Long Island to be reclaimed off East Coast could add 800ha of land, create Singapore’s 18th reservoir
Three tracts of land could be reclaimed off East Coast Park in the coming decades, creating about 800ha of land for new homes and other amenities, as well as a new reservoir. Called the Long Island, these land tracts – collectively about twice the size of Marina Bay – are Singapore’s response to the threat of rising sea levels and inland flooding in the East Coast area.
Land in the area is largely lower than 5m above the mean sea level, the extent that sea levels are projected to rise to by the end of this century if extreme high tides coincide with storm surges. On Nov 28, National Development Minister Desmond Lee announced that public agencies will carry out technical studies for the Long Island project over five years, starting from early 2024. Over the next few years, members of the public will be consulted for their ideas and suggestions for the project, which will take several decades to plan, design and develop.
The current plan is for three elongated tracts of land to be reclaimed in the area, extending from Marina East to Tanah Merah. The easternmost land tract will start from Tanah Merah, while the westernmost tract will be an extension of Marina East. Between these two tracts, a third tract will be reclaimed. A large tidal gate and pumping station will be built in between each new land mass. These will control the water level in a new reservoir bordered by East Coast Park and the new land masses, and, in the process, reduce flood risks in the East Coast area.
Decades-old plan to reclaim island for housing could be updated to tackle rising sea levels
An artist’s impression of potential future reclamation along East Coast that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presented in August 2019 as a possible coastal protection solution. PHOTO: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
A plan more than three decades ago envisioning a reclaimed island along the length of East Coast for beachfront housing and leisure may morph into one that also takes on the task of protecting Singapore from rising sea levels. Under the plan, the "Long Island" would stretch from Marina East to Changi.
A book documenting Singapore's 1991 Concept Plan said of the Long Island: "It will become not only a leisure centre by the sea but also a choice location for some housing development." The country's concept plans, meant to guide development for the next 50 years, are reviewed once a decade. A review is currently ongoing, with plans slated for exhibition in the middle of this year. In an interview with The Straits Times on Feb 21, the Urban Redevelopment Authority's chief planner Hwang Yu-Ning pointed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's 2019 National Day Rally speech when asked what had become of the Long Island plan. "That's one version of Long Island 2.0," she said.
In 2019, PM Lee had said Singapore would need to spend about $100 billion or more over a century to protect itself from rising sea levels. He cited possible ways to protect East Coast, including empoldering - a land reclamation technique - or reclaiming a series of offshore islands there. Through two artist's impressions, PM Lee, noting that engineering drawings had yet to be done, said the islands could be used for housing or other purposes, and the spaces between them used as reservoirs by building barrages to link the islands. Last May, national water agency PUB started a four-year long study covering Changi, East Coast and the Greater Southern Waterfront to devise possible coastal protection solutions.
Long Island reclamation plan the right solution to meet S’pore’s long-term needs: Experts
The authorities will begin extensive studies on reclamation plans that are expected to yield about 800ha of land that will protect the East Coast area from sea-level rise and create space for development. St PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Reclaiming land off East Coast Park for coastal protection is the right approach that will also meet the country’s other long-term needs, said experts in the wake of an announcement that public agencies will study in detail plans to build a Long Island in the coming decades.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Nov 28 that the authorities will soon begin extensive environmental and engineering studies on the reclamation plans, which are expected to yield about 800ha of land that will protect the East Coast area from sea-level rise and create space for development as well as a new reservoir.
Professor Yong Kwet Yew of the National University of Singapore’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering said the two main drivers of the project – future land needs and protection against sea-level rise – require a long-lasting solution. It makes economic sense to address them simultaneously through reclamation, he added.
'Long Island'
The threat of rising sea levels is real and an existential one for Singapore. With around 30 per cent of our land below five metres above mean sea level, Singapore is extremely vulnerable to the impact of sea level rise. This is especially the case for the East Coast area, where there are already instances of flooding within East Coast Park when high tides coincide with heavy rain. Such events will not only adversely impact on our lives, but also disrupt the operation of critical infrastructure linked to the area, such as East Coast Parkway and Changi Airport. On 28 Nov 2023, Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration announced that we are starting technical studies and public consultation on ‘Long Island’ as a solution to protect our homes, businesses, infrastructure and public spaces, such as East Coast Park.
‘Long Island’ comprises land reclaimed off the East Coast, and could take the form of ‘islands’ located some distance away from the existing coastline. It offers an integrated solution that will meet multiple national needs, including coastal protection, flood resilience, water resilience, creating more land to meet future development needs, as well as new recreational opportunities for the East Coast. The concept of ‘Long Island’ was first mooted under the Concept Plan in 1991. In view of the impact of climate change, ‘Long Island’ was subsequently presented as a potential solution to protect the East Coast area against sea level rise. This was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the National Day Rally in 2019. The conceptual plans for ‘Long Island’ have since evolved based on public feedback to reflect people’s aspirations, including retaining as much of the existing free and unimpeded access to the coast and waterfront views as possible, which was shared during PUB’s Our Coastal Conversation community dialogue sessions in 2022.
Land at ‘Long Island’ will be reclaimed to a higher level and form a continuous line of defence along the coast for protection against rising sea levels. The existing outlet drains along the coast today will drain into a new reservoir. The reservoir will include two centralised tidal gates and pumping stations, similar to Marina Barrage, which will keep out seawater during high tides and discharge stormwater into the sea during heavy rainfall. The new reservoir will also provide a new source of water supply, enhancing Singapore’s water resilience. Besides ‘Long Island’, agencies also studied building a sea wall up to 3 metres in height along the entire waterfront of East Coast Park (from Marina East to Tanah Merah). This sea wall would need to be supplemented by 12 tidal gates and pumping stations, one at each of the 12 existing outlet drains along this stretch of the coastline. However, this is not ideal as the sea wall would result in extended periods of disruption to park users during its construction. The 12 pumping stations would also take up a large amount of park space (equivalent to about 15 football fields).
Reclaimed from the sea: How East Coast and Marine Parade came to be
A photo taken in September 1974 showing the reclaimed land in Marine Parade and where HDB blocks had begun to spring up. PHOTO: ST FILE
Marine Parade and the East Coast area sprang up from the sea as a result of a major land reclamation project between the 1960s and 1980s.
Marine Parade was the first housing estate to be built entirely on reclaimed land, and 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the first residents moving into the estate.
In the coming decades, another reclamation project – Long Island – is planned for the south-eastern coast. When completed, the stretch of reclaimed land will protect Singapore against rising sea levels. It will have a reservoir to serve the country’s rising water demands, and space for new homes and amenities to address land needs. The Straits Times looks back at the 20-year East Coast Reclamation Scheme, which was completed in 1985 and added 1,525ha of land and 18km of new coastline:
- 1963: Testing the waters - About 19ha of land – the size of about 25 football fields – is reclaimed along the Bedok coast in a pilot project.
- 1966 to 1971: Work begins - In Phase 1, 405ha of land stretching from Bedok to the Singapore Swimming Club in Tanjong Rhu is reclaimed.
- 1970 and 1971: Extending the reclaimed stretch - In Phase 2, reclamation is extended to the tip of Tanjong Rhu.
- 1972 to 1976: First HDB flats in Marine Parade - The first blocks of flats are built in Marine Parade in 1972 on land reclaimed in Phases 1 and 2. Phases 3 to 7 are carried out between 1971 and 1985. The 20-year reclamation project costs around $613 million.
- 1991: Long Island first mooted - Long Island is first envisioned as a reclaimed island for beachfront housing and leisure in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA’s) 1991 Concept Plan.
From new homes to a new 'island': 7 things about Singapore's long-term plan for next 50 years
The plan sets out strategies to increase Singapore's land supply and preserve its key green spaces and heritage areas. PHOTOS: LIANHE ZAOBAO, EUGENE GOH, LIM YAOHUI, NATIONAL PARKS BOARD
A wider variety of home types, new parks and heritage corridors are among upcoming plans set out in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) latest long-term plan, which it unveiled on Monday (June 6).
An exhibition titled "Space for our Dreams" is being held at The URA Centre from now till Aug 4, to showcase strategies for Singapore's development over the next 50 years and beyond.
Here are seven key things from the long-term plan, which is reviewed every 10 years:
- Better mix of private and public housing islandwide
- More mixed-use in the city centre and industrial developments
- More nature-based recreation options
- Five new identity corridors islandwide
- Revisiting the 'Long Island' plan
- Four new nature corridors, the first in Khatib
- A new town at the site of Paya Lebar Air Base
Singapore from 580-720 sq km
Singapore has grown 25% in land mass since their independence, that's insane.
But the journey of growing has not been without controversy and struggle.
So how does Singapore reclaim land? And how much bigger will they get?
Land reclamation in Singapore
Stamford Raffles's plan for the Town of Singapore, 1822
The reclamation of land from surrounding waters is used in Singapore to expand the city-state's limited area of usable, natural land. Land reclamation is most simply done by adding material such as rocks, soil and cement to an area of water; alternatively submerged wetlands or similar biomes can be drained. In Singapore the former has been the most common method until recently, with sand the predominant material used. Due to a global shortage and restricted supply of the required type of sand (river and beach sand, not desert sand), Singapore has switched to polders for reclamation since 2016 — a method from the Netherlands in which an area is surrounded by a dyke and pumped dry to reclaim the land.
Land reclamation allows for increased development and urbanization and in addition to Singapore has been similarly useful to Hong Kong and Macau. Each of these is a small coastal territory restrained by its geographical boundaries, and thus traditionally limited by the ocean's reach. The use of land reclamation allows these territories to expand outwards by recovering land from the sea. At just 719 km2 (278 sq mi), the entire country of Singapore is smaller than New York City. As such, the Singaporean government has used land reclamation to supplement Singapore's available commercial, residential, industrial, and governmental properties (military and official buildings). Land reclamation in Singapore also allows for the preservation of local historic and cultural communities, as building pressures are reduced by the addition of reclaimed land. Land reclamation has been used in Singapore since the early 19th century, extensively so in this last half-century in response to the city-state's rapid economic growth.
In 1960, Singapore was home to fewer than two million people; that number had more than doubled by 2008, to almost four and a half million people. To keep up with such an increase in population (as well as a concurrent surge in the country's economy and industrialization efforts), Singapore has increased its land mass by 22% since independence in 1965, with land continuously being set aside for future use. Though Singapore's native population is no longer increasing as rapidly as it was in the mid-twentieth century, the city-state has experienced a continued influx in its foreign population, resulting in a continued investment in land reclamation by the government. The government thus plans to expand the city-state by an additional 7-8% by 2030.
Reservoirs in Singapore
MacRitchie Reservoir formerly called "Thomson Road Reservoir", constructed 1890-1894 has a storage capacity of 4,200,000 cubic metres
There are a currently 17 reservoirs which are designated as national water catchment areas and are managed by the Public Utilities Board (PUB) of Singapore.
The following is a list of reservoirs in Singapore:
01 - MacRitchie Reservoir (formerly called "Thomson Road Reservoir")
02 - Lower Peirce Reservoir (formerly called "Kallang River Reservoir" & "Peirce Reservoir")
03 - Upper Seletar Reservoir (formerly called "Seletar Reservoir")
05 - Kranji Reservoir
06 - Pandan Reservoir
07 - Murai Reservoir
08 - Poyan Reservoir
09 - Sarimbun Reservoir
10 - Tengeh Reservoir
11 - Jurong Lake
14 - Bedok Reservoir
15 - Marina Reservoir
16 - Punggol Reservoir
17 - Serangoon Reservoir
Long Island to be reclaimed off East Coast could add 800ha of land, create Singapore’s 18th reservoir
