Conservation targets newer buildings

The Urban Redevelopment Authority is well into the next phase of its conservation journey after having gazetted about 6,560 mostly prewar buildings over the past 20 years with an estimated present-day value of over $10 billion.

Over the past few years, it has gazetted for conservation a few post-World War II buildings - built during the 1960s and 1970s - and which are symbolic of Singapore’s early nation-building years.

Examples include the former Jurong Town Hall, which was once the headquarters of JTC Corp, the outfit that spearheaded the development of industrial estates here, and the former Singapore Armed Forces Non-Commissioned Officers’ Club at Beach Road.

More such buildings are set to join the list of properties gazetted under the URA’s conservation journey over the next 30 years.

‘We’re actively studying all the post-war buildings throughout the entire island,’ said Koh-Lim Wen Gin, URA chief planner and deputy CEO (physical planning and conservation & urban design).

‘We are also studying all the state-owned properties throughout the island, for example, the black-and-white bungalows and some of the former military areas.

‘One area is Seletar. Recently there have been some public comments from those who want to preserve its rustic charm.

‘We’re working with JTC and Economic Development Board to study the area, to see how we could have some innovative master planning approach to strike a win-win solution - of selecting a critical mass of buildings for conservation while allowing others to be taken away for new developments to cater to new needs.’

While such an approach seems fine for public-sector buildings, some property market watchers say that it may be a different story for properties with private owners, some of whom may baulk if their buildings were nominated or gazetted for conservation as this may substantially clip the redevelopment potential of their properties and hence, their property values.

Mrs Koh-Lim acknowledges that to encourage stakeholders or owners of properties to guarantee the conservation of their properties, the URA needs to look at new incentives. Current incentives are indirect - such as waiver of development charges, car parking requirements and road setbacks.

To date, about 80 per cent of the 6,560 buildings gazetted for conservation have been restored. Most of them are shophouses.

As with many other conservation efforts elsewhere, URA’s programme has drawn critics. Some say that the higher rents at buildings after conservation have driven away operators of traditional trades from historic districts and gentrified the locations.

But Mrs Koh-Lim disagrees, arguing: ‘Traditional trades are of two types. Some are viable like the grocery shops and medical halls, while others like wooden clog makers aren’t, as there’s low demand for their products. How do you conserve the operator if the business is not viable?’

At a media briefing this week, Mrs Koh-Lim also talked about the ‘very tricky balance between selective conservation of areas that we feel are dear to us and allowing land for development and growth’ given Singapore’s limited land area.

‘I think we look back with some regret at the whole of Raffles Place area, which had a very nice cluster of big old colonial buildings in places like Market Street. They were demolished. But although we have some regrets, we needed to deal with the ‘bread and butter’ issues at the time. You need to redevelop some of these prime locations to generate economic growth and progress.’

After successfully tackling these basic issues, there was an opportunity to review the plans for the city centre in the 1980s, she said.

By this time, land reclamation for a large tract fronting the CBD at what is now known as Marina South, Marina East and Marina Centre had been completed to cater for the long-term expansion of the city centre. This eased the pressure for redevelopment, allowing the URA to turn its attention on preserving parts of Singapore’s historic districts.

Source : Business Times - 14 Jul 2006