NEW DOWNTOWN at Marina Bay

[huaiwei]

Source: The Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore

Date of release: 26th June 2003

Downtown @ Marina Bay
-- the heart of the city with a soul for life!






At Downtown @ Marina Bay, Singaporeans can:

• Work in a premier business and financial hub with global connections to other major business and financial institutions
• Re-energise in a vibrant area of unique character and identity. Live, work, play and learn at the same time.
• Enjoy enriching cultural activities in open spaces.
• Experience round-the-clock life and vitality.

Downtown @ Marina Bay extends Singapore's core Central Business District (CBD) seamlessly around the Bay from the existing Raffles Place, Shenton Way and Marina Centre.

The current review aims at ensuring that the Downtown @ Marina Bay response to current business needs and development trends to allow Singapore to continue to compete at a global level and give in-built flexibility for the future. It marks the next step in the continuing evolution of the plan as it moves from concept to implementation.

Downtown @ Marina Bay is set to be a distinctive and global location for business and for living, working and leisure, around-the-clock.



1. A Mulit-Purpose Destination



2. Distinctive Districts





3. State-of-the-Art Infrastructure



4. Flexible Framework



5. A Vibrant Cultural Loop



6. People-Frendliness






Putting it Together

[RafflesCity]

Totally amazing renditions!!!
Great post huaiwei

I cant believe it..these are the most detailed plans I've seen!!

And I like how the authorities have aesthetic plans too..to ensure the skyline will be interesting with focal points and night lighting effects!

Hmmm..I need to listen to my Downtown track by Petula Clark now

[huaiwei]

A picture by darecky for your comparison with the existing skyline.



RafflesCity, the exhibition is on from today till 16th July. We shall drag szehoong to this exhibit with us!! there are models and pictures galore to gawk at!!

[Jaroslaw1a]

Wow! I could only hope that Chicago had a similar vision...

Can you point me to the site from which these are downloaded?

I wish it didn't take them until 2025 to complete this... I can wait, though.

[szehoong]

Oh........I am so excited! I would love to be 'dragged' to this exhibition!

BTW I really like how they plan South Marina.........its just amazing!

[huaiwei]

Wow! I could only hope that Chicago had a similar vision...

Can you point me to the site from which these are downloaded?

I wish it didn't take them until 2025 to complete this... I can wait, though.

Sure..I stated in the post. Its at http://www.ura.gov.sg/cudd/cawebsite/main-intro.htm

The above plan is part of the entire country's Master Plan review at http://www.ura.gov.sg/ppd/mp2003/index.jsp

Enjoy.

[perekamuda]

What a great concept for a beautiful city,

It would be more elegant if the proposed Square building in the marina boulevard (center-waterfront) comes out with something unique or spectacular like an observation tower design as a future landmark for the city

[RafflesCity]

Straits Times, June27

Vibrant city to take shape in new downtown
The central region is to be transformed over the next 15 years to attract talent and jobs and compete with world's best

By Wendy Tan

CITY living may in time mean bay views from your glass-walled apartment, zipping across a landscaped sky bridge to your office in the next building and unwinding after work with a game of football in a nearby park.

With Marina Bay as a backdrop, this is how the architects of an ambitious plan to transform the central region of Singapore see life in 10 to 15 years' time.

These plans for a vibrant city centre are not 'nice-to-have' but a 'must do', National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday as he opened the Urban Redevelopment Authority's exhibition.

'Cities all over the world are competing aggressively to attract investment, jobs and tourists.'

The massive area which comes under the plans covers the existing and new downtown areas, Newton, Orchard, River Valley, Tanglin, Bukit Merah, Bukit Timah, Kallang, Marine Parade, Toa Payoh and even the Southern Islands.

The URA's grand plans are the last of five master plans to be rolled out this year. They are reviewed every five years.

Just as in its earlier blueprints for the north, northeast, east and west regions, which it began unveiling in February, more homes, amenities and green spaces are to be added.

Into the central region which covers 13,050 ha, the URA proposes to inject 114,000 new homes and lots of new park spaces.

The crown jewel of this area will be Downtown@Marina Bay, which includes Raffles Place, Shenton Way and Marina Centre and the existing Central Business District, and extends all the way to the reclaimed area of Marina South.

Anchoring this new downtown will be a business and financial centre, and skyscrapers up to 50 storeys high.

In Marina South, three distinct areas are being carved out of a 99 ha plot, to capture the flavour of famous places abroad.

It sees Bayfront Avenue, for instance, as a 2km tree-lined street reminiscent of New York's Park Avenue and Paris' Champs Elysees - dotted with cafes, restaurants and shops.

Two bayfront sites have also been earmarked as public spaces and possible future homes for arts and culture.

More than 4,000 homes can be built in the new downtown area, which will include a 3.35km 'cultural loop' linking the bay area with Marina Centre, and embracing the Esplanade, the new Merlion Pier and One Fullerton.

Singapore Institute of Architects president John Ting sees it as a family playground.

He said: 'They can eat, shop, get entertained and soak in some culture.

'It's also great for the elderly and people with kids because they can walk the stretch without worrying about traffic.'

Architect Liu Thai Ker, who is also the National Arts Council's chairman, sees Downtown@Marina Bay as 'a great opportunity to create a piece of artwork'.

Mr Liu, who was once Singapore's chief planner, said: 'The plans give the city a stronger sense of personality.'

Both men were part of the group of mainly architects, urban planners and property developers invited to view the plans and offer feedback at the URA's exhibition which is on until July 16.

The plans for the central region also include more homes at Pearl's Hill, revitalising the Bras Basah and Bugis areas, and conserving areas like Tiong Bahru that are steeped in history.

Mr Mah emphasised that Singapore cannot afford to stand still, especially with Tokyo, London, Sydney and Barcelona remaking themselves, and Shanghai and Dubai adding to the competition.

He said: 'We must make our city a great place to live, work and play. It can then become more exciting and vibrant, attracting talent and helping to create jobs.'

[dtkoh]

Is there any information or pics of the 170m (i think) tall ferris wheels?

[SUNNI]

sweet plans!

[TYW]

OMG!!! cool plan. any buildings taller than 280m??

[Kevinkhoo1986]

wow!! how much it will cost??? trillion??

[hypermount]

From the map, it's very well-planned. Beautiful

[SUNNI]

Originally Posted by Kevinkhoo1986

wow!! how much it will cost??? trillion??

yeah who will pay?

[huaiwei]

Private developers...who else? As is clearly stated in the plans, sites are released for public tender sequencially as and when the market condition is favourable, as is already the way public sites are sold to private developers now. I don't think this system is that different from most other capitalist countries....

[huaiwei]

Originally Posted by dtkoh

Is there any information or pics of the 170m (i think) tall ferris wheels?

From the Straits Times:

$200 m ride

On a clear day you'll be able to see Johor, Batam and Bintan from the $200 m Singapore Flyer coming up on Marina Bay by end 2005. It will be the world's largest revolving structure

By Camilla Chiam

THE world's largest ferris wheel could take you for a whirl on the Marina Bay waterfront as early as November 2005. At 170m, the Singapore Flyer will stand 35m taller than the wildly successful London Eye, erected on the banks of the Thames.

Its 32 air-conditioned glass capsules are designed to take up to 25 people. On a clear day, they will have a 45km view all round and even see parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.

The observation wheel will sit atop a three-storey building housing 20 tourist-related shops and entertainment outlets, which will be linked by travellators to the Millenia MRT station due to open in mid-2005.

The $200 million project set on 3.37ha of land is the largest foreign direct investment ever in a visitor attraction here.

The investors, the Melchers Group and the Orient and Pacific Group, sealed the deal at the Pan Pacific Hotel yesterday by signing an agreement with the Singapore Tourism Board.

Melchers is a German logistics and engineering services company; Orient and Pacific Group a consultancy based in the British Virgin Islands.

STB chief Lim Neo Chian believes the Singapore Flyer will 'spur Singapore's tourism industry to greater heights'. It is projected to draw more than 2.5 million visitors to spend $94 million in its first year. Tourism here could certainly use a boost, with visitor arrivals down by as much as 70 per cent.

Melchers' general manager Patrick MacMahon, 38, says he is sure the Flyer will be ready a year before its competition, the 200m-tall Shanghai Star, is due to crown that city's skyline in 2005. He claims that the Shanghai Star will open in 2006 instead. 'The Shanghai Star is still in negotiation, but we've already moved forward with the Singapore Flyer today,' he said.

Mr Xu Junhui, 28, an engineer who rode on the London Eye in 2000, can't wait. He said: 'I drive along the East Coast Parkway and look at the skyline so I'm really curious to see what it would look like from the top.'

View it in PDF

[huaiwei]

Giant ferris wheel could've been bigger...

Height limit is placed on the 170m-tall 'Singapore Flyer' as it is close to an air corridor leading to Paya Lebar Airbase

By David Boey

IF NOT for height restrictions imposed by the flight path leading to Paya Lebar Airbase, the massive 170m high giant observation wheel dubbed the Singapore Flyer could actually stand taller.

The height limit was imposed as the structure, which will stand on a 3.37 ha site at Marina Bay at the end of 2005, towers quite close to an air corridor that leads to Paya Lebar Airport from the south.

Still, the steel structure's proposed design already dwarfs the British Airways London Eye, an enormous 135m tall observation wheel which stands on the south bank of the River Thames in London.

The British tourism magnet looks set to lose its reputation as the world's biggest observation wheel once the Singapore Flyer starts spinning.

The Singapore Flyer will be some 35m taller than the London Eye, although the upcoming Singapore landmark will sit on a 20m high foundation.

The joint press release issued yesterday by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Melchers Project Management, an engineering firm which is developing the structure jointly with STB under a $200 million project, did not hold back on superlatives when describing the Singapore Flyer.

The proposed 1,100 tonne structure has been dubbed 'the world's highest observation wheel', and that it will be a 'technologically advanced engineering and design marvel'.

But one pressing engineering challenge is more basic: how to make it spin without giving passengers motion sickness.

Mr Brendon McNiven, assistant director of Arup, a global engineering consulting firm engaged to build the Singapore Flyer, said: 'We need to make the structure stiff enough so it will not oscillate so quickly and if you can limit the acceleration, it will make people feel better.'

Mr McNiven said wind conditions here work in the design team's favour, as gusts are not as ferocious as those in places further away from the equator.

Each of the 32 observation capsules will be strung to the wheel's central spindle by a pair of steel cables some 70m long.

Each cable will carry dumbbell-shaped weights to help reduce vibrations so passengers will enjoy a smooth 37-minute round trip to the top and back.

The design of the wheel should be finalised by December and construction should begin early next year.

[RafflesCity]

Here are the models of it taken at the URA Gallery.

[TYW]

now it is the tallest ferris wheel, not skyscrapers??

[mookiecece]

OMG.................. what a massive project!!!