9.2 land aCquisiTion poliCies in sinGapore

Singapore’s first Land use plan (Source: Planning authorities website)

9.2 Land acquisition policies in Singapore

A former British colony, in 1819 the land office was set up which is now a part of the Singapore Land Authority. The city-state became an independent republic only in 1965 but since then has come a long way in its land allocation and development system. The initial years of Singapore’s independence had fragmented land ownership which made it nearly impossible to redevelop the city comprehensively and came to be known as a period of confusion and chaos.

Following the footsteps of the British, modern Singapore continued issuing leasehold leases of up to 99 years. Sites were usually sold on 99-year leases for commercial, hotel, and private residential development, whereas leases for industrial sites are usually for 60 years or less. The lease tenure for other types of sites varies depending on the uses. The usual sale method is through public tender. Presently, this tenure policy is preserved in Rule 10 of the State Lands Rules of the State Lands Act (Cap. 314, Section 3), which states that “the title ordinarily to be issued shall be a lease for a term not exceeding 99 years, except that where the land is not capable of independent development and is required for development with the applicant’s land, the title may be the same

as that of the applicant’s land”. The state practised control over the urban policies and development with direct access to the public and private real estate markets and land ownership. In 1966, the state passed a land acquisition act that enables the state to control about 85 per cent of Singapore’s land and influence its land use, zoning and aesthetics.

The Land Acquisition Act (1966) introduced several modules to facilitate redevelopment: i. The rate of compensation for the acquired land “should not be higher than what the land would have been worth had the government not carried out development generally in the area.” This made sure that the government could acquire land for the purpose of redevelopment at sustainable prices.

“As I develop town A, I have to start resettling people in area B, so that they can move into town A. Then when I develop town B, I will think about resettling people in area C.” (Beng, 2014)

-Yap Chin Beng, Deputy CEO, Housing & Development board

ii. “The landowner had no means to challenge the government’s right to acquire his land but could only appeal to the Appeals Board (Land Acquisition) over the compensation amount offered.” This permitted resistance-free urban development.

iii. The concept of land acquisition by the government for “public purpose” was introduced. This permitted the government to acquire land for uses ranging from public housing to private, commercial developments.

Land acquisition policies could be described as policies of reform in an urban setting. There was a massive transfer of land resources from private landowners to the state in the two decades after independence. The parliament considered it fair to acquire land

from these wealthy landowners because of the size of land parcels they owned (Centre for Liveable Cities 2014, 7). The state also took measures to prevent land hoarding and other conditions that interfered with national development and compromised social equity. In the 1970s because of the soaring prices of real estate, the Singapore government decided to focus on “keeping down the cost of residential property, leaving the market value of commercial and industrial properties to find their levels by the interaction of factors governing supply and demand”. It was foreseen that noncitizens who could buy private residential properties were making quality private housing out of reach of the middle-class citizens. So, in 1973, a government press statement was released that stated that effective immediately only citizens of Singapore would be allowed to purchase residential property without restrictions.

Land use planning in Singapore established its roots when the founder of modern Singapore Sir raffles set up a committee for the development of a city layout plan. This plan focused on assigning land parcels to different societal groups. However, this was shortlived with Singapore gaining independence from the British shortly after. With little planning expertise, the government sought help from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1967 to kick-start the State and City Planning Project (SCP) giving rise to Singapore’s first concept plan in 1971. Established as a landuse strategic plan, it focuses on the state’s development over the next 4-5 decades. The task of reviewing and preparing the Concept Plan and the Master Plan is undertaken by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore’s national planning authority.