MODEL FOR A DECENTRALISED SYSTEM OF PLANNING

Abstract

Singapore has undergone many changes since its founding by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. This includes her physical planning system which has experienced several major changes. This study traced the urban planning system from the 1927 General Improvement Plan which was administered by the Singapore Improvement Trust to the current Revised Concept Plan administered by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The philosophy of planning in Singapore is a centralised system of planning. The weaknesses of this system of planning are identified in this study. They included inflexibility, slowness in responding to changes and problems in monitoring and review. To overcome these weaknesses, this study proposes a decentralised system planning model, called the Regional Planning Body. The model was studied vis-a-vis the failings of the Singapore Improvement Trust. This is to ensure that the mistakes made by the Singapore Improvement Trust would not be repeated in the proposed Regional Planning Body. It is hoped that the adoption of the proposed Regional Planning Body will bring about improved communication, promotion of culture and history, social balance, faster solutions to problems and unique characteristics of each region in Singapore.