Seeing the City in a New Light

What did you do on National Day 2019?
I watched Crazy Rich Asians on DVD after catching the parade. It seemed appropriate because our skyline was featured so many times.
Twenty years ago, when I joined the URA, many perceived our city as unexciting. Last year, Singapore was named the most beautiful city in Asia. Looking back on our planning and urban design efforts, we have come a long way.
Seeing the Skyline
One of the most memorable images of our skyline is the one beamed to the world during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Indeed, our skyline is a heady combination of contemporary skyscrapers and low-rise heritage buildings. Conservation of our built heritage gives us a sense of emotional security and rootedness, and is an integral part of urban design.
Given that Singapore is land-scarce, new buildings are mostly high-rises with large footprints to meet contemporary business office needs. By conserving historic districts like Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam and Boat Quay, we provide relief from an otherwise dense environment. With these fine-grained street blocks, our city has more diverse granularity. In the Singapore River precinct, rows of restored shophouses along the Boat Quay waterfront, juxtaposed against the skyscrapers of our Central Business District, give our city its own distinctive identity.