So….the government announced The Population White Paper a couple of days ago. When that happened, I bet all of us were shocked due to this:
The Population White Paper: A Sustainable Population for a Dynamic Singapore (Jan 2013) has projected that Singapore could have a population of between 6.5 and 6.9 million by 2030. This will require 76,600ha of land, an increase from the current supply of 71,000ha. To support this larger population, we need to (a) reclaim additional land; (b) develop some of our reserve land; (c) intensify new developments; and (d) recycle land with lower intensity uses such as old industrial areas and some golf courses to achieve higher land productivity.
Seriously? Yeah, that was my reaction
At this moment, our land area of just 714 square kilometres, which is less than half the size of London with a population of 5.3 million people. I mean yeah sure, 2030 is like 17 years down the road, but do you really think that we can fit 6.9 million people in Singapore???!!
So the MND (Ministry of National Development) answered our doubts by revealing HOW Singapore would be fit this 6.9m people into our tiny island (and what about our jobs?!) as seen here: A High Quality Living Environment for all Singaporeans: Land Use Plan to Support Singapore’s Future Population (January 2013)
The map below illustrates the likely profile of Singapore and possible land use allocation beyond 2030 as taken from the MND website.
And basically just a summary about the plans as taken from the website HERE.
They plan to build up to 700,000 new homes by 2030. Of these, almost 200,000 are already in the pipeline. Many of the remaining 500,000 new homes will be in new towns and housing estates, infill sites in existing towns, land freed up from redeveloping old estates, and vacant land within and on the fringe of the city centre.
There are plans to build more parks and aim to have at least 85% of Singaporean households living within 400m of a park. Our popular park connector network will be further extended. A 150km Round-Island-Route will provide an accessible and uninterrupted leisure corridor around the island. The Rail Corridor along the old Malayan Railway track will offer inviting routes for joggers and cyclists, and improve access to recreational and heritage sites.
A key feature will be a doubling of our rail network to about 360km by 2030, so that eight in ten homes will be within a ten-minute walk of an MRT station. We will build new rail lines such as the Cross Island Line and Jurong Region Line, and extensions such as Circle Line Stage 6, Northeast Line Extension and Downtown Line Extension. We will make bus services more frequent and reliable, with more bus routes to serve new and existing areas.
To meet higher aspirations and new lifestyle preferences, we plan to site more commercial activities near homes. We will build urban centres in various parts of Singapore, including Jurong Lake District, One-North, Paya Lebar Central, Tampines, Woodlands and Punggol. These developments will transform Singapore and benefit future generations.
We will continue to conceive and try out new ways to:
- Optimise the use of existing land: We can make better use of our land by consolidating activities which need a lot of land, such as military training, golf courses and farming in order to release more land for other uses.
- Reclaim more land: Land reclamation will remain a key strategy for Singapore to expand our physical capacity. There is still scope for more land reclamation, for example at Marina East, Simpang, Changi East, Sungei Kadut, Pasir Ris, and around the Western Islands.
- Expand our underground space: We will expand current uses of underground space, such as for MRT lines, pedestrian linkways, utilities and shops, and explore new innovative ways to use underground caverns, such as for industrial and commercial developments, as well as utility plants.
If you want to read up more about this:
- Read the rest of the Land Plan from MDN, click HERE to read
- Read the full 80 page long Population White Paper, click HERE to read
Too lazy? Read this summary of all the KEY POINTS as taken from H88.com.sg, some which are repeated from above:
- More homes will be built – 700,000 more by 2030
- By 2030, there will be H88.com.sg reviews for BTOs in Tengah, Tampines North and Bidadari
- Punggol will become even more crowded with new waterfront living
- Yishun and Bedok will not be forgotten but instead be rejuvenated
- More developments to come in the Dawson area (this was announced long ago)
- Kallang Riverside will see more waterfront residential development
- More hospitals and healthcare services like what you see coming up in Jurong – Ng Teng Fong GH and Jurong Community Hospital
- Not much change on plans for the Arts and Sports – the new stadium and new Art Gallery are almost complete
- More land will be reclaimed in Tekong, the Southern Islands and get this – plans to reclaim land at parts of the East Coast! Some folks might find their sea view turned into concrete view.
- Golf memberships will become more expensive as the lease on some golf courses will not be renewed
- Say goodbye to shipping activities in Keppel, Pasir Panjang and Sembawang, they will move to Tuas. Land vacated will be put to commercial and residential use
- More train lines to ease congestion and make Singapore as well connected as New York City and London. The Govt plans for 80% of homes to be within 10-minutes walk of the MRT station.
- More buses too
- Govt aims for 75% of Singaporeans will take public transport to work by 2030.
- Owning a car in 2030 will be pretty tough. Try riding a bicycle instead.
- Regional hubs like Jurong Lake District, Changi Business Park, Tampines Regional Centre, Woodlands Regional Centre, One-North and Paya Lebar Central will be expanded
- North Coast Innovation Corridor will see new commercial clusters in Punggol, Sengkang West join up with the Woodlands Regional Centre, Sembawang and Seletar Regional Centre.
- Long term – a new ‘southern waterfront city’ is planned from Marina Bay to Keppel to Telok Blangah all the way to Pasir Panjang
- We are going to live like Hobbits – more underground spaces planned
Credits: H88.com.sg Website
Imagine…..this was taken in 2012, just last year:
So…can you imagine the situation in 2030?! Let’s take a look at what interesting things Singaporeans are coming up with:
All photo credits are attributed to the 9Gag Singapore Facebook page. They are freaking awesome and funny – so go like them on Facebook!
But the point is, this is going to be the situation in Singapore by 2030. Wanna bet? XD
Oh before I end, here’s a little irony for you.
There was a time the PAP govt felt that the small island we were in was too crowded with 1.6M people. So they went on to tell the people that the living standards will fall due to overcrowding and higher living density, their path to happiness and healthy family was to keep the population small by having fewer babies. The PAP minister at that time cited problems of strains in housing, hospitals, transport and the inability to create jobs for the people.
Ironic isn’t it?
Till later,
♥ mitsueki
Hi regarding the irony at the end, the 60s and 70s was when the post world war baby boom had occurred. Thus to control the rapidly increasing population, the government had to implement certain population policies and raise awareness on crowding when singapore is still a growing country.