IN THIS EDITION Singapore is building community hubs in HDB towns to rejuvenate town centres often dominated by commercial malls. These hubs co-locate previously separate amenities, increasing convenience and saving land. More importantly, they create more public space in the heart of neighbourhoods. Developing these co-located community hubs requires government agencies to work closely together. This article examines how this collaborative inter-agency governance approach has succeeded, and where it can be improved. Figure 1: Patrons at the central community plaza at Our Tampines Hub (OTH). Opened in 2017, OTH is Singapore’s first major example of a Co-located Community Hubs: co-located community hub. Source: Luther Seet Understanding how a Collaborative Inter-agency Governance Approach can Rejuvenate our Neighbourhoods In recent years, there has been an First, they are all public projects that Lastly, while one key purpose of these emergent typology in Singapore’s HDB are conceived, funded and operated by hubs is to use land more efficiently by towns—the co-located community hub. the Government. This is a significant co-locating previously separate amenities This type of development occupies a point that differentiates them from the and services, their primary function is to single plot of land and intensifies the land ubiquitous, private mixed-use shopping foster social bonds and a sense of place use by locating many public amenities centres, such as Tampines Mall, NEX, for residents in HDB towns, by becoming (e.g., community club, sporting facilities, Bedok Mall, Junction 8 and Jurong Point, centres of neighbourhood life. This is library, polyclinic and hawker centre) in many town centres. achieved by prioritising community needs mixed with private and public tenants ahead of commercial considerations, with in the same building. The first three Second, these developments are the result a focus on designing good public spaces major examples of such community of inter-agency efforts, with up to a dozen and a range of synergistic programmes. hubs are Our Tampines Hub (OTH) (see public agencies collaborating on a single Figure 1) and Kampung Admiralty (KA), development. Public consultation also What explains the emergence of these new both completed in 2017, followed by plays a key role. In such hubs, numerous community hubs, and to what purpose do Heartbeat@Bedok (HB) in early 2018. amenities and synergistic programmes are they serve? More importantly, what can co-located in one building to make it more we learn from them and of the underlying These three hubs have several features in convenient for residents (see Figure 2). collaboration required, so as to be able common that distinguish them from other This collaborative planning and governance to guide future iterations? This edition of developments that might, on the face of it, approach has been a recent feature in CLC Insights analyses these issues, in part appear similar in intent and nature. Singapore’s urban development. through in-depth interviews conducted with FEB 2020 1 To ensure liveability even as our neighbourhoods become denser, good design of public spaces becomes increasingly important. key players from the Housing Development Board (HDB), Urban Revelopment Authority (URA), People’s Association (PA), Sport Singapore (SportSG) and other organisations, who were all central to the development of OTH, KA and HB. BACKGROUND To understand the impetus behind these new community hubs, we need to look back at the historical planning and development of public amenities in HDB towns. This dates back to the Figure 2: Conceptual diagrams comparing separately located amenities in conventional HDB towns with co-located amenities in community hubs. This creates more public space and opportunities for synergistic programming. redistribution of Singapore's population Source: Illustration by CLC in the 1960s into satellite towns, done to relieve strain on the overcrowded spaces in their neighbourhoods. To ensure If so, how? And how has a more city centre. These HDB towns are self- liveability even as our neighbourhoods concerted public consultation benefited contained residential areas averaging become denser, good design of public the process? 3 square kilometres, each housing an spaces becomes increasingly important. average of 100,000 residents. In these As a more collaborative governance towns, there are community clubs, To tackle these issues, newer-generation approach continues to characterise libraries, hawker centres, sporting HDB towns are being built in higher Singapore’s urban development, insights facilities and polyclinics, all within densities. This keeps horizontal sprawl from these three major inter-agency reasonable commuting distance of in check, while still ensuring that projects will be useful to understand how each other. amenities are within reasonable travel agencies and stakeholders navigated this distances for residents. Where possible, process and overcame their conflicts to Today, some of these towns are more amenities are being co-located, and achieve good public outcomes. than half a century old, with populations more public space created. growing beyond their original planned KEY GOVERNANCE INSIGHTS capacities. Moreover, in some cases, their Early efforts at co-location prior to 2000 FROM THE THREE HUBS town centres are ageing and are in need of faced much resistance from agencies, renewal (Bedok was one such example). which preferred to build and manage Singapore prides itself on its action- In other town centres, there has not been their own facilities. The first successful oriented governance approach to solving enough emphasis on good design and co-location project was the redevelopment problems, underpinned by strong political provision of public spaces for residents. of the Marine Parade Community Club in will. This laser-like focus on identifying Instead, privately developed mixed-use 2000. This was followed by other attempts, a problem and tackling it has served the shopping centres currently dominate some more successful than others. One country well for decades. It has helped many town centres. example of an unsuccessful attempt was Singapore solve fundamental national the co-location of a neighbourhood police issues such as water supply, housing A need for more efficient land use centre and community club in Henderson and pollution, while also strengthening and town centre renewal (see Figure 3). its economy. Hence, there is a need to use land more efficiently by co-locating amenities and OTH, KA and HB are the first examples However, even as the Government land uses. At the same time, there is of a more ambitious push for co-location. strives to meet its peoples’ evolving recognition that communities need a Have they succeeded where previous needs as land scarcity intensifies, it greater number of high quality public inter-agency attempts have struggled? has had to complement its successful FEB 2020 2 (The Government) has had to complement its successful governance model with softer values such as collaboration, flexibility and public participation... co-located community hubs are an example of these new governance values at work. governance model with softer values such as collaboration, flexibility and public participation. Government agencies are now working more closely together despite natural resistance. They also have to be prepared to change their existing ways of doing things and become more open to listening to public feedback. Co-located community hubs are an example of these new governance values at work. Collaborating, listening and being willing to adapt and compromise are habits that do not come easily. It should not come as a surprise that large statutory boards accustomed to their own respective ways of working, and to pursuing a singular core mission, would naturally be resistant to making compromises. Figure 3: An attempt to co-locate a neighbourhood police centre and community club in Henderson resulted in In-depth interviews conducted with key the above development—two separate buildings superficially connected with link bridges and an entrance façade. figures behind OTH, KA and HB reveal Source: Google Earth how agencies navigated this inter-agency process. In this section, we propose each other. This lays the foundations for a All three buildings have high-ceilinged, five guiding principles for achieving a tightly knit community with a strong identity spacious plazas extending as natural successful co-located community hub: and a deeply anchored sense of place. thoroughfares across their ground floors (see Figure 4). These plazas are central i) “Residents First. Good Public Spaces” “This sense of community is very, very community nodes, immediately distinct This was the common mantra during the important, and sometimes we forget,” from the commercially driven shopping planning of the co-located community said Tan See Nin, Senior Director centres commonly seen here. Residents hubs. In the past, whereas the primary (Physical Planning) at URA. Older town gather easily to mingle and attend motivation behind co-location was to centres like Toa Payoh Central have community events such as free movie save land by intensifying its use, it is the successfully achieved this by placing screenings and Zumba workouts, or simply community’s needs and wants that are emphasis on designing public spaces to sit and relax. Shops and restaurants, shaping these developments today. well, he added, but this emphasis has which so often dominate prime ground been lost. level space in private developments Co-located community hubs can achieve because of the high commercial returns both these goals. But their primary The new community hubs seek to remedy they generate, are at the margins here. objective is social: to create a place with this. One big way in which a “residents well-designed public spaces where local first” approach has helped foster a sense The whole point of these new residents can gather and bond, and over of community is immediately apparent neighbourhood hubs becomes unmistakable time, forge a closeness to the place and to when visitors walk into the new hubs.