The More We Get Together

Placemaking efforts in Singapore have gained momentum in the last 10 years and the covid-19 pandemic is serving to accelerate it and highlight its role in connecting various communities.

- David Ho

Taking a multi-stakeholder approach to creating inclusive and people-centred places for the community – this is what placemaking is all about.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to be physically apart, it has also reinforced our affinity towards being part of a common group.

Placemaking therefore acts as a glue to bind these connections and has become more important than ever.

“It gives diverse groups of stakeholders and residents ownership to collectively shape delightful places together, providing opportunities to forge closer ties to our neighbourhoods and to one another,” says Chou Mei, the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Group Director of Conservation & Urban Design.

One of the things URA has been actively working on in the last few years is to encourage community-led placemaking at the precinct level, getting community and business partners to come together to take greater ownership in promoting their precincts and neighbourhoods.

“Whether it is at Marina Bay, Singapore River or Kampong Glam, it has been inspiring to see people come together because they see value in collective partnership, and also because there is a love or common vision for the neighbourhood that binds them,” says Chou.

TANJONG PAGAR: A COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER

Cheng Hsing Yao, the Chairman of Discover Tanjong Pagar and Group Managing Director of GuocoLand, notes a difference in placemaking before and since the pandemic.