Introduction

1 This year marks URA’s 30th year in urban planning and redevelopment. In the last 30 years, Singapore has undergone a dramatic physical transformation. Our Central Business District (CBD) started from humble beginnings at the mouth of the Singapore River as a trading outpost in the 1800s. By the 1950s, it had become overcrowded, with more than 300,000 living in a small area of around 5 square kilometres.

2 By the mid-1960s, a newly independent Singapore needed to expand its business district to fuel our economic growth.

URA’s Role In Urban Redevelopment In The Last 30 Years

3 It was under these circumstances that the Urban Renewal Department, URA’s predecessor, was formed in 1966 to undertake the planning and redevelopment of the business district. Slums were cleared and city residents relocated to new and better housing. Land was re-parcelled and sold for building office blocks, hotels and other facilities.

4 The scope of the department’s work grew rapidly and, in 1974, the URD became an independent statutory board known as the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Given its planning expertise for the Central Area, URA’s role was further expanded in 1989 to become the central planning authority for the whole island.

5 Notwithstanding this, development of the CBD remained an important focus of the URA. Infrastructure and urban design guidelines were put in place to facilitate and guide the CBD’s redevelopment and expansion. The result is the business district we have today – a distinctive and unique skyline of skyscrapers juxtaposed with shop houses - a modern metropolis that offers first-class business amenities as well as entertainment, recreational, retail, dining and other supporting facilities.

6 The Singapore River too, has been transformed, with entertainment, housing and cultural activities lining its banks. Today, a continuous riverfront promenade links the Parliament House with various cultural, F&B and entertainment facilities, as well as some 3000 homes. Soon, we will see home office and commercial developments around the Clarke Quay MRT station, adding more variety and life to the River. The River, once a bustling trading centre, has taken on a new and different lease of life.

7 These changes did not happen by chance. They were the result of focused efforts by the URA, which saw a vision for the area, and coordinated the efforts of various agencies and expertise to realize these plans. Looking at the developments around us, I congratulate the men and women of URA for a job well done. Their efforts over the past 30 years have not only been confined to planning, but also active facilitation to ensure that plans are implemented. The next 30 years will be even more challenging but I am sure URA will be able to rise up to the new challenges!

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URA’s Recent Plans To Enhance Our City

8 I have already mentioned some of these challenges in Parliament during the Committee of Supply session last month. In the face of increasing global competition, we must adopt an even more pro-active approach to plan for and invest in the necessary infrastructure and software to create an attractive environment. This is one of our strategies to maintain competitiveness and attract new activities into Singapore.

9 Over the last two years, URA has drawn up many exciting plans to enhance our city centre to make it a great place to live, work and play, for both Singaporeans and visitors. One such area is the Downtown at Marina Bay.

10 The Marina Bay area has seen exciting new developments and activities: One Fullerton, Esplanade Bridge, the new Merlion Park, the Esplanade Theatres and just last month, the NTUC Centre opened for operation. These new additions have helped to attract more people to the area and enlivened the Marina Bay waterfront.

11 We have land readily available for development, which allows us to further extend our existing CBD seamlessly. The Government believes it is now an opportune time to implement the plans for the Downtown at Marina Bay.

URA’s Role As A Development Agent

12 The Downtown at Marina Bay is slated to become a unique business and financial hub, integrated with quality housing, recreational and leisure facilities, providing a total live-work-play environment.

13 The development of the Downtown at Marina Bay will require the coordinated efforts of all agencies. The Government has tasked the URA to be the development agency to champion and focus efforts on the development of the Downtown at Marina Bay. With this mandate, URA would have the heavy but exciting responsibility to further transform Singapore’s city centre to support and enhance economic growth in the next 15 years.

14 In addition to its current responsibilities as the master planner, URA will spearhead developments and ‘place-manage’ the Downtown at Marina Bay. It will take on new roles to promote the area and draw developers and investors from around the world to our city.

15 To provide strategic directions, facilitate decision-making and steer development efforts, I had earlier announced in Parliament that I will chair a steering committee comprising MTI, MOF, MinLaw and relevant government agencies. We have also set aside $300 million to put in key infrastructure and facilities at the Bay area.

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Creating a Vibrant Waterfront

16 Later this week, URA will call an international design consultancy to seek the best ideas and designs for two new exciting projects: one, a 1.5 km waterfront promenade at the Central and Bayfront areas, and two, a 280-m pedestrian-cum-vehicular bridge that will connect the Bayfront and Marina Centre areas. The new promenade and bridge will be constructed by 2008 and will complete the 3.4 km pedestrian ‘loop’ which will link up all the cultural, entertainment and recreational facilities around the Bay. The construction cost for implementation of the waterfront promenade area and bridge is estimated to be SGD$40 million and SGD$68 million, respectively.

17 The development of the waterfront promenade and the bridge will open up the waterfront area at Bayfront and make it more accessible to the public and future developments. It will set the stage for the BFC. It will transform the area into a vibrant and exciting waterfront location, and make it an attractive destination as well as focal point for the city.

18 The promenade is envisaged to have spaces for events and activities, with shady retreats and colourful planting to provide a signature image for the area. There could also be different levels and steps to bring people closer to the water’s edge.

19 The bridge need not just be a road and a walkway. It can take on a sculptural form, and incorporate lookout points with panoramic views to over the Marina Channel, providing a unique water crossing experience.

20 The possibilities are endless, limited only by our ingenuity and imagination. It is up to us -- industry professionals, planners and stakeholders -- to decide how the new jewel of Singapore will look like. It is a unique opportunity for us to create something special in the heart of our city.

21 While the Downtown at Marina Bay will take many years to build up, URA will be introducing a series of low-density developments around the Bay for recreation and lifestyle-related uses. These sites, which can be on shorter leases for up to 30 years, will be inter-mixed with high-density developments and other attractions. In this way, we will not only provide amenities for Singaporeans, but also bring the buzz and the life into the area.

22 In the medium term, the Government could also look into the release of sites fronting Marina City Park for residential uses, to provide more housing options and bring in more live-in population in the Downtown. URA will also be coordinating the ‘software’ aspects of marketing and promoting the Downtown at Marina Bay, working closely with other agencies to draw in the crowds through staging of events and introducing activities in and around the Bay.

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Sale of Business and Financial Centre Site

23 We will be launching the sale of the Business and Financial Centre (BFC) site in May 2004 through the Reserve List system. The BFC developer will be given flexibility to plan, design and build the project in phases to match the growth in market demand, and a flexible payment scheme to lower upfront costs.

Staging The Development

24 By prioritizing the development efforts, we hope to realise our plans over the next 15 to 20 years. In the next five years or so, we expect the first phase of the BFC to be completed, together with the completion of the waterfront promenade, the pedestrian and vehicular bridge, with some of the low-intensity developments.

25 The opening up of the Marina Bay through the proposed infrastructure and low-intensity uses will complement the development of the BFC. In around 10 to 15 years, the second phase of the BFC is likely to be completed. A new community will be created at the Bayfront with the completion of the high-density residential developments.

26 In 15 to 20 years, the Marina Bay can become a great place to live, work and play. Besides prime office space, it will offer a variety of housing options in the heart of the city, with magnificent views out across the waterfront and parks and the city’s attractions.

Enhancing The Existing CBD And City Centre

27 Even as we develop the Downtown at Marina Bay, we will enhance existing areas in the City, such as the Shenton Way area, the Orchard Road, and the Bras-Basah/Bugis area. These are important to provide a total quality environment that supports business, retail, leisure, culture and creativity.

28 The existing CBD, which includes the Shenton Way, Raffles Place and Marina Centre areas, will continue to be a vibrant commercial district, forming the CBD core with the new extension at Marina Bay. As the Singapore economy recovers and grows, a range of modern office buildings will be needed to meet the requirements of different types of businesses.

29 Financial institutions are likely to be the main tenants in the BFC site and other commercial developments in the Downtown at Marina Bay, and some of them may decant from the existing CBD. However, when the overall economy grows in the medium term, the overall demand for office space will increase. New tenants and uses can fill the spaces in the existing CBD.

30 This will provide the existing CBD with opportunities for rejuvenation. We are already seeing this happening. Some owners of older commercial buildings in the existing CBD have refurbished and modernised their premises in order to stay competitive and attract new tenants. Recent examples include the Singapore Land Tower at Raffles Place, the former IBM Tower at Anson Road and former Chartered Bank Building at Battery Road.

31 There are also opportunities to redevelop some buildings for complementary uses. Many of the existing office buildings in the existing CBD, in particular in the Shenton Way and Cecil Street areas, have yet to maximise their full development potential under the Master Plan 2003. Thus incentives are already in place for redevelopment of these buildings for commercial or other uses, such as residential developments.

32 The enhancement of Orchard Road is also being actively explored. URA and STB are now exploring new retail, F&B and entertainment ideas and concepts at some vacant sites along Orchard Road. URA and STB will be consulting with various stakeholders shortly for more ideas. URA has already announced cash incentives to co-fund the development of selected underground links in Orchard and the CBD last month. I sincerely hope building owners will take up this opportunity. Improved connectivity within Orchard Road enhances the experience of visitors to the area and in the end benefits businesses.

33 As for Bugis/Bras Basah, the numerous private educational institutions and the completion of campuses for NAFA, SMU and LaSalle-SIA, Bras Basah and Bugis are fast making the area a learning hub in the city. More arts and educational centres will be channeled to the area in the future to further build up this hub. With the increasing student population in the area, URA plans to introduce more amenities and activities for the students. An urban entertainment centre site will be launched from the Reserve List in May this year. Student accommodation is also being considered at suitable sites.

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Extending Efforts Beyond City Centre

34 Beyond the city centre, URA is also working to introduce new ideas for a variety of activities. These include plans to activate the Southern Ridges area, by making it more accessible for people and introducing new uses in the area. URA has organized a design competition for the two bridges across Henderson and Alexandra Roads at the Southern Ridges. The competition has received good support with many interesting designs and ideas submitted. URA will announce the winners of the design competition in May this year. When the bridges are completed in end-2006, visitors will be able to walk and jog all the way from Kent Ridge to Mount Faber. In between, they can stop to enjoy the scenic views along the way.

35 In Punggol, URA is working with the local MP, Ms Penny Low, and her grassroots leaders to see how they can capitalize on Punggol’s coastal location and history to create seafood village there, and to put in place community and recreational uses. All these add variety to our living environment, making it more attractive.

Partnership With Public Service Partners And Private Sector

36 There are many exciting plans for various places in our city. However, plans can be realized only if all stakeholders work together with a unified vision. URA needs to work in partnership with other government agencies and the private sector, at both the upstream stage of planning, and the downstream stage of implementation. There is a need to tap on ideas from all over – other agencies, industry professionals, the users in the market, and experience overseas – to ensure that plans are relevant, useful, workable, and yet bold and unique. There is an even greater need for consultation and coordination of efforts to ensure smooth implementation of plans. URA can put in the ‘hardware’ and provide the infrastructure and facilities to support growth and development. But for these plans to work, the public sector organization needs the help of the private sector to provide the ‘software’, in the form of new activities, uses and concepts.

37 URA is using its annual corporate plan seminar as a forum to share its ideas and to hear from the industry, as it has done for the last two years. I hope that at the Q&A session later this morning, you will take the opportunity to share your experiences and offer your insights to how we can make these plans take off.

38 I encourage you to make good use of this and other opportunities to provide feedback on the plans. I also encourage the planners to take serious heed of all feedback, explore creative suggestions and welcome changes, so that plans can be refined and improved upon. The development of our city is not URA’s responsibility alone. Nor is it for URA’s benefit. Rather, it is for all, especially those of us gathered here today, to embrace this responsibility to create a better Singapore. I hope you will take up this challenge.

39 Thank you.

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