Planning for sustainable growth and development

With globalization and the rapid advances in information technology and transportation systems, sheer physical size and abundance of natural resources are no longer determining factors for a successful economy. Sustaining economic growth depends on how cities respond to change and adapt to new technologies. This article touches on Singapore's experience in managing these changes and meeting these challenges.

Singapore is a small city state of 660 sq km with no hinterland or natural resources. It is smaller than the Paris Metropolitan Area. It has a population of about 3.2 million. Despite this, between 1960 and 1998, Singapore's per capita GDP increased by 28 times to its current level of S$36,530 (US$21,280).

However, these four decades of rapid economic growth and prosperity did not occur by chance. Singapore had to overcome both its physical constraints and the external environment of cyclical slowdowns and new economic challenges to ensure its survival in the last four decades.

The recent economic crisis in Asia was a good learning experience for us. Financial problems, the erosion of competitiveness, social unrest and a rapid pull-out of foreign funds have exposed the vulnerability and the interdependency of the regional economies. The Singapore government responded by maintaining monetary and fiscal prudence, and undertaking a wide range of cost-cutting measures to reduce business costs.

We diversified our export markets to offset the fall-off in regional demand. We stepped up capability and economic restructuring to remain attractive to investors.

The measured and rational response to the crisis has paid off for Singapore. Investor confidence in Singapore remained strong, despite the difficult external economic environment. The Political Economy Research Center ranked Singapore top among the Asian economies in terms of government response to the crisis. Fundamentally sound strategies which had worked so far would continue to underpin our development even during the most difficult of times.

However, the Asian economic crisis would be considered a temporary setback compared to the larger challenges ahead. New global forces are radically changing the nature and scope of economic competition for nations, cities and companies. These challenges include:

* Advent of the Knowledge Age

* Rapid Technological Development and Globalization

* Rise of New Economic Regions

* Global Trade Liberalization vs Regionalism/Protectionism

With the globalization of the economy, flows of money, goods and skills would become increasingly borderless. The current wisdom is that the production and consumption of knowledge would become the new engine of growth for the global economy. However, there is also the greater risk of trade protectionism and market instability.

How do planners in Singapore respond to these new challenges?

Economically, Singapore would continue to develop manufacturing and services as the twin engines of economic growth. But, in order to capitalize on new opportunities for growth and sustained development, we have to move toward a knowledge-based economy by attracting and maximizing intellectual capital; and nurturing technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

We would like to develop Singapore into a:

* Global City for Businesses and Services: Developing and enhancing Singapore as a Global City for international businesses and their headquarters;

* City for High Value-added Industries: Anticipating and accommodating the changing needs of the knowledge-based economy and new businesses of the future; and

* City for Knowledge Workers: Create a high-quality and gracious living environment to attract and retain talents.

To attract investors and top international companies to locate their headquarters and do business in Singapore, we need to give them assurance of stability and confidence in the city.

Singapore practices a three-tier planning system. At the strategic level, a long-range plan called the Concept Plan balances our land resources, land use and infrastructure needs to produce development strategies that would power our continued growth. The first Concept Plan was released in 1971. The last plan done in 1991 is now under review again and should be completed next year.

The mass rapid transit and expressway networks illustrate how this far-sighted approach has helped us to integrate land use and transportation planning. Such infrastructure was planned more than 10 years in advance of implementation and land was secured systematically for such development through the years. This has enabled us to avoid crippling traffic jams.

To strengthen Singapore's economic growth, the 1991 Concept Plan not only identified the Central Area for businesses, but also a decentralized concentric network of regional centers as alternative commercial centers to facilitate business growth.

Each regional center would offer employment and recreational facilities which are easily accessible by workers and residents living within its catchment areas. This would reduce the need to commute to the city center. The first of such regional centers has been almost completed in Tampines, a planned new town which is now a thriving mini-city.

The second tier of more detailed plans are drawn up for each of the 55 smaller planning areas for Singapore. Together, these form the detailed Master Plan which is updated every 5 years. Public feedback is obtained before it is gazetted. Being a gazetted document, the business community can be confident of its legal status.

The third tier of planning is development control. The Master Plan forms the basis for all development control decisions. It provides information as to where businesses can be located and at what development intensity. Other micro development control guidelines, such as urban design guidelines, are also developed to protect the urban environment and to strengthen the special character of specific areas.

These are usually developed in consultation with professionals and the public and are subsequently disseminated. In addition, a mechanism is in place to allow waiver from the urban design guidelines if it can be demonstrated that the project is truly unique and innovative, and would contribute to the character of the city.

Another key strategy to sustain economic growth is to ensure that the infrastructure is planned and built on time in anticipation of future demand and usage. Some examples of the infrastructure works which are being developed in Singapore include:

* An interconnected transportation network of expressways, roads, Mass Rapid Transit and Light Rail Transit that serve the city center, regional centers, public housing estates, as well as the airports and sea-ports.

* A Waterfront Hub at the World Trade Center, anchored by a fully integrated port and international passenger terminal, and connected to the city center via the Mass Rapid Transit. This is supported by a vibrant mix of hotels, offices, convention facilities, shopping and housing developments with marinas and berths along the waterfront.

* An Air Hub structured around the Changi International Airport, and supported by a mix of retail, commercial, warehousing, recreational and hotel uses. This hub will be connected to the city center via a new mass rapid transit line. It is complemented by the newly completed Singapore Expo and Convention Center, which is one of the largest in Asia.

* An Info-communications Hub, which is being established by wiring up every home, office and other buildings on the island with a high-speed, wide-bandwidth fiber-optic telecommunication network. Similarly, telecom links are established with the region and most parts of the world.

The completion of such electronic infrastructure which will permeate every home and office will impact greatly on the shape of the city in future. Internet content providers can tap on the infrastructure to test out new products and services and reach out to Asia -- Pacific markets from Singapore. Currently, studies are ongoing to assess how such changes would affect the retail nodes and how the ability to do work from home might affect office and transport patterns.

An adequate supply of space is needed to accommodate the changing needs of the knowledge-based economy and to encourage the growth of a global hub. The Government Land Sales Program is a key instrument in supplying the space needed for such demand.

In Singapore, the State owns a large proportion of the land. Every year, projections on demand and supply are made on the space requirements of the various sectors for the next few years. Through the Government Land Sales Program, the state sells land through a bidding system to the private sector. Such a program ensures that sufficient land is released regularly and at a steady pace to meet development needs.

The land sales program is essentially a form of public-private partnership. We reap the benefits of the private sector's closer touch to the market as they would be deciding the final form in which the developments would take. At the same time, the state is able to exert some moderating effect to ensure that the market does not go into extreme conditions of overheating or slump.

Take for an example, Singapore's Central Business District (CBD). Raffles Place, the heart of the financial and business district, supports a compact and critical mass of businesses, service providers and international headquarters. Prices had previously climbed rapidly as the market assessed that there would be no more space left for further growth.

Fortunately, we were able to reclaim some 300 hectares of land immediately south of the CBD to meet demand for development for the next half of a century. Part of this land has been set aside for the seamless expansion of the CBD to double its current area, making it comparable to the CBDs of London, New York and Hong Kong. Such virgin land allows flexibility in "parcellation" size and office block configuration to meet the spatial needs of future businesses.

To provide space for the build-up of a critical mass of high- technology businesses and industries, technology corridors have been identified in the Eastern and Western parts of Singapore. These belts include the following.

Science Parks I, II and III which house high technology set- ups ranging from IT companies to "incubator" units in an attractive and conducive park setting. Their proximity to research and academic facilities at the universities allows technopreneurs to share resources and provide employment opportunities. As a measure of their attractiveness, top European business school INSEAD will be setting up their first overseas branch near the Science Parks and the National University of Singapore, while Johns Hopkins has set up operations next to the National University Hospital.

Beside the Science Parks, various schemes are in place to encourage technopreneurship across Singapore. For example, small- office-home-offices or SOHOs are allowed and encouraged even in public housing estates to help internet business start-ups.

Business parks are also developed to provide environments for related businesses to cluster. Costs are kept affordable through the sharing of facilities, services and resources provided by the Business Parks management.

Industrial parks are the backbone of our economic infrastructure and engine of Singapore's growth. Heavy industries are located in Jurong and Tuas. Expressways link these industries to our port, airport and border crossing points, bringing goods and products to and from the international marketplace in the shortest possible time.

The reclamation of Jurong Island from the sea for petrochemical industries is another example of how Singapore seeks to accommodate high value-adding industries in creative ways.

To attract talents to stay and work here, Singapore will strive to build a vibrant and attractive city for its citizens and knowledge workers. New amenities, attractions and public facilities are thus being developed for people to entertain, socialize and enrich their lives.

* Urban Waterfronts -- The CBD lies beside the Singapore River. There have already been activated stretches of the waterfront to provide lively spots to unwind. Boat Quay and Clarke Quay along the Singapore River, for example, are already well-known internationally as popular spots for networking, pubbing, wining and dining.

A new 5-star waterfront hotel, the Fullerton Hotel, will soon be born from a restored historic landmark building at the mouth of the Singapore River and at the front of Marina Bay. The growth direction of the New Downtown is being planned such that it would strengthen this success formula by wrapping the key future developments around the Marina Bay.

* Cultural Hub -- Those who prefer the performing arts can soon go to the Esplanade Theaters by the Bay with its state-of-the-art facilities. It will join the existing theaters, concert halls, arts galleries and museums in the historic Civic District to provide greater cultural offerings in the city.

* Learning Hub -- A new city center university campus, the Singapore Management University will be located just north of Raffles City in the Bras Basah area. This new university's 16,000 student population will bring life and vitality to this part of the city. It will also offer working adults in the CBD a convenient and accessible environment for part-time studies, courses and self-improvement. Nearby, the University of Chicago will be setting up their first overseas business school in Asia to provide graduate opportunities for working adults.

* Entertainment and Shopping Hub -- For those desiring large-scale entertainment such as the latest blockbuster musicals, movies and shows, a bright-lights entertainment district in the adjacent Bugis Area has been planned. It will supplement the entertainment offerings already available along Orchard Road. For shopping after work, a rich diversity of goods and services from around the world can already be found at the nearby Orchard Road and Marina Center.

* Housing -- We will target to have a larger live-in population in the city. There will be more high-quality high-rise residential developments to serve the housing needs of those who want to live and work in the city, and enjoy proximity to amenities that only the city center can offer. Most of these city apartments will be located next to the waterfronts, parks and the MRT stations.

* Comfortable connectivity -- To compensate for the hot and humid climate, we make transition from the place of work to these other activities pleasant. A comprehensive pedestrian network has been included in the urban design guidelines of the New Downtown. The network comprises covered walkways, tree-lined boulevards, underground and above-ground linkways to connect the buildings to transport facilities like the Mass Rapid Transit system.

We will be setting up an International Advisory Panel to tap on the experience of international partners so that our planners take on a global outlook. We will also harness the collective resources and collaborative wisdom of the public, private and people sector to meet the new challenges.

This article has provided a snapshot of how one small city- state intends to sustain economic and development growth. Certainly, other cities would have found different ideas that have worked for them.

The above is an excerpt of a paper presented by Mrs. Cheong Koon Hean, Director (Strategic Planning), Ministry of National Development, Singapore, at the Urban 21 Global Conference on the Urban Future, 5th July 2000, Berlin.