“ONE OF THE KEY CHALLENGES IS TO GET THE BUY-IN OF PRIVATE OWNERS THAT THE RESTORATION OF OLD BUILDINGS IS VIABLE.” MRS TEH LAI YIP, DIRECTOR (CONSERVATION), URA
HORTPARK
private sector allows NParks to leverage on strengths and expertise beyond itself to make Singapore’s parks more enjoyable. Within the agency itself, there continues to be a strong focus on the diversification of its talent pool. Fresh talent with new areas of competencies are being recruited to support new initiatives and strengthen its lifestyle management and programming, without, of course, neglecting NParks’ core strengths in areas like horticulture, arboriculture and landscaping. “How we run, manage and programme our parks will contribute substantially to their character, vibrancy and sustainability,” says Mr Ng.
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CHINATOWN
Pragmatic approach to conservation The cityscape is constantly changing as buildings go up and down, and roads get widened and rerouted. However, since 1970, there has been a concerted effort to retain links to Singapore’s architectural past. URA has been rehabilitating stateowned pre-World War 2 buildings for adaptive reuse and gazetting buildings, even whole districts such as Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam and Boat Quay, for conservation. To date, URA has conserved close to 7,000 buildings and structures all over the island. One of the key challenges in these efforts is to get the buy-in of private owners that the restoration of old buildings is viable, says Mrs Teh Lai Yip,
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