Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at URA's Recreation Master Plan Roving Exhibition Launch
Apr 14, 2024
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining me to launch the URA's Recreation Master Plan Roving Exhibition here at Westgate.
This is the first in a series of exhibitions that we will be holding, to seek Singaporeans’ views and ideas on recreational spaces across our island, in the lead up to the Draft Master Plan 2025 (DMP2025).
Planning for recreation: Improving our quality of life and lending balance to development
Singapore has come a long way in our development as an island city state. In the initial years after independence, we focused on providing for our basic infrastructural needs. With these foundations laid, we spent the last 60 years shaping Singapore into a metropolis, with thriving commerce and ports. Beyond that, we have also made Singapore a liveable home for our people.
We do this by creating a quality living environment for everyone. Apart from planning for homes, workplaces and schools, we intentionally plan for recreational spaces where we can relax and unwind, contemplate, spend time with family and friends, and keep fit and healthy. These areas include our parks, our arts and cultural spaces, and entertainment and sports facilities, just to name a few.
These spaces do not occur by chance, but are the result of deliberate upfront planning, and have been progressively woven into our urban fabric over the years.
The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the significance of recreational areas. We gained a deeper appreciation for spaces like parks and waterfront promenades, where we could get some fresh air and mental relief from having stayed indoors for extended periods of time during the COVID pandemic.
Interestingly, my colleagues from NParks found that visitor numbers to green spaces like parks increased after the Circuit Breaker was lifted, to levels higher than before the Circuit Breaker was in place.
The enduring connections Singaporeans have with recreational spaces reflect the importance of these spaces in nurturing our physical and mental wellbeing.
This was also echoed by many Singaporeans during our Long-Term Plan Review from 2021 to 2022. The Long-Term Plan Review is a plan every 10 years, for a 50-year time horizon. Singaporeans told us that they wanted diverse and inclusive recreational opportunities, close to their homes.
In our small island city-state, the only one in the world. So we must carefully steward our limited land and resources to balance competing needs, and provide for both present as well as future generations. As land pressures grow more acute and trade-offs become more intense and stark, we must find creative solutions to bring recreational options closer to homes.
Jurong Lake Gardens, not far from where we are now, is a good illustration of this. The Gardens serve as a green lung within the Jurong Lake District and provide respite from the urban environment.
It is situated along the Jurong Park Connector, part of the Park Connector Network (PCN) that connects our parks across Singapore, making use of spaces along urban infrastructure such as canals and roads to do so.
We can look forward to the reopening of the redeveloped Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden later this year, which will see the introduction of new garden features alongside familiar landmarks.
We must continue to plan for our recreation and well-being amid increasing land pressures today.
Every 10 years, we undertake a Long-Term Plan Review – we used to call this the Concept Plan. This is to plan for Singapore 50 years into the future. Every 5 years, we review our Master Plan – more detailed planning. And the Master Plan translates the strategies from the Long-Term Plan Review into detailed plans for implementation all across Singapore over the next 10 to 15 years. We launched the DMP2025 public engagement exercise last October, and will be launching several exciting initiatives in the coming months, such as this master plan for our recreational spaces.
We would like to invite you to come join us for this exhibition. We would like to hear your views on different recreational options as part of our Recreation Master Plan. We are kicking things off with this first roving exhibition here in the Western part of Singapore, where we seek your views on upcoming projects in the West region.
We also have upcoming exhibitions across the island at Vivocity and One Punggol, just to name a few. I hope Singaporeans will visit these exhibitions and share your views, suggestions and ideas on the different recreational options.
Three foci to anchor our Recreation Master Plan
Let me briefly describe the key thrusts of the Recreation Master Plan. There are three focal areas that we are looking at.
Firstly, we want to tap on our existing network of green and blue spaces to provide more recreational opportunities for Singaporeans, by enhancing the connectivity between these spaces.
For example, in the south-west of Singapore, my colleagues at NParks plans to enhance and connect 13 parks to provide more nature-based recreational opportunities. This will be done via a series of curated recreational trails, where the public can look forward to a wider variety of experiences along the Southern Ridges and West Coast. These experiences range from active play to tranquil nature-based experiences, as well as greater access to recreational features that are set amidst nature.
We will also be enhancing three of these parks – HortPark, Labrador Nature Park and West Coast Park. And we will upgrade them into Destination Parks, which are regional parks that will be developed around unique themes.
From enhancing our natural heritage to establishing spaces for community programming, we want to hear from you on how to make these places more attractive.
In the West, Pandan Reservoir is a well-loved multi-functional space, where residents enjoy various recreational activities, such as kayaking, fishing and cycling today. We would like to know what other recreational activities you would like to see at Pandan Reservoir.
We can also look forward to the opening of the new Science Centre around end-2027, within Jurong Lake Gardens.
The new Science Centre will provide immersive educational experiences and support a culture of experimentation and entrepreneurship with specialised labs that encourage the spirit of innovation.
It will also feature various community spaces. We would like to hear your suggestions on how to make them more unique and engaging for your and your family.
As we develop the recreation masterplan, we are also committed to building up our natural and cultural heritage, as exemplified by projects like the Old Jurong Line Nature Trail.
The trail runs along the disused railway tracks of the Old Jurong Line that have been retained, connecting Jurong Lake Gardens and the Rail Corridor as part of the Clementi Nature Corridor network. We plan to restore it so that more Singaporeans will know about it and can experience the old rail line.
The second focus is on activating underutilised spaces for recreation, to bring recreation even closer to our homes and workplaces.
An example is the space under road viaducts and flyovers that is often overlooked.
For instance, URA is engaging residents for ideas on activating a new community node under the Queensway viaduct along our Rail Corridor. This is adjacent to upcoming public housing developments at Queensway and near existing homes at Queen’s Close and Mei Chin Estates.
Beyond residents in the area, the node will also be a point of interest as well as a rest stop for the many users of the Rail Corridor.
We also want to reimagine how the former Jurong Bird Park and surrounding Jurong Hill area can be transformed into a vibrant precinct for work and recreation while retaining some of the lush greenery in the area. Many Singaporeans have precious childhood memories at the former Bird Park, and we hope that the reimagined area can provide future generations with meaningful recreation opportunities as well.
We want to hear your thoughts on how the area can be thoughtfully designed, balancing the development of more built-up areas with the integration of the lush greenery found at the former Bird Park and Jurong Hill.
My colleagues at URA and JTC will be holding a competition later this year to gather ideas on how this can be realised. We look forward to you taking part and hearing your views on these places.
Last but not least, we seek to make recreation accessible for people of all ages and abilities. We must continue to explore new ways to make recreational spaces more inclusive for Singaporeans.
The newly-opened Punggol Regional Library is the first public library in Singapore with an extensive suite of services created with and designed for persons with disabilities, such as calm pods that offer a quiet and safe space.
Our arts institutions are also becoming more inclusive. The National Museum for instance, has opened the first purpose-built social space dedicated to seniors, to engage them in meaningful activities inspired by the museum’s collection.
Continuing the conversation
In closing, do spend some time checking out the exhibits, bring your families, friends and colleagues as well. These are all very exciting projects here in the west of Singapore to look forward to, and we seek your ideas on how they can come to fruition. Look out for the roving exhibition that will pop up in different parts of Singapore, bring people there and share your ideas with us. We will study your feedback carefully, and agencies will work to incorporate the ideas and refine our Recreation Master Plan that will be presented at the Draft Master Plan 2025 exhibition next year.
Thank you.