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Heartland dreaming

Bukit Panjang resident Timothy Anan Weerasekera dreams of the day HDB estates would have their own air-conditioned multi-purpose room, just like in condominiums, for residents to throw parties or hold functions. Or when each cluster of blocks might have its own communal gym, instead of just the town’s gym in a sports complex.

Bukit Panjang resident Timothy Anan Weerasekera dreams of the day HDB estates would have their own air-conditioned multi-purpose room, just like in condominiums, for residents to throw parties or hold functions. Or when each cluster of blocks might have its own communal gym, instead of just the town’s gym in a sports complex.

“I’ve found that proximity makes a big difference for me when it comes to using these facilities,” said the 25-year-old.

Meanwhile Mrs Carmen Ho, a Toa Payoh housewife in her 40s, wishes the layout of blocks could be tweaked so that buildings are not so close.

“We had to install blinds for the whole house. Especially for families with girls, privacy can be an issue,” she said, one of 100 heartlanders polled for their views on what their ideal town would have.

Then there is veteran town planner Jeffrey Ho, who thinks the answer to greater density living in the HDB heartlands is, literally, in the air.

There is clear “air space” above our roads currently — why not tier shops, walking paths and even homes on decks over the roads?

“Some of our overhead bridges already have shops. You can have pedestrian walkways or cycling paths that are sheltered, safer. And you can have flats above all that,” said the Managing Director of Surbana Urban Planning Group. “The whole estate would look and feel different.”

FROM FUNCTIONAL TO INSPIRED

As more new towns spring up over the next 20 years and beyond, the challenge for planners will be to demonstrate that close-quarters, high-density living can grant Singaporeans the “good life” they seek — expectations of which are ever-evolving.

It will come down to innovative, and sometimes inspired, town planning.

While some ideas, like Mr Ho’s, may be a futuristic option, other features are in the evolution. New HDB precincts, for instance, now have a “community living room” space (if not quite Mr Weerasekera’s vision yet) at void decks for residents’ use.

Some new precincts have introduced underground car parks, only found in private condominiums up to now — for example, Park Central in Ang Mo Kio. Said civil servant Loh C W: “It is very useful in rainy weather as the lifts link the basement car park directly to our blocks.”

Skyparks like that at Pinnacle@Duxton, and soon the new developments in Dawson estate, could become one day part and parcel of the new HDB landscape. And then there are the ambitious plans taking shape in Punggol, for waterfront housing districts each with its own unique identity.

These are some examples of how the HDB is transforming the notion of “well-designed towns” from merely functional and convenient neighbourhoods, to pleasant living environments that “meet the evolving needs and housing aspirations” of residents, according to its Chief Executive, Dr Cheong Koon Hean.

GETTING THE BASICS IN

Welcomed as these are, HDB dwellers TODAY polled said that, when it comes to planning new towns, putting in place the basic facilities early is equally important. Hawker centres, wet markets and provision shops topped their wish list.

Mrs Doreen Teo recalls the days she was an early settler in Anchorvale about a decade ago. With no eateries in the new town then, Mrs Teo, 62, had to pack dinner for her husband and two girls near her workplace before her 45-minute commute home.

“I couldn’t cook — we would have had to eat at 10pm. But by the time I got home, the food was cold,” she said.

Residents in newer estates like Punggol cited the need for coffee shops and childcare centres in the immediate area.

The Ministry of National Development (MND) said that the provision of some facilities is “largely dependent on the demand or catchment”. So major shopping malls and sports complexes, for instance, “would only be provided when the new town reaches a certain critical mass to ensure they can be sustained and are viable”, it added.

However, local facilities such as primary schools, clusters of precinct shops and social communal facilities like childcare centres are built in tandem with the development of flats so that residents will have immediate access to basic amenities when they move into their flats, the MND said.

Transport links were another top wish: Mrs Teo, for example, said she used to have to take three buses to work. Her husband, then working in Jurong, took nearly two hours for his commute.

The MND gave its assurance that upcoming new towns and estates will be well-served by the train network, expressways and major roads. Bidadari, for example, is close to three MRT stations — Potong Pasir, Woodleigh and Bartley — and will also be easily accessible from the Pan Island and Central expressways.

OUR IDEAL TOWN

The top features residents want in a new town, according to a TODAY straw poll of 100 heartlanders:

— Hawker centre, wet market, provision shops and other amenities

— Greenery, more open spaces and environmentally-friendly features

— Leisure facilities such as a stadium, fitness corners, playgrounds

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