Work on hawker centre, polyclinic in Bishan town centre to start in this term of govt: Chee Hong Tat
Artist impression of pedestrian mall linking future developments and community facilities within the Bishan Sub-Regional Centre. PHOTO: URA
Work on hawker centre, polyclinic in Bishan town centre to start in this term of govt: Chee Hong Tat
SINGAPORE - Work on the new hawker centre, polyclinic and revamped bus interchange in the Bishan town centre will start within the current term of government and take several years to complete, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat.
About 200,000 sqm of new office space could also be built in the town centre, matching the scale of that in Paya Lebar Central, Mr Chee said in a Facebook post on June 26.
The Government is studying plans to develop Bishan into a new business hub as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2025 draft masterplan, which was unveiled on June 25.
Several government agencies are exploring the feasibility of relocating their offices to the area, to jump-start the development of this business district, URA said earlier.
Plans are afoot to develop Bishan into a sub-regional centre. Such areas are business hubs, such as those in Paya Lebar and Serangoon, that bring jobs closer to homes. They are smaller than the regional centres in Woodlands, Jurong East and Tampines.
Efforts to improve connectivity in Bishan will make it easier for residents to move around the town and access neighbouring facilities, Mr Chee said.
For instance , cycling paths in the Bishan town centre will allow residents to cycle to upcoming recreational spaces such as the North-South Corridor and Kallang River.
Bishan Place – a road behind Junction 8 shopping centre – will be transformed into a pedestrian mall and be linked to transport hubs and facilities, he added.
There are also plans for a walking and cycling street along the developments in Bishan Road that will be connected to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.
These plans are on top of that for the Toa Payoh Integrated Development on the site of the former Toa Payoh Sport Centre in Lorong 6 Toa Payoh , which will be completed within this term of government, said Mr Chee.
The integrated development will have an improved sports centre, an upgraded polyclinic, a bigger library and a rejuvenated town park. It will have sheltered linkways to Toa Payoh MRT station and bus interchange.
The Draft Master Plan 2025 includes plans to continue driving Singapore's economic growth by strengthening its economic gateways and business districts, rejuvenating key precincts and supporting innovation.
The exhibition for the draft masterplan will be displayed at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh from Aug 9 to 17.
Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
18 hours ago
- CNA
Ottawa orders Chinese manufacturer Hikvision to shutter Canadian operations
OTTAWA :The Canadian government has ordered Chinese video surveillance and telecommunications equipment maker Hikvision to cease all operations in the country over national security concerns, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said on Friday. "The government has determined that Hikvision Canada Inc's continued operations in Canada would be injurious to Canada's national security," Joly said on X, adding that the decision was taken after a multi-step review of information provided by Canada's security and intelligence community.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
S'pore's age is showing in its latest draft masterplan – and that's a good thing
News analysis S'pore's age is showing in its latest draft masterplan – and that's a good thing SINGAPORE – Hanging in the atrium and pasted on the glass walls of The URA Centre in Maxwell Road are portraits of people – members of the public, activists, architects and others who call Singapore home. Some of them were among nearly 220,000 people who took part in a months-long exercise to put together a new blueprint that will chart the country's development for the next 10 to 15 years. Unveiled by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on June 25, in Singapore's 60th year of independence, the Draft Master Plan 2025 and its accompanying exhibition show Singapore's age – and that is a good thing. Initiatives under the blueprint demonstrate that Singapore is now old enough and eager to tell its story through its conservation programme or by other means of remembrance. Telling Singapore's story While Singapore's unlikely and rapid growth since independence has been well documented, the country's post-independence buildings have been under-represented in the more than 7,200 buildings and structures conserved thus far. At the launch of the draft masterplan exhibition, URA announced a thematic framework that will improve the way it assesses buildings' significance, by considering how they contributed to Singapore's history under at least one of four themes – economy, housing, social and defence. On top of the architectural, historic, traditional and aesthetic lenses through which buildings are considered for conservation, the thematic framework broadens the scope used to assess buildings, and considers what they mean in Singapore's story – and to Singaporeans. The exhibition hints at the buildings and sites that the authorities have in mind. Facade of Prima Flour Mills, which was Singapore's first flour mill when it opened in 1963. PHOTO: ST FILE URA cited Prima Flour Mill in Keppel Road, which started operations in 1963 as Singapore's first flour mill, as well as Selegie House, also completed in 1963 as the country's then tallest mixed-use development. The hope is that as Singapore turns 60, this renewed emphasis on telling the nation's story, as well as a more holistic heritage framework, will prevent another nationally loved building – like the old National Library – from being lost to redevelopment. The old National Library at Stamford Road, which was demolished after its closure in 2004. PHOTO: ST FILE Time for details With decades of work shaping the city-state and Singaporeans' basic needs largely met, the planners of today are looking beyond just quantity – the need to rapidly establish new towns – and focusing on improving the quality and variety of existing living environments. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be 65 or older. As the population greys, talk surrounding new homes is now not just about whether they are public or private, but also whether they are senior-friendly, with more assisted living options and senior activity centres in the pipeline. In the recreational realm, the authorities have in recent years also focused more on quality. In the last decade, large, airy 'community living rooms' have become a feature of new and refurbished malls, giving patrons a comfortable space in which to chill out and chat, read a book, or sip a coffee. Called Privately-Owned Public Spaces, or Pops, more than 30 of these spaces have sprung up, thanks to guidelines that URA rolled out in 2017. Geneo's Privately-Owned Public Space, The Canopy, which opened earlier in 2025. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH The provision of Pops shows the detail that goes into planning – not just providing malls, but using policy levers to nudge developers towards providing meaningful and accessible public spaces. While areas where basic infrastructure is already in place may be easy to overlook, planners have continued making improvements. Upcoming efforts to upgrade the walking and cycling paths in three identity corridors – elongated stretches with identities and characters that the authorities aim to strengthen – are a case in point. A stretch of Zion Road between Ganges Avenue and River Valley Road will be repurposed to accommodate wider walking and cycling paths. The stretch of Zion Road between Havelock Road and River Valley Road will be repurposed for wider walking and cycling paths. PHOTO: NATIONAL PARKS BOARD And along a stretch of Kallang River next to St Andrew's Junior College where there already is a park connector, more public spaces and cycling paths are being planned for visitors and students to enjoy the waterfront. New cycling paths along the riverbank fronting St Andrew's Village will connect to the Kallang Park Connector. PHOTO: URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY These plans show that planners are not just focused on creating new estates, but are continuously finding ways to improve the living environment for residents. Be that as it may, the provision of more homes remains a key priority. The upcoming redevelopment of Sembawang Shipyard, Kranji Racecourse and Paya Lebar Air Base shows that future development needs are still front and centre, while as-yet-undeveloped land plots slated for housing remain in areas such as Tagore and Clementi Road. Users as experts In many aspects of the draft masterplan, public feedback was sought . Improvements to existing areas, such as upgrades to walking and cycling infrastructure along the identity corridors, were proposed after engagements with 2,300 residents and users. Draft Master Plan 2025 marked the most extensive engagement exercise URA has conducted so far, with nearly 220,000 people engaged. It trumps the more than 15,000 engaged for the Long-Term Plan between 2021 and 2022 – during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Long-Term Plan, which informs the draft masterplan, charts the country's needs for the next 50 years and beyond. All this shows that when it comes to urban planning, regular users of spaces are the experts. URA's engagement efforts are in line with broader global trends in urban planning, which has become much less top-down or expert-led, and where citizens have a stake. To ensure Singaporeans were heard, multiple exhibitions and roadshows were organised for the draft masterplan from October 2023, which almost 186,000 people visited. More than 26,000 people participated in focus-group discussions, workshops and other conversations. About 7,000 people responded to public surveys. Some members of the public even joined planners in kayaks and paddled down Kallang River, as part of efforts to generate ideas on how to improve an identity corridor there. Participants at a kayaking expedition in Kallang River organised by the URA on July 21, 2024. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY Such interactions build trust and understanding between those with differing needs and interests, and between the public and planners. The latest land-use plans show that public feedback does make a difference. In response to suggestions from a focus-group discussion for the Katong-Joo Chiat area, where participants requested more shaded public spaces and seating, URA is planning a new pedestrian mall in East Coast Road, between i12 Katong shopping centre and Katong V mall. The future pedestrian mall in Katong could include landscaping, seating and recreational spaces for community use and interactions. PHOTO: URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Engaging widely for Draft Master Plan 2025 is a step in the right direction, and it would augur well for URA to keep up this scale of outreach efforts for future reviews of the masterplan. Only then can land-use plans closely mirror the needs of the public. A long-term endeavour While a refreshed blueprint is put out roughly once every five years, planning is an ongoing endeavour, with old plans revived and new ones in the works for years. Upcoming developments under the draft masterplan – such as turning Bishan into a business hub and the rejuvenation of Istana Park and its surrounds – were already announced in 2019, following the previous review of the masterplan. Reaching further back, plans to build new homes in Pearl's Hill were announced in June 2003. Yet much of the land there that has been zoned for residential use has not had new homes built on it for the past two decades . Outram Park Complex on the day of its official opening in 1970. The HDB-built complex was demolished in the early 2000s. PHOTO: ST FILE After works on the Thomson-East Coast Line were completed in the area , these plans were presented again in November 2023, when the authorities said 6,000 new public and private homes will be built. A 2004 photograph shows the area the Outram Park Complex once occupied (left), which has been vacant for more than two decades. PHOTO: ST FILE Notably, a plan revealed in 1991 to reclaim a 'Long Island' off East Coast Park has in recent years been revived as a coastal protection solution, in addition to meeting other needs. It may be hard to reconcile Singapore's pace of rapid urban change with the protracted, continuous nature of longer-term urban planning. Yet, as the Draft Master Plan 2025 has shown, Singapore can make development decisions that honour its past and reflect the needs of its citizens, while remaining open to change. Ng Keng Gene is a correspondent at The Straits Times, reporting on issues relating to land use, urban planning and heritage. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
CNA
a day ago
- CNA
Meta may face daily fines over pay-or-consent model, EU warns
BRUSSELS :Meta Platforms may face daily fines if EU regulators decide the changes it has proposed to its pay-or-consent model fail to comply with an antitrust order issued in April, they said on Friday. The warning from the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, came two months after it slapped a 200-million-euro ($234 million) fine on the U.S. social media giant for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA) aiming at curbing the power of Big Tech. The move shows the Commission's continuing crackdown against Big Tech and its push to create a level playing field for smaller rivals despite U.S. criticism about the bloc's rules mainly targeting its companies. Daily fines for not complying with the DMA can be as much as 5 per cent of a company's average daily worldwide turnover. The EU executive said Meta's pay-or-consent model introduced in November 2023 breached the DMA in the period up to November 2024, when it tweaked it to use less personal data for targeted advertising. The Commission has been scrutinising the changes since then. The model gives Facebook and Instagram users who consent to be tracked a free service that is funded by advertising revenues. Alternatively, they can pay for an ad-free service. The EU competition watchdog said Meta will only make limited changes to its pay-or-consent model rolled out last November. "The Commission cannot confirm at this stage if these are sufficient to comply with the main parameters of compliance outlined in its non-compliance Decision," a spokesperson said. "With this in mind, we will consider the next steps, including recalling that continuous non-compliance could entail the application of periodic penalty payments running as of 27 June 2025, as indicated in the non-compliance decision." Meta accused the Commission of discriminating against the company and for moving the goalposts during discussions over the last two months. "A user choice between a subscription for no ads service or a free ad supported service remains a legitimate business model for every company in Europe - except Meta," a Meta spokesperson said. "We are confident that the range of choices we offer people in the EU doesn't just comply with what the EU's rules require - it goes well beyond them." "At a time when there are growing voices across Europe to change direction and focus on innovation and growth, this signals that the EU remains closed for business." ($1 = 0.8539 euros)
