Singapore Slums & Renewal – An Intriguing Case Study

By Tabassum Rahmani

Framework:

This case study provides an overview of how the Singapore slums and urban renewal process worked through a series of legislative, policy, and government organizational reforms in Singapore.

It highlights three developments, along Singapore’s urban waterfront, carried out during different periods.

Singapore is both a city and a state, requiring effective governance and integrated long-term planning to attack a balance between economic, social, and environmental goals in its urban-national ground.

Scoping For The Renewal of Singapore Slums and Urban Areas

The Singapore achieved self-governance in 1959. There was a housing shortage in the overcrowded city and overpopulated Singapore slums issue due to an influx of immigrants.

Despite the problems of the Singapore slums the government did not create an urban renewal program.

Instead worked to establish an effective system of urban governance and reorganizing the planning and housing development agencies.

They created a centralized, single-tier government, which helped expedite decision-making. 

Two new authorities – the Planning Department and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) were set up in 1960 to take over the Singapore Improvement Trust’s (SIT) land-use planning and public housing provision responsibilities.

Several legislative changes were implemented in these years that contributed to subsequent Singapore slums and urban renewal efforts.

The Land Acquisition Act (1966) streamlined land acquisition, allowing the state to secure private land for Singapore slums without excessive financial cost.

The 1964 Planning Bill amendment also supported urban renewal and it introduced a development charge system.

The developers were required to pay to the State, a part of the benefit arising from the grant of development permission.

Having established supporting legislative mechanisms, development strategies based on action programs, and an effective public housing program for alleviation of Singapore slums issues by the mid-1960s.

The government started to focus on Singapore slums and urban renewal. The Urban Renewal Unit was created in 1964 under the Building Department of HDB to the urban renewal program in the Central Area of the city.

One of the first major Singapore slums and urban renewal projects took place in the Golden Shoe area, which was envisioned as the new commercial heart of Singapore’s finance sector.

Prior to redevelopment, the area consisted of low-rise but densely laid out commercial and retail establishments, as well as overcrowded shop houses sitting on highly fragmented land parcels.

The rapid modernization of Singapore’s economy created significant demand for commercial development by the late 1960s.

The government started the redevelopment of the commercial heart of Singapore in the Golden Shoe district with the objective of creating revitalized Central Business District (CBD).

Although the earlier urban and Singapore slums renewal efforts saw significant state involvement, the private sector took a leading role in the renewal of the Golden Shoe area.

After completion of the Golden Shoe District development, the government turned attention to transforming the Singapore River, which began with an environmental cleanup.

The government recognized the negative impact of poor environmental conditions of the Singapore slums on the city-state’s image, as well as the Singapore River’s historical importance and potential for redevelopment.

The upgrading of Singapore’s urban waterfront extends beyond the original shoreline where the financial district of the Golden Shoe and the historic Singapore River area are situated.

In recent years, the vision for Marina Bay as the icon of Singapore’s ambitions as a global city has placed the country on the world map for international investors and tourists alike.

Prime waterfront real estate reclaimed from the sea, Marina Bay allows for the seamless expansion of the existing Golden Shoe district.

Planning:

Since 1959, the government recognized the need for a comprehensive planning framework to guide for providing affordable housing for Singapore slums and urban redevelopment.

The planning framework at that time was based on the conservative 1958 Master Plan which inhibited urban growth and development.

Singapore sought urban planning technical assistance from the United Nations (UN), which resulted in the division of the city into 21 planning precincts and initiated the idea of private participation.

UN experts advocated a strategy of Singapore slums and urban renewal, which paved the way for the first such initiatives in the City in 1966.

The 1958 Master Plan and the subsequent master plan reviews up until the 1990s served only to update developments that existed or had already been approved.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) sought to address this soon after the completion of the 1991 Concept Plan, widely regarded as Singapore’s watershed plan.

Development Guide Plans (DGPs) translated the broad intentions of the Concept Plan to detailed Local Plans with the whole island divided into 55 DGP areas. Future land use, development control.

During the 1960s, the government recognized that Singapore lacked a focused financial center to support a burgeoning finance industry.

The government decided to redevelop the Golden Shoe area for this purpose. Plot ratios were established in view of the road capacity in the area.

The Urban Renewal Department (URD) was designed and the subsequent Singapore River Cleanup Initiative as established when a Master Plan was drawn up for river cleanup.

Highlighting the need to resettle Singapore slums, squatters, farmers, backyard trades and industries.

The massive cleanup involved extensive multi-agency action and coordination to relocate affected activities and people.

The URA’s 1985 Singapore River Concept Plan was drafted in line with the overall conservation approach that combined economic viability.

The Plan formed part of the Central Area Structure Plan in 1985, which laid out the conceptual structure of the future development of the entire Central Area.

Meanwhile, plans for reclamation along the southern waterfront of the CBD were initially introduced in 1971 as part of Singapore’s first Concept Plan.

It was not until 1977 that the government decided to expand the scale of reclamation works at Marina Bay to support development.

The plan for Marina Bay was drafted as part of the overall Master Plan for Urban Waterfronts in 1989, which identified distinct development characteristics for each of the prime waterfront areas in Singapore.

Another key master plan review for Marina Bay was conducted in 2003.

A rigorous set of urban design guidelines was formulated by the URA for all the developments Singapore slums and Marina Bay.

This allowed for the vision to be realized through private-sector participation.

Institution For The Development of Singapore Slums and Urban Areas:

Being a city-state, Singapore has a centralized, single-tier government.

Planning and development policies are generally made at a national level without a separate layer of local government.

The Ministry of National Development (MND) is the key ministry responsible for national land use planning and development.

Several autonomous government agencies or statutory boards support it, each with their own specific missions and area of purview.

The key agencies under MND are the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the national land-use planning and conservation authority, and the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

The agencies also work together with other agencies from different ministries, such as the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB).

Financing:

Financing and budgeting is done as part of a “whole-of-government” approach in Singapore.

Government expenditure is categorized into operating and development expenditures for the Singapore slums.

The Development Fund in particular provides funding for the government’s direct development expenditures undertaken by the ministries.

In addition, it provides grants and loans to public agencies or corporations for development projects.

The Development Fund draws from a few sources, including the Consolidated Fund, interest and other income from investments of the Fund, and repayments of any loans made from the Fund.

Statutory boards such as the URA self-finance and are excluded from the government budget, but may seek government funding for development projects.

Implementation of the Renewal of Singapore Slums and Urban Areas:

By 1965, the government had achieved a breakthrough in its post-autonomy public housing initiative..

The HDB had completed 54,430 units, exceeding the target of 51,031 units for HDB’s first 5-Year Building Program.

At this time, two of Singapore’s precincts (N1 and S1) were identified for priority redevelopment.

This early urban renewal effort was characterized by extensive public construction programs.

This not only to resettle displaced residents but also to accommodate the affected businesses in public mixed-use complexes.

However, the government recognized the need for Public-Private Partnerships and cooperation as part of urban renewal.

As such, the Sale of Sites program (the Government Land Sales program) was established in 1967 to offer state land through public tender to the private sector for development.

The program eventually became highly successful, and played a crucial role in the redevelopment of Singapore slums, the Central Area and Singapore waterfront.

Resettlement activities due to urban and Singapore slums renewal, over the last several decades generally did not face opposition from displaced communities.

Many resettled families were living in dilapidated properties and the public housing offered to them was of much higher quality.

The government also sent resettlement officers to areas identified for redevelopment to talk with the community, explain the process, and show them the new area where they would move.

Redevelopment of the Golden Shoe area began with the second Sale of Sites in 1968, with 14 sale sites consisting mostly of state land.

After consultations with the Economic Development Board, the URA launched the 1968 land sale focusing on office developments with a total of 163,881 m2 of office space.

The issue of fragmented land ownership, the key obstacle to private sector redevelopment at that time was the Rent Control Act.

By 1974, within five years of rent decontrol, 13 projects were completed by the private sector in the Golden Shoe, with another 14 projects under construction and nine approved.

In addition to land acquisition and amalgamation for development, the public sector also facilitated the urban redevelopment process through public infrastructure works.

These included road improvement projects, which involved rationalizing the street network, road widening, conversion of streets, and betterment of Singapore slums.

Public food centers were also constructed in the district, offering inexpensive food for the working population.

Environmental improvement works including construction of pocket parks and landscaping of waterfronts.

Following the redevelopment of the Golden Shoe District, the government began to turn its attention toward the Singapore River area, which suffered from heavy pollution.

The cleanup was completed in 1987 and featured a 6-kilometer riverfront pedestrian promenade completed in 1999.

Restoration of historic bridges, as well and the resettlement of more than 26,000 families, the majority of which were resettled in HDB public housing.

Finally, it required the relocation of 4,926 street hawkers into food centers built by the HDB, URA, and the Ministry of the Environment.

The entire cleanup process cost the government nearly S 300 million.

Land sales for new residential and commercial developments at the other parts of the River were also launched as catalysts to seed developments.

In order to ensure successful sales and subsequent development of the sale sites, the URA incorporated feedback through consultation with the private sector.

Additionally, implementation of public infrastructure such as the riverfront promenade had to be coordinated; the private developer was required.

According to the land sales conditions, to build the stretch of the river promenade in front of its development, while the other stretches were to be constructed by the government.

The Marina Bay development consisted of reclaimed land belonging to the State and was initiated through government land sales to the private sector.

Three of the major land sales made in Marina Bay were:

• Marina Bay Financial Center: This land sale was formulated as an options payment scheme.
• Marina Bay Integrated Resort: During the Marina Bay development period, Singapore began to look into introducing integrated resorts.
• Collyer Quay development: This site adopted yet another tender approach for its land sale in 2006. The site comprised the historic Clifford Pier and Custom House, and allowed for new infill developments.

Upshots:

1. The redevelopment of Singapore’s urban waterfront as illustrated by the Golden Shoe district.
2. the Singapore River, and Marina Bay summarize Singapore’s unique approach to urban development in balancing economic, social and environmental goals within a land-scarce context.
3. Urban redevelopment required forward thinking and planning and was initiated in tandem with formulating a comprehensive master plan framework for Singapore.
4. What differentiates Singapore’s integrated planning regime from other cities is that its plans do not exist merely on paper.
5. They are coordinated, implemented and executed effectively through dedicated government agencies with attendant expertise and resources.
6. These action-oriented agencies include the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Housing and Development Board, as well as the former Public Works Department.

Work with Markets: 

The transformation of urban waterfront and Singapore slums is very much a product of the government working successfully with the markets.

This partnership is manifested in the Government Land Sales program, with the government providing upfront public infrastructure and a clear, transparent framework for development.

For its part, the private sector contributed creative expertise and financial capital.

Lead with Vision and Pragmatism: 

Leadership has an important impact on planning and implementation.

One important aspect of leadership is having the political will to push through policies or projects that are considered unpopular or politically difficult

If leaders are convinced that such policies or projects are for the long-term benefit of the city.

Generalized Urban Regeneration Decision Tool, as prepared by World Bank/International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).