles on the roads by at least 65 per cent, the URA is working with relevant agencies to consolidate goods deliveries.

For example, an offsite consolidation centre will be located near the district. Ms Lim said that the goods can be pooled at the centre and possibly loaded onto fewer trucks.

The network of cycling and shared paths in the district will be expanded for pedestrians and users of personal mobility devices.

At the Jurong Lakeside precinct, for instance, there will be dedicated cycling paths on every street.

The 290-hectare Jurong Lakeside precinct, designated as a recreational space with parks and a waterfront promenade, is one of two precincts within the Jurong Lake District. The other is the 70-hectare Jurong Gateway, which would be a commercial hub.


Jurong Lake District to create more than 100,000 jobs, 20,000 homes
Rachel Phua Channel NewsAsia 25 Aug 17;

SINGAPORE: More than 100,000 new jobs will be created and 20,000 homes built in the 360-hectare Jurong Lake District, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday (Aug 25).

The Jurong Lake District project - set to be completed after 2040 - was first announced in 2008 as part of URA's efforts to provide more job and recreational options in the heartlands.

The Government has said it plans to transform the area into Singapore's second central business district.

The new jobs will be created in sectors such as the maritime industry, with the future Tuas mega port; infrastructure development, due to the neighbouring Jurong Industrial Estate; and in the technology sector with the Nanyang Technological University and the planned Jurong Innovation District nearby, URA said.

New residential developments will also be built in this western corridor, which will be a mixed-use business district. However, the exact mix of private and public development has not yet been determined, the authority said.

The district has been divided into two precincts - Jurong Gateway, the commercial hub where redevelopment has already begun, and Lakeside, where the future Singapore-Kuala Lumpur High-Speed Rail (HSR) terminus will be located.

To cater to the changing needs of developers and businesses, URA said it will adopt a grid structure for land parcels sold through the Government land sales programme so that it can adjust the size of land parcels put up for sale more easily.

These land parcels will be "white zoned", meaning that they can house a mix of uses under certain conditions. Developers will have more freedom to decide on the uses of each site, which could range from apartments to museums.

Speaking at the launch of an exhibition to showcase the draft master plan, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said the project will create a "better, smarter and more sustainable centre for businesses", which will provide more jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans.

The development of the district, which will take at least 15 to 20 years, will start with the area around the HSR terminus as it is expected to begin operation by end-2026, he added.

COMMUTER-CENTRIC FEATURES

URA also announced several features to make Jurong Lake District "car-lite". For example, there will be roads solely for public transport, and every street within the Lakeside precinct will have a dedicated path for cyclists and personal mobility device users.

The bus network serving the Jurong Lake District will also be expanded, with every development no more than 400m or a five minutes' walk away from a bus stop or an MRT station.

The aim is for more than 80 per cent of all commuter trips in the district to be via public transport, higher the current islandwide average of 66 per cent, URA said.

URA also said it hopes to cut the number of freight vehicles on the roads by at least 65 per cent - it plans to develop offsite logistic centres so that companies can consolidate their goods deliveries before entering the district.

GOING UNDERGROUND

To free up ground space, more underground spaces will be used. For example, URA will build at least four "consolidated" car parks - with each development 200m to 400m from a car park instead of each building having its own car park.

These underground spaces could also be used to house energy and waste systems such as a centralised waste collection point and a district-wide cooling system, the statutory board added.

The district-wide cooling system will serve the entire area, including residential developments, unlike the network currently used at Marina Bay which only serves commercial buildings.

An integrated district management platform could also be set up so that facilities managers can tap on real-time data to diagnose and fix problems quickly, URA said.

GREEN SPACES

The plans for Jurong Lake District include sprucing up 116 hectares of greenery and open spaces, including a new park above the HSR terminus, URA said.

The 90-hectare Jurong Lake Gardens is also currently being renovated and could provide activity spaces for the new Science Centre. A water channel on the east side of the lake will also be formed to provide more waterfront space for leisure and retail activities, it added.

Proposals for the Jurong Lake District were developed by a team of consultants led by Dutch design firm KCAP Architects&Planners.

URA said it hopes to finalise the details of this master plan by 2019, and hold townhall sessions and focus group discussions among both businesses and residents to gather feedback on the proposals.

Members of the public can also give their feedback at the exhibitions showcasing the draft master plan, which will take place at the URA Centre from Aug 25 to 31 and at Westgate from Sep 8 to 17.