After publishing my Blog 2.0 - Residential Parking Requirements Near Subway Stations, I was surprised and in fact delighted to find and article in the 13 October 2011 issue of Today News Paper in Singapore titled Reversing into old trouble? The article covered the Singapore URA’s regulation to set the car parking ratio at 1 car per 425m2 of commercial GFA as opposed to the earlier ratio of 2 cars per 425m2 of GFA for a centrally located new development. This site is just off Raffles Place a short walk from the Raffles Place MRT station and clearly a location where you would expect and want the greater population of users to come by MRT or Taxi.
My earlier Blog questioned why a condominium development was allowed to build such a large parking structure at a site just 50 m from an MRT station and suggested the planning authority should have limited the number of spaces. I am glad to see the URA does look at parking from both perspectives meaning a minimum requirement as well in some case like the proposed Market Street office development a maximum allowable. I have not studied carefully if the numbers are the best fit, but to hear that the rational is for traffic planning in the CBD area does give comfort there is an integrated approach to developing such regulations. The author argued that the authority should let the developer decide on their own and be allowed to build more if it decided this is there best way to maximize returns. He also noted that the shortage of taxis in the area and there would be a frustration hunting for parking. With the Raffles station a short walk, why would people want to drive into a congested area?
My earlier Blog questioned why a condominium development was allowed to build such a large parking structure at a site just 50 m from an MRT station and suggested the planning authority should have limited the number of spaces. I am glad to see the URA does look at parking from both perspectives meaning a minimum requirement as well in some case like the proposed Market Street office development a maximum allowable. I have not studied carefully if the numbers are the best fit, but to hear that the rational is for traffic planning in the CBD area does give comfort there is an integrated approach to developing such regulations. The author argued that the authority should let the developer decide on their own and be allowed to build more if it decided this is there best way to maximize returns. He also noted that the shortage of taxis in the area and there would be a frustration hunting for parking. With the Raffles station a short walk, why would people want to drive into a congested area?
There is a strange mind set in Singapore that a car is a must if you are to prove you have succeeded. I know in Japan many of the top executives use the subway and commuter train as the primary means of transportation. Maybe the government leaders should set an example and use the world class subway it has created and further encourage it over driving especially in crowed business districts. Certainly this is a lifestyle issue that needs to look beyond the financial return of one development.
Jiwa Studio
Singapore, October 2011
WWW.Wix.com/JiwaStudio/JiwaWeb
Jiwa Studio
Singapore, October 2011
WWW.Wix.com/JiwaStudio/JiwaWeb
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