Introduction

I just want to thank everyone for joining us today. Thank you for your patience and your many questions, I’m told that we have a lot more questions on Pigeonhole that I’ve not had the chance to read. There’s a lot of activity in the chats, with lots of ideas both about today and tomorrow, but also about the next 50 years. Please be assured we will look through them, we will look at how we can implement some of these ideas as considerations, or even as suggestions, as we start to refine and prepare our strategies for the Long-Term Plan Review exhibition that will come out in the middle of this year. And I hope, and my colleagues hope too, that we have the opportunity to meet you, face-to-face, at the exhibition – at the launch, as well as the subsequent days of the exhibition.

Long-term planning is about anticipating and preparing for our future, and the future of our children and grandchildren. Both the known, and the unknowns. It is also about balancing competing priorities, competing tensions, trying to see if we can derive win-win, and catering to the needs of an increasingly diverse population of Singaporeans. 

And for Singapore, we want to take great pains to ensure we are responsible stewards of our very limited resources – not to waste, not to squander away opportunities, which would otherwise benefit future generations. We make moves to meet our people’s needs and aspirations, but we also want to preserve options for future generations – so that they too, can have ‘space for their dreams’, which is the theme of LTPR.


Recap of Discussion

From today’s discussion, I think we can all agree that despite the uncertain future, some planning strategies seem to be ever-green. These include: Providing a variety of housing options for a diverse population – meeting their aspirations, meeting their needs; Encouraging good social mixing, providing for inclusive spaces, shared ownership of community spaces –  in order to foster that deeper sense of community, that yearn for that ideal in the past of the kampong spirit. The desire to connect, even as we seek more of our own personal space, the desire to connect with people around us; Strengthening a sense of belonging and social memory – both of national memories, national places and personal memories, even as we rejuvenate towns to keep pace with emerging trends. Over the decades to come, we can expect to see more rejuvenation of our housing estates, but how do we then, keep that anchor to the past; How do we interweave green and blue spaces into our urban fabric, for people to enjoy and to cherish, and how do we retain key ecological areas as far as possible. Developing sensitively when we need to activate those spaces; How do we build up our urban resilience and sustainability, such as by preparing for climate change – taking climate action, as well as other uncertainties that we cannot fully anticipate today; and how do we retain and celebrate our built heritage – while also integrating heritage elements into our developments.   

We want to continue to pursue these strategies, while refining them – with your feedback, with your support and with your partnership, as and when circumstances change.

Over the past few months, we’ve received lots of bold ideas from you and many other participants, through webinars, emails, chats, Pigeonhole, letters and physical conversations. 

For many of these – given the trade-offs involved, given the need for further study, we will have to study them very carefully. Such considerations will include: The need to set aside land for growth and future needs; Cost considerations – cost considerations may change over time, as technology and scale come into play. Building for resilience and having adaptability in our city planning, we will need to consider cost; and balancing the needs and aspirations of different segments of our population, bearing in mind social and demographic trends, tackling inequality, how do we build an endearing home not just for some, but for all our people.

Given all these tough trade-offs involved, my colleagues and I are grateful that you’ve put your views frankly today. Conversations like the one we’ve had, help us understand what is important to you and to us, so that we can sharpen our long-term plans as we move forward. 


Conclusion

Looking back, I think it’s fair to say that previous and current generations of planners have succeeded in transforming Singapore into a place to live, work and play in just over 50 years. But past success is no guarantee of future success.  We cannot rest on the success of the work of generations past, but we ourselves must imbue that spirit of stewardship – to cultivate, to grow, to nurture and to cherish this land and this city for future generations.

I urge you to continue to join our conversations about our future, contribute your ideas and feedback. But in the spirit of Singapore Together, I know many of you are giving ideas not just because you want to give ideas, but I know many of you want to partner us to make it happen. We have platforms for engagement, for action, including Alliances for Action – we’ve tried it out during the early stages of the pandemic. We let the people sector and private sector take the lead, in a relationship of trust, with agencies providing support to enable things to be tried. If they work at a macro scale, we will study whether that product can be scaled more broadly.

In the months ahead, we will launch a public exhibition to conclude the LTPR. But the exhibition is really the beginning of the next phase. Through this exhibition, we will share more details on the various long-term land use strategies that have been culminated from the feedback received throughout all our engagements. Not just an exhibition at URA, there will be a roving physical exhibition in our communities, so please look out for it in your neighbourhoods, and please excite your friends and families, and ask them to participate, look at it, scrutinise it, give us feedback, and help us to make it better.

Please continue to share your views and ideas with us, and bring your friends and family into the conversation, come for the exhibition, both the one at URA and the roving exhibition. Please visit the LTPR webpage to find out more about  the activities you can be part of, or to provide feedback to us. And importantly, if you are prepared to step forward to join us in achieving some of these goals, not just in giving us views, but rolling up our sleeves and doing things together – in your own communities or in other places. Please reach out, we will do our best, there will be many demands placed on my colleagues to do this, but we endeavour to identify good projects where you take the lead, partner us and make it happen. 

Once again, on behalf of my colleagues here at URA, thank you for joining us here today on this long weekend. Thank you.