singapore infrastructure development case study

Already established as a regional infrastructure hub, Singapore aims to take the lead in promoting sustainable development and finance internationally.

Singapore has jumped up two places to claim the number one spot in the 2021 Infrastructure Index. The city state is ranked first across indicators of economic status, political stability and ease of doing business, and scores highly as an investor-friendly tax environment.

Singapore’s growth as a hub for Asian infrastructure finance and development has given it a strong ecosystem of banks, insurers, lawyers and other specialists, ready to meet the needs of international investors. And the government has now identified infrastructure as a key pillar of national economic growth, recently announcing plans to issue up to SGD 90bn (USD 68bn) of new bonds to finance major infrastructure projects – notably the development of the island’s rail network, which is set to grow from its current 230km to about 360km, with several new lines and many new stations.

The government also aims to issue green bonds worth SGD 19bn (USD 14bn) to support the development of projects such as Tuas Nexus, Singapore’s first integrated water and solid waste treatment facility. This reflects its broader ambition to make Singapore a leading centre for green finance and sustainable finance generally, as well as a hub for carbon services and trading.

Singapore’s environmental record to date is mixed. It is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels and has so far made only slow progress towards meeting the environmental goals of the Paris Agreement. But the government has now unveiled its Green Plan 2030, with the aim of advancing sustainable development and reducing the country’s carbon footprint. It has introduced several initiatives and targets in areas such as sustainability, solar power, electric vehicles, and innovation.

Given its limited supply of land, Singapore’s initiatives to quadruple solar power include large-scale rooftop solar projects and floating solar farms, both at sea and on the Tengeh Reservoir. The government’s goal is to have solar power capacity of at least 2GW by 2030, enough to power around 350,000 households.

The government is also accelerating the development of Singapore’s public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. And sustainable technologies are also central to the new Tuas Port, which will be the world's largest fully automated container terminal when its fourth and final phase is completed in 2040.

Another new technology of interest is green hydrogen, with a variety of initiatives underway. A pilot project comprising a small self-contained power grid on Semakau Island is up and running, and Shell is assessing the feasibility of hydrogen fuel cells for ships in Singapore. Mitsubishi and Chiyoda are cooperating with several Singaporean companies on the transportation and storage of hydrogen, while Keppel Data Centres is working with a variety of partners to explore the possibility of using hydrogen to power its facilities. Although this technology is still in its infancy, there is a growing hope that hydrogen will play a substantial role in the achievement of Singapore’s sustainability goals.

“There’s only so much local capital can do. The natural way forward is to allow for more foreign capital to be invested in these economies.”

Transit-Oriented Development in Emerging Cities: Principles from Singapore

( Source: Shutterstock )

As urbanization continues to accelerate in many developing countries, the development of efficient, cost-effective public transportation systems will be critical to the sustainable growth of emerging cities. This article highlights some of the key principles and lessons learned from Singapore’s transit-oriented development strategy and assesses how these principles may be considered and applied in emerging cities across the developing world.

Building effective urban mobility in land-scarce Singapore has often revolved around high-intensity transport technologies. One example is its ever-expanding Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, which is integrated with an extensive public bus network. What Singapore has now is the result of a growth process that has spanned over five decades. However, directly emulating such resource-intensive public transit options is not necessarily a viable solution for many developing cities. These projects require robust financial capital, careful land use and transport integration, and implementation capacities that are often lacking in developing cities. Nevertheless, policymakers and businesses in developing cities across the world may learn and benefit from the enabling factors, strategies and policy instruments underpinning Singapore’s urban transportation scene.

Planning Transport and Mobility in Singapore, the “Transit Metropolis”

As early as 1963, a UNDP report on future urban growth strategies had identified that “there is no doubt that Singapore needs some form of mass transport”. The report recommended that Singapore invest in either monorails or subways, noting that these options were the most suitable and cost-effective for the cityscape (Abrams, 1963). By 1998 Singapore’s urban transport infrastructure had grown manifold, to the point that Robert Cervero identified Singapore as a seminal example of a “Transit Metropolis”: a city which is designed to be especially conducive for sustainable public transit modes (Cervero, 1998).

Throughout its growth, Singapore has leveraged an effective array of strategies pertaining to urban mobility and transport infrastructure development to stimulate its social and economic development. Conceptually, many of Singapore’s ‘good-practices’ in urban transport can be broadly classified into four categories (Yuan, 1997):

Incremental Development of Public Transport Capacity: Supply-side strategies that strategically expand the city-state’s urban transport capacity through continuous infrastructure investment and renewal.

Integrating Land Usage, Land Ownership & Transport: Complementary urban planning policies streamlining planning and implementation of transport infrastructure.

Transport Demand Management: Demand-side measures (dis)incentivising consumption behaviours to make transport infrastructure usage more efficient and sustainable.

Leveraging Innovative Technologies for Transit-Oriented Development: Commitment to technological upgrading and encouraging private-sector participation in urban mobility.

This interlocking mosaic of policies and instruments anchors a coherent strategic vision for developing Singapore as a city.

The proposed outline of Singapore's Urban Transport Network by UNDP consultants in 1963 (Source: UNDP, Growth & Urban Renewal in Singapore, pp. 82)

Incremental Development of Public Transport Capacity

Despite the 1963 UNDP report, the Singapore government’s decision to finance the construction of the MRT network was only finalized in 1982 after careful feasibility studies and considerable debate due to its high expense and complexity (Chee-Meow, 1981). While multiple options were considered, such as a high-frequency bus system, the MRT network was selected as the preferred option.

Significantly, the state chose to adopt an enabling co-financing framework with end-users. Government funding covered initial capital costs for long-term infrastructure and the initial set of ‘rolling’ assets such as trains. Revenues collected from commuter fares would subsequently be priced to cover the incremental operational costs and provision for eventual replacement of transports (Li, 2008). In this way, the core ethos of financial viability for mass transit development has remained at the centre of Singapore’s ever-expanding public transport network.  Despite the importance of the MRT, it has not usurped focus on developing other transport modes; the subsequent development of a complementary bus network has served an important role, supplementing the MRT amid greater immigration and population growth (Rimmer, 1986).

“ Properly implemented transportation infrastructure in cities are catalytic socioeconomic investments with beneficial spill-overs manifesting over the long term ”

With especially limited fiscal capabilities, core transport infrastructure in developing cities cannot be planned haphazardly. Although public financing on the scale of Singapore may be difficult to replicate, developing cities can still seek to emulate its ethos of strategic transport infrastructure investment. If Singapore’s history serves as a reference, there are no easy short-cut solutions. Properly implemented transportation infrastructure in cities are catalytic socioeconomic investments with beneficial spill-overs manifesting over the long term.

In order to shift public preferences from private transportation to mass transit platforms, developing cities will need to strategically invest in the incremental growth, maintenance, and improvement of services. This will improve competitiveness and ridership, raising new revenues generated both directly and indirectly, which will help further expand and improve the network.

Integrating Land Ownership, Land Usage and Transport

“Singapore’s intimate transit-land use nexus is the outcome of deliberate and carefully thought-out government decisions.” – Robert Cevero in The Transit Metropolis

Weak, decentralised systems of land rights in cities are a significant structural barrier preventing infrastructure investment and efficient land use (Collier, 2018). In Singapore, some of the most important factors enabling effective public investment in core transit infrastructure are the state’s centralization of land ownership and the integration between clearly defined plans for transportation and broader land usage (Barter, 2011).

Stemming from the 1966 Land Acquisition Act, Singapore’s government has immense prerogative in acquiring land. This enables the compulsory acquisition of land needed for “any public purpose, by any person, corporation or statutory board” and “for any residential, commercial or industrial purposes” (Halia, 2016). The government has steadily accumulated land since 1966, and now owns more than 90% of land in Singapore. This centralization has facilitated the coordination and streamlining of both public and private urban development efforts in the country.

Successful transportation planning cannot be pursued in isolation from other urban development objectives. Singapore’s institutional ability to coordinate multiple urban agendas has enabled strategic planning and provision to develop transport infrastructure in tandem with a broader urban planning and development framework.

In Singapore, the lead government agency coordinating strategy in urban transport is the Land Transport Agency — LTA (World Bank, 2014). The LTA collaborates closely with other government institutions involved in urban development - such as the Housing Development Board (HDB), Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) - as it plans and regulates transport infrastructure. This ensures a coordinated approach to urban development and the public transportation network (Barter, 2011).

The strategic framework for urban land use is provided by a broad Concept Plan common across urban development agencies. Various updated concept plans since 1971 have thus guided long-term development in urban master planning. By one account, the value of such a process is that:

“The Concept Plans cover aspirations, what the community wants to achieve, and confronts major strategic trade-offs and dilemmas – quite deliberately without getting bogged down in details. The [Master & Development Guide Plans] take the concepts as a starting point and provide the details of how the aspirations are to be achieved” (Barter, 2011)

The interconnection between Singapore’s medium and long term urban planning (Source: Urban Redevelopment Authority, Designing our city: Planning for a Sustainable Singapore, pp. 5)

This streamlined approach allows current and future plans to extend public transport infrastructure to be effectively aligned and evolve alongside population densities and Singapore’s satellite towns.

Nonetheless, political centralisation and the fused nature of the city-state’s national, urban and local layers have allowed it to pursue vigorous “UrbaNational” policies (Olds, 2004). Integrated urban planning under the auspices of the state may not be a practice that developing cities in larger countries can or should directly emulate. Most cities admittedly have to work within larger regional or national frameworks, and land tenure systems differ vastly across contexts. The key takeaway for sustainable transport planning is that there are powerful benefits to achieving a degree of policy coherence & dynamism across different urban development efforts. Municipal institutions thus need to aim to reinforce policies that are sufficiently adaptable to guide a city in the medium to long term.

The strategic distributution of Singapore's transport, residential and industrial infrastructure (Source: Geospatial data on current transport infrastructure drawn from data.gov.sg)

Transport-Demand Management: Incentivizing Efficient Infrastructure Use

Another core component of Singapore’s strategy for urban mobility focuses on policy instruments that aim to regulate and influence public usage of scarce transport resources and infrastructure.

Since 1972, Singapore has employed various mechanisms to ration the private ownership and use of cars on its roads. Traffic management policies such as the Area Licensing Scheme, (ALS), Vehicle Quota System (VQS), Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), and the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) levy additional surcharges or constraints upon private transport users (Barter, 2011). The city-state even recently initiated a “zero-growth” car policy which aims to calibrate the annual growth rate in privately-owned vehicles to zero.

A Public Campaign by the Singapore government in the 1970s to relieve vehicular congestion through staggered working hours and carpooling (Source: World Bank Group Archives)

Given the long construction windows and high financing costs of physical infrastructure projects, demand-regulating policies may offer viable instruments in the short-to-medium term for many developing cities. These measures can help to maximize use of transport infrastructure, incentivize shifts to public transportation, and help provide financing for further public transport infrastructure development. For instance, World Bank researchers have observed that the revenue generated from Singapore’s traffic demand management policies has also helped cover incremental costs for scaling and maintaining road and railway infrastructure (Suzuki, 2013).

Singapore enacted the Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) from 1975 to 1988. The policy used traffic congestion pricing to manage vehicle usage in the city’s CBD (Source: World Bank Group Archives)

Apart from the already discussed regulatory methods for controlling car ownership and use, Singapore is increasingly experimenting with positive incentives to help influence the public to make socially optimal transport decisions. For instance, temporary programmes to encourage off-peak usage of public transport, such as the “Travel Early, Travel Free” campaign, have been tested with promising preliminary results (Yong, 2017).

As developing cities seek to improve public transport infrastructure and ridership on public transport networks, they must also consider how to incentivise and habituate urban transport users into adopting and using these systems efficiently. Behavioural incentives delivered through creative public policies can provide one avenue to achieve this goal without requiring significant amounts of capital to implement. For instance, real-time comparative displays of fuel efficiency and travel times can help subtly encourage commuters to pick more ideal modes of transit and to recognize the economic and efficiency advantages of public transit.

Leveraging Innovative Technologies for Urban Mobility

Singapore’s approach to developing transit infrastructure and services increasingly integrates new technologies. Specifically, new technologies have been harnessed to generate more data-driven strategic public investments and to design incentive structures in public transport (Teck, 2018). For instance, travel cards and automated fare collection are ubiquitous in Singapore’s public transport network. In addition to enhancing customer convenience, the data collected from these systems helps planners assess current and future forecasts of urban population densities, improve dynamic route planning, and determine the potential market value of new sites. Other technological innovations currently being integrated into transport management include the shift from physical, gantry-dependent technology for charging vehicle users towards a flexible, satellite-controlled system.

In addition, private-sector actors are becoming increasingly involved in the quest for affordable and efficient mobility. In Singapore, private operators promising to streamline and optimize transport demand include logistics and ride-haling companies like Grab and Go-Jek. Seemingly more futuristic mobility innovations on the horizon in the city-state include start-ups developing air taxi and autonomous vehicle services. The city-state’s already expansive mass transit network notwithstanding, government bodies and private-sector entrepreneurs are committed to researching, investing in and scaling up complementary technologies for first and last-mile transport. This offers a notable - and potentially replicables - set of practices for any city to follow.

Despite the constraints faced by developing cities, a commitment towards integrating technologies and digital infrastructure into their urban fabric can help efficiently optimize the use of semi-formal transportation. Pedicabs, minibuses and shared vehicles can better integrate into a city’s conventional transportation infrastructure. For instance, in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, the government has simultaneously cultivated an extensive public bus network and supported service improvement in the city’s moto-taxi industry. Innovations such as digital payment apps and safety rating systems are gradually being integrated into this semi-formal mode of transport.

SafeMotos, a ride-hailing and safety-rating software developed in Rwanda ( Source: National Geographic )

Urban policymakers will nevertheless need to strike a balance between creating an enabling ecosystem for private-sector transport solutions and the need to uphold robust regulatory standards. oBike’s recent exit from Singapore due to new licensing frameworks is a case in point. For developing cities, this challenge is even more salient. Low intensity para-transit serve important functions for many low-income urban residents, providing both affordable first/last-mile mobility for customers and informal employment for service providers.

Although cities should make efforts to gradually plan for increasing mass public transit capacity, commentators from the International Growth Centre advocate that developing cities should consider transport complementarity rather than replacement . Emerging cities must thus consider policies to facilitate integration of various modes of semi-formal and formal transport. Moreover, regulations which help develop digital infrastructure, as much as the physical, will help make inclusive urban mobility a real possibility.

Nonetheless, disruptive technology should not be seen as a panacea for transport planning in developing cities. Abstracted information about transportation networks and usage gleaned from Big Data must also be contextualized with a localized understanding of transportation, mobility and land-use.

Business models and public policies need to operate with a robust theory of change that appreciates why and how preferences in transport have been constructed, as well as the existing socioeconomic roles of different transportation options in developing cities. Addressing historical, cultural and communal factors in greater depth, i.e. the existing ‘place value,’ can thus also make important contributions towards reclaiming the streets for inclusive, efficient mobility.

Effective Urban Governance at a Condensed Scale

Although policymakers in developing cities may not enjoy the same degree of institutional authority, Singapore’s experience and values in the development of its public transit highlights a set of key principles to consider when planning urban transport.

Cutting the Gordian knot of poor urban transport in developing cities will undoubtedly require actions tailored to the history and culture of each city. Individual cities will face different networks of stakeholders and considerations when planning their transit infrastructure. The specific government reforms and sociopolitical negotiations needed to achieve these objectives will necessarily differ from city to city. Yet, like Singapore, these actions should aim to forge the basic social and political consensuses needed for long-term, realistic, and appropriate urban transport improvement.

Works Cited

Abrams, C., Kobe, S., & Koenigsberger, O. (1963). Urban Growth and Renewal in Singapore . New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Barter, P., & Dotson, E. (2011). Urban Transport Institutions and Governance and Integrated Land Use and Transport, Singapore . Nairobi: UN Habitat. pp.3-8

Centre for Liveable Cities. (2013). Transport: Overcoming Constraints, Sustaining Mobility . Singapore: Cengage Learning.

Cervero, R. (1998). The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry . Washington DC: Island Press.

Chee-Meow, S. (1981). The MRT Debate in Singapore: To Do or Not to Do. Southeast Asian Affairs.

Collier, P., Glaesar, E., Venables, E., Blake, M., & Manwaring, P. (2018). Land Rights: Unlocking Land for Urban Development. Cities that Work Policy Brief . International Growth Centre.

Halia, A. (2016). Urban Land Rent: Singapore as Property State . Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. pp.80-84

Li, Y., & Tiong, R. (2008). Financing and Operating of Singapore’s Urban Rail Transit Infrastructure. International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing

Olds, K., & Yeung, H. (2004). Pathways to Global City Formation: A view from the developmental city-state of Singapore. Review of International Political Economy, 11. pp.514

Rimmer, P. (1986). Rikisha to Rapid Transit: Urban Public Transport Systems and Policy in Southeast Asia . Oxford: Pergamon Press. pp.140-150.

Suzuki, H., Cervero, R., & Iuchi, K. (2013). Transforming Cities with Transit: Transit and Land-Use Integration for Sustainable Urban Development . Washington DC: World Bank. pp.72-73

Teck, L.C. (2018). Public Transport Planning and the Technological Revolution. Ethos 19. Singapore: Civil Service College.

Townsend, C. (2003). In whose interest? A Critical Approach to Southeast Asia's Urban Transport Dynamics . Perth: Murdoch University. pp.291-292

Urban Redevelopment Authority. (2012). Designing Our City: Planning for a Sustainable Singapore. Singapore: URA.

World Bank. (2014). Formulating an Urban Transport Policy: Choosing Between Options. Washington DC: World Bank. pp.28-29.

Yong, N., & Lim, Y.L. (2017). Temporary Incentives Change Daily Routines: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Singapore’s Subways. Management Science, 64(7). pp.3366

Yuan, L.Y. (1997). A Case Study on Urban Transportation Development and Management in Singapore. Urban Infrastructure Development, 26.

Brandon Chye  is an MPhil candidate in Development Studies at Oxford’s Department of International Development. His main research focuses on the study of inter-regional networks of urban expertise and capital. Prior to coming to Oxford, he worked on international trade finance and development projects with the Africa-Southeast Asia Chamber of Commerce and GTR Ventures. Brandon holds a Bachelors degree in History from the National University of Singapore.

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How Singapore is Pioneering the Way to Creating a Greener Urban Environment

• Written by Jullia Joson
• Published on February 13, 2022

Singapore as of late is continually building its reputation as a City in Nature , with Singaporean design long having a strong consciousness to acknowledge that green spaces matter. Urban planners and architects alike have taken a conscientious decision to weave in nature throughout the city as it continues to uproot new buildings and developments, incorporating the implementation of plant life in any form, whether it be through green roofs, cascading vertical gardens, or verdant walls.

This article will explore the pioneering actions taking place in Singapore to create a more biodiverse city and nation, and how this provides a view of how other major cities can adopt similar initiatives over the next decade to provide a blueprint for the future.

Landscape architects, Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl , and the Singaporean government statutory board, National Parks Board , have led the way in creating the biodiverse garden-filled city that Singapore is today. Additionally, the research of Yun Hye Hwang of the National University of Singapore and the Future Cities Lab is presently focused on exploring how to shape sustainable cities and settlement systems through science, by design.

Singapore is already leading the way in efforts to create a greener urban environment following the aftermath of COP26 , and whilst its initiative to green Singapore was originally focused on giving the city-state a distinct and intentionally desirable image, today this approach is praised for its ability to tackle issues surrounding urban heat, assist with sustainable water management, and improve biodiversity in the city. Several projects have been implemented to continue dealing with these raising issues and providing sustainable design solutions to further the 'greening' of the city.

Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park by Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl is one of Singapore's most popular heartland parks. As part of a much-needed park upgrade and plans to improve the capacity of the Kallang channel along the edge of the park, works were carried out to transform what was once a utilitarian concrete channel into a naturalized river, creating new spaces for the community to enjoy.

"The project was designed to maximize the catchment of water that falls naturally on the island, as well as creating a sense of ownership that will run through generations, so people will want to protect the natural environment." – Leonard Ng, Country Director

The project is part of the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Program , a long-term initiative of Singapore's Public Utilities Board to transform the country's water bodies beyond their functions of drainage and water supply, into vibrant new spaces for community bonding and recreation.

"The project encourages a biodiverse ecosystem – with birds and otters, among others, colonising the space because it was designed for people and nature to coexist in harmony. When people feel closer to nature and want to preserve it, this is successful biophilic design - using nature to energise and charge people and allowing them to reconnect with nature as our ancestors did." – Leonard Ng, Country Director

Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl (with CPG Consultants) was also responsible for some of the developments at Jurong Lake Gardens , Singapore's first national gardens in the heartlands. The 53-hectare Lakeside Garden aims to restore the landscape heritage of the swamp and forest as a canvas for recreation and community activities. The design is reminiscent of a conscious effort to bring back the nature that was once unique to the Jurong area.

Lastly for Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl's landscape projects is Kampung Admiralty (with WOHA), a flagship project that brings together a multitude of programs under one roof. WOHA’s architectural scheme builds upon a layered 'club sandwich' approach. The abundance of greenery present within the design of the housing development serves as an ideal venue for the community to relax and strengthen their relationships with one another, with tree planting strategies comprising the likes of biodiversity, foliage, and fruit trees.

Future Cities Lab Global aims to strengthen the capacity of Singapore and Switzerland to research, understand, and actively respond to the challenges of global environmental sustainability. Professor Thomas Schröpfer from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (a Principal Investigator at the Future Cities Lab Global) comments:

"Singapore has been a very interesting case study to look at as it is very dense and there is an extreme pressure on development. As it grows, the only way the city can go is up - to become a vertical city. Over the last 10 years the government has introduced new policies that incentivise green architecture and there are many interesting cases in the context of Singapore – within buildings, as well in the urban design strategies that architects deploy."

Future Cities Lab's research continues to look into the environmental performance of green buildings, improving the urban climate, assisting the issues of overheating through cooling, and measuring the positive impact on biodiversity. They believe that the main challenge in achieving a 'city in nature' is the public acceptance that humans need to coexist with other living beings.

Yun Hye Hwang from the National University of Singapore (NUS) is continually exploring the possibilities of growing connections between academic findings and practical applications of urban greening in real-world situations, believing that green spaces are vital to building quality of life.

The Ventus Naturalized Garden on the main campus of NUS is a prime example of alternative landscape technology that allows spontaneous plants to overgrow the existing monotonous campus lawn with minimal design interventions. It provides a connection between a woodland park and a secondary forest, demonstrating that even a small piece of land can accommodate a variety of flora, whilst still serving as part of an ecological network at the city scale.

In 2021, the Singapore government launched its Green Plan 2030 , a whole-of-nation movement to get every Singaporean on board; getting everyone motivated to help transform Singapore into a glowing global city of sustainability. Some key programs of the Green Plan include setting aside 50% more land (around 200 hectares) for nature parks which will all be within a 10-minute walk to a respective household and aiming to plant one million more trees across the island to absorb more CO2, resulting in the population enjoying cleaner air, and cooler shade.

With the vision of creating a City in a Garden and enhancing the community's overall wellbeing, the National Parks Board of Singapore has spent decades aiming to 'green' its roads and infrastructure, transforming the country's parks and gardens into spaces welcome for everyone to enjoy, and setting aside areas of core biodiversity to conserve Singapore's native biodiversity. As Singapore continually transitions into a City of Nature, a biophilic design approach is important in restoring habitats and ensuring that the wider community is engaged in sustaining the national greening efforts.

Today, Singapore is one of the greenest cities in the world. The lush urban greenery that we have is a result of sustained and dedicated efforts to green up Singapore over the past few decades." – Damian Tang, Senior Director/Design, National Parks Board

Following challenges like extreme weather patterns induced by climate change and increased urbanization, there is an evergrowing demand to build a more liveable, sustainable, and climate-resilient Singapore for present and future generations. National Parks Board also runs over 3,500 educational programs across their various green spaces which are key in enabling the community a closer experience of nature and in promoting mental wellbeing. Tang shares that the City in Nature vision is the country's next bound of urban planning:

“At National Parks Board, we have five key strategies to transform Singapore into a City in Nature: conserving and extending Singapore’s natural capital; intensifying nature in gardens and parks; restoring nature into the urban landscape; strengthening connectivity between Singapore’s green spaces; developing excellence in veterinary care, animal and wildlife management.” – Damian Tang, Senior Director/Design, National Parks Board

As of today, almost half of Singapore's land is covered in green space and many of its citizens benefitted from the use of the implemented parks during the lockdowns that were most notable during the height of the pandemic, acting as green lungs, inviting the opportunity breathing and exercising space within a dense city environment.

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Building a Liveable City: Urban Planning and Real Estate

2 July 2019

Khoo Teng Chye, Executive Director, Centre for Liveable Cities, Ministry of National Development | Past Chair, ULI Singapore [This article was first published in CLC Insights]

Since the 1960s, Singapore has been transformed from an overcrowded urban slum into one of the world’s most liveable cities, with a population density that has almost tripled. Urban planning — so vital in building the city — also impacted the real estate industry. How can the industry become more proactive in shaping Singapore’s future? This question can be explored through the four main phases of how urban planning and real estate development have evolved together over the decades.

Four phases of how Singapore has evolved since the 1960s. Source: CLC

1960s to 1970s: Land for Urban Redevelopment and Basic Infrastructure

In the 1960s, faced with overcrowded slums and fragmented land ownership, the government’s top priority was solving the chronic, very serious housing problem and ensuring enough land for new towns and urban renewal. With a successful public housing programme, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) built some 50,000 flats in its first five years, more than the 23,000 flats built by the former Singapore Improvement Trust since 1927.*

Land Acquisition

Then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, in a parliamentary debate, outlined two broad principles for amending legislation on land acquisition: (1) No private landowner should benefit from development at public expense; and (2) Prices paid on acquisition for public purposes should not be higher than what the land would have been worth otherwise. “Increases in land values, because of public development, should not benefit the landowner, but should benefit the community at large,”^ he said.

Hence, the Land Acquisition Act was amended in 1966 to strengthen government powers to acquire land, and to limit compensation. Much of the land the government now owns was acquired by development agencies: HDB for housing, JTC for industrial estates, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for the Central Area, Public Utilities Board for utilities, Port of Singapore Authority for the port and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore for the airport. From 1960 to 2007, land owned by the public sector doubled from 44 per cent to over 85 per cent.

Concept Plan 1971 outlining Singapore’s urban structure for a modern city and safeguarding land for development Source: URA

Land Planning

Once the government became the biggest landowner, it began building new towns and redeveloping the Central Area comprehensively and rapidly. A United Nations Development Programme team, working with a young team of planners, architects and engineers here, drew up the Concept Plan in 1971 after four years of study — Singapore’s first strategic land use and transport blueprint for the urban structure of a modern city.

The real estate industry, quite small then, did not play a significant role in Singapore’s development. The government was nevertheless concerned that, with higher zoning and plot ratios, owners of private developments would enjoy excessive profits. Hence, the development charge, a betterment tax, was introduced and conscientiously implemented. This was unlike in Britain, where the idea came from, as a lack of political consensus there restricted its implementation.

The urban planning system then was inherited from the colonial-era Town Planning Act, and a 1958 master plan too rigid and inappropriate for a rapidly growing Singapore. Based on the Concept Plan, agencies drew up their own plans for HDB towns, JTC industrial parks, URA’s Central Area plans and other infrastructure plans. The Planning Department’s main task was to ensure that land was carefully safeguarded for new towns, the Central Area, roads, and subway and utility reserves.

1970s to 1980s: Building the City in Partnership with the Private Sector

The task of urban renewal now began in earnest, as URA became planner and master developer of the Central Business District.

The key person responsible was Alan Choe, my first boss at URA, a young, dynamic architect-planner who learnt a lot about urban renewal in the West, especially from the Boston Redevelopment Authority. He adopted some of Boston’s methods, wisely adapted to suit Singapore. As an architect, he developed very detailed urban design guidelines for places like Shenton Way, Golden Shoe District, the Orchard Road belt and the Golden Mile strip.

URA Sale of Sites Source: URA , Changing the face of Singapore through the URA sale of sites, 1995, Pg 5

What distinguished Singapore’s approach from many other cities was how the private sector was involved to implement the plan through URA’s Sale of Sites programme (now the Government Land Sales programme). It was creatively conceived to involve developers through a transparent tender process. As long as developers built according to guidelines, they had no problem obtaining planning approval. To attract bidders, incentives such as property tax concessions as well as financing through a 10-year instalment plan were given. All these significantly derisked projects by reducing uncertainty and approval time.

However, even with these incentives, businessmen had to be persuaded to delve into the risky business of real estate. Choe told of how he had to call on business people like S.P. Tao, a shipping tycoon then, to tender for URA sites. Choe had to sell the new city vision, how the government would make it happen in partnership with the private sector, with URA providing the planning vision and guidance, putting in infrastructure and coordinating overall development as master developer.

This was Singapore’s Public-Private-Partnership approach to urban renewal. The approach quickly gained confidence among developers risking their capital, who saw the tremendous upside of helping to build a rapidly growing city.

The sale of sites programme was a key instrument to encourage certain types of development, such as offices for financial institutions, shopping, entertainment and hotels along Orchard Road and the Havelock Road belt. It also promoted high-density living, with a new housing typology in high-rise condominiums with green spaces and community facilities based on planning guidelines.

Again, Choe, as an architect, introduced the idea of awarding sites by giving design very serious consideration. For developers, the stakes became so high that they hired top international architects like I.M. Pei (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Building), Kenzo Tange (Overseas Union Bank Centre), Paul Rudolph (Concourse) and John Portman (Marina Square).

OCBC Building I.M. Pei

OUB Centre Kenzo Tange

Concourse Paul Rudolph

Marina Square John Portman

At that time, URA’s guidelines were not publicised, so there was uncertainty over planning requirements. This lack of transparency made public officials susceptible to corrupt practices. Property had a boom-and-bust market, with the government releasing more land during periods of boom and withholding sales when prices fell. Attractive financial incentives also created a volatile market.

Things came to a head, and Member of Parliament Tan Soo Khoon, in a famous speech in 1986, called the property market a “casino”, with URA as “banker”. This was after a property market crash when some developers could not find funds to continue development, and returned the sites to URA undeveloped. A Cabinet minister committed suicide when investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

The new city was being built in partnership with the private sector, but the planning system needed to catch up. These events prompted a serious overhaul of the planning regime when S. Dhanabalan took over as National Development Minister in 1987.

1990s to 2000s: Building a City of Character

Changes to the planning system.

The changes were quite sweeping, making the system more open, transparent and stable. I was part of the team that brought about many of these changes, as MND’s first Director of Strategic Planning, working closely with Lim Hng Kiang, then Deputy Secretary.

URA took on a clearer role as planner and regulator, and no longer as developer. It returned most of its land holdings. Zoning was simplified and plot ratio calculations streamlined with the abolition of net floor area, so that only one parameter, gross floor area, was used. This removed a lot of administrative effort and uncertainty under the old regime. A team led by MND created what is now known as the development charge table, which tells developers upfront what they must pay.

Headline ‘Developers give up two URA land parcels’ Source: Singapore Monitor, 28 April 1984 Full article here

Headline ‘Option for Pontiac to revive Rahardja Centre project’ Source: Times, 3 Aug 1989

With the new transparency, the real estate industry began to attract international capital, and new instruments like Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which were pioneered by Singapore in this region, resulted in a more mature and sophisticated capital market.

All financial incentives for sale of sites were withdrawn as, by now, the banking and finance industry had the confidence and expertise to finance development. Land was released in a steady stream rather than along with market vagaries.

However, a surplus of capital internationally and Singapore being seen as a safe haven meant that the government had to periodically intervene, especially in the residential property market, with cooling measures.

The 1991 Concept Plan — unveiled as “ Living the Next Lap ” — envisaged building a northeast corridor and decentralising with regional and subregional centres. The master plan became a forward-looking and public plan with the introduction of Development Guide Plans (DGPs), which clearly expressed planning intentions for 55 DGP areas, with clear zoning, plot ratios and other detailed urban design guidelines, so that developers knew exactly what they were allowed to build.

A Liveable and Sustainable City

There was also a continuing focus on building a liveable, sustainable city of character.

There began in the late 1980s a strong emphasis on retaining built heritage. URA did extensive surveys of historic areas, and drew up a conservation master plan and strategy which involved URA becoming the conservation authority, setting guidelines for conserving buildings, gazetting buildings and districts, and bringing in the private sector, again using the sale of sites mechanism. Projects such as Clarke Quay, Bugis Junction and Chijmes were sold, as were many shophouses in Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam.

The Singapore River master plan saw the creation of a district of old warehouses adaptively reused for shopping, offices, hotels and homes, juxtaposed with modern buildings. New modes of sale were experimented with, such as auctions, the two-envelope system, and fixed land prices for the two integrated resort projects. The Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) was sold using an option pricing method to reduce development risk, as the objective was to sell a big piece of land for master development by the private sector.

Clover By The Park condominium next to Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters features at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park. Source: littledayout.com

To advance sustainability and make the city greener and more liveable, more emphasis was placed on promoting Green Mark buildings and high-rise greenery. The Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters programme saw strong interest in creating water projects, which commanded a premium. Projects along the waterway in Punggol Eco-town all began to include variations of “water” in their names.

The sale of sites programme was also used to promote sustainable green buildings, with sites sold by tender being required to achieve a minimum Green Mark in selected strategic areas such as Marina Bay, Jurong Lake District, Kallang Riverside, Paya Lebar Central, Woodlands Regional Centre and Punggol Eco-town. Today, sites in strategic areas are required to be designed and built using the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly and Building Information Modelling systems.

As Singapore has come a long way as a well-planned, liveable and sustainable city, the real estate industry, now highly sophisticated and professional, also continues to innovate.

The transparency of a forward-looking master plan also gave rise to a new phenomenon of en-bloc development, flourishing especially during market upcycles, as owners of strata titles and even landed properties banded together to sell their properties for redevelopment. This helped to realise the master plan, while government policy facilitated this with lower thresholds of ownership.

WHAT’S NEXT?

But what’s next for Singapore — how will the city develop? How should we plan for it? How can the real estate industry help to shape the future?

Continuous Building, and Draft Master Plan 2019

As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said, “we are not done building Singapore yet”.** There are many exciting new opportunities at Marina Bay, Greater Southern Waterfront, Jurong Lake District and, further down the line, Paya Lebar when the airbase is closed. Exhibitions on these plans, such as the one on the draft 2019 Master Plan at the URA Centre, will help people understand the challenges of building a liveable and sustainable city with all its constraints. While some precious greenery will be developed, many new ideas such as nature parks will more than replace the losses. To face new challenges, Singapore has to continue to innovate systemically, like before.

Challenges for Singapore

What are these new challenges?

Climate change, changing demographics (especially ageing and a more diverse society), rapid technological change, social media, lifestyle trends towards co-working, co-living, a sharing economy with ride-sharing, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and big data.

Beyond the Master Plan, in order to solve the problems these challenges will bring, and create new opportunities, more systemic ideas are needed. For example, building a city in nature, or a city for all ages.

But what is the role of the real estate industry? For universities, research and education in urban systems is critical. Singapore has built up a significant store of knowledge, which should be shared, and used to create new knowledge. Our universities are actively undertaking urban systems research with CLC and other agencies with studio projects such as in Tampines, one-north, and Orchard Road. The National University of Singapore (NUS) is rather proud that its real estate department is just about the only one in the world that is part of the architecture and urban planning school rather than the business school.

CapitaLand-CDL Joint Venture for Prime Site in Sengkang Centre. Source: CapitaLand Limited (2019). CapitaLand-CDL joint venture wins prime site in Sengkang Central

Involvement of Other Stakeholders

But what role can developers and real estate financial institutions play in shaping the city? I sense that the industry is beginning to take a much broader view of their role. URA has received strong support for its Business Improvement Districts pilot schemes, where property owners come together to do place management for neighbourhoods. Orchard Road Business Association is active in reshaping Orchard Road. Developers are becoming master developers, rather than being led by government. In Sengkang, CapitaLand and City Developments Limited are building an integrated commercial-cum-community development including a community centre and hawker centre.

CLC and URA sponsored the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international organisation of real estate professionals, to bring in an international panel to give views on how the private sector can participate in Jurong Lake District . This intensive process included interviewing 60 industry professionals from government, the private sector and academia. New forms of partnership are developing between the public and private sectors.

Internationally, the industry is spreading its wings. Companies are doing city master planning in Asia, Africa and Middle East. Singapore has major integrated city and township projects in Suzhou, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Amaravati. To offer an integrated package, it is also essential to involve smaller companies and other parts of the real estate value chain, such as legal and financial services.

Infrastructure Asia was set up by Enterprise Singapore to promote Singapore as an infrastructure finance hub. There is good potential for the industry to grow, as the region is urbanising very rapidly and the need for well-planned, liveable cities is urgent. Singapore is often looked upon as a model, but how can we better “sell” brand Singapore and public and private sector expertise as an integrated package?

Singapore was built primarily by public sector agencies in the earlier years. Later, the private sector became an active partner, producing a boom period. This was followed by a period of putting in place a good urban planning system and building a highly sophisticated real estate industry.

Can Singapore now become a global hub to take to the world this new partnership between the private and public sectors in creating urban systems solutions? That is our collective challenge.

* Savage, Victor, and Eng Teo. “Singapore Landscape: A Historical Overview of Housing Change.” Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, vol. 6, no. 1, 1985.

^ Singapore Parliamentary Debates. (10 June 1964). Vol. 23, Col. 25. See also observations by then-P.M. Lee Kuan Yew and then Minister for Law and National Development E. W. Barker during the second and third readings of the Land Acquisition (Amendment No 2) Bill in 1964-66 and Singapore Parliamentary Debates. (16 June 1965). Vol. 23, Col. 811; and (26 October 1966). Vol 25. Col 410.

** Lee, Hsien Loong. “National Day Message 2018.” Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, 8 Aug. 2018, www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/national-daymessage-2018.

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Choy Chan Pong and Kwek Sian Choo for their inputs; as well as Phua Shi Hui for research assistance, Koh Buck Song for editing the text and Ng Yong Yi for layout design. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the Ministry of National Development. If you would like to provide feedback on this article, please contact [email protected] .

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Technologies Driving More Cost-Effective Construction in Singapore

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Asian Education and Development Studies

ISSN : 2046-3162

Article publication date: 13 July 2015

Singapore is a small, densely populated city-state, which has become a prosperous global trading, investment and communications hub. In light of this, particular challenges have arisen in the development of its infrastructure to meet its needs. These challenges are met by harnessing private capital in the design, building, management and funding of the infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to examine various arrangements in using private capital within key infrastructure sectors: mass rapid transit, roads, water supply, electricity generation and transmission, maritime ports and airport, ITC services, and industrial infrastructure, and to consider how full privatization, limited privatization (government-linked companies), direct government provision through statutory authorities (relying partly on private borrowing), and a mix of the above arrangements require infrastructure providers, even statutory authorities, to follow business practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts an empirical, discursive and critical approach.

The Singapore government has continued to see its role as steering the economy into niche sectors where Singapore can acquire a competitive edge, and to overall facilitate economic development through active intervention. This includes, amongst other things, state-sponsored training and education, capital grants to start-ups, trade promotion, various fiscal incentives to businesses, guarantees for bank credit, etc. (Ghesquiere, 2007). This twin-pronged approach has been reflected in the development and management of the infrastructure. In line with the creation of a strong free enterprise economy, privatization and private capital has been a central feature of infrastructure investment and management.

Originality/value

The paper shows how private capital can be used through privatization and borrowing from the private sector to manage the infrastructure. This may be considered an appropriate means to meet the needs of a densely populated small state which is also a global hub for trade, research, investment and communications. It also shows how the harnessing of private capital can be combined with continued government control to ensure that the infrastructure development reflects public policy and adheres to required standards.

• Competition
• Privatization
• Infrastructure
• Regulations
• Government-linked companies
• Statutory authorities

Jones, D.S. (2015), "Infrastructure management in Singapore: privatization and government control", Asian Education and Development Studies , Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 299-311. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-12-2014-0064

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Singapore: TOD development

With glistening modern skylines, well-structured public transportation, and a promise of sustainable development – Singapore has emerged as a global leader when it comes to planning an efficient Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Singapore’s approach to Transit Oriented Development has been quite successful because of its progressive thinking with its urban planning policies. It has achieved this by smoothly executing an integration of transportation systems with different typologies – residential, commercial, and recreational. This consequently, reduces the dependency on cars and helps foster tighter and more vibrant communities.  

“A TOD makes cities more livable”

A Transit-oriented Development is designed with elements that encourage transit use and movement without reliance on automobiles, it is intended to boost accessibility to public transportation. Building around and atop multimodal transport hubs has gained popularity as a strategy to cross-finance public facilities and urban transit in well-connected places as Asia’s population development becomes more concentrated in its cities.

It is often known that TOD makes cities more livable. Nevertheless, its impact on the viability of mass transit systems is frequently overlooked. The main goal of Singapore’s TOD is to revitalize urban areas by growing the transit system. As a result, there is a central core surrounded by a constellation of satellite towns connected to industrial parks and the city hub by rail networks. These satellite towns are self-sufficient, with common areas accessible by foot and a decreased need to travel outside for everyday necessities.

Singapore’s Commitment to TOD

Singapore’s TOD focuses mostly on urban redevelopment through the extension of the transit network. The result is a network of satellite towns that encircle a central core, with train lines connecting them to industrial parks and the city center. The construction of the panoramic Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in the 1970s brought about the conversation of the need to combine land use and transportation planning , the Singapore government took a proactive approach to urban development, focusing on transit accessibility and sustainable design principles. Today, the MRT network covers the entire island, linking citizens to employment centers, educational institutions, and recreational areas.

Key Features 

• Integrated Land-Use Planning : Singapore’s TOD complexes are precisely constructed to maximize access to public transport while encouraging mixed land use. Residential, commercial, and recreational facilities are carefully positioned within walking distance of MRT stations, assuring inhabitants’ convenience and connectivity.
• High-Density Development: To maximize land usage and reduce sprawl, Singapore encourages high-density buildings inside TOD zones. Residential skyscrapers, mixed-use complexes, and commercial hubs coexist peacefully, creating a vibrant urban environment in which people live, work, and play near together.
• Pedestrian-Friendly Approach to Design: Singapore has implemented urban design standards to stimulate the creation of new through-block pedestrian links and view corridors within specific developments to reduce the scale and improve the permeability of street blocks. Singapore’s pedestrian network includes covered walkways, linkways, and through-block links, and it is planned to be three-dimensional, with important routes connecting upper and basement levels as well as at-grade pathways. Specific design requirements have also been imposed for select essential sites, along with minimum widths and heights for through-block links.
• Preserving Green Spaces : Despite its dense urban fabric, Singapore is committed to protecting green space and improving public services in TOD complexes. The “Garden City” plan in the early 1960s came about to transform the city into a lush green environment for which major investments in new parks, nature reserves, and other green areas, such as the iconic Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands SkyPark have been made since then. These green spaces have greatly improved the quality of life for Singaporeans. They give chances for entertainment, relaxation, and social contact while also promoting environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Many residents felt that parks and green spaces make Singapore a more desirable place to live. 

Benefits of the TOD approach 

• Reduced Car Dependence: An emphasis on public transport and pedestrian-friendly design has encouraged inhabitants to rely less on automobiles for their daily commute because of which a decrease in traffic congestion and cutting down of carbon emissions has been observed. Thus, helping Singapore achieve its ecological goals.
• Enhanced Quality of Life: TOD complexes provide unprecedented convenience to residents, with transport, facilities, and services all within walking distance. This integrated approach to urban living encourages individuals to live healthier lifestyles while also instilling a sense of belonging and community.
• Economic Opportunities: Singapore’s TOD zones encourage investment and economic activity, providing chances for enterprises, entrepreneurs, and job seekers. TOD projects’ proximity to transit hubs makes them appealing locations for commercial firms, increasing their viability and liveliness. 

Singapore’s TOD experience can provide vital lessons and insights, as cities around the world struggle with urbanization, congestion, and environmental degradation. Cities can develop livable, resilient communities that survive despite urban problems by prioritizing transportation accessibility, mixed land uses, and sustainable architecture. Singapore’s TOD strategy explores new solutions, its model serving as a source of inspiration for urban planners around the world.

Marking itself as a paradigm shift in urban design, focusing on sustainability, connectedness, and community well-being; Singapore has succeeded in creating dynamic, livable neighborhoods that embody the future of urban living through integrated land use planning, pedestrian-friendly design, and green infrastructure. Cities that adopt Transit-oriented Development concepts and adapt them to their specific situations have the potential to create inclusive, resilient communities that will last. Singapore’s road to TOD demonstrates the transformative power of visionary planning and daring decision-making in constructing the cities of the future.

References :

Transit-Oriented Development (no date) Infrastructure Asia. Available at: https://www.infrastructureasia.org/Insights/Transit-Oriented-Development#:~:text=Singapore’s%20TOD%20is%20primarily%20focused,parks%20and%20the%20city%20centre. (Accessed: 8 March 2024).

C40 Good Practice Guides: Singapore – Pedestrian Links (2022) C40 Cities. Available at: https://www.c40.org/case-studies/c40-good-practice-guides-singapore-pedestrian-links/ (Accessed: 8 March 2024).

Fransen, B. (2023) The importance of incorporating green spaces in city planning, EcoMatcher. Available at: https://www.ecomatcher.com/the-importance-of-incorporating-green-spaces-in-city-planning/#:~:text=These%20green%20spaces%20have%20significantly,a%20better%20place%20to%20live. (Accessed: 8 March 2024).

Chye, B. (2019) Transit-Oriented Development in Emerging Cities: Principles from Singapore, Oxford Urbanists. Oxford Urbanists. Available at: https://www.oxfordurbanists.com/magazine/2019/3/9/transit-oriented-development-in-emerging-cities-principles-from-singapore (Accessed: 8 March 2024).

Aquino, M. (2020) Getting Around Singapore: Guide to Public Transportation, TripSavvy. TripSavvy. Available at: https://www.tripsavvy.com/singapore-guide-to-public-transportation-4768408 (Accessed: 8 March 2024).

As an innovative Multi-Disciplinary Artist, Creative Director, and Architect, Mehr excels in intertwining diverse artistic forms—poetry, painting, music production, and design. Her work, deeply rooted in sustainable principles, showcases a unique blend of creativity and nature, crafting narratives that resonate with the essence of spaces and the broader artistic spectrum.

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Case Study: Singapore

• First Online: 14 September 2019

Cite this chapter

• Waqas Nawaz 4 &
• Muammer Koç 4  

Part of the book series: Management and Industrial Engineering ((MINEN))

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Singapore is a rapidly developing country with a diverse population sitting on one of the most strategic locations in the world—Strait of Malacca, which transports more than 50% of world’s commercial goods. Over the past fifty years, the country has transformed itself from a technology user to a technology developer. The main source of human and financial capital in the country is the foreign talent and direct investment. The government has established various agencies and institutions, such as Agency for Science, Technology and Research, to propel domestic innovation in collaboration with MNCs. Most importantly, the government has maintained a liberal immigration policy to attract the overseas talent. Moreover, the IP Act and Competition Act balance each other to promote competition between low-tech and high-tech enterprises but at the same time these regulations ensure a level playing field for all actors in the innovation system of Singapore. Similar to other innovation-driven countries, Singapore has also developed public research institutions, clusters, and science parks. In parallel to the institutional and infrastructure development, there has been an equal emphasis on training and development of human capital. On other hand, a host of public-private partnership programs, such as Technopreneurship21 and GET-UP , ensures collaboration between industries, universities and government at all levels.

R. Pradhananga co-authored this chapter.

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Nawaz, W., Koç, M. (2020). Case Study: Singapore . In: Industry, University and Government Partnerships for the Sustainable Development of Knowledge-Based Society. Management and Industrial Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26799-5_4

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Case Study of Singapore - Smart Cities: A Model for Urban Innovation

In an era of rapid urbanization and technological advancement, the concept of smart cities has emerged as a beacon of hope for creating sustainable and efficient urban environments. Among the pioneers of this movement stands Singapore, a city-state that has elevated itself to the forefront of urban innovation. In this article, we will explore Singapore's journey to becoming a model smart city, delving into the innovative strategies, technologies, and projects that have transformed urban living and set a global example.

The Smart City Revolution: A Holistic Approach

Smart cities are not just about technology; they are about integrating various aspects of urban life to enhance citizen experiences, sustainability, and economic growth. Singapore has embraced this philosophy, making strategic investments in cutting-edge technologies and fostering a culture of innovation.

1. Smart Infrastructure and Mobility:

Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system is a prime example of how smart infrastructure can transform transportation. Equipped with real-time data analysis, predictive maintenance, and smart fare collection systems, the MRT ensures efficient and seamless commutes for its citizens.

2. Sustainable Energy Management:

Singapore's journey towards sustainability includes the Marina Barrage, a dam that provides water supply, flood control, and a freshwater reservoir. This multifunctional marvel not only showcases sustainable water management but also integrates solar energy generation, contributing to Singapore's commitment to renewable energy.

Singapore's Smart Nation Initiative: A Blueprint for Success

Singapore's Smart Nation Initiative is the driving force behind its transformation into a smart city. Launched in 2014, this initiative aims to harness the potential of technology to create a better quality of life for citizens. It encompasses a wide range of sectors, from healthcare to transportation, education to urban planning.

1. Smart Healthcare:

Singapore's healthcare system employs telehealth solutions and wearable devices to monitor patient health remotely. This not only enhances patient care but also reduces the burden on healthcare facilities.

2. Digital Identity:

Singapore's National Digital Identity system enables secure and convenient access to government and private sector services. It streamlines processes and enhances data security, creating a seamless digital experience for citizens.

Smart City Projects in Singapore

Singapore's commitment to innovation is evident in its array of smart city projects. Let's delve into a few notable examples:

1. Punggol Digital District:

This project aims to create a vibrant, tech-driven business and residential district. Equipped with smart street lighting, autonomous vehicles, and energy-efficient buildings, Punggol Digital District sets the stage for the future of urban living.

2. Jurong Lake District:

Singapore's second Central Business District is undergoing transformation into a smart and sustainable urban hub. The district will feature smart energy management systems, green spaces, and smart mobility solutions.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Data is the lifeblood of smart cities, enabling informed decision-making and responsive governance. Singapore's Smart Nation Sensor Platform collects real-time data from various sources, including cameras and sensors, to monitor urban activities and optimize city services. This data-driven approach ensures efficient resource allocation and enhances the quality of life for citizens.

Challenges and Future Prospects

While Singapore's journey towards becoming a model smart city is impressive, it's not without challenges. Ensuring data privacy, addressing cybersecurity concerns, and maintaining inclusivity are critical factors that require continuous attention.

Looking ahead, Singapore's success offers valuable lessons for other cities aspiring to become smart. The integration of technology, collaboration between stakeholders, and a citizen-centric approach are key ingredients for achieving urban innovation and sustainability.

Conclusion: The Future of Urban Living

Singapore's evolution into a model smart city demonstrates the power of innovation and technology in transforming urban environments. By embracing smart infrastructure, sustainable practices, and data-driven decision-making, Singapore has set a global example of how cities can thrive amidst urbanization challenges.

As the world grapples with urbanization, pollution, and resource constraints, Singapore's smart city journey provides hope and inspiration. It reaffirms that by leveraging technology, collaboration, and visionary leadership, cities can truly become smarter, more sustainable, and more livable for all their inhabitants.

The story of Singapore's smart city transformation is a testament to the potential of human ingenuity to shape a better future for urban living.Let's build a future where cities are not just habitats but thriving ecosystems of possibility. 💡🌆

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A Case Study of Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT)

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• Section 7 Potentially Significant Impacts and Mitigation Measures During the Operation Stage Section 7 Potentially Significant Impacts and Mitigation Measures During The Operation Stage Proposed Light Rail Transit Line 3 from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment SECTION 7 : POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES DURING THE OPERATIONAL STAGE 7. SECTION 7 : POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES DURING THE OPERATIONAL STAGE 7.1 INTRODUCTION This section of the report examines the potentially significant impacts that could arise during the operational phase of the Project. The impacts are assessed in terms of magnitude, prevalence, duration and frequency of occurrence whichever is applicable, and their consequences. This section also discusses the mitigation measures which can be implemented to ensure the adverse impacts are kept to a minimum. 7.2 SENSITIVE RECEPTORS The receptors of the potential impacts from the Project would include all the various communities and land uses located along the alignment, which have been identified and described in Section 4.4 of this report. 7.3 POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS The main potentially significant impacts expected during the operational stage are as follows: Noise – from the operation of the trains, especially for premises located close to the station and at bends Vibration – from the operation of the trains, particularly along the underground section Traffic – the Project is expected to contribute the overall traffic improvement, particularly at Klang areas Visual impacts – the elevated structures may affect the existing landscape along certain stretch of the alignment, particularly at residential areas Air quality – the Project is expected to contribute to overall air quality improvement in the Klang Valley in terms of avoided emissions Social impacts – people in Klang, Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya are expected to benefit in terms of better public transport system as well as enhanced economic activities, especially those located within the certain radius of the stations. [Show full text]
• Service Disruption on Mrt Kajang Line Due to Signalling Problems MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SERVICE DISRUPTION ON MRT KAJANG LINE DUE TO SIGNALLING PROBLEMS KUALA LUMPUR, 16 August 2021- MRT Kajang Line is experiencing a service disruption due to signalling problems that were detected at 9.15am today that caused all trains that were in operations along the MRT Kajang Line to be held at platforms along its entire alignment starting from MRT Sungai Buloh Station to MRT Kajang Station. “The signalling problems are believed due to a technical issue and Rapid KL’s Engineering Department, together with BT Alstom who is the system’s manufacturer and Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp), are working to resolve this so that MRT Kajang Line could operate normally as soon as possible,” said a statement issued by the rail operator today. When the signalling problems were detected, all trains that were in operations switched to manual mode and were driven by Transit Officers to the nearest station, at a speed of not more than 25km/hour. Passengers were advised to disembark and take alternative transport in order to continue with their journey. Then, MRT Kajang Line suspended its operations from 11.15am to 3.45pm to allow for diagnostic work and full system reboot to be performed. It has since resumed operations at 3.45pm in revised service mode. “We deeply regret the inconvenience and would like to apologise to our passengers for this service disruption. For the safety of all involved, MRT Kajang Line is currently operating on revised service mode where trains would be moving slower and dwelling at platforms longer,” it added. [Show full text]
• The Development and Distribution Pattern of Railway Network for Urban Public Transport Using GIS from 1990 Until 2019 in the Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia JOURNAL OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT VOL. 2 NO. 2 (2020) 1-10 © Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Publisher’s Office Journal of Social Transformation JSTARD and Regional Journal homepage: http://publisher.uthm.edu.my/ojs/index.php/jstard Development e-ISSN : 2682-9142 The Development and Distribution Pattern of Railway Network for Urban Public Transport Using GIS from 1990 Until 2019 in The Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mohd Sahrul Syukri Yahya1*, Edie Ezwan Mohd Safian1, Burhaida Burhan1 1Faculty of Technology Management and Business, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, MALAYSIA *Corresponding Author DOI: https://doi.org/10.30880/jstard.2020.02.02.001 Received 20 July 2020; Accepted 30 October 2020; Available online 30 December 2020 Abstract: The development and distribution pattern of the railway network has significantly increased in urban public transport with the current situation to move fast towards the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). In Malaysia, the problem issues are related to traffic congestion and many user cars on the roadway in daily lives. One alternative mode of using a rail network is commuter, LRT, Monorail, MRT and ETS. Therefore, the Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is then used to map and produce the railway networks history and developments in urban public transportation (UPT). The goal of this research is to identify the heatmap trends of the Klang Valley railway stations which included Kuala Lumpur as urban public transport sectors. It was based on the OSM image layer from the year 1990 to 2019 and studied the growth of railway networks through a polyline pattern analysis. [Show full text]
• Prasanara Invites Bumiputera Contractors to Lrt3 Final Pre- Qualification Briefing Session to Vie for Rm60 Million Worth of Smaller Work Packages Media Statement For immediate release PRASANARA INVITES BUMIPUTERA CONTRACTORS TO LRT3 FINAL PRE- QUALIFICATION BRIEFING SESSION TO VIE FOR RM60 MILLION WORTH OF SMALLER WORK PACKAGES KUALA LUMPUR – 5 DECEMBER, 2017: Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) is inviting Bumiputera Contractors CIDB Grade G2 to G4 to participate in the pre-qualification briefing session on LRT3 work packages on 7 December, 2017 to be held at Menara UOA Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The main work packages under the LRT3 are required to allocate 120 smaller work packages worth approximately RM60 million in total to Bumiputera Contractors CIDB Grade G2 to G4. The work packages will comprise of but are not limited to areas such as surface works, mechanical & engineering works, concrete works, external architectural works and interior fittings out works. Prasarana, through a collaborative effort with the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju), Contractor and Entrepreneur Development Division (BPKU) of Ministry of Works, and Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), has opened up participation opportunities for Bumiputera Contractors with these CIDB Grade G2 to G4 in the development of the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) project. The collaboration is intended to provide opportunity for Bumiputera Contractors to grow and develop capacity in large-scale infrastructure projects. The G2-G4 grading refers to small medium enterprises, which are allowed to tender for projects worth not exceeding RM500,000 (G2), not exceeding RM1,000,000 (G3) and not exceeding RM3,000,000 (G4). “We would like to encourage Bumiputera companies to leverage on this final opportunity to work alongside established multinational companies in the industry to develop Klang Valley’s next new rail, and thereby develop our home-grown expertise. [Show full text]
• MRT) Line Construction and Housing Wealth: Evidence from the Circle Line Mi Diao1, Yi Fan1 and Tien Foo Sing2* Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development (2017) Volume 1 Issue 1, pp.64-89. DOI: 10.24294/jipd.v1i1.22 Original Article A new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line construction and housing wealth: Evidence from the Circle Line Mi Diao1, Yi Fan1 and Tien Foo Sing2* 1 2 Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore Department of Real Estate/Institute of Real Estate Studies (IRES), National University of Singapore ABSTRACT This study uses the opening of the new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in stages between 2010 and 2012 in Singapore as the exogenous event to empirically test the impact of the new Circle Line (CL) on transaction data covering the period from 2009 to 2013, we find that the average housing prices into housing prices, especially households living within a 400-meter radius (the treatment zone) willingness to pay” for houses located within the treatment zone is 13.2% relative to houses located outside the treatment zone. The new CL opening creates an estimated S$1.23 billion housing wealth intensity declines in phases 2 and 3 of the CL opening. Keywords marginal willingness-to-pay; housing wealth ARTICLE INFO 1. Introduction Received: January 1, 2017 Accepted: January 15, 2017 Investments in public infrastructure projects, such as new MRT lines, Available online: March 8, 2017 *CORRESPONDING AUTHOR highways etc., are highly risky and have a long-gestation period. It is Tien Foo Sing, Department of difficult to attract sufficient private capitals into public infrastructure Real Estate/Institute of Real Estate Studies (IRES), National University projects, based solely on economic considerations. [Show full text]
• Passenger Rail Primer Passenger Rail Primer Thurston Passenger Rail Workgroup November 2005 Passenger Rail Characteristics This document is intended as a primer introducing and familiarizing the reader with the basic definitions of passenger rail and providing a comparison of common transit services in 2005. It was developed to facilitate a discussion of passenger rail and other transit options in the Thurston Region, in preparation of a regional rail plan. In the next section, Passenger Rail Overview, the fundamental characteristics of light rail, commuter rail and intercity rail are covered. Complementary and Alternative Transit Options (primarily common bus transit choices) provides a wider transit context within which the passenger rail modes coordinate and compete. After investigating transit options individually, they are compared and contrasted in a chart of their characteristics, Summarizing the Continuum of Services. Other Rail Transit Technologies provides a brief overview of less extensively used rail options and the Appendices provide additional details and information. Additional resources the reader may want to consult include: • The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) website at www.apta.com • The Victoria Transportation Policy Institute (VTPI) website at www.vtpi.org • Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) website at www.bts.gov Passenger Rail Overview Introduction Passenger rail modes may be distinguished from one another based on a variety of characteristics – level of service, technology, right-of-way and operations. These characteristics are discussed in more detail in the other sections of this chapter. Like other transit services, however, in the most basic sense passenger rail modes break down by three distinct geographies – local, regional, and statewide or interstate. [Show full text]
• User Perception on Urban Light Rail Transit Civil Engineering and Architecture 7(6A): 43-49, 2019 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/cea.2019.071405 User Perception on Urban Light Rail Transit Seuk Yen Phoong1,*, Seuk Wai Phoong2, Sedigheh Moghavvemi2, Kok Hau Phoong3 1Department of Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idirs, Malaysia 2Department of Operations and Management Information Systems, University of Malaya, Malaysia 3Faculty of Management and Information Technology, Sultan Azlan Shah University, Malaysia Received July 28, 2019; Revised October 8, 2019; Accepted December 15, 2019 Copyright©2019 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract Public transport is a shared passenger traffic congestion in the city. transport service available for public use. Increased The problems pertaining to the public transportation population is accompanied by the increased demand for system in Kuala Lumpur are the lack of integration and private vehicles. The exponential growth in the number of focus. The government does not actively promote the use private vehicles will result in negative impacts such as air of public transportation, which indirectly influences daily pollution, excessive noise, and traffic congestion. life. According to the statistics in 2017, the average daily Additionally, customers’ perceptions on different aspects ridership of the public transport in 2017 was 638,608 in include safety, operation or time, comfortableness and Kuala Lumpur. The average time a person spent every day cleanness of public transportation that are also essential in in traffic congestion is ~53 minutes in Kuala Lumpur. affecting their mode of choice when travelling. [Show full text]
• 016 Market Study with Focus on Potential for Eu High-Tech Solution Providers Co-funded by MALAYSIA’S TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR 2016 MARKET STUDY WITH FOCUS ON POTENTIAL FOR EU HIGH-TECH SOLUTION PROVIDERS Market Report 2016 Implemented By SEBSEAM-MSupport for European Business in South East Asia Markets Malaysia Component Publisher: EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) Suite 10.01, Level 10, Menara Atlan, 161B Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpu Malaysia Telephone : +603-2162 6298 r. Fax : +603-2162 6198 E-mail : [email protected] www.eumcci.com Author: Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC) www.malaysia.ahk.de Status: May 2016 Disclaimer: ‘This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union’. Copyright©2016 EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. All Rights Reserved. EUMCCI is a Non-Profit Organization registered in Malaysia with number 263470-U. Privacy Policy can be found here: http://www.eumcci.com/privacy-policy. Malaysia’s Transport & Infrastructure Sector 2016 Executive Summary This study provides insights into the transport and infrastructure sector in Malaysia and identifies potentials and challenges of European high-technology service providers in the market and outlines the current situation and latest development in the transport and infrastructure sector. Furthermore, it includes government strategies and initiatives, detailed descriptions of the role of public and private sectors, the legal framework, as well as present, ongoing and future projects. The applied secondary research to collect data and information has been extended with extensive primary research through interviews with several government agencies and industry players to provide further insights into the sector. [Show full text]
• Users' Preferences on The PLANNING MALAYSIA: Journal of the Malaysian Institute of Planners VOLUME 19 ISSUE 1 (2021), Page 150 – 161 USERS’ PREFERENCES ON THE PROVISION OF FACILITIES FOR MASS RAPID TRANSIT SUNGAI BULOH – SUBANG – PUTRAJAYA LINE (MRT2) STATIONS Ainina Azizan1, Mariana Mohamed Osman2, Noor Suzilawati Rabe3, Nuranisa Huda Ramlan4, Nurul Ardila Azmi5 & Suraya Amiruddin6 1-6 Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA Abstract National Transport Policy (2019-2030) strives to improve the transportation sector towards a conducive and competitive sector while fulfils the demands of people. The new development of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT2) Sungai Buloh – Subang – Putrajaya Line is expected to complete in 2022 and would benefit 529,000 users. This paper analyses the preferences of users on the facility provision at mass rapid transit stations in the local context. This paper was based on secondary and primary data sources such as official documents, websites and data collected for the Integrated MRT2 Land Use Masterplan. Document analysis method was employed to review official sources from public transport providers across selected benchmarked countries. Six categories of facility at mass rapid transit stations were evaluated using 40 criteria. Results suggested improvements are needed in barrier-free considerations and convenient facilities. Statistical analyses, involving descriptive and inferential analyses, were conducted. The results show that gender and travel time to station influenced users’ preferences on facilities needed at stations. This paper suggests that certain criteria of facilities must be considered based on universal needs of the population to encourage usage of MRT2 as public transport as well as to provide convenient travel experiences. [Show full text]
• MRT-Progressreport2016-ENG.Pdf PB Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd 2016 Annual Progress Report 1 i Content 3 1 Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd 63 4 MRT Sungai Buloh - Serdang - Putrajaya Line 6 Vision, Mission and Guiding Principles 66 Construction 8 Chairman’s Message 68 Procurement 10 Chief Executive Officer’s Review 69 Land 14 The Year at A Glance 70 Centralised Labour Quarters 18 Board of Directors 71 Bumiputera Participation 24 Board Committees 73 Industrial Collaboration Programme 26 Organisational Structure 74 Safety, Health and Environment 28 Leadership Team 75 Stakeholder and Public Relations 30 Heads of Department 36 Integrity 79 5 Commercial 80 Introduction 37 2 The Klang Valley MRT Project 81 Property 38 Klang Valley Integrated Urban Rail Network 81 Advertising 82 Retail 41 3 MRT Sungai Buloh - Kajang Line 82 Multi-Storey Park and Ride 44 Construction 83 Commercial Telecommunications 46 Operations Readiness 83 New Technology and Events 48 Feeder bus 49 Procurement 85 6 Financial Report 52 Land 53 Centralised Labour Quarters 89 7 Awarded Work Packages 54 Bumiputera Participation 90 MRT Sungai Buloh - Kajang Line 55 Industrial Collaboration Programme 100 MRT Sungai Buloh - Serdang - Putrajaya Line 57 Safety, Health and Environment 58 Stakeholder and Public Relations 2 Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd 2016 Annual Progress Report 3 i Abbreviations KVMRT Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit MRT Corp Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd PDP Project Delivery Partner Prasarana Prasarana Malaysia Berhad SBK Line MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line SPAD Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat SSP Line MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line 2 Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd 2016 Annual Progress Report 3 Mass Rapid 1 Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd 4 Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd 2016 Annual Progress Report 5 Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd TESTS: View of the Kota Damansara Station with an MRT train undergoing test runs. [Show full text]
• Media Statement for Immediate Release Media Statement For immediate release 12 Artworks Selected as Winners of LRT3 “Painting The Rail Future” Art Contest PETALING JAYA – 4 February 2017: Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) has selected 12 winning artworks of the Light Rail Transit 3’s (LRT3) "Painting The Rail Future" art contest. The “Painting The Rail Future” art contest was jointly organised by Prasarana and MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd (MRCBGK), the project delivery partner of the LRT3 project. In addition to engaging the community in the development of the LRT3 project, the art contest was also held as an event where people of all ages could come together and express their artistic skills. The art contest kick-started on Oct 13, 2016 and was closed for submissions on Dec 13, 2016. A total of 125 artworks were submitted from all four (4) categories. The winning artworks were selected by art experts and Prasarana’s senior management, including Khairani Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer, Prasarana Rail and Infrastructure Projects Sdn Bhd (PRAISE), Khairul Azuwan Ishak, Lecturer/ Deputy Dean of Resources & Student Development of Universiti Selangor and Ooi Ai Eng, Vice President & Head, Interior Design of Malaysian Institute of Arts. Page 1 of 3 The winners are: Category Winners Name Age School State A Winner Cheng Jun Hao 12 SJK (C) Kwang Hwa Pahang (Primary 1st runner-up Nurul Qurratul Ain 9 SK Taman Ranting 3 Johor School) binti Khairul Arifin 2nd runner- Lee Sin Xuan 9 SJK (C) Chong Penang up Kuang B Winner Leong Ka Hei 15 SMK (P) Sri Aman Selangor (Secondary 1st runner-up Lee Sin Yin 15 SMJK Jit Sin Penang School) 2nd runner- Cheng Jia Teck 16 SMJK Confucian W.P. [Show full text]
• IO Brachenreport Malaysia Schienenverkehr AUSSEN WIRTSCHAFT BRANCHENREPORT MALAYSIA SCHIENENVERKEHR BRANCHE UND MARKTSITUATION PROJEKTE UND ERWEITERUNGSPLÄNE CHANCEN FÜR ÖSTERREICHISCHE UNTERNEHMEN AUSSENWIRTSCHAFTSCENTER KUALA LUMPUR NOVEMBER 2020 2 Unser vollständiges Angebot zum Thema Metalle/Verarbeitung (Veranstaltungen, Publikationen, Schlag- zeilen etc.) finden Sie unter wko.at/aussenwirtschaft/metalle. Unser vollständiges Angebot zum Thema Schienenverkehr (Veranstaltungen, Publikationen, Schlagzeilen etc.) finden Sie unter www.wko.at/service/aussenwirtschaft/schienenverkehr-branche-struktur-zukunft- trends.html Eine Information des AußenwirtschaftsCenters Kuala Lumpur T +60 3 2032 2830 F +60 3 2032 3130 E [email protected] fb.com/aussenwirtschaft twitter.com/wko_aw linkedIn.com/company/aussenwirtschaft-austria youtube.com/aussenwirtschaft flickr.com/aussenwirtschaftaustria www.austria-ist-ueberall.at Dieser Branchenreport wurde im Rahmen der Internationalisierungsoffensive go-international, einer gemein- samen Initiative des Bundesministeriums für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort und der Wirtschafts- kammer Österreich, erstellt. Das Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Alle Rechte, insbesondere die Rechte der Verbreitung, der Vervielfältigung, der Übersetzung, des Nachdrucks und die Wiedergabe auf fotomechanischem oder ähnlichem Wege durch Fotokopie, Mikrofilm oder andere elektronische Verfahren sowie der Speicherung in Datenverarbeitungsanlagen bleiben, auch bei nur auszugsweiser Verwertung, der Wirtschaftskammer Österreich – AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA vorbehalten. [Show full text]

Since attaining independence in 1965, Singapore has experienced exceptionally rapid growth, low inflation, and a healthy balance of payments. This paper reviews Singapore’s economic development from a long-term perspective and examines some of the factors that have contributed to the rapid growth.

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