Greater Southern Waterfront

Greater Southern Waterfront

We have talked about the relocation of the city terminal to Mega Tuas Port. By the year 2027, the city terminal Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, and Brain shall be fully relocated to Tuas Mega port as port terminals lease-end. The Pasir Panjang Terminal Port will be also fully relocated by 2040 to Mega Tuas Port as well. This will free up a total of 725 ha of land in the City for more future development. This parcel of prime land will be planned for high-value re-development. It will create a great opportunity to reshape the landscape with Great Southern Waterfront with an estimation of 2000 ha into a new place to live, work and play.

What is the Great Southern Waterfront project?

This is not new to some of the people since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong elaborated the plan in his National Day Rally speech 2019 that Singapore's ambitious rejuvenation will be set in motion with the relocation of the PSA city terminal in Tanjong Pagar to Tuas from 2027 onwards.

The entire development will take place in phases, starting with the former Pasir Panjang Power District, Keppel Club and Mount Faber and etc in the next 5 to 10 years.

Great Southern Waterfront is 6 times the size of Marina Bay or 2 times of Punggol areas. With highlights such as a reservoir to store stormwater run-off from the greater southern waterfront, an expansion of the business district, a 30-km long waterfront promenade, and a green corridor linking Labrador Park to Gardens by the Bay, this move will mark a significant change in Singapore’s cityscape in a decade or so.

Power Stations to be transformed into a new lifestyle district? 

The Pasir Panjang Power District, basically the 2 old power stations between Labrador Nature Reserve and the current Pasir Panjang port terminal will be ready for redevelopment lifestyle destination, probably similar to its infamous counterpart,  St James Power Station? Built in the 1950s and 60s, the two former power station buildings, the 2 power stations have been decommissioned a long time ago.

Prime Minister in his National Day Rally speech asked the Nation to imagine how St James Power Station was transformed which has given an iconic nightlife spot for Singapore for the past 2 decades. We won’t know what is going to happen there for now, but the project name at this point is called “ Power-up Pasir Panjang”.

Earlier this year, URA held a Power-Up Pasir Panjang competition, in which the public could come up with ideas for the defunct power stations. Currently are still waiting for the winner and the final plan announcement. 

Keppel Club to yield Private and Public Housing

Both public and private housing will occupy Keppel Club (44 hectares) as its lease expires in 2.5 years’ time and will yield approximately 9,000 homes in the coming years. It is close to two MRT stations, and Labrador Nature Reserve.  It will be interesting to see how HDB will house its public housing within this prime waterfront plot by tweaking MOP (Minimum Occupational Period) or tenure. Commercial waterfront nodes will also be included in the precinct fulfilling Live, Work, and Play. This will also allow people of different backgrounds and income levels to enjoy seafront living, creating a good sense of diversity. Think of it is as Punggol by the Bay.

Improve Accessibility - Linking Green & Blue

A continuous waterfront promenade will seamlessly connect various places of interest along the Greater Southern Waterfront in the future. Along this corridor, the new Pasir Panjang Linear Park will connect West Coast Park to Labrador Nature Reserve, connecting the rail corridor and Sentosa, and offer park users a glimpse of Pasir Panjang’s working container port and Power District up close. Other future connections will also link up places of interest along the waterfront to the hilltops for visitors to enjoy a distinctive recreational experience.

Taking advantage of Singapore’s carefully nurtured reputation as a “City in a Garden”, this new entertainment and recreation district should be seamlessly connected to the Southern Ridges, running from Kent Ridge Park to Mount Faber Park, thereby extending the theme of being part of nature to the new district. A green gateway will then welcome future visitors to Singapore arriving via the Marina Bay Cruise Center.

In addition, with land at a premium, there is immense potential for high-rise developments that introduces greenery at all levels. This allows residents and office workers to simply step out of their units to enjoy the benefits that nature brings. The design of such spaces can take a leaf out of the Gardens by the Bay’s Bay South Garden development. Designed with the intention to be the green anchor and lung space within the Marina Bay district, the Garden offers multiple opportunities for recreation and learning for visitors and residents alike.

More office spaces will be developed in Greater Southern Waterfront

Next shall be on the commercial areas. Several big companies already have offices near Labrador Park. Such as Google, Cisco, and Unilever. Singapore will develop more office space in the Great Southern Waterfront, like this one, which is Mapletree Business City, which will bring in more job opportunities. People can work near where they live and live near where they work. This will create life and activity both during the day and at night.”

Sentosa rejuvenates and Pulau Brani will have a Downtown South

As part of Sentosa's rejuvenation plans in line with also Integrated Resort 2.0, the Government will revitalize its beach line and expands its heritage trails. After Brani Terminal moves out, the authorities will build new attractions on the island, including, possibly, a new NTUC-led resort. Meanwhile, Sentosa's beach areas will be revitalized while its nature and heritage trails will be expanded.

What does Greater Southern Waterfront bring to Singapore? 

Despite the total estimated gross development value that has never been disclosed, this scale of major development will create a vast job opportunity in the construction industry where jobs will be created. Thus, become the catalyst or engine for Singapore's sustainable growth. 

Experts said that housing in the area is expected to be in demand given the waterfront living and good location and that home buyers should expect the property prices in the area to be premium priced, given the attractive location. In 2016, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong had said on separate occasions that the Government was looking at ways to tighten resale conditions of future HDB flats in prime downtown locations such as the Greater Southern Waterfront to mitigate the so-called lottery effect.

Meanwhile, Pulau Brani, which is now home to a port terminal, is also expected to house a new resort called Downtown South. The resort is expected to be accessible to the mass market, bringing more local traffic to the south, which could help change the perception of Sentosa being too inaccessible and expensive to the local mass market.

Singapore sees that infrastructure spending through public projects will help to stimulate Singapore’s economy amidst the global trade uncertainty. One of the projects is Greater Southern Waterfront.  In meanwhile, Singapore BCA also estimates public sector construction demand to be in the $ 16 billion-20 billion range for 2020. 

Modern Singapore consists of “Multiple layers and imprints of different eras’’, of which the Greater Southern Waterfront would add another layer. While there are major projects ongoing such as the Punggol Digital District, Tuas Port, Jurong Lake District, Changi Terminal 5, Paya Lebar Airbase, and GSW, all these shall not be done in a decade or even in one generation. 

There shall be space for successive generations to full of their hopes and dreams, Each new generation shall leave their mark on Singapore's modern city. 

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