SINGAPORE - Several sites with ties to Singapore's colonial past are being studied as part of a heritage plan that will guide future developments.
The plan - known as the Heritage and Identity Structure Plan - was developed as part of a review of Singapore's long-term land use plans for the next five decades and beyond.
Details of both plans were announced by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (June 6), including 19 areas with heritage value that are being studied under the heritage and identity plan.
These areas include several clusters of former government quarters, such as Hooper Road and Halifax Road near Newton, Goodwood Hill abutting Stevens Road and Malcolm Park next to Whitley Road.
Also on the list are sites of defence and wartime importance such as Paya Lebar Air Base and Kent Ridge, alongside areas already identified for heritage studies such as Mount Pleasant and the former Turf Club in Bukit Timah.
URA said the heritage plan "will guide efforts to sustain, protect and enhance Singapore's heritage assets, including in the heartland and at distinctive streets".
To make these more accessible, walking, cycling and transit networks near these sites will be improved, it said.
Development plans for several of the sites being studied have already been announced.
For instance, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in 2013 that Sembawang Shipyard will be among Sembcorp Marine's shipyards to move under one roof in Tuas by 2024.
That leaves the site - a former British naval base and one that still houses a small British defence unit - free to be redeveloped into a waterfront lifestyle precinct with plenty of public spaces, said URA in 2019. It added then that existing buildings could be repurposed, with mixed-use developments to be added in the area.
The former Sembawang Fire Station, conserved in April 2007, is the only building in the shipyard that has been protected. The heritage study would help planners assess which other significant structures to retain.
The full heritage plan also marks out several other sites and features: national monuments, conservation areas, marked historic sites, identity nodes, identity corridors, Housing Board towns and urban design areas.
The URA also provided more details of its new identity corridor initiative - there will be five such corridors that will link areas with rich heritage and unique streetscapes.
Relatively new and urbanised areas, including Punggol Digital District which is being developed, have also been included in the plan as "urban design areas".
Guidelines issued by the authorities will ensure that new developments in these areas gel with the existing environment to preserve their urban character.
URA said that besides retaining the physical structures of Singapore's built heritage, it will also work on recalling memories of the past through various methods such as storyboards and trails.
It said: "In shaping areas rich in heritage and identity, we will continue to consult widely to consider different perspectives."
19 sites under study:
1. Kent Ridge
2. Turf Club in Bukit Timah
3. Wessex Estate in one-north
4. Winchester Park in Alexandra
5. Gillman Village in Alexandra
6. Pasir Panjang Power District
7. Adam Park
8. Dempsey
9. Ridley Park in Tanglin
10. Nassim
11. Mount Pleasant
12. Malcolm Park near Whitley Road
13. Goodwood Hill in Newton
14. Hooper and Halifax roads in Novena
15. Sembawang Shipyard
16. Seletar
17. Woodleigh
18. Paya Lebar Air Base
19. Changi Point
