SINGAPORE –  From having pockets of green space and a new water channel to rolling out various car-lite initiatives, these are some of the master-plan proposals for the Jurong Lake District.

The developments in the district, slated to be the Republic’s second central business district, are expected to be completed after 2040.

Features of the draft master plan can now be seen at a public exhibition being held at the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Centre Atrium till the end of this month. 

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who launched the exhibition on Friday (Aug 25), said the Jurong Lake District is a major project in Singapore’s new phase of infrastructure development.

“Here, we are not just building another ordinary district. We are aiming to create a better, smarter and more sustainable centre for businesses, which will provide more jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans,” he said.

With the developments in the Jurong Lake District taking between 15 and 20 years or longer, the URA aims to create 100,000 jobs and add 20,000 new homes.

The developments will begin around the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) terminus area, which will be also located within the lake district. 

In his speech, Mr Wong said that the Government is studying the possibility of putting out land parcels for sale within the next few years, which will create a critical mass of developments once the HSR terminus begin operations by end-2026. 

The blueprint for the Jurong Lake District was first unveiled in the 2008 URA Master Plan. It is set to be a new growth area with two precincts – the commercial hub at Jurong Gateway, and leisure and recreational activities at Lakeside. 

One of the key strategies of the new area is to make it a car-lite and commuter-centric one, where public transport will be seamlessly connected. For example, in public transit areas, only buses are allowed on the road. Residents will also have access to the new Jurong Region Line and the Cross Island Line, apart from the existing North-South and East-West MRT lines. 

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With a target of more than 80 per cent for public transport mode share in the district, roads will be prioritised for public transport, with more space for pedestrians, cyclists and personal mobility device users. 

The introduction of a new water channel by the eastern shores of the Jurong Lake will create another island, increasing the total length of waterfront space to 17km. This will provide more space for social and community activities, as well as spaces for recreation, retail and food and beverage.

There will also be a new road to the Ayer Rajah Expressway, which will be used as an alternative route to divert traffic away from roads such as Jurong Town Hall Road. 

To cater to the changing needs of developers, businesses, and workers, a regular grid structure for land parcels has been adopted for the district. This means that land parcels have to be adjusted through sub-division or amalgamation, and allows for flexibility to provide large land parcels for larger floor plates, or provide smaller parcels to meet evolving business needs. The bulk of the mixed-use business area will be zoned “white” to allow for flexiblity in uses.

Landlords can either combine or co-locate non-traditional uses, such as schools, community facilities, hotels and event spaces for  companies and universities to meet and showcase their prototypes, to accommodate the needs of tenants and the market,  the URA said.

Sixteen hectares of new parks and opens spaces will also be added in the district. They include the Central Park above the HSR terminus and the area around the former Jurong Hall. A green connector loop may be used for various sports and recreational activities. 

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EXTENSIVE GREENERY, OPEN SPACE

Together with the 90-hectare Jurong Lake Gardens, there will be over 100 ha  of extensive greenery and open spaces in the district. 

The Jurong Lake Gardens West, which started its development last year, is scheduled to be completed next year. 

The Jurong Lake Gardens Central, where the existing Chinese and Japanese Gardens are located, will feature tropical horticultural gardens within a rustic setting. It will be completed in stages from 2020.

The seven-storey pagoda will be retained and there are plans to create spaces near it for park users to rest and enjoy nature. 

Meanwhile, the existing science centre building and the Jurong Town Hall building could also be repurposed with new uses. 

All new developments within the district will also feature sky-rise greenery that will form a “green carpet” in the sky.

As the Jurong Lake District will be one of the most sustainable districts, all new buildings will be required to achieve a Green Mark rating to reduce energy consumption by up to 30 per cent. 

Integrated urban systems will also be implemented in the district to tap the area around the future HSR terminus. They include common services tunnel, district cooling system, pneumatic waste system and urban logistics management system. 

These urban systems will be placed undergrounds wherever possible, to free up above-ground space for people-centric uses, such as homes, offices, parks, and other community facilities.