First Bukit Timah flats in 40 years part of housing plans for Turf City

15,000 to 20,000 public and private homes to be built over 2-3 decades

- Ng Keng Gene

The first public housing units in Bukit Timah in about 40 years will be built in Turf City, as part of plans to develop 15,000 to 20,000 new homes on the former racecourse site over the next two to three decades.

The upcoming estate will be "inclusive and highly accessible", with both public and private housing, said Minister for National Development Desmond Lee on May 23 at The URA Centre, where he launched an exhibition showcasing plans for Bukit Timah Turf City.

Mr Lee said the addition of public homes in Bukit Timah will meet "the growing aspirations among Singaporeans to live closer to their workplaces in the city".

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the new estate will be car-lite, pedestrian-friendly and well-served by public transport, with good walking and cycling connections.

Future residents will be within a 10-minute walk of either of two MRT stations - Sixth Avenue on the Downtown Line or Turf City on the upcoming Cross Island Line. Mr Lee said the latter will be completed in 2032.

URA said the estate will be developed over time, starting with areas closer to existing transport nodes along Dunearn Road - where Sixth Avenue MRT station is located.

Between 1933 and 1999, Bukit Timah Turf City was Singapore's second racecourse, before the Turf Club relocated to Kranji to ease traffic congestion in the area.

The 176ha Bukit Timah site has been largely zoned for residential use since URA's 1998 masterplan, and was leased out for interim lifestyle and recreational uses until end-2023.

To accommodate an anticipated growth in traffic as the estate is developed, road improvement works will be carried out in Dunearn Road, Bukit Timah Road and Eng Neo Avenue, URA said.