Riverscape Reimagined along a Transforming Kallang River
Arming with the visions of sustainable and inclusive development, and after more than 2 decades of revitalization and rejuvenation of the Kallang River, a renew riverfront urbanscape of higher values begins to take shape.
By integrating Kallang River and its tributaries seamlessly with an island-wide network of Park Corridors, many areas of seemingly “deserted” land have been rejuvenated and turned into valuable assets that can be rezoned for new uses.
A massive multi-year clean-up project embarking at Kallang Basin has transformed it into today’s clean body of fresh water. It has become a water reservoir in the city and also a hot spot for green water sport like kayaking and canoeing.
This is a temple that contains layers of historical memory of the place from the past to the present – throughout its rich history of more than seven decades, it has witnessed the vast transformation of the Kallang River, originally filled with mangroves, to shanty towns and attap shacks and now occupied by public flats, industrial estates and park corridors. Its present concrete form is a rebuilt version of the original timber structure.
This
is also a rare riverine temple, the origin of which can be traced back to the early
Chinese immigrants from QuanZhou China. It is sited strategically at the
junction where Kallang River and its tributary begin to split, thus enabling a
panoramic view of the rivers. The chosen location is believed to enhance its
prominent presence as the protector of the rivers. The temple also serves to
appease the spirits lingering in the river, as it is rumored to be the dumping
ground for the victims killed during the Japanese Occupation. At present, the
ritual of “setting free the lives of fishes and pigeons (放生)
“
by worshippers can be seen being performed at the site.
The stand-alone, slender forms of these old Twin Peak HDB public flats are a product of a lower density development of the past - they appear prominently tall amidst a neighborhood of low-to-mid rise factories. Although many local residents are attracted to this picturesque location for their morning exercise, this scenic place will soon be transformed due to land rejuvenation along the Kallang River, making ways for higher density green industrial estates and more residential uses in its future development.
The
random arrangement of these strongly-shaped trees along the Kallang River seems
to rhyme with the linear compositions of the factory buildings and the fences.
The green color of the trees against the reddish color of the buildings have
further reinforced their rhythmic compositional relationship.
Riverfront living with communal jetty facilities for public flat residents have been envisaged by the designer in this DBSS development. However, the jetty turns out to be just for show and it is never being put to use. Instead, what have been treasured the most by the community is the lush green environment, plenty of recreational spaces and the clean body of fresh water of the river.
Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats was a type of “sandwich-class” public flats, which were built by private developers with each development characterized by unique external features, giving them an upmarket, luxurious and premium feel. As of now. the scheme has been suspended as its end results has found to be fallen short of its intended objectives. This is because its luxurious emphasis is less about providing more spaces and privacy to the residents, but more about fulfilling their superficial status desires like having better floor finishes and a jetty for show.
Background: Kallang River
Transformation
A paradigm shift in managing water bodies has occurred around the turn of the century. The previous management approach based on functional and practical principles that turned water bodies like Kallang River into giant concrete drains primarily for flood prevention are no longer acceptable nor efficient, instead this outdated approach has become a waste of useful natural resources in land scarce Singapore. The new approach adopts more holistic and inclusive principles of sustainable and green development, with ambitious long term goals that are community driven, eco-green environment emphasis and identity building. The visions are firstly to upgrade all the water bodies in different corners of the country, link them up seamlessly by networks of park corridors and turn them into one big connected giant Garden of Singapore for the full enjoyment of the whole communities, secondly, to turn larger water bodies into reservoirs for self-sufficiency in fresh water supply and thirdly, to transform Singapore from a garden-city into a city grown out of lush tropical gardens.
Thus, ABC policy was then launched, aiming to revitalize existing parks and water bodies, making them “Accessible, Beautiful and Clean” for recreational use by the communities. It turned out that a new dawn has indeed arrived, transforming parks and water bodies, pieces by pieces into valuable assets, vibrant recreational playgrounds and identity show pieces very much loved and championed by the communities. The mindset of the communities towards clean and sustainable environments has also being permanently changed and reshaped in the process.
After 20 odd years of implementation, the Kallang River and its tributaries are now an integral part of an evolving networks of park corridors that spread across the whole island. The most prominence of which is the Bishan-to-City park corridor, which traced its route along the course of Kallang River from Bishan Park to Kallang Riverside Park. Many living creatures in the wild like birds, fishes, reptiles and others have also returned and formed their habitats by the river. Water sports, in particular, kayaking and dragon boating have also become popular at Kallang Basin.
The lands adjacent to Kallang River south of Bendemeer Road have been traditionally occupied by parcels of low density light-industry factories and public flats, the land-use efficiency of which is no longer viable in today’s economy. Moreover, using setback buffers like river, road and perimeter green to segregate the two conflicting land uses for pollution containment is also no longer acceptable in today’s living standards. With land rejuvenation being carried out along the Kallang River and to capitalize on the attractive green and blue environment so created, old zoning rules have been upgraded carefully to incorporate the old and the new into a renew harmony – that is, the existing factories have been either phased-out or rezoned into non-polluting, midrise green business parks. While more highrise waterfront housing and neighborhood parks will be introduced to the area.
As can be seen, Kallang River transformation has come a long way and the best of its grand visions have yet to come.
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