URA Space for Our Dreams Exhibition -the future of Bukit Brown looks bleak

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) review of its Long Term Plan for the next 10 to 50 years and beyond is out. Titled - Making Choices Today for Tomorrow, its seek to achieve a balancing act between the diverse land-use needs and manage potential trade-offs. It shared a map which looks exciting as there are plans to build green corridors, but yet disappointing at the same time whereby in the long-term, Bukit Brown and its surrounding areas are earmarked for residential use. That trade-off is to me something very hard to swallow, as it is already a existing green corridor and a natural Carbon Sequestration and rainfall sponge that doesn't need to be constructed (this is well encapsulated in Nature Society's position paper for Bukit Brown.) The trade-off also don't take into account the living museum and intangible cultural practices that makes this space of heritage value (see Singapore Heritage Society Position Paper).

Land use for the long term (source: URA)

If we compared it with today's Master Plan 2019, Bukit Brown and parts of Lao Sua and Kopi Sua are still designated as Cemetery land. It is unfortunate that the plans for the future have not change at all for Bukit Brown and its surrounding area and the authorities are still sticking to plans for its eventual destruction and transformation to residential use.

This means that we have a long way to go to change the mindset of policy makers in their perception of Bukit Brown has a space of heritage and nature value and should be earmarked as a an open space /recreational /agriculture space and given protection status or even earmarked for a future as a UNESCO World Heritage site.