S’pore saved $300m in construction costs by avoiding clashes in underground utility projects

SINGAPORE – Singapore has avoided about $300 million in unnecessary construction costs since 2024 by identifying potential clashes between underground utility projects before any new work begins, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat said on June 14.

The effort has seen 272km of underground utility routes undergo such scrutiny.

Underground infrastructure includes water pipes, power cables, telecommunications networks and gas lines. This dense network is owned and maintained by different agencies, and when conflicts go undetected until construction is under way, there can be delays, cost overruns and repeated road openings that inconvenience the public, said Chee.

Having a reliable, shared picture of this complex warren means less exploratory digging and less disruption, he said, speaking at the opening of the World Cities Summit 2026 Mayors Forum.

But this is no easy task, as different utility owners plan, install and maintain their assets separately. Records may also not always be accurate, so contractors often need to carry out exploratory investigations to verify the location of existing utilities before starting works.

The authorities have been tackling this issue on several fronts – through enhanced workflow, non-invasive imaging and better records, for instance. They have also brought together global experts to share experiences that other cities can harness.

The $300 million cost savings are the result of an enhanced workflow put in place by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) since 2024 to identify and resolve conflicts between underground utility projects early, before construction begins.

The workflow has been applied to projects such as the Land Transport Authority’s Tuas Road Viaduct Phase 2 and Changi Northern Road corridor, as well as HDB’s Tengah New Town Phase 4, said URA and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in a statement.

In addition, Singapore has deployed non-invasive detection technologies such as electromagnetic locators and ground-penetrating radars to supplement traditional trial trenches, allowing project teams to better map what lies beneath the ground before digging begins.

Trial trenches are narrow ditches dug to determine what lies beneath the surface.

The Government intends to scale up the use of these technologies, Chee said.

The Government is also collecting data and building better digital records of the nation’s underground space, Chee added.

“My hope is that we will work towards having a digital twin of our underground space, just as we do today for our above-ground spaces,” he said.

To this end, SLA is developing a centralised online portal for project teams to submit utilities data – including the precise location of infrastructure – after completing works, to build more complete and reliable shared records of underground infrastructure over time.

SLA will also work with industry stakeholders to develop common standards for collecting and sharing underground utility information.

“We know that many cities are grappling with this same challenge – building a reliable, shared picture of what lies underground,” Chee said.

This is why SLA recently brought together experts from around the globe to pool their collective experience into a playbook of international best practices for building underground asset registers. The playbook will be published publicly in July.

Geopolitics reshaping environment in which cities operate

At the forum at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, city leaders gathered to discuss shared urban challenges under the theme “ACT Now! Accelerate, Collaborate, Transform”.

Chee noted in his speech that cities are meeting “at a time of increasing global uncertainty”.

Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, climate shocks and economic volatility are reshaping the environment in which cities operate, while local challenges from housing affordability to climate change are growing in scale and urgency.

It is important for cities to accelerate the implementation of practical solutions, to collaborate across sectors, disciplines and borders, and to share openly what has worked and what has not, he said.

“In doing so, we shorten our learning curves and build stronger trust and partnerships between cities in different parts of the world.”

The Mayors Forum gathered leaders from 103 cities around the world to discuss pressing urban challenges and share best practices across themes that included affordable housing, water management, alternative energy and municipal services.

It welcomed representatives from London – the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize laureate – and five Special Mention cities: Antwerp, Budapest, Guangzhou, Taipei and Tianjin.

Chee spoke about Singapore’s efforts in four areas which reflect shared urban challenges: delivering affordable housing, managing urban water for resilience, re-thinking urban energy transition, and providing reliable and efficient municipal services.

On housing, he described Singapore’s public housing programme as “the cornerstone of our social compact”, with a resident home ownership rate exceeding 90 per cent, among the highest in the world.

But he said home ownership goes beyond construction and affordability.

“It is also about building communities, where people from all walks of life can live well together,” he said, pointing to the Age Well SG programme, which upgrades homes and estates to be more senior-friendly while pairing physical improvements with enhanced social and care services.

On water, Chee noted that as a low-lying island city-state, Singapore is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and intense rainfall. He called on cities to evolve their approaches to urban water management, including through nature-based solutions such as naturalising waterways, restoring mangroves, and building green roofs and corridors – measures that also support biodiversity, reduce urban heat and create more sustainable living environments.

On energy, he said ongoing global conflicts and market disruptions have laid bare how vulnerable cities can be to supply shocks.

He acknowledged that the urban energy transition would require difficult trade-offs, but warned that “the costs of inaction will be far greater than the costs of transition, especially for our future generations”.

Coinciding with the forum, Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and URA released several publications.

One of them was “Mandai: Balancing Development and Nature” – launched by CLC – which documents how Mandai Wildlife Group worked with ecologists, engineers and planners to design development that actively supports the surrounding ecosystem.

The lessons from the project now inform the work of Mandai Nature, the conservation arm of the group, across more than 40 conservation projects in South-east Asia.

Chee said he hoped the publication would offer city leaders a useful lens for integrating ecological sensitivity into urban planning and development decisions.

At the close of the Mayors Forum, representatives of CLC and Mexico City signed a Letter of Agreement, paving the way for the city to host next year’s Mayors Forum.

The World Cities Summit runs from June 14 to 16. Organised by CLC and URA, it brings together government leaders, industry experts and academia for conversations on the future of cities, addressing urban liveability and sustainability challenges, sharing urban solutions, and forging new partnerships.