Port and the City: Balancing Growth and Liveability

Port and the City: Balancing Growth and Liveability

Since its origin along the Singapore River, the port has been central to Singapore’s evolution from a fishing village and colonial trading post to the world’s busiest transhipment hub and a premier international maritime centre.

The maritime industry was a key provider of employment in the earlier years after Singapore’s independence and currently contributes about 7% of its GDP. Its growth led to infrastructural developments needed to stay ahead of trends such as containerisation and increasingly larger vessels.

Singapore invested in Southeast Asia’s first container port at a time when transporting goods in containers had yet to take off in Asia. Since the Tanjong Pagar Terminal was completed in 1972, the country has ridden the wave of containerisation and developed its port in tandem with economic demands. Singapore overtook Rotterdam in 1982 as the world’s busiest port and remains among the top 10.

Port expansion over the decades has had a profound impact on Singapore’s urban development – from building bigger container terminals to creating freight transportation and distribution networks – and transformed the city’s southern waterfront.

Urban governance and integrated master planning have been key to managing Singapore’s port as part of a liveable and sustainable global city. Large-scale land reclamation from the Singapore River to Pasir Panjang and Jurong in the west helped to move container terminals and logistics facilities away from the city and freed up spaces for offices, housing, tourism, and lifestyle facilities.

This process will continue when city terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel and Pulau Brani are relocated, upon expiry of their leases in 2027, to a new mega port in Tuas on Singapore’s westernmost edge. The move would free up 926 hectares of land and allow the development of a new Great Southern Waterfront offering a wide range of housing and lifestyle options, while serving as an extension of the central business district.

Amid increasing competition from Malaysian ports, Tuas will accommodate larger ships and help Singapore maintain its position as Southeast Asia’s premier transhipment hub. To be developed in four phases, with the first slated for completion in 2021, the greenfield port will consolidate all existing container terminals in one location and nearly double the country’s existing port capacity.

Singapore aims to leverage on its strength in port facilities, shipbuilding and logistics, while positioning itself as a leading maritime centre by developing vibrant and influential shipping and maritime services clusters. As the country takes on increasingly complex planning parameters in a land-scarce environment, port development policies are expected to build on current best practices and contribute to environmental and social aspects of Singapore’s liveability.