Singapore plans for five million people

SINGAPORE, reviewing its land use for the next decade, will have to revise its population estimates to five million instead of four million previously, a government minister said on Monday.

"In 1991, we planned our land uses based on a population of four million people. Our current population is already 3.9 million. We probably have to plan for a bigger population of five million or more in our current review," National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said at a real estate conference.

Mah said in his speech that the island nation, which has total land area of 648 square km (253 sq miles), had a long-term land-use blueprint that was reviewed once every 10 years.

"We have begun the next review, which is scheduled to be completed in year 2001," he said.

Mah said apart from planning for a bigger population, Singapore also had to plan to accommodate an ageing population.

"We need to progressively put in place the infrastructure to adjust to an ageing society. This includes making our transportation system more accessible to the elderly and introducing more elderly-friendly housing types."

He said the city state planned to make use of "advances in technology" to make better use of the land as these advances helped Singapore reclaim into deeper waters, build taller buildings and undertake underground development projects.

He said the development of a deep tunnel sewage system to replace Singapore's existing sewage plants, for example, would free up a large amount of valuable land.

Mah said Singapore's massive public housing programme had already solved a severe housing shortage problem that first surfaced in the 1960s, and about 86 percent of the city-state's population lived in the high-rise, government built flats.

To cater to growth in air and sea traffic, Singapore had already set aside land for the expansion of its land and sea port, he said.

In terms of commercial office space, Singaoore has also reclaimed land next to its existing business district to allow for the doubling in prime office space