Reading between the lines of the Draft Master Plan 2025

A quiet recalibration of Singapore's planning ethos reflects a society in flux, a nation learning and adapting.

- Chua Yang Liang

Singapore's urban and economic planning has long been pragmatic, but the Draft Master Plan 2025 signals something new: boldness. In response to shifting global and domestic fundamentals, the plan reframes land use through emerging tools such as polycentric gateway corridors, and a more agile, layered approach to decentralisation.

This isn't a wholesale reinvention, but a quiet recalibration, adapting Singapore's planning ethos to meet an era of slower growth, more complex trade-offs, and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

DECENTRALISATION UNDER PRESSURE

The once-ambitious model of decentralising offices beyond the Central Business District (CBD) is slowing. As companies right-size and consolidate their operations, many are returning to the city core, drawn by cost-efficiency, branding visibility, and a concentration of talent and services.

The traditional rental premium once commanded by the CBD has eroded, narrowing the cost differential and weakening the incentive to decentralise unless firms are tightly woven into local supply chains or talent pools.

This trend is not entirely new, but Covid-19 accelerated it. Hybrid work has reduced the average office footprint per firm. Large tenants are less willing to anchor fringe locations unless there are compelling ecosystem advantages. Meanwhile, commercial confidence has been tempered by global uncertainty, from US-China tensions to regional trade realignments.

In this context, even flagship decentralisation projects are evolving. Jurong Lake District, once envisioned as a major commercial node, saw the planned commercial quantum of the white site on the reserve list reduced by 30 per cent.

While the long-term vision remains, near-term market sentiment is clearly influencing land release strategies.

THE RETURN - AND REPOSITIONING - OF INDUSTRIAL LAND