CNA Explains: Why does Singapore want to build a 'Long Island'?
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Singapore
CNA Explains: Why does Singapore want to build a 'Long Island'?
Experts say the "audacious" plan could meet the country's long-term needs up to 50 years down the line.
An artist’s impression of a possible view from "Long Island" to East Coast Park. (Image: URA)
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Matthew Mohan
29 Nov 2023 12:43PM (Updated: 29 Nov 2023 02:03PM)
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SINGAPORE: Singapore announced on Tuesday (Nov 28) potential plans for a project on its east coast which would reclaim around 800ha of land - the size of over 1,000 football fields.
Technical studies into this "Long Island" will start from 2024 and be carried out over the next few years.
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What does it involve?
Twice the size of the downtown Marina Bay area, Long Island could take the form of tracts of land a distance away from the East Coast shoreline, but extending from Marina East to Tanah Merah.
This would create an enclosed waterbody - eventually, a freshwater reservoir - in front of East Coast Park.
Long Island would add around 20km of new coastal and reservoir parks.
It was first mooted under the 1991 Concept Plan, Singapore's second strategic land use and transportation plan.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong mentioned Long Island during his National Day Rally in 2019, and it was showcased at an exhibition by the Urban Redevelopment Authority last year.
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Why is it needed?
Coastal protection measures are at the heart of the Long Island plan.
Studies have projected a rise in mean sea level of up to 1m by 2100. Combined with possible high tides and storm surges, sea levels could rise by 4m to 5m, threatening low-lying Singapore's shorelines.
Since 2021, Singapore has
studied different parts of its coastline and in September it
launched a research centre for coastal protection and flood management.
Around one-third of Singapore - including East Coast Park - is less than 5m above mean sea level. And the effects of high sea levels at the park - Singapore's largest, with a span of about 13km - are already being felt. In 2018 and in January this year, swathes of the park were flooded due to rain and high tide.
Solutions such as a 3m-high sea wall along the entire waterfront of East Coast Park are not ideal: This would limit access to the beach and sacrifice a substantial portion of the park.