We have always taken a long-term view towards land use planning, with stewardship and sustainability as core, long-held principles. Given Singapore’s small size, we must be judicious in stewarding our scarce land resources to support our development.

We adopt a range of strategies to make good use of existing land. This includes increasing the density of developments, while ensuring liveability. We also co-locate suitable uses, and redevelop brownfield sites such as golf courses, old school sites, or industrial areas, as leases expire. For example, going forward, when the lease for Keppel Club Golf Course expires, we will use the land to develop public and private housing. Land taken back from Jurong Country Club, Raffles Country Club, Marina Bay Golf Course from 2024 and Orchid Country Club from 2030, will also be used to meet other needs. By 2030, we would have taken back more than 400ha of golf course land for redevelopment.

Because of our commitment to land stewardship and sustainable development, we adopt a science-based approach to identify core biodiversity areas and surrounding buffers that we want to retain for future generations. We have retained a number of ecologically important sites as green spaces, although they had initially been designated for other uses. But given our physical constraints and scarce land area, there will be some greenfield sites that we might have to develop to meet our land use neds.

In deciding which sites to develop, we consider the site’s ecological value, alongside other aspects such as compatibility with surrounding land uses, and the readiness and capacity of transport and other supporting infrastructure.

For sites identified for development, any potential environmental impacts are carefully studied and mitigated, and natural elements will be preserved and integrated within developments where possible, to facilitate ecological connectivity. Major developments near sensitive nature areas, marine and coastal areas, as well as areas of significant biodiversity, will be subject to greater scrutiny, and more detailed environmental studies may be required

Singapore is economically vibrant and one of the most liveable cities in Asia. This is a result of comprehensive and long-term planning. The key challenge is to continue to sustain economic growth and ensure a high quality of life through careful planning. The Ministry achieves this by working closely with URA on two key plans - the Concept Plan and Master Plan, which provide a comprehensive, forward-looking and integrated planning framework for sustainable development.

The Concept Plan is Singapore's strategic land use and transportation plan to guide development in the next 40 to 50 years. The Concept Plan is reviewed every 10 years. This ensures that there is sufficient land to meet anticipated population and economic growth, and to provide a good living environment.

The Concept Plan is prepared in collaboration with many government agencies. It takes into account all major land use needs, considering all trade-offs and balancing future needs. This also ensures that future development balances economic growth with environmental stewardship and social progress. In 2021, we are embarking on a review of our long-term land-use needs. This exercise is known as the Long-Term Planning Review.

The Master Plan is the statutory land use plan which guides Singapore's development in the medium term over the next 10 to 15 years. It is reviewed every five years and translates the broad long-term strategies of the Concept Plan into detailed plans to guide development. The Master Plan shows the permissible land use and density for developments in Singapore.

For more information, you may refer to URA’s website www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Planning

To realise our planning intentions and Singapore's economic objectives, URA as the main land sales agent for the Government, coordinates the supply of State land for sale to the private sector through the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme. The Ministry works closely with URA in putting out the land for sale. Thereafter, the private sector provides the capital investment and marketing expertise to develop the sites to meet Singapore's business, housing and leisure needs.

The GLS Programme is instrumental in shaping much of the physical development of Singapore. It transforms both new and developed land into valuable real estate.

For more information, you may refer to www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Land-Sales