Introduction

With 35 years of public housing experience HDB has achieved an intimate knowledge of residents' needs and aspirations. This wealth of knowledge has enabled HDB to draw up a master plan that would yield a quality living environment for residents. The emphasis of public housing has now shifted from the provision of a roof to that of a quality living environment.

Renewal of Old Estates
Old estates will be renewed and given a new lease of life through Redevelopment and Upgrading.

Redevelopment
Today's flat applicants aspire for bigger flats, better finishes and surroundings. Under the redevelopment programme, old apartment blocks with one-room or two-room rental flats have to make way for new blocks with 4-room, 5-room and executive flats. These new flats are very popular with residents in the same area who have a sense of attachment with the community that they have been so comfortable with.

In Aug 1995, the government announced the "Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme". Under this scheme, old HDB estates with low density, or selected blocks that can be redeveloped with adjacent vacant land will be replaced by more intensive housing development. The new flats will be offered to lessees of the existing flats, thus enabling them to move into new flats without leaving the community where they have been living for years.

Upgrading of old estates
In March 1992, HDB launched the 15-year Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) to bring the finishes and facilities of old estates up to the standard of those in the new towns. The Upgrading Programme is a conscious effort by the government to provide a better living environment, strengthen existing community ties and enhance the value of our flats. By mid 1995, 40 precincts are in various stages of the upgrading works.

In August 1993, the Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP) was started in order to bring the benefits of upgrading to more estates. While the MUP is meant for precincts 18 years or older and covers improvements to the flat, apartment block and the precinct, the IUP is for precincts between 10 to 17 years old and improvements are concentrated only on the apartment blocks and precinct. The IUP is fully funded by the government and carried out by town councils. By end 1994, IUP has covered 52 precincts.

Private Sector Participation
In 1991, public housing took a bold and innovative step. To inject more variety and choice in housing design, HDB started the "Design & Build" scheme. Companies in the private sector were invited to tender for the design and construction of public housing flats. With such design innovations being introduced, HDB flats have achieved a higher degree of architectural sophistication and also offered residents more choice in the variety of housing.

The government also invites open tenders from private developers through the sale of sites in HDB housing estates. Private housing within an HDB estate inject more variety and style to the entire housing landscape of the town.

Schemes that Help the Low-income Families
To ensure that the low-income group also benefits from the Home Ownership Programme, the government has established several policies to help them own HDB flats.

Sale of rental flat to existing tenant
To help a rental tenant own the flat he lives in, HDB offers the flat to him at a discount of 30% off the selling price or $10,000, whichever is lower. In addition, he is given a mortgage loan of up to 100% of the discounted price to help him finance the purchase.

Sale of 3-room flats purchased by HDB
To make sold flats more affordable to families earning less than $1000 a month, HDB buys back 3-room flats from the open market, and sells them to low-income families at subsidised prices.

Sale of 4-room budget flats
To help low-income families own a 4-room flat, HDB offers them the 4-room budget flat which is slightly smaller at 90 sq m, and comes with a price tag that is 15% to 18% lower.

Priority Allocation of 4-room and smaller flats to tenants
A rental flat tenant applying to buy an HDB flat for the first time enjoys a six-month headstart on the waiting list.

Singapore's Capri

Soon, Singapore will have it's very own Capri, an idyllic resort off the west coast of Italy. The plan is to transform the Southern Islands into a coastal botanical haven where people can live in harmony with nature and yet have modern conveniences such as fresh water, telecommunications and electricity.

As the Singapore Tourism Board's redevelopment consultant Mr. Bernard Spoerry envisions it, it will be a Capri without cars. To get around the raods planned for the three islands - St. John's, Lazarus and Renget - visitors and residents will probably have to use bicycles or even golf carts to travel around. Furthermore, Capri's low-rise buildings will be mirrored on this development of the Southern Islands where buildings at most would be four-storeys high.

Stressing that 80% of the islands, which now cover 88 ha, will remain untouched, the STB is confident the flora and fauna there will not be destroyed by the traffic. The tourism body has engaged the National Univeristy of Singapore to conduct a study of the island's ecological features and asses the fesibility of creating a haven forendangered species.

Reclamation work will be completed by 2002 and the resort will be ready by 2007, by then which half-a-million people a year are expected to visit the $280-million development compared to the 1,000 that the islands now attract.

In addition, the merging of these islands pave the way for the new generation of waterfront housing in Singapore with more units of housing along the sea than ever.

What's in Store

• A luxury, 290-room, five-star hilltop hotel
• A three-star, 170-room, beachfront hotel
• 70 waterfront homes
• 1,700 units of housing
• 180 shops
• 50 restaurants

Land Reclamation in Singapore

Reasons for Land Reclamation

Large-scale land reclamation has been undertaken in different parts of Singapore since the 1960s. This is necessary because of

• the small size of the country (total area being about 581.5km square prior to 1960) and
• the rising demand for more land as the population increases.

More land has been made available for

• building more homes in private and public housing estates and recreational facilities for the growing population, and
• expanding commercial and industrial activities and transport needs, the latest of which include roads, expressways, the Mass Rapid Transit System, the port and airport facilities.

By 1990, the total land area of Singapore was 633km square. This was an increase of 51.5km square, which made up 8.9% the total land area. With continuing land reclamation, land area in Singapore will increase by about another 100km square by the year 2030. There are, however, constraints as to how much more land the country can reclaim. Two limiting factors have to be considered.

• Land reclamation works in the past used to be carried out from depths of 5-10m. Today, reclamation works have to venture into deeper waters of 15m or so and this will incur much higher costs.
• It is also not so viable to pursue pushing reclamation further offshore because there is the competing need to maintain the sealanes and provide new and larger ports for the bigger ships to anchor in Singapore's limited sea space.

Land Reclamation Agencies

Other than the land reclamation of the offshore islands of Pulau Bukum, Pulau Bukum Kechil, Pulau Ular and Pulau Ayer Chawan by two private oil companies, land reclamation is undertaken by three public agencies in Singapore. They are

• Housing and Development Board (HDB)
• Jurong Town Corporation (JTC)
• PSA Corporation

Among some of the future large-scale reclamation works are

• a long island off the east coast and the length of which will stretch from near Marina East to Changi for waterfront housing and recreational development and roads,
• Pulau Tekong and Pulau Ubin for housing and some industrial development when Singapores population exceeds four million and
• Pulau Serangoon and Punggol Point which will be reclaimed for quality housing.

Land reclamation has modified the coastline of Singapore, extending it seawards, especially on the eastern, north-eastern and western parts of the island, and changing it quite beyong recognition. Large coastal areas have also been starightened by the building dykes across estuaries, particularly in the west coast across the estuaries of Tengeh, Poyan, Murai and Sarimbun. Many offshore islands have become larger. Future reclamation will add more changes to the configuration of Singapore.

Method of Land Reclamation

The landfill mothod is used to reclaim land from the coast and the swamps in Singapore. It is also used in reclamation works involving the merging of islands. One such project is the amalgamation of Pulau Sakra and Pulau Bakau into one big island called Pulau Sakara, which is ten times the size of the two former islands.

In the early years, the fill materials evacuated from the hills in Bedok, Siglap, Tampines and Jurong were used for filling the reclamation areas. In recent years, sea sand obtained from the seabed is the main source of fill materials for reclamation. The reclamation contractors import the sea sand from the neighbouring countries such as Indonesia.