FUTURE TOWN CENTRE MODEL

Abstract

The development of town centres dates back to the late 1970’s when the Housing Development Board began adopting a self-sufficient concentric township model. However the definition of a self-sufficient town has evolved in tandem with the expectations that Singaporeans have of the future and the quality of living in Singapore. The Ministry of National Development has envisaged that by 2030, workplaces will not be confined to a typical office space; greener living environment; a less car-dependent lifestyle and an inspirational home for all Singaporeans. Furthermore, the social values are evolving, Singaporeans today are more family oriented and they want a slower pace of life. Hence although job security still remains important but clearly Singaporeans want a better balance between work and other personal responsibilities or aspirations. For these reason, it is pertinent that town centres provides a great work live and play environment to support theses changing values without sacrificing the economic fundamentals that enables Singaporeans to enjoy such all-rounded lives. Hence it is necessary to be well prepared for this change by evaluating the current town centre planning model and propose new ways to look at town centre planning to hone a sustainable living environment for the future. In this dissertation, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to investigate shortcomings in the town centre model for both the new and rejuvenated ageing towns. Thereafter regional centres and other successful towns in California and in the USA that have implemented a work live play environment were studied to identify concepts that could be extended to town centres. Subsequently a comprehensive analysis of the published statistical data by the government agencies, further substantiated by a survey were carried out to evaluate and validate the feasibility of introducing office clusters within town centres to bring diverse job opportunities into towns. Lastly, this paper proposes a new way of looking at town centre planning that transforms townships into truly self-contained towns and a new perspective of solving the transportation problem that has been plaguing Singapore since 2011 by introducing office clusters within town centres and commercial-cum-office corridors between neighbourhoods to provide employment opportunities for at least 75 % of its residents. However the success of this new perspective is dependent on the social policies that are in place. Hence future studies can look into this aspect.