The Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has unveiled the masterplan for Jurong Lake District, the country’s next and second central business district (CBD). The new development features a mixed-use business area built around the future Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail terminus.

Highlights include the high-density mixed-use programme, which incorporates new waterways and a series of stacked horizontal landscape datum and connections that weave through the entire district, establishing a distinctive identity for Singapore and its vision as a ‘City in the Garden’.

The high-density urban typology maximises vertical urban greenery within a vertical city next to the Jurong Lake Gardens and creates a streetscape network for active mobility, walkability and interactive public spaces. The integrated, sustainable urban systems maximise the streetscape by proposing to place all major transport and engineering below the city, producing layers of optimised infrastructure and a car-lite district. Existing heritage buildings, landscapes and ecosystems are also repurposed to blend in with the new development.

With its strategic location, open environment and live-work-play programming, the area will become a new gateway to Singapore and can also be the new hub for the emerging science and innovation corridor in West Singapore.

KCAP Architects&Planners, leading a multi-disciplinary team consisting of SAA Architects, Arup, S333 and Lekker is responsible for many of the key ideas developed in the masterplan. After the appointment as consultant in early 2017, the team has elaborated the winning design true to concept. The competition design defined key qualities as such that they could be strengthened throughout the integrated design process and now find their full strength.

The development of Jurong Lake District is expected to take about 15 to 20 years, if not longer, according to Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, speaking at the launch of the masterplan exhibition. “We will start with the area around the HSR terminus,” he said. “We are now studying plans to put out land parcels for sale within the next few years. With that, we can create a critical mass of developments once the HSR terminus starts its operations in end-2026.”

Mr Wong added, “Potentially, it will provide 100,000 jobs. It will not just be a place to work, but it will also have 20,000 new homes, with attractive recreational and leisure options nearby. It will be a lively district day and night.”

The Jurong Lake District masterplan is being exhibited at the URA Centre from 25 to 31 August 2017, located at 45 Maxwell Road, Singapore.

From 8 to 17 September 2017 the exhibition can be visited at The Courtyard, Westgate mall (next to the Jurong East MRT station).

For detailed information on the future Jurong Lake District, click here. A flythrough video of the development can be found here.