THE government will continue to develop polycentres across the island and refresh the city centre in the long term to create more jobs closer to homes and to ensure the Republic’s competitiveness.

Unveiling its Long-Term Plan Review on Monday (Jun 6), the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said: “We will build on efforts to reshape our city centre by introducing a wider range of amenities and recreational/lifestyle offerings, as well as more residential options.”

Plans are already underway to inject more buzz in the city centre, including the Central Business District (CBD), through schemes such as the CBD Incentive Scheme and Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) scheme. For instance, under the CBD Incentive Scheme, building owners with ageing office buildings in certain parts of the CBD are encouraged to redevelop them into mixed-use projects with residential or hotel components. Owners would be allowed to build more gross floor area as a sweetener.

When it comes to polycentres - or commercial nodes outside the city centre - Jurong Lake District is expected to be the biggest business district outside the city centre, with its proximity to Tuas Port as well as manufacturing and research and development (R&D) nodes in the West.

The Northern Gateway will bring together new innovative sectors, such as agri-tech and food, digital technology, and cybersecurity, and will be linked to Johor Bahru through the Rapid Transit System link at Woodlands North.

Meanwhile, there are plans for more attractive and flexible workspaces to support innovation and the evolving needs of the future economy.

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URA is exploring suitable locations for Business-White Zones to cater to non-industrial uses such as co-working spaces, retail, and food and beverage. Hotel and residential uses may also be considered in the future.

The Kolam Ayer and Yishun industrial estates are seen as possible sites once they have been redeveloped, URA said. More greenery, active mobility networks and leisure options will also be incorporated in industrial estates.

According to Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research (Southeast Asia), introducing more Business-White Zones may be a good way to integrate the work-and-play model.

Another area being looked at is vertical zoning within industrial estates, where different but complementary uses will be housed under a single development. For instance, the lower floors could be set aside for clean industrial activities, while co-working spaces would occupy the mid-floors and residences, the upper floors. Master developers, such as JTC at Jurong Innovation District, could plan land uses across entire districts to foster collaboration, such as by co-locating R&D, manufacturing and service-oriented activities.

Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank, said: “(As a result of) the pandemic, it’s only natural that more mixed-uses or more integrated uses in real estate will evolve going forward such that buildings can run independently.”

Having integrated planning, from a building to neighbourhood level, will also create opportunities to incorporate sustainability elements, Tay expects.

URA also highlighted that it will continue to assess the longer-term impact of flexible work on the demand for office space. It plans to set aside some sites in certain areas in the near term on shorter-lease tenures of 15 to 30 years for commercial and office use. “This will enable our land uses to be refreshed in shorter cycles to support businesses in adapting their operations more nimbly to fast-changing economic trends,” URA said.

Wong Xian Yang, head of research at Cushman & Wakefield, highlighted that while the price of the land would be cheaper with a shorter lease tenure, the tenure would need to be long enough to appeal to developers. A 30-year lease, even after accounting for the construction period, could still be attractive to developers as they might be able to divest the property.

“But if it’s too short, like 15 years, developers may not be interested because the depreciation on land value accelerates as the lease runs down,” Wong added. “If the tenure is too short, it’s build to lease for rental yield.”

Wong reckons possible sites for these shorter-lease tenures could include Marina Bay, the Greater Southern Waterfront and Jurong Lake District.

CBRE’s Song also pointed out that while a shorter land lease brings down the upfront land cost, it may also reduce the incentive to build up quality specifications, since higher costs would need to be amortised over a shorter period. “So rents are unlikely to match those that premium buildings can command,” she went on to say.

And to build a future-ready economy, URA will also focus on designing economic spaces and infrastructure to support the pivot to emerging economic activities. For example, industries such as cloud kitchens or logistics distribution centres could become “cleaner” in the future, which means that they could be situated closer to homes, thus cutting travel time and improving accessibility.