Dr John Keung, CEO BCA

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Good morning.

1    I am pleased to see so many of you here this morning at BCA’s Universal Design seminar and launch of the Friendly Built Environment Week.

Towards a Friendly, Barrier-free Built Environment

2    In our journey to make Singapore an inclusive society and endearing home for all, it is essential that our built environment be seamlessly connected, to allow our elderly, as well as people with different physical abilities, to stay integrated with the community. Our drive towards a comprehensive barrier-free built environment began in 2006, with the launch of BCA’s Barrier-free Accessibility, or BFA, Master Plan. I am pleased to see that our efforts have yielded significant results. This was possible because of the close cooperation between the stakeholders from the people, public and private sectors. Allow me to elaborate on some of the achievements and upcoming initiatives.

Achievements of the BFA Master Plan

3    Revision of the Accessibility Code. In line with the vision of an inclusive society that supports ageing-in-place and mobility for all users of our built environment, the scope of the "Code on Accessibility in the Built Environment" was expanded last year to cover facilities other than buildings, such as parks, transport hubs and bus shelters. The Code also covers inter-connectivity between buildings, as well as connectivity from buildings to key surrounding facilities. This will ensure that our new infrastructure developments will provide users with greater ease of mobility within our built environment.

4    Public sector upgrading projects for BFA. While new buildings adhere to the Accessibility Code, a large proportion of our existing buildings were developed before the Code on BFA was first introduced in 1990. Therefore, to make our built environment truly seamless and accessible to all, we have to step up the pace of upgrading the older buildings.

5    In this respect, I am heartened to note that a number of government agencies have already embarked on upgrading programmes for existing public infrastructure to enhance accessibility. For example, the Land Transport Authority has made all MRT stations barrier-free, including the older ones. The Housing and Development Board is progressively upgrading HDB blocks to enable lift access at every floor through its Lift Upgrading Programme and is working to make all HDB precincts barrier-free by 2011. Recently, the People’s Association has also put in place a 5-year programme to upgrade their Community Clubs and Centres and Residents’ Committee Centres, to equip them with basic BFA features.

6    Enhancements to the Accessibility Fund for Private Sector. To encourage owners of older private buildings to upgrade, the $40 million Accessibility Fund was launched last year. Since then, owners of 19 buildings, including Paradiz Centre, OG@Orchard Point, and Friven & Co@Tanglin, have made use of the fund to offset the cost of upgrading their buildings with basic BFA features.

7    To make it easier for existing private building owners to upgrade their facilities, BCA has recently reviewed and enhanced the Accessibility Fund. I am pleased to announce that the Fund will now be extended to all private building types, except landed residential properties. This will allow more building owners to tap onto the incentives. To further defray upgrading costs, the funding support for basic accessibility features has been doubled from 40% to 80%, with a new cap of $300,000 per building, up from the previous cap of $150,000. In addition, to encourage building owners to provide facilities and amenities that are beyond the basic accessibility requirements, a new funding support of 40% will be offered for these enhanced features.

8    I would like to take this opportunity to urge private building owners, especially those buildings with high public access, to come forward and tap on the enhanced Accessibility Fund, to make their buildings more accessible and friendlier for all users.

9    Promoting Universal Design. Beyond driving greater barrier-free accessibility in our built environment, BCA is also actively promoting Universal Design, or UD. In simple terms, UD means, "designing for all people". That is, through UD, we aim to create an environment that will address the different needs of all age groups and for all people.

10   I am heartened to see that there has been an increasing awareness amongst industry practitioners to pro-actively incorporate UD features in their projects. For example, BCA’s 2^nd Universal Design Awards this year has seen an increase in the number of submissions, ranging from office buildings to shopping centres. This is a clear indication of the rising civic and social consciousness of our people, as we strive towards a truly inclusive society.

Launch of the Friendly Built Environment Portal and Accessibility Rating System

11   The ultimate beneficiaries of a barrier-free built environment are, in fact, members of the public. Thus, it is important that the public is able to find information about accessible buildings and infrastructure to better plan their journeys and travel. For example, a family with young children in prams or elderly in wheelchairs would be keen to know the availability and the location of the barrier-free and family friendly facilities.

12   Friendly Built Environment Portal. To facilitate this, I am pleased to launch this morning, BCA’s new online Friendly Built Environment Portal and Accessibility Rating System. The Portal will provide the public with information on the accessibility and friendliness of various buildings. It is also a platform for public feedback on accessibility issues. I would like to encourage everyone to make use of the Portal and contribute your suggestions, to help planners, designers and building owners understand the various needs for accessible and friendly features within our built environment. I hope that this will open a channel of communication between the users and other stakeholders, so that we could collectively help make our built environment even more friendly for all.

13   Accessibility Rating System. A crucial feature of this new Portal is the Accessibility Rating system. The Accessibility Rating assesses the user-friendliness of buildings. For a start, BCA has focused on buildings most frequently visited by the public, including those along Orchard Road, Bras Basah and Shenton Way. The rating will help members of the public discern at a glance, which are the more accessible buildings.

Launch of Friendly Built Environment Week

14   I am also pleased to launch the inaugural Friendly Built Environment Week, beginning today. This event comprises a week of activities such as seminars for industry practitioners and workshops for students. It is an ideal platform to bring together the various stakeholders to exchange ideas and to forge closer cooperation in our drive towards a friendlier built environment.

Closing Remarks

15   We have made good progress in the last few years to make our built environment barrier-free. Going forward, with the collective effort of all stakeholders, I am confident that we could realise our vision to be an inclusive society and endearing home for all.

16   I wish all of you a pleasant morning.

Thank you.

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