The HDB town your children move to in 2050 will do more than just house them

The Straits Times, The HDB town your children move to in 2050 will do more than just house them

Ask Singaporeans what makes a good HDB neighbourhood and most would say comfortable homes, hawker centres and shops nearby, convenient transport, shady parks, and welcoming places to gather with family and friends.

Decades of careful planning have catered to these expectations and made our public housing towns among the world’s most liveable. But residents’ expectations of what makes a good town are changing.

We are living longer and facing a warmer climate. Residents now place greater value on health and mental wellness and appreciate the restorative effect of nature and greenery. They also want a living environment that mitigates climate impacts and where resources are used responsibly. Above all, they value a strong sense of community and belonging where they live.

A new generation of expectations demands a new chapter in Singapore’s urban development. This shift is already under way but needs to be accelerated and scaled. Basically, Singaporeans now expect a good town to do more than one thing well – from providing healthier communities and greater climate resilience to richer biodiversity and responsible resource use.

Take nature.

Trees and parks were once valued primarily for making neighbourhoods greener and more pleasant. Today, we recognise that they do much more. They cool our streets, reduce heat stress, absorb stormwater, improve biodiversity, encourage walking and strengthen physical and mental well-being.

Singapore has already demonstrated this through projects such as Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, where flood protection, biodiversity restoration and recreation were achieved together. Newer HDB towns such as Bidadari and Tengah continue this line of thinking by introducing eco-corridors and treating nature as essential infrastructure rather than decorative landscaping.

Success should no longer be measured simply by the number of trees planted or parks created, but also by the benefits they generate for the environment, communities and nature.

The same evolution can be seen in mobility.

Transport planning has traditionally focused on helping people travel more quickly and efficiently. That remains important. But increasingly, transport infrastructure is also planned to improve public health, encourage active mobility, strengthen neighbourhood connections and create more attractive public spaces.

The North-South Corridor illustrates this broader shift. The project is designed to deliver benefits well beyond reducing congestion. By moving much of the traffic underground, valuable surface space can be returned to comfortable bus transit, pleasant walking, cycling, greenery and community life.

Of course, there are trade-offs. Residents and commuters will have to put up with some inconvenience during the long construction period, as the second phase of the project is expected to be completed only in 2029.

This is not a uniquely Singaporean challenge. In Antwerp, Belgium, the decade-long Oosterweel project (or the “Big Link”) is similarly placing sections of its through-traffic underground. This will reconnect neighbourhoods long divided by heavy traffic while creating new parks, cycling routes and public spaces above. These projects remind us that good city-making often requires patience. The disruption is temporary, but the improvements to everyday life can last for generations.

Ultimately, the success of projects like the North-South Corridor should be judged not only by the minutes saved during the morning commute, but also by whether they make neighbourhoods healthier, more connected and more enjoyable places to live.

The same principle applies to our buildings and infrastructure.

The next generation of buildings can do more than simply consume resources. They can increasingly generate renewable energy, reduce emissions, optimise water use and improve resilience through technologies such as photovoltaic facades, low-carbon materials and artificial intelligence-enabled management systems. The buildings will be more comfortable for occupants and more resilient to a changing climate.

Neighbourhoods can increasingly keep valuable resources circulating for as long as possible. Singapore has already demonstrated this through NEWater. The next step is to apply similar thinking to energy, construction materials and food systems, where every resource is used more than once before becoming waste. For example, digital “material passports” already make recycling increasingly feasible by tracking the composition, origin and future reuse potential of building materials.

Viewed together, these examples reflect a fundamental shift in urban planning where each investment is expected to deliver multiple benefits. This is at the heart of what planners call regenerative urban development.

From building towns to building communities

What makes a good HDB town has never been its buildings alone. It is the relationships, trust and sense of belonging that those places nurture over time. Regeneration therefore goes beyond restoring ecosystems. It is also about strengthening the social fabric that enables communities to thrive.

One of the defining strengths of Singapore’s HDB towns has always been the relationships formed within them. Integrated developments such as Kampung Admiralty, Tampines Hub and Bukit Canberra show that carefully designed neighbourhoods complemented by curated facilities and programmes can strengthen social connections while supporting health, ageing and everyday convenience.

As Singapore prepares for major redevelopment through the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme, new challenges will emerge.

How should we redevelop mature estates while preserving community ties during relocation, and strengthen new ones as neighbourhoods are renewed?

How far should we retrofit older buildings so as to reduce embodied carbon, but not lose redevelopment opportunities?

These are not easy choices. Regenerative thinking does not eliminate these trade-offs. Instead, it encourages us to strike a balance by maximising long-term environmental, social and economic value together, rather than optimising only one outcome. Deeper research can help us to better understand how different planning scenarios can yield different co-benefits to enable us to make these choices.

The next chapter of Singapore’s planning story

Singapore will soon embark on transformative projects such as Long Island, the Jurong Lake District, Paya Lebar Air Base and the Greater Southern Waterfront. These projects offer a rare opportunity to reimagine what a successful HDB town – and, indeed, a successful city – can be.

Long Island, for example, is more than a coastal defence project. It has the potential to simultaneously protect against rising sea levels, secure freshwater supplies, restore biodiversity, create new waterfront spaces and support future homes and jobs.

Other cities have shown how successful urban investments can solve multiple challenges at the same time. Stockholm’s Hammarby Sjostad has integrated energy, water, waste and transport planning into a circular urban system. Copenhagen has combined flood management, public space and biodiversity enhancement into climate adaptation projects that improve everyday urban life.

Singapore has the opportunity to develop our own approach – one that reflects the realities of a dense tropical city, our public housing system, and a goal of making our investments deliver multiple benefits.

The HDB town of 2050 should do far more than house us.

It should make us healthier, bring communities closer together, help nature recover and use resources wisely, to meet the rising aspirations of Singaporeans.

A truly regenerative Singapore will leave the next generation better off than the last.

• Cheong Koon Hean is chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.