Marina Bay Area

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Video editing: Grand Projet, 2017

The history of Marina Bay Area dates back to 1822 when Sir Stamford Raffles, specified the location of the financial, commercial and administrative centers, in the Raffles Town Plan of Singapore, with the northern part for governmental use and the southern part as commercial center. It was not until 1962, when the UNDP was engaged to assist the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority, then known as URD, Urban Renewal Department in the HDB, Housing Development Board), in assessing and delegating the areas for urban renewal that the Marina Bay Area developed and intensified to what we know of today. In 1983, I M Pei and Kenzo Tange were engaged to come up with separate urban design proposals for the central area. Pei’s design was adopted for further study, forming the basis for the current master plan by the URA.

The successful promotion of the private sectors’ involvement in URA projects; consolidation of different expertise (Administrative, Legal, Research) within URA; tight collaboration with other agencies like the Economic Development Board and Singapore Tourism Board, to determine the current and future needs of the country; the constant review of its master plan both locally as well as the engagement of foreign expertise, are some of the learning points for Grand Projet.

Reference

Christiaanse, Kees, and Lei-Ya Wong. 2019. ‘Marina Bay Area Singapore, Building an Image for Singapore’. In The Grand Projet: Understanding the Making and Impact of Urban Megaprojects, edited by Kees Christiaanse, Anna Gasco, and Naomi C. Hanakata, 199–260. nai 010 Publishers.