Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong announced on March 7 that Punggol North is designated as the first “Enterprise District” where new planning concepts will be trialed.

JTC will be appointed as the master developer in the Punggol cluster. It will then have the flexibility to develop the district based on land use and gross plot ratio guidelines at the overall district level. Being freed from planning controls imposed on individual land parcels, JTC will be able to optimize land use across the entire development and find ways to integrate the needs of different users.

According to Wong, a “second benefit of having such a master developer is that we can more comprehensively design good pedestrian connectivity and public spaces.” Traditionally, a desired network of public spaces and connectivity links can only be realized over a long period of time as the various land parcels are developed one by one. The master developer can also implement district-wide systems such as district cooling and pneumatic waste conveyance system which will help to reduce energy use.

The government is looking to introduce the master developer approach in other new residential and mixed use districts, where private developers will be given flexibility in planning and developing at a district level. A site in Kampong Bugis, a new residential precinct about 17 ha in size, will be tendered out to a master developer. The master developer will be given flexibility to come up with the overall plan and develop the project by phases, in line with market demand. Credit Suisse believes the new planning approach will be positive for large listed developers, given the focus on quality of concepts rather than price.