Netizens react to URA master plan—new planned housing only for the rich?

Singapore—On Wednesday, March 27, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced its master plan concerning how the Government is intending to make use of land in the country for the next one and a half decades. Netizens weighed in on what they thought. While some welcomed the plan, others took a more cynical view.

The master plan includes new private and public housing at the central business district (CBD) and Marina Bay area in order to encourage more people to live near where many already work, as well as to boost the nightlife for this area. Plans for housing at Keppel Club, Farrer Park, Queensway and Tanglin Halt were outlined.

As for public housing, plans to build at Dakota Crescent around the six preserved Singapore Improvement Trust blocks are also included. There will also be a mixture of public and private housing at the new Bayshore precinct.

There will also be additional green spaces of around 1,000 hectares for more parks and nature trails. Other areas such as Robinson’s Road may be redesigned to be more friendly to the public, as well as allow for more mobility. 

Netizens’ respond to the announced plan

Perhaps because it was such a major announcement, netizens had mixed reactions. Although a number of them were supportive, some were cynical.

Some looked forward to the coming changes, and commended the URA for the master plan.

However, the biggest concern seemed to involve housing—that the new planned housing would be condominiums that ordinary Singaporeans could ill afford, but would cater more to the rich, or perhaps to expatriates, especially since the new housing would be built in the CBD.

This, they felt, would only widen the inequality gap that already exists between the rich and the poor

Others wondered if HDB is behind the new housing plan, with one clever netizen even joking that the initials HDB actually stand for something else

Some commenters made suggestions, including ideas about what other places in the country could be renovated as well

Others brought up existing problems, such as the haze and smell of burning that Singaporeans are now dealing with.

The issue of congestion was also brought up by netizens, who claim that the CBD is already crowded as it is.

/TISG