Park Road - pilot project
in urban renewal
HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT BOARD
ALAN F.C. CHOE
TAN WEE LEE and PETER B.K. SOO
SEET CHAY TUAN
PAN FON NAM, CHOONG THIMKWAI
and KHOO OON LOCK
WONG KOK LOONG
SIN LIAN SENG CONSTRUCTION CO. LTD.
owners
department head
design architects
supervising architect
structural engineers
civil engineer
main contractor
creche and play area
shops
flat
flat
flat
flat
flat
Cross section
shops
eating stalls
SINGAPORE is engaged in an exten- sive programme of urban renewal as a means of guiding the city's reshaping and, to more immediate effect, of breathing new life into those parts of the city that are run down.
The three main aspects of this com- prehensive urban renewal process are rehabilitation, redevelopment and re- generation. Applied to a given area, the process aims not only at rejuvenating and upgrading the area but bringing in train a more efficient infrastructure and an improved total environment. A successfully renewed area will in turn act as a nucleus for spontaneous re- generation of the contiguous areas.
Priority for renewal action is gen- erally concentrated on the inner city area, where the slum problem is more
acute and valuable lands are not put to their optimum use. The prerequisite for renewal therefore is rehousing.
In many cities, the realization of large scale comprehensive redevelop ment is often aborted by the lack of alternative economic accommodation for the people affected, but in Singa- pore the far-reaching housing program- me has created a viable climate for renewal work to be carried out.
Pilot project
Precinct South 1 is one of the first action areas under the Singapore Gov- ernment's comprehensive urban renew- al programme, and within this precinct the Park Road redevelopment scheme, recently completed by the Housing & Development Board, is an important
pilot project.
In South 1 much of the land was under utilised and in very small parcels. Surveys and analysis established that most of the existing structures were not only obsolescent but so dilapicated that, in overall economic terms, they would be more costly to rehabilitate than to renew.
As part of the total concept for the precinct, the major function of the Park Road project was to re-accom- modate all the shops and eating stalls, from the old People's Park. These commercial establishments were op- erating in old ricketty tin sheds and temporary structures on leases of state land which were generating very little revenue for the government.
A strategic site of over 21⁄2 acres
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Far East BUILDER, August 1969