Surbana Jurong to design 15,000 homes in India with Singapore public housing features

TEMASEK-OWNED urban and infrastructure consultancy Surbana Jurong on Monday announced it has secured an affordable housing project in Gujarat, India.

The project was awarded by Gujarat Housing Board, and will see Surbana Jurong extending its affordable housing expertise beyond Singapore.

Surbana Jurong's scope of work includes master planning, concept design, design review and project management services for about 15,000 homes across 12 sites in the next four years.

These 12 sites are located in cities with high population densities - Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

"The project incorporates some of Singapore's best practices in public housing to make Gujarat's public housing more vibrant, sustainable and liveable," Surbana Jurong said in a media statement.

The concept design draws key principles from Singapore's townships, such as connectivity, environmental sustainability, social community, safety, universal design, construction productivity, and maintainability.

Surbana Jurong said its township design for the Gujarat project will foster social interactions by featuring community-centric spaces such as roof gardens, activity courtyards, playgrounds and outdoor fitness stations. These facilities will be located within safe and vehicular-free community spaces.

The Gujarat townships will also include Singapore's distinctive public housing features, such as void decks, as well as modern amenities such as sky gardens, outdoor dining areas, meditation decks and play lawns.

Lochan Sehra, commissioner of Gujarat Housing Board, said: "We are inspired by Singapore's public housing model. Many of the features are new to Gujarat and will potentially set a precedent for future affordable housing in India."

Surbana Jurong has master planned 26 townships over the last five decades to house over 80 per cent of Singapore's population.

The company will open its Gujarat office in early December this year, to oversee the completion of the housing project, according to Wong Heang Fine, group chief executive officer of Surbana Jurong.

Gujarat Housing Board has built homes in urban cities such as Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, and towns such as Bhuj, Vapi, Bharuch, Veraval, Porbandar and Gandhidham. This comes as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target to provide housing for all by 2022.