ST : Lakeside city centre planned for Jurong

23 Jan 2011,

Lakeside city centre planned for Jurong

By Rachel Chang

A new city centre in the west will take shape by Jurong Lake over the next decade under the Remaking Our Heartland programme.

To be called Jurong Gateway, it will span an area the size of 70 football fields and be the largest commercial hub outside the Central Business District.

It will be home to the Jurong General Hospital and Community Hospital, a mall with an Olympic-sized ice-skating rink, and office facilities.

The existing heartland neighbourhoods in Jurong are also set for a thorough facelift: a 24km network of pedestrian and cycling tracks linking up the region will be completed in five years.

A Bukit Batok resident will then have a through path to the Jurong East MRT station - one which crosses the Pan-Island Expressway - and he or she will even be able to make it to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Two new iconic Housing Board estates in the mould of Pinnacle@Duxton will also spring up alongside Bukit Batok Avenue 1, providing some 1,200 homes for new families or upgraders.

All in all, the plan to 'remake' the Jurong Lake area aims to propel the region beyond its industrial reputation into a destination neighbourhood.

Unveiling details of the remaking plans yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng, an MP in Jurong GRC, said: 'There was a time when nobody believed we could transform the Jurong area from swamps to a thriving industrial area.'

He was referring to the early days of Singapore's independence in the 1960s, when multinational corporations were invited to set up 'pioneer' industries in Jurong, a move that was seen as make-or-break for the fledgling nation's economy.

'Not only have we proven all the critics wrong, but we are now taking it one step further,' he said.

The makeover is part of the $1 billion second phase of the Housing Board's Remaking Our Heartland programme to rejuvenate mature estates over the next five years. The other two towns selected are Hougang and East Coast.

The plans for Jurong Lake, the third and last to be revealed by the Housing Board, combine the need to rejuvenate Jurong's old estates with the impetus to develop the swathes of vacant land in its vicinity for a younger generation of home owners.

All 10 of its existing neighbourhood centres, from Boon Lay to Taman Jurong, are slated for a variety of changes such as new pavilions, better lighting, playgrounds and sports facilities. Two new parks near Jurong East MRT station and at Toh Guan will boast attractions such as dog runs and plant nurseries.

The waterfront facilities available at Lakeside, Pandan Reservoir and Jurong Lake will include restaurants and hotels and will cater for activities such as water sports.

Mr Lim later told reporters he hoped the new hotels would make Jurong, an industrial town with many factories and offices, a one-stop location for foreigners here on business. 'With the beautiful scenery of Jurong Lake, I'm sure the hotels will give the hotels in town a run for their money,' he said.

The project's aim is to increase the quality of life for Jurong residents, he added, but he also hoped it would not lead to a rush to move into the area that unnecessarily pushed up property prices.

Quality assurance engineer Ng Kian Hoo, 40, said he felt that his Jurong East neighbourhood, about 30 years old, was 'overdue' for a facelift.

'I'm happiest with the Jurong Gateway regional centre. When that is up, the value of my flat will increase,' he said.

The public exhibition, in a white tent next to Jurong East MRT station, will be open until Wednesday.