Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the launch of the Draft Master Plan 2025 Public Engagement and opening of the Bishan-to-City Links
Oct 5, 2023
Introduction
1. Glad you can join me to mark the completion of Phase 1 of the Bishan-to-City route.
Bishan-to-City Route
2. The 10km Bishan-to-City route, or B2C route for short, connects Bishan to our Central Business District.
a. It provides a safer and more direct journey for pedestrians, joggers and cyclists traveling from our heartlands to the city. It is part of our plan to rejuvenate the Kallang River and enhance the existing Kallang Park Connector. The project also supports our national sustainability goals, by facilitating greener commutes through active mobility infrastructure.
b. Previously interrupted by expressways and major roads, we have introduced new and enhanced underpasses as well as signalised crossings, allowing seamless movement along the park connector from Bishan to Potong Pasir, and from Kolam Ayer to Marina Bay.
c. Construction works to bridge the last gap across the PIE will start soon. This will include Singapore’s longest elevated pedestrian and cycling bridge, and we expect it to be completed by 2027.
3. Besides improving connectivity, this project has allowed us to create vibrant public spaces with the community. We also have plans to enhance residents’ access to the Kallang River.
a. The painted benches you see here are actually the work of residents and students, some of whom are with us today. Can I invite you to raise your hands so we can acknowledge you? We will also be planting trees, later this morning. Thank you for coming together to make this space even more vibrant. We hope that all of you can join us in planting the trees, especially our children. We plant trees today, for the benefit of giving shade to the next generation.
Importance of Long-Term Planning
4. Let me say a bit more about long-term planning. The B2C route and other developments you see along Kallang River today are examples that demonstrate the way we plan in Singapore.
a. Decades ago, our early planners envisioned transforming the river and its surroundings into a highly liveable environment – one that not only catered to the needs of their time, but also for generations after them – for us and for our children.
b. By carefully stewarding our limited land and taking a long-term perspective, the plans were progressively brought to life over many decades – from paper, to reality on the ground. Today, diverse housing options, modern workplaces and green recreation spaces are meaningfully and sensitively interwoven to form vibrant neighbourhoods for residents, businesses, and the community.
5. It is this very same principle of stewardship – of planning ahead, thinking beyond our own immediate interests, and balancing the needs of our generation and the next – that we want to continue to embody, as we chart Singapore’s future development.
a. This is especially critical as land pressures become increasingly acute and trade-offs harder to navigate.
b. We must also find creative and innovative ways to optimise the use of land.
c. This includes tapping underground spaces, co-locating multiple uses within a single space, and redeveloping brownfield sites, including residential estates. Such comprehensive redevelopment allows us to rejuvenate our estates and provide new housing opportunities for future generations.
Launch of the Draft Master Plan 2025 Conversations
6. With this in mind, I am now delighted to launch the public engagement for the Draft Master Plan 2025 today, where we will reach out to Singaporeans and invite you to join us in conversation.
a. This follows from the recent Long-Term Plan Review where we developed long-term strategies to guide Singapore’s development over the next 50 years.
7. During those conversations as well as our Forward Singapore engagements, many Singaporeans have shared their aspirations for the Singapore of today and tomorrow and the values that they hold dear. These include accessible and affordable housing, good job opportunities for all, and a city that is sustainable, green, and anchored on a strong sense of identity.
8. In reviewing the Master Plan, we will translate the long-term strategies identified during the Long-Term Plan Review into detailed plans that we will implement on the ground and in your neighbourhood, over the next 10 to 15 years.
a. Over the next two years, we will reach out to stakeholders from all walks of life on the Draft Master Plan so that we can shape the future Singapore together.
b. With many competing needs as well as the increasingly diverse aspirations of Singaporeans, our choices on how we use our land may not necessarily meet everyone’s expectations. But through the process of dialogue and conversation, of give and take, of thinking about what we need and what future generations need, and also trying to come up with win-win solutions, we hope both planners and members of public can better understand the range of different needs and interests, and how they can be appropriately accommodated within our small island city-state.
Shaping the future of Singapore
9. We propose to plan along four key themes.
a. First - ‘Shaping a Happy Healthy City’. To build stronger communities and cater to diverse aspirations, we will be studying the possibility of developing a good mix of private and public housing in more central locations, which may include the city area, former Keppel golf course site, and Bukit Timah Turf City. We will also develop a Recreation Master Plan to see how we can make facilities and spaces more accessible in order to promote active lifestyles, ageing-in-place and a healthier population.
b. The second theme is, ‘Strengthening Urban Resilience’. We will need to protect Singapore against the adverse effects of climate change, and respond more nimbly to crises and challenges. We will adopt technology and innovation, optimise existing spaces, and integrate nature-based solutions within our city infrastructure. We will tap on more underground spaces, and study how we can better protect our coastlines and enhance the heat resilience of our city. Because Singapore will not withstand the effects of climate change, and how well we protect Singaporeans and our city from climate change will define us into the future.
c. The third theme is, ‘Enabling Sustainable Growth’, we will focus on sustaining a thriving economy and meeting the needs of businesses and our workers. More flexible spaces and mixed-use sites will be injected into areas such as Jurong Lake District as well as other commercial nodes. We will also launch sites with different land tenures and different plot densities to meet the changing needs of our businesses and enterprises.
d. The final theme is ‘Stewarding Nature & Heritage’. Singaporeans cherish our biodiversity, our green spaces and natural environment, and desire to retain well-loved and familiar surroundings. Through identity corridors, like the Kallang River, which is part of the Thomson-Kallang Corridor, we will strengthen the distinctive character and heritage of our towns and our neighbourhoods. We will also continue to enhance our green and blue spaces to bring the benefits of nature closer to Singaporeans.
10. We will share more on these very exciting plans over the next year. In short, we completed the Long Term Plan Review, came up with broad themes and strategies for the next 50 years, and from today, we want to engage you on how to translate those bold ideas for the next 50 years onto the ground, into our neighbourhoods. So participate actively because we will work with you to plan for the rejuvenation of the places that we live, and you will be part of the conversations for the transformation of Singapore.
Conclusion
11. Later, we’ll be doing tree planting. Over the years, the saplings that we will be planting will grow into tall trees. Singapore’s transformation did not take place overnight. Today we enjoy the fruits of labour from those who came before us. They had the foresight to safeguard options for the future and made a lot of sacrifices, trade-offs and hard decisions during that time.
12. In that same spirit, let us work together to create the Draft Master Plan 2025, not just for ourselves, but also for our children. We are always thinking of them, and the children who come after them. We want to hear your views and ideas, and discuss them constructively to make Singapore a more liveable, inclusive, and endearing home.
13. Thank you.