Future developments in Singapore

First announced in the 2016 Singapore Budget, the Jurong Innovation District aims to provide a conducive environment for startups, and encourage innovation. To be developed by JTC, it will be located near NTU, Tengah and CleanTech Park, and the first phase will be completed by 2022.[1]

First announced in the 2015 National Day Rally and 2017 Singapore Budget, the Punggol Digital District will be the 1st enterprise district, with JTC being the master developer. Located in Punggol North, it will house digital and cybersecurity industries, as well as the SIT's new permanent campus in Punggol. The developments will be integrated side by side, encouraging collaboration between industries and academia. The plan was officially unveiled on 21 January 2018, with buildings and SIT campus opening gradually in 2023. In addition, a road will be converted into a pedestrian walkway and heritage trail.[2][3] Construction started on 17 January 2020, with a new Open Digital Platform unveiled to monitor utilities usage and testbed new technologies.[4]

CapitaSpring, a 51-storey, 280m tower by CapitaLand and Mitsubishi Estate is under construction at the former Golden Shoe Car Park, costing S$1.82 billion. The tower will mostly consist of offices with a garden in between, as well as serviced apartments by Ascott, retail space and a hawker centre. The tower will be completed by 2021.[5][6]

Announced during the 2017 Budget, Kampong Bugis is a new development zone in Singapore, which will be given to a master developer, giving flexibility in planning the town layouts as opposed to carving each land plot by itself.[2][7]

A new mixed-use development in Bidadari comprising The Woodleigh Residences and The Woodleigh Mall is under construction. Being developed by Singapore Press Holdings and Kajima, it will have 680 units and 28,000 sq m of retail gross floor area. The development will also be connected to Singapore's first underground bus interchange and shall have a 6,000 sq m Community Club and a 2,200 sq m Neighbourhood Police Centre. The development will be ready by the second half of 2022.[8]

Guoco Midtown, a mixed-use development by Guocoland is under construction. Located in the Beach Road area, the S$2.4 billion development will contain a 30-storey office block with flexible spaces, a 200-unit residential block and public spaces. It will also be integrated with the conserved Beach Road Police Station, to be fitted with shops. The development will be completed by the first half of 2022.[9][10]

Plans for a southern waterfront city were briefly announced in 2013 as part of a plan to consolidate port activities in Tuas.[11] These plans were elaborated as a Greater Southern Waterfront in 2019, a 2,000ha area with 30 km of coastline from Marina Bay to Pasir Panjang. They include the redevelopment of Keppel Club with 9,000 homes comprising HDB and private homes.[12] and more office spaces near homes bringing about new ways of living. Links to other nature areas will also be created to places like West Coast Park and East Coast Park, Rail Corridor and Sentosa. In addition, new attractions like the redevelopment of Pasir Panjang power plants, a proposed "Downtown South" resort by NTUC on Pulau Brani to thank workers, revitalisation of Sentosa's beaches, nature and heritage areas on the island too.[13]

A new 3.7-hectare mixed-use development will be built next to Buangkok MRT station. To be developed by CapitaLand and City Developments Limited, the S$777.78 million development will house a three-storey mall with a hawker centre and childcare centre, a community club which will be Singapore's largest and condominiums containing 680 units. This comes after the developers won a tender in 2018.[14] The development will be completed by 2022.[15] The condo and mall have since been named the Sengkang Grand Residences and Sengkang Grand Mall.[16]

On 27 November 2019, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon announced that Biopolis Phase 6 will be built by mid-2022 to meet demand from biotechnology start-ups as part of initiatives to better support them.[17]

A new mixed-use, integrated development will be built on the current Liang Court complex with a condominium, a mall, a Moxy hotel by Marriott replacing Novotel, and a Somerset serviced residence.[18] Developed by CapitaLand, Ascott REIT and City Developments Limited, the redeveloped complex will open in phases from 2024.[19][20]

The Tengah New Town is a 700ha development that will integrate nature in it. It will feature five development zones, each with its own unique identity, with a car-free town centre; the first in Singapore. It was announced on 8 September 2016, with the first units to be released in 2018. The town could potentially yield up to 42,000 new homes, with more than 70 per cent of the units allocated for public housing, which would take up to two decades to complete.[21][22] Plantation, the first district out of five, was unveiled on 4 September 2018. The district pays homage to the farmers who resided there back in the 1950s.[23] The first flats were launched on 13 November 2018.[24]

A new draft masterplan for Jurong Lake District was unveiled on 25 August 2017, with new developments in the Lakeside district. It will include a commercial centre around the High Speed Rail station in Jurong East, as well as a third island crested through a new canal. It would be completed in two decades time.[25]

Punggol 21 is a development initiative that plans to develop the mostly undeveloped town of Punggol into a residential new town. Currently, the southern parts of Punggol are developed, mostly with HDB flats. There are ongoing projects to build a town centre, supposedly with an air-conditioned bus interchange. A man-made canal called Punggol Waterway was built, connecting the Serangoon Reservoir and Punggol Reservoir. Many developments are proposed to be built along the canal, such as shopping centres and many more HDB flats. There will be recreation clubs, community centres, sports clubs, polyclinics and many others, attracting many people to live and visit Punggol. There are plans to develop Punggol Point, which currently only has a beach. It will propose to have a seafood restaurant and maybe more HDB flats in the near vicinity. More parking lots are under construction, and this will attract many people to the presently remote beach. The northwest of Punggol will be developed and the West Loop of the Punggol LRT Line will be in operation, serving the area.

In 2013, the Singaporean government announced a new development plan "Singapore 2030" for Singapore, designed to accommodate the growing population. It is assumed that the population will reach between 6.5 and 6.9 million by 2030. Singapore will increase its land area to 766 km² (296 sq mi) square kilometers through land reclamation from the sea. Most of the reclamation will be done at Tekong and Tuas islands, with additional reclamation points beyond 2030 including Marina East, Changi East, and Pasir Ris. Singapore 2030 is part of the Land Use Plan to develop the mostly parts such as Tampines North (expansion), Tengah and Bidadari. There are ongoing projects such as 100,000 HDB flats to be built until 2030, followed by Bukit Brown, and somehow post-2030 plans will consist of Paya Lebar Airbase and Southern Waterfront City. High-density towns with a full range of amenities such as childcare centers, hospitals, and recreational areas will be built. About 60% of Singapore's land will be set aside for housing, industry, and community facilities, up from 52%. In addition, 700,000 new housing units will be built, the size of the rail network will be doubled, and some golf courses and military training grounds will make way for redevelopment. According to the plans, 85% of Singaporeans will live close to a park.[26]

One Pearl Bank is a condominium currently being redeveloped from Pearl Bank Apartments by CapitaLand, coming after an en-bloc sale in 2018.[27] The 178m condominium will have two 39-storey towers with 774 units, sky bridges linking the top floor and 18 sky gardens. When completed in 2023, the condominium will be the tallest in Outram.[28]

The sixth Mass Rapid Transit and the fourth fully automatic and driverless system line in Singapore that is 43 km (27 mi) long. The whole line will be completely underground.[29] The line opened with the first phase on 31 January 2020. The subsequent four stages will open from 2020 to 2024. The Thomson-East Coast Line will add greatly to the accessibility and connectivity of the current rail network, with interchanges to all other five MRT lines.[30][31][32]

The 21.5 km (13.4 mi) North–South Corridor will stretch from Woodlands and Sembawang to the western end of the East Coast Parkway, relieving traffic on the congested Central Expressway. It will be the 11th of Singapore's expressways. Construction commenced in 2017, and is slated for completion around 2026. The Land Transport Authority announced that the NSC will be transformed to Singapore’s first integrated transport corridor featuring continuous bus lanes and cycling trunk routes, throughout the length of the route.

Terminal 5 is set to be ready by end 2030s. It is expected to handle 150 million passenger movements per year, up from the current 82 million.[33] The airport terminal structure is projected to be larger than all the previous terminals combined. It will be built on reclaimed land to the east of the present terminals.

Previously proposed as an LRT line, the Jurong Region Line was re-proposed into a fully elevated MRT line 24km long with 24 stations. It will be the seventh line to be built with completion in 3 stages from 2026 to 2028. It will serve West Coast, Tengah and Choa Chu Kang, besides just Jurong when originally announced in 2001.[34][35]

A 50 km (31 mi) line spanning across Singapore. The addition of the new line brings commuters with another alternative for East-West travel to the current East West Line. It will also connect to all the other major lines to serve as a key transfer line, complementing the role currently fulfilled by the orbital Circle Line. As a conclusion, it will relieve the load on several of the existing lines, bringing greater comfort to all commuters and significantly shorten journey times greatly.[34] The first phase of the Cross Island MRT Line will be completed by 2029, spanning 29 km (18 miles) from Changi, Loyang, Pasir Ris, Defu, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan with 12 stations.[36] A 7.3 km (4.5 miles) extension to Punggol will be completed by 2031, consisting of four stations.[37]

To be completed by 2025, the 4 km (2.5 mi) extension will run from Marina Bay through Keppel, ending at HarbourFront and will close the gap between the Harbourfront and Marina Bay stations, so that the Circle Line is fully orbital.[34]

To be completed by 2024, the extension will run from Expo and through East Coast area, from Xilin to Sungei Bedok.[31][34]

On 7 June 2017, it was announced by Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng that the North-East Line extension will open in 2023, a few years ahead of the expected opening date. The single station extension will span 1.6 km (1 mi) and will serve the future Punggol North area. The station is tentatively called Punggol Coast station.[38]

The Tuas Mega Port started construction in 2016,[39] with the second phase in 2019.[40] To be opened in four stages from 2021, the port will consolidate all port operations in Singapore and centralise it in Tuas, with a potential future capacity of about 65 million TEUs a year. New technologies will be employed to increase productivity.

When completed, the precinct outside the Nature Reserves will comprise about 120 ha (300 acres). This will include the development of new attractions that will be integrated with the existing Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and River Safari, with plans to relocate the Jurong Bird Park and rejuvenate it in Mandai, and a new park, Rainforest Park will be added in Mandai as well. The idea of a "cageless zoo" is being explored, "where they introduce large immersive habitats where the visitors can immerse themselves in the natural habitats of the animals watching them in their natural behaviours.

In addition to new public spaces and waterfront trails, the space will also be used for research and conservation purposes. This entire project will be made environmentally-sustainable and in a sensitive manner, and will be completed in phases in the next 10 years, with the first phase being scheduled to be completed by 2020.[41]

The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) will be expanded, with the plans costing S$9 billion.[42] The MBS will build a new 15,000-seat indoor entertainment arena, as well as a fourth tower containing about 1,000 hotel rooms, a sky roof with a swimming pool and a "signature restaurant". New ballrooms, exhibition halls will be built with food and beverage options to expand. The RWS will have two new attractions at Universal Studios Singapore called the Minion Park and Super Nintendo World. The S.E.A. Aquarium will expand thrice its current size and thus renamed Singapore Oceanarium.

In addition, RWS will also add two new hotels with a total capacity of 1,100 rooms and a future lifestyle complex. The waterfront promenade will be revamped to include new night shows and an event zone, with a new Adventure Dining Playhouse to replace Resorts World Theatre. A driverless system will be built across the Sentosa Broadwalk for better connectivity. RWS's new attractions will open yearly from 2020 and are expected to be completed by 2025.

MBS and RWS, should they decide to expand gaming facilities, will be allowed space of 2,000 sq m and 500 sq m respectively adding to the current 15,000 sq m each, with 1,000 and 800 new machines respectively on top of the 2,500 each. This will still lead to a drop in approved gaming areas from 3.1 percent to 2.3 percent given the increase in non gaming areas. As a result of these changes, the exclusivity period of the IRs will be extended to end-2030[43], with casino levies for Singaporeans and PRs increasing to S$150 daily and S$3,000 annually, taking effect on 4 April 2019. From August, a second daily or annual casino entry levy can only be purchased if the current levy expires within six hours, taking effect after six hours of purchase. From March 2022, casino tax rates will increase from the current 5 percent and 15 percent for premium and mass gaming respectively to a two-tier tax rates of 8 percent and 12 percent (premium) and 18 percent and 22 percent (mass) based on the total gross gaming revenue earned. A flat tax rate of 22 percent (mass) and 12 per cent (premium) will be imposed should the IRs' investment commitments fail. The tax rates will remain unchanged for 10 years.[44]

Sentosa and Pulau Brani will be transformed under the Sentosa-Brani Master Plan. First proposed in 2018[45], the plans will span the next two to three decades, with both islands divided into five zones. "Vibrant Cluster", will have large-scale attractions spanning both islands, while "Island Heart" will feature hotels, commercial and conference spaces. "Waterfront" will have a Discovery Park situated in Pulau Brani, while "Ridgeline" will connect green spaces from Mount Faber to Mount Imbiah, featuring nature and heritage attractions. "Beachfront" will have a water show, fairgrounds and other attractions to rejuvenate Sentosa's beaches. Transportation will be enhanced too. In addition, the future "Downtown South" resort will be located on Pulau Brani once the port moves out in 2027, with a suitable location still being worked out with the National Trades Union Congress. The first project to be built will be the S$90 million Sentosa Sensoryscape, a themed two-tiered thoroughfare connecting Resorts World Sentosa and the southern beaches, replacing the current linkway. It will have look-out points, water features and other architectural elements, thereby creating a multi-sensory experience. When completed by 2022, the Sentosa Sensoryscape will double the current linkway capacity, being as large as 5½ football fields. As a result, the Sentosa Merlion will be demolished from year-end, with its last day of operations on 20 October 2019. The four shops around Sentosa Merlion started closing from the next day onwards. The current Police Coast Guard headquarters on Pulau Brani will stay put.[46]

On 16 April 2019, the Singapore Tourism Board announced a new 7 ha integrated tourism development in Jurong Lake District, which will be built by 2026. The development will feature a hotel, attractions, eateries and shops and will be located near to the new Science Centre Singapore and the Chinese Garden MRT station.[47]

Paya Lebar Airbase is bound to be retired and freed up for commercial or residential use by 2030. As such, the aircraft will be moved to the newly expanded Tengah Airbase, which has already begun construction.[48] The land surrounding the area has been recently acquired by the government, including cemeteries, graves and agricultural farms in the nearby area. More training areas and a second runway will be built.