Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the Singapore Institute of Planners 50th Anniversary Celebration
Mar 30, 2022
Introduction
A very good evening to all of you. Let me begin by congratulating the Singapore Institute of Planners on your 50th anniversary. I am honoured and humbled to be invited to this special occasion.
As we celebrate this milestone, allow me to spend some time reflecting on the past and looking into the future of urban planning here in Singapore.
Yesterday – Urban Planners, Bringing Singapore from Third World to First
Today, Singapore is a thriving city-state, with towns planned well, quality housing, amenities, and community facilities, with green and blue spaces close by.
But things were very different in the past. Right after independence, many people still lived in villages and overcrowded squatters without proper sanitation, clean water, and electricity – and faced a constant threat of fires and floods.
Our pioneers had to quickly build homes to meet our people’s basic needs, while dealing with very significant limitations. Unlike bigger countries, Singapore is the only city that we have, and we cannot afford to fail. We cannot spread our bets across different cities. So early on, we realised that good urban planning was vital.
And our planners also had to take into account our young nation’s economic strategy and goals. For instance, we capitalised on our location along the Straits of Malacca, and our deep waters that made excellent harbours. By investing heavily in infrastructure to support our maritime industry, we brought in jobs and trade to grow our fledgling economy.
Despite facing immediate pressing challenges, our pioneers took a long-term view. Very early on, they safeguarded land for an island-wide expressway system and MRT networks, so that the towns we were rapidly building could be well-connected.
Our pioneers also made some bold moves that were considered risky and uncertain at the time.
One classic example, recounted time and time again, was the decision to move our airport from Paya Lebar to Changi. The benefits seem obvious today, on hindsight – height restrictions could be lifted, noise pollution reduced, improving the living environment in Geylang and Katong. But back then, this was a risky decision, if you listen to the oral history of our early planners and they will tell you this, because Paya Lebar airport was already doing quite well then.
Other decisions that proved far-sighted by our planners included the location of petrochemical plants on Jurong Island, safely-distanced from populated areas. As well as spending significant sums to reclaim land to augment our limited land supply.
Tomorrow – A New Approach to Planning, with Public Engagement at its Heart
Today, while we continue to adopt this forward-looking, future-focused planning philosophy, we must also adapt to fast-changing circumstances and challenges. Technology continues to drive new economic opportunities, so we must be nimble in our land use to capture potential growth. Yet as Singapore becomes more built up, we will also face greater constraints and more stark trade-offs among competing land uses. We must continue to weigh these trade-offs carefully.
Circumstances aside, Singaporeans have also changed – today, many want to have a larger say in what Singapore will become. Planners of the future must adapt to this. Urban planning cannot be a solely top-down process, where a planner sits in the office and draws out what he or she thinks is best, before executing it unilaterally. Instead, public engagement must be central to the planning process. Not just within the Government, but with the public, NGOs, corporates, and communities. The final design and decision must incorporate the aspirations and values of all relevant stakeholders. So we increasingly must build that into the runway, into our timelines. Engagement must also – as far as possible – take place upstream, before key parameters are fixed and plans set in motion.
That is why the Government has strived to take an even more people-centric approach in our city planning. And I must say, we are still learning. For instance, while we have a long history of carefully conserving our built and natural heritage, in recent years we have deliberately engaged nature and heritage communities a lot more extensively. While this takes more time and resources, I think it translates into better outcomes. And it gives Singaporeans the opportunity to play a real and significant part in shaping the city where they live.
To illustrate, as part of URA’s Long-Term Plan Review (LTPR), we have been engaging more widely and meaningfully than before. Since July last year, we have reached out to over 15,000 Singaporeans from all walks of life, on our plans for the future of our island, over the next 50 years and beyond.
And this citizen-centric approach has begun to yield rewards for our planners.
By listening more intently to Singaporeans’ aspirations for the future, providing platforms for diverse sentiments and aspirations to come into the same room – so that Singaporeans with different wants and different asks can listen to each other, and navigate trade-offs among each other. We can better shape our priorities and sharpen our plans.
For example, many participants wanted Singapore to remain a distinctive home with a clear identity and cultural heritage. In response, having studied this for some time, we will strengthen our heritage evaluation processes, and introduce more avenues for public feedback and consultation.
We recently announced that we will implement a structured Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) framework. Under this new framework, whenever a public project is likely to significantly impact an important heritage site, the managing agency will need to consult with URA and NHB in detail, to determine if a heritage study or other measures are required to mitigate the impact of the development.
Public consultation will be central to this. We will engage stakeholders and the wider public more deeply and broadly, and seek their feedback. But we ourselves have to build skillsets, and to grow the relationships of trust that will enable that to be genuine, deep and concerted. External consultants will also come in to provide additional assessments.
Now all of this will supplement our existing planning processes.
We hope that this will help us better safeguard our built heritage, and help foster a strong sense of identity and belonging for all Singaporeans. Having said that, we are still learning on this journey.
Recognising the Contributions of SIP
As the LTPR engagement has shown, both planners and the people must be at the heart of our urban planning.
In this regard, SIP’s contributions have been very significant. SIP plays a vital role in nurturing talent and promoting excellence in urban and regional planning. Besides providing professional training, SIP also strengthens networks and relationships between planners, as well as with stakeholders across allied disciplines. This is important in maintaining the vibrancy of the planning profession.
Looking back to the past, it is clear that SIP members have contributed tremendously to shaping the Singapore we live in today.
Take for instance Mr Alan Choe, the founding Vice-President of SIP. I was a very young member of the MND family, and some years ago I met Mr Alan Choe – very unassuming, but a giant of a man. Besides being the first architect-planner at HDB and then the first General Manager of the Urban Renewal Authority, Mr Choe also oversaw the transformation of Sentosa from a former military island into a major tourist attraction.
And Mr Liu Thai Ker, who was previously CEO of HDB and URA – he was also one of the council members when the SIP was founded in that same year.
I am confident that SIP will continue to play a crucial role in planning for the future of our city.
For instance, the SIP and the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) are working with URA to develop concept masterplans for the future of the Paya Lebar Airbase area. One interesting idea that has been raised is to create a Heritage District out of the cluster of old airport buildings, such as the control tower and hangars. Others also suggested making the Paya Lebar Airbase area a “Happiness Project” – with urban design that promotes community bonding, and well-integrated blue and green spaces that can improve residents’ well-being. The Urban Design teams are now fleshing out plans to give us a glimpse of what this area could potentially look like in the future. I’m sure we all look forward to the findings being shared with the public later this year, so that we can work with Singaporeans to create the future together.
Apart from this project, I am glad that SIP is developing a formal accreditation programme to push the industry forward. Enterprise Singapore is fully supporting this programme. Our planning agencies, like URA and JTC, have also contributed members to your Accreditation Panel, which will help develop the programme. Design Singapore and our agencies’ in-house training institutes will also support SIP’s development of relevant courses.
The Government will continue to work with SIP and other like-minded partners, to build up the capabilities of our planners, and further enhance Singapore’s global reputation for excellence in urban planning.
Conclusion
Allow me to conclude. Over the years, each generation of planners has worked closely with Singaporeans, to continually create, rejuvenate and reimagine our city.
While the years ahead will present new challenges, they will also bring exciting new ideas and technologies – opportunities for us to rejuvenate and refresh our city sustainably, for many future generations of Singaporeans.
If we put our minds to it, consult widely with Singaporeans. If we are bold and creative, yet also disciplined and rigorous in our urban planning as we’ve always been. Then I am confident that, just as our pioneers did some 50 years ago, we, too, can ensure that 50 years from now and beyond, despite tremendous challenges like climate change, geo-political tensions, and so on, our Singapore will remain a great place to live, work and play.
I wish all of you good health, and once again, congratulations and best wishes to the SIP on your 50th anniversary. Thank you and good evening.