Urban Redevelopment: One city, three models
This research was published as a case study on Urban Redevelopment of the Singapore City Waterfront in the World Bank’s new book, Regenerating Urban Land — A Practitioner’s Guide to Leveraging Private Investment.
Last updated on 1 March 2025
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CLC’s research into the urban policies, planning and development strategies that shaped Singapore’s ‘Golden Shoe’ financial district, Singapore River, and Marina Bay has found that each district is representative of different periods of Singapore’s urban redevelopment.
The Golden Shoe was transformed through a combination of phasing out of rent control, land acquisition and Sale of Sites in the late 1960s to early 1980s. In contrast, the Singapore River area was revitalised through a coordinated environmental clean-up from 1977 to 1987 and innovative conservation policies that balanced development needs in the late 1980s to 1990s. More recently, Marina Bay served as a seamless extension of the old financial district in Golden Shoe, and was developed mostly in the 2000s through innovative land sales mechanisms that facilitated private investments and safeguarded public interests at the same time.
This research was published as a case study on Urban Redevelopment of the Singapore City Waterfront in the World Bank’s new book, Regenerating Urban Land — A Practitioner’s Guide to Leveraging Private Investment. The Singapore study sits alongside others like Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon Stream restoration, Washington D.C.’s Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, Shanghai’s regeneration of a historic neighbourhood, Xintiandi, and Johannesburg’s renewal of the inner city. Together, these case studies offer a diverse range of policy tools and strategies for urban regeneration in different urban socio-economic contexts.
Singapore’s urban redevelopment story is further detailed in CLC’s latest Urban Systems Studies book, Urban Redevelopment: From Urban Squalor to Global City. It documents the how the Central Area of Singapore was transformed from a slum-filled city centre to a global financial centre, drawing from new interviews with urban pioneers like Alan Choe, the URA’s first General Manager; and Henry Wardlaw, who was the lead consultant for the State and City Planning Project that culminated in Singapore’s first Concept Plan in 1971.
The World Bank publication, Regenerating Urban Land — A Practitioner’s Guide to Leveraging Private Investment, can be downloaded here (opens in new tab).
About the Writer
Remy Guo
Senior Assistant Director
Centre for Liveable Cities
Ministry of National Development
Remy is a researcher at the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC). His research areas cover integrated master planning, citizen participatory planning, urban design and active mobility. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the National University of Singapore.