URA marks 50 years with show and books

Besides an exhibition featuring the 2024 Architectural Heritage Awards winners, it also launched four urban design guidebooks

- Chantal Sajan

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) turned 50 in 2024 and is celebrating with a showcase of the winners of the URA Architectural Heritage Awards 2024 at The URA Centre.

The agency has also launched a collection of four books on urban design in Singapore in a special box set to mark its 50th anniversary. These are available to the public on its website as free e-books.

This year, big conservation projects such as the Bukit Timah Railway Station and Bukit Timah Truss Bridge were recognised along with smaller projects like the Former 17, 19 & 21 Jiak Kim Street Warehouses.

Although URA was formed in 1974 as a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (MND), its conservation programme was finalised much later.

The challenge in the 1970s was to transform Singapore from a Third World country beset with poor living conditions, underdeveloped infrastructure and a struggling economy into a modern metropolis.

In its early years, URA was responsible for the renewal and redevelopment of the city centre into the Central Business District. It also re-envisioned Marina Bay for longer-term needs.

In this light, the URA was one of the pivotal agencies that helped in pole-vaulting Singapore to First World status.