Paddling for inspiration on how to improve Kallang River area

Participants on URA’s kayaking expedition get close look at area before floating ideas

- Ng Keng Gene

For Geylang Bahru residents, sighting otters in the Kallang River is par for the course. But on a Sunday morning in July, residents were greeted by a somewhat less familiar sight - more than 30 members of the public paddling on the river in bright red kayaks.

Many were in the river for the first time. They had signed up for the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) public engagement on its upcoming Draft Master Plan 2025. Each masterplan, reviewed once every five years, guides development for the next 10 to 15 years.

A far cry from a typical focus group discussion, the kayaking expedition gave participants a firsthand look at the area for which their views on public spaces and recreational options were being sought.

Participants, aged 12 and up, were from all walks of life, with teenagers, groups of friends and a middle-aged couple among those who showed up on July 21. No prior kayaking experience was required, and life vests were provided.

They paddled about 3km from the Kolam Ayer Kayak Shed in Geylang Bahru to PAssion Wave@Marina Bay in Marina East.

Mr Nicholas Li, URA's director of urban design for Singapore's east, said: "Even for us as planners and urban designers, how we feel about a place totally changes when we go down to observe people over the day at different times of the day, and how they use spaces.

"It is important that the participants also get to experience it this way rather than meeting them straight away in a closed room." The kayakers could be invited back to focus group discussions on the corridor that are slated for November.