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World Cities Summit Issue, Jun 2008
The Twin Pillars of
Estate Rejuvenation
Tay Kim Poh
Overall, SERS presents a win-win solution for all the parties involved. For the city-state, SERS enables valuable land in prime areas to be redeveloped for optimal land use. For the community at large, older estates are given new leases of life through the modernisation of the physical environment and the injection of younger residents. As for the affected residents, they get to move into brand new flats with fresh 99-year leases and in better living environments without having to move away from their familiar surroundings and neighbours.
The main challenge in implementing SERS lies in gaining residents’ acceptance and support. Understanding their needs and convincing them of the benefits of the scheme are key to gaining their commitment and confidence. Hence, before any SERS project is announced, HDB carries out detailed studies of the residents’ profile, and structures the benefits packages and replacement housing to best meet their needs. Besides generous benefits packages, a comprehensive communications plan is critical in rallying residents to accept SERS. At the launch of every SERS, an exhibition is held to explain to residents what the scheme entails. HDB officers also conduct house-to-house visits to explain and provide financial counselling on the various re-housing options, and to address other concerns. Some residents, especially the elderly and less literate, will need more "hand-holding" during the implementation phase. Such personal interactions allow residents to give feedback on their individual concerns and ensure that residents are able to fully understand the basics of SERS.
A BLUEPRINT FOR RENEWAL AND REMAKING
Going forward, while upgrading and redevelopment will continue to be a part of HDB’s estate renewal strategy, they will take on different emphases. For example, lift upgrading will be accelerated to prepare for a rapidly ageing population. The MUP will be replaced by a new programme called Home Improvement Programme (HIP). Unlike the MUP which offers only the Standard Package and space-adding options, the HIP is more affordable and flexible as it allows residents of flats that have not undergone MUP to choose the improvement works they want in their flats and co-pay only for those items. Residents will also be called upon to decide on the type of facilities to be provided in their precinct through a Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP). With emphasis on resident engagement, NRP’s consultative approach will help create a stronger sense of community ownership over the precinct and facilities. Similar to MUP, the HIP and NRP will be collectively decided by the residents and will proceed only if at least 75% of the flat owners in the block and neighbourhood respectively vote for the programme.
Beyond the upgrading/redevelopment of individual housing precincts, HDB
has also drawn up a blueprint to renew and remake the HDB heartland. Under the blueprint, Singapore’s public housing estates will be totally transformed over the next 20 to 30 years. Different development strategies will be adopted for each category of estates. New estates like Punggol2 will have more attractive housing forms such as waterfront housing, and the full slate of commercial and recreational facilities, to realise the vision of "A Waterfront Town of the 21st Century". For middle-aged estates like Yishun,3 where redevelopment potential is relatively lower as they were built at higher densities than the older towns, the key thrust is rejuvenation through the enhancement of facilities, the environment and flats. Hence, more recreational facilities will be added, and the housing precincts will be rejuvenated under the new HIP/NRP.
For old estates like Dawson4 where large tracts of vacant land are now available through earlier clearance programmes, a new generation of public housing with exciting design concepts like "Housing in a Park" (Figure 3) and Sky Gardens5 will be introduced. Singaporeans can therefore look forward to living in even more vibrant and sustainable communities in the coming years.
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