COVID-19 has “sharpened the need” to have more mixed-development projects, amenities and housing in the CBD.
With more companies adopting flexible work arrangements in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is reviewing its urban development plans.
This comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has “sharpened the need” for Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD) to have more mixed-development projects, amenities, as well as a greater residential population, reported TODAY citing URA.
As such, the government’s CBD Incentive Scheme is well-placed to accommodate this changing trend.
“In particular, the CBD Incentive Scheme, which aims to transform the CBD into vibrant mixed-use neighbourhoods instead of being a mono-use office-centric district, is well-placed to accommodate such changing trends,” TODAY quoted a URA spokesperson as saying.
Unveiled together with the 2019 Master Plan, the scheme offers incentives to building owners and property developers to transform the older parts of the CBD into creative lifestyle developments with hotels and residences.
The scheme – which applies to Cecil Street, the Anson Road, Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar areas – also supports active mobility by having better-designed public spaces and streets.
Under the 2019 Master Plan, the government plans to build 20,000 homes in central Singapore, which includes the CBD.
The URA expects to see changes in people’s retail consumption, commuting and lifestyle patterns as more people work from home.
“There is potential for us to strengthen the convenience and accessibility of amenities within our neighbourhoods,” said the URA spokesperson. “The development of our gateways will help spread out demand and bring jobs even closer to our homes.”
To ensure that the city-state continues to be a safe living environment, the URA plans to enhance the design of public spaces. It will also continue to prioritise greenery provision by planning for more open spaces and parks near areas where people live and work.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg