Urban planning in Singapore

thumb|300px|right|Plan of the Town of Singapore, more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan

Urban planning in Singapore is the direction of infrastructure development in Singapore. It is done through a three-tiered planning framework, consisting of a long-term plan to plot out Singapore's development over at least 50 years, a Master Plan for the medium term, and short-term plans, the first two of which are prepared by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the last by multiple agencies.

Planning in Singapore first began with the Jackson Plan in 1822, which divided Singapore town into multiple ethnic areas and established Singapore as a commercial and administrative centre. For a century, the colonial authorities in Singapore were not very involved in its development until they began engaging in urban regulation in the 1890s, in response to congestion and squatter settlements. When this proved inadequate, the British established the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) in 1927, which had limited powers and hence limited initial impact. Detailed urban planning for Singapore eventually started in the 1950s, with the goal to give Singapore a wider economic role in the Federation of Malaya. The 1958 plan was produced as a result, heavily influenced by British planning practices and assumptions.

After Singapore's independence in 1965, planning policies were revised, and the State and City Planning Project was initiated to produce a new plan for Singapore, which became the 1971 Concept Plan. This plan laid out the basic infrastructure for Singapore's development and brought about the integrated planning process used ever since. Planning in Singapore began to incorporate additional priorities from the 1980s, such as quality of life and conservation, while the 1991 revision of the Concept Plan introduced the concept of regional centres to promote decentralisation. To improve the implementation of the Concept Plan's strategies, Singapore was divided into multiple planning areas in the 1990s, and comprehensive plans for each area's development were produced and compiled into a new plan. In the 2001 and 2011 concept plan, Singapore's urban planners began to incorporate public feedback and opinions into the planning process, shifting towards liveability and sustainability, while prioritising economic development as the powerhouse of each plan's success. The 2011 Concept Plan also featured a distinct focus on sustainability and conservation. The most recent plan is the 2019 masterplan, which details Singapore's increasing consideration towards sustainability, cultural preservation, building communities and closing resource loops.

History

Colonial Town Planning (1819 – 1958)

When Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore in 1819, returned to the colony, he was dissatisfied with the haphazard development he encountered. At this time, Singapore was considered the trading factory and warehouse of the British East India Company. As a result, commercial houses and wharves grew disorderly along the banks of the Singapore River, a location known for its accessibility to trading boats. A town committee was formed as a result, to ensure that Singapore developed and grew in an orderly manner, as part of Raffle's vision of Singapore as a commercial and administrative centre. The first official plan of the town, the Jackson Plan, was drawn up in December 1822 or January 1823.

The strict regularity of the plan placed Singapore's streets and roads in a grid network. An area south of the Singapore River was set aside as a commercial and administrative centre, while the river's east bank, the 'Forbidden Hill' (Fort Canning Hill) and south-western tip was used for defence purposes. To make Singapore a commercial and administrative centre, haphazardly constructed buildings were discouraged and significant disruptions were caused by the massive movements of people to and from their designated areas. Furthermore, to add professionalism to the planning process, Raffles secured the services of G.P Coleman, an architect and surveyor, and appointed Jackson, an assistant engineer, to build and oversee the development of the island. It was Jackson who would have the most significant impact on the appearance of the town, building the earliest Raffles Institution and the earliest bridges across Singapore River.

The ethnic segregation was considered by some as part of a "divide and rule" strategy, a concerted effort by the British government to make residents reliant on them for matters related to race and ethnicity. The demarcations also allowed the British political and economic control over the separated indigenous population, depending on the European Quarter as an administrative and commercial centre. This perspective is part of the larger critique of British hegemonic rule, where only selected ethnic leaders (mostly wealthy, professional and business Chinese) were represented in the Municipal Committee, which regulates ethnic interests. Such policies gave the appearance of mass support for British planning policies, such as those involving ethnic segregation, without considering the interests of the working class or other under-represented ethnic groups.

The Jackson Plan formed the foundations of Singapore's Central Business District and morphologically, the grid street pattern provided the form for the central area. The rigidity of the street pattern also became one of the main reasons for traffic congestion post-war when private cars began to take to the streets. Long afterwards, the segregation of racial groups will continue to remain intact and only begin to change in the mid-1960s.

In 1918, in response to a Housing Committee's findings regarding unsanitary living conditions posing a health hazard, the SIT was not empowered to prepare comprehensive plans or to control development, initially only handling minor development schemes. In the years preceding the Second World War, the SIT concentrated mostly on building and improving roads and open spaces, and constructing public housing. Beyond basic standard of living and amenity, the 1965 Plan re-oriented Singapore from a mere commercial outlet to a centre of manufacturing export for Malaysia's industries and a centre for industrial expansion. The population basis for planning was raised to between 3.5 and 4 million, and plans to accommodate this expanded population took the form of a radial expansion. The <nowiki></nowiki>Ring City' would have urban centres along the coast and at selected inland sites. A network of highways and a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system will be used to provide transport. The First Review of the plan included an area encompassing southern Johore and Singapore Island, in line with the plan's regional focus. However, with Singapore's direction of development unclear, the 1965 Plan was held back innovatively and was not expected to last past 1972.

Post-independence and the Concept Plan (1965 – 1980s)

Singapore officially separated from Malaysia on 9 August 1965 and attained independence. As a new nation, the government had a new set of goals and priorities: national survival, achievement, and making Singapore a global city. Survival was important to Singapore due to the communist confrontations experienced by the new administration in the early 1960s. Additionally, the rapid advance in information technology at the time made it essential for Singapore to become a global city. These goals, combined with the drive to attain excellence individually and organizationally as a new country, combine to produce the post-independence planning process.

Unlike the 1958 plan, post-independence planning was firmly set within the boundaries of main and offshore plans. The need for economic success was also urgently conveyed in the plans leading up to 1980s. To this end, planning began to become an institutionalized, professional act. Expertise was imported to prepare plans, specialist services were obtained in the fields of planning, and the State and City Planning (SCP) Department was created. Local professional staff were sent overseas to be trained. Post-independence planning was characterized by egalitarian goals and ensuring optimal land use. Land was considered a scarce resource, and allocation of land was seen as a communal or national act as opposed to an individual one. The SCP was focused on 'optimisation of the republic's land resources and resolving conflicting development proposals in the overall interest of the state for the common good'.

The concept plan was developed in 1971, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme, which aimed to guide urban development in Singapore to the 1990s. The concept plan is based on the structure form of a 'Ring City', embodied by the ring-like structure of the transportation system. URA also played a key role in rejuvenating the old core of the city, demolishing 1500 acres of the old city core to build a new one. Through 'active programs' which involved both public and private participation, URA revamped the road system and drastically changed the built environment of central Singapore. The simultaneous development of mass housing and urban renewal also allowed large amounts of the population to be systematically transferred from the city core to the suburbs. Since housing and urban renewal were at the top of the government's priorities, URA was given access to resources, capital, and manpower on a national scale for its development activities. Historic areas in the city were also strategically conserved to be developed into a 'Civic District' in order to attract tourists and maintain Asian roots in the city.

To aid the implementation of the Concept Plan's aims, Singapore was divided into 55 planning areas. Development Guide Plans, comprehensive plans for each planning area, were drawn up between 1993 and 1998, and the resulting plans were compiled into a plan for the whole island.

2000s to present

Public consultation and feedback started playing a greater role in Singapore's urban planning from the early 2000s, and for the preparation of the 2001 Concept Plan, focus groups were formed to discuss urban planning issues. The 2001 plan mainly focused on quality of life, proposing more diverse residential and recreational developments, and balancing the goals of liveability and economic growth. This included plans to build housing in mature estates, in the new downtown at Marina South and at the western area of the island. Green spaces would be expanded from 2000 to 4500 ha, with the opening of areas such as Pulau Ubin and the Central Catchment Reserve, which will be accessible by Park Connectors. Green infrastructure would consist of green buildings which conserve energy and have better life cycles, green mobility such as cycling, walking infrastructure and green habits, which consist of making recycling and reducing waste part of Singaporean's daily consciousness. Efforts to make Singapore an endearing home include preserving heritage buildings, introducing more live-in population to heritage districts, adding sculptures and public art to parks and housing estates and fostering partnership between community members such as business-owners and residents. The long-term plan, formerly called the Concept Plan, plots out Singapore's developmental direction over at least five decades. Intended to ensure optimal land use to meet economic growth targets and handle expected population increases, it is revised every 10 years. The Master Plan, intended for the medium term, comprises land use plans across Singapore, and is revised every five years, while the detailed plans, issued by agencies supervising certain aspects of urban development, plot out short-term development. Preparation of the long-term plan and Master Plan is done by the URA,

Transport planning in Singapore consists of the Land Transport Master Plan, which is revised every five years, and development plans for the rail and bus system. Built upon a spoke-hub distribution paradigm, Singapore's transport planning has several key aims, namely increased connectivity, improved public transport provision, and increasing the proportion of commuters using public transport.

The 2019 Master Plan

The current Master Plan, released in 2019, focuses on the themes of liveable and inclusive communities, sustainability, sustainable mobility, conservation of historic areas and Singapore as an international gateway. In order to create closer knit communities, new towns will be well-connected and amenities will be community-centric so that public spaces can become more vibrant and inclusive. The plan details working with communities and protecting built heritage, in order to create distinct and unique local identities, creating place character and continuity. Continuing their shift towards sustainable mobility in the 2001 Concept plan, mobility will be encouraged with better connectivity across Singapore by enhancing cycling and pedestrian networks, promoting public transport use, making business nodes closer to homes and more easily accessible, and increasing the efficacy of goods delivery. This includes four additional new rail lines, the Cross Island Line, Jurong Regional Line and Thomson East-Coast Line, which will be complemented by Integrated Transport Hubs which place rail and bus services in close proximity to MRT stations. A new Connectivity Special Detailed and Control Plan was also developed such that cycling and pedestrian paths can be designed to provide optimised connectivity and bike parking will also be integrated within the new developments. A Transit Priority Corridor is also in the works, where bus lanes and cyclists enjoy seamless journeys, encouraging residents to cycle or take public transport. The central area, home to Singapore's financial hub, will continue to grow, accommodating more nearby housing and a larger diversity of jobs in the future. The Eastern Gateway, bolstered by the recent opening of Jewel Changi Airport and the expansion of Changi Air Hub, will continue to be a gateway for Singapore to the rest of the world. An additional Changi East Urban District will join the current lifestyle-business clusters in the area, bringing more jobs to the East. Other efforts to close resource loops and reduce energy use include strengthening current national water supply, exploring the use solar panels at Tengah Reservoir, building super-low energy buildings such as ALICE@Mediapolis and aiming for zero waste, with a recycling rate of up to 70%. The Masterplan also explores the use of underground space and co-location for pedestrian linkages, car parking and the expansion of the public transport network, in order to preserve space in land-scarce Singapore.

Singapore sees a distinct shift towards sustainability and addressing climate-change related fears in its recent planning policies. Beyond being an economic powerhouse, Singapore's planning priorities have expanded to sustainability, culture and resource preservation, bolstered by the use of advanced technology to create smarter cities.

Reception

Singapore has been referred to by many as the "best-planned city" in the world, with planners lauding the rapid development from British colony to global city, world-class public infrastructure, efficient public transportation and wide-scale affordable housing. Over 90% of Singaporeans or permanent residents own their own home and at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale, it was calculated that with Singapore's land-use efficiency, the world's population could fit into 0.5% of the Earth's landmass.

However, Singapore's highly curated, meticulously planned city is also not without its critics. Some have argued that Singapore's lack of "spontaneous organic city growth" and that the emphasis on a "highly controlled urban plan" has resulted in a "sterile" city. Believing that Singapore should slash carbon emissions to zero by 2050, advocates argue against the unsustainable use of Pulau Semakau Island for waste incineration and disposal, citing that landfill space will run out by 2035, the use of petroleum and natural gas as a source of energy and the petrochemical industries located on Jurong Island. Many also criticise Singapore's heavy focus in flood and climate change protection in the masterplan, declaring that more attention should be given to Singapore's unsustainable economic and energy sources.

In February 2021, a woodland reserve the size of 10 football fields just Northwest of Kranji was accidentally cleared for construction purposes, drawing intense criticism from Singapore's conservation groups. They argued that the forest was an important ecosystem, green corridor and one of the few remaining forests in Singapore, using this incident to highlight their view that planning in Singapore should do more to protect and preserve existing forests and wildlife.