About Punggol

Facts On Punggol (Source: HDB)

Estimated HDB Resident Population	92,500
HDB Flats Under Management	30,877

Evolving Through The Years

Punggol, also spelt as Ponggol, means "hurling sticks at the branches of fruit trees to bring them down to the ground" in Malay. The name suggests that Punggol was a fruit growing district where fruits and forest produce were sold wholesale. 

In its early days, the town used to be home to poultry, pig and vegetable farms. It was also famous for its seafood restaurants and sea sports development. 

Its history includes a national heritage site, Punggol Point which saw the massacre of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers during World War II.

Punggol now makes headlines for exciting housing plans in the 21st century. In 2007, Punggol 21 Plus was unveiled as part of Remaking Our Heartland plans for Punggol to realize its vision as ‘A Waterfront Town of the 21st Century’. Key to this will be a new waterway that will run through the town which will offer its residents a unique lifestyle experience and new waterfront housing. 

Residents and visitors alike can look forward to various recreational activities, ranging from water sports to a leisurely walk along the landscaped promenade on both banks of the waterway.

Residents can also look forward to resort-style housing, which leverage on the attractions of the waterway and the promenade. 

This first public housing parcel along the Punggol Waterway will set the benchmark for the rest of the developments along the 4.2km Waterway. The development, comprising 1,200 units, is scheduled for launch in mid-2010. 

Views of Punggol

Source: HDB Website

The Sustainable Singapore Blueprint released by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development (IMCSD) in Apr 09 outlines key measures and initiatives to drive sustainable development in Singapore. As the public housing agency for Singapore with a stock of over 9000 residential blocks, HDB has a key role to play in supporting Singapore’s commitment to sustainable development. Over the years, HDB has already been driving sustainable development efforts in its towns and estates. At town level, HDB towns are planned comprehensively to include all key facilities to create a work-live-learn-play environment to meet resident’s needs. HDB buildings are designed to embrace local tropical climate conditions, utilizing passive design strategies to achieve effective energy, water and waste management.

While HDB has achieved much in promoting sustainability, there is a need to do more through new ideas and innovations to stretch the environmental targets. There is scope for HDB to look into developing its first eco-town for the tropics to help enhance the living environment in its estates and encourage residents to do their part for the environment.

Hence, Punggol Town, one of HDB's younger towns, has been identified to be developed into the first Eco-Town in Singapore, for the tropics. To realise the plans for Singapore’s first Eco-Town at Punggol, a multi-agency collaboration structure has been set up to drive a three-pronged development framework:

a) Planning and Design
b) Urban Solutions
c) People

Sitting at the junction of Punggol Road, Punggol Place and Punggol Drive, Treelodge@Punggol is HDB’s first Eco-Precinct. The Eco-Precinct is HDB’s demonstration project of an eco-friendly public housing development, envisaged to be a community for comfortable green living, one which is sustainable over the long term, lowers real costs and which strives for best practices in meeting environmental needs. With greater consciousness to the environment, it will bring about greater conservation efforts for a more sustainable environment in future. 

Read the e-book to learn more about the green features found in Treelodge@Punggol. Happy reading!

The Punggol Waterway featured as a key strategy under HDB’s Remaking Our Heartland in 2007 for Punggol 21+ with the introduction of a new waterway traversing through the town.

The opportunity for a waterway arose from plans to dam up Sungei Serangoon & Sungei Punggol to form water reservoirs. The waterway and the new communal spaces along the promenade will provide an attractive and vibrant waterfront living environment.

The planning concept of the waterway adheres to the theme of “Green Living by the Waters”. The design of the waterway and the landscape promenade embraces the area’s rich coastal heritage and design contemporary provides more opportunities for water-based recreational activities and sports, right next to the heartlands.

Getting Here:

Overview of Urban Solutions Deployed for Punggol Eco-Town

Punggol is an emerging young town with many new developments in the pipeline. Many opportunities abound for HDB to develop homes which are resource-efficient and estates with high standards of liveability. Therefore, HDB is working closely with various government agencies and business partners to carry out test-bedding of urban solutions at differing scales in Punggol.

The objective is to identify and implement cost-effective and environmentally-friendly urban solutions in five areas which are crucial to achieve the vision for Punggol as a waterfront eco-town for the tropics. The five areas are

• Energy
• Urban Mobility
• Water
• Resource & Waste
• Maintenance

Ultimately, the urban solutions suited for our local environment could be replicated in other HDB towns and subsequently the whole of Singapore.

Recognising the different readiness of the urban solutions, HDB is deploying two levels of testbedding. Firstly, emerging technologies are test-bedded at one or two precincts to prove their feasibility. Once proven, they are implemented at a greater extent across the town to reap economies of scale. Therefore, the two-tiered testbedding strategy not only provides opportunities for new and potential technologies to be tested but also enables proven technologies to become economically viable.

Currently, 13 urban solutions, which impact on energy consumption, urban mobility, water consumption and quality, resource & waste and maintenance efficiency of Punggol Town, have been identified. According to their readiness, the identified urban solutions are test-bedded at an appropriate scale.

Energy Solutions

To achieve the vision for Punggol as an eco-town, the energy solutions deployed aims not only to improve energy efficiency but also to be environmentally-friendly by adopting cleaner energy.

Four energy solutions will be deployed. They are:

• Solar Photovoltaic System
• Elevator Energy Regeneration System
• Energy Efficient Lighting in Common Areas
• Smart Grid/ Meters

Over the next five years, the energy solutions are expected to reduce energy consumption for the common areas by 20%.

Urban Mobility Solutions

Creating opportunities for greater use of more environmentally-friendly transport means is another aim that HDB wants to achieve for Punggol Eco-Town.

In addition to encouraging sharing of cars among the residents, there are plans to promote the use of electric vehicles through the car-sharing scheme. Charging points for the electric vehicles will also be located at strategic points to enhance the convenience to residents of using an electric vehicle.

E-bicycles also provide an environmentally-friendly alternative for residents to commute within the eco-town or simply just for leisure.

Water Solutions

Water efficiency and quality is another critical aspect of an eco-town. Therefore, the water solutions deployed in Punggol have a three-pronged approach, i.e. to increase water recycling, decrease water usage and enhance water quality.

Three water solutions will be deployed. They are

• Rainwater harvesting
• Water smart meters
• Water quality monitoring

It is envisaged that over the next five years, the water solutions would target to bring about a net water reduction of about 10%.

Resource & Waste Solutions

Utilising resources and waste minimisation is another important aspect of an eco-town. One way to minimise waste is to utilise resources through recycling of wastes.

To meet the target of 3 times increase in recyclables, HDB will provide recycling points at every level in the residential blocks by building a second centralized refuse chute which is dedicated for recyclables. This will not only enhance convenience for residents to dispose their recyclable waste but also raise collection efficiency for waste collectors.

Maintenance Solutions

Economic sustainability is another aspect of an eco-town. Hence, the rising maintenance cost is a major area of concern and HDB is constantly looking into ways of reducing it.

Fuel Cell Emergency Power Supply and self-cleansing paint are two maintenance solutions which will be deployed in Punggol. They aim to reduce maintenance costs by mainly stretching their lifespan.

MRT Network Map

Source: SMRT

WHERE IS THE CROSS ISLAND LINE?

Starting from Changi, the CRL will pass through Loyang, Pasir Ris, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, before reaching Sin Ming. Continuing westwards, it will serve areas such as Bukit Timah, Clementi, West Coast, and terminate at Jurong Industrial Estate. 

HOW WILL COMMUTERS BENEFIT FROM THE CROSS ISLAND LINE?

It will provide commuters with another alternative for East-West travel to the current East-West Line, bringing greater comfort and significantly shorter journey times. The eastern leg of the CRL will also include a segment that extends into the centre of Punggol. Residents in Punggol will be able to travel to Pasir Ris – a popular and much demanded travel route - in only 10-15 minutes, compared to a 40 minute bus journey today.

A Unique Seafront Living Experience – Punggol Northshore

Under the master plan for Punggol New Town, Punggol will feature seven distinctive eco-town districts, each with a unique identity and character. Following the announcement last year of the plans for the Matilda District, the Northshore District is the next district in Punggol to be developed. It will offer an estimated 6,000 new flats, with the first project slated to be launched in 2015.

Punggol Northshore is envisioned to be “A Smart and Sustainable District”. To realise this vision, the design concepts focus on enhancing the living environment for residents through the use of new technologies and connecting residents to greenery. Set to be Punggol’s first seafront housing district, the plan will capitalise on its waterfront location and rich biodiversity.

The distinctive features of the Northshore District include:

a) Varied Building Heights to Capitalise on Sea Views

 To enable residents to enjoy the sea views, the heights of the buildings and sky gardens will be varied, in turn creating a distinctive skyline.

Housing will be designed with varying building heights to allow residents to enjoy the sea views.

b) Community Spine

 Northshore will be the first public housing district to be directly connected to an LRT station. The “Community Spine”, a two-storey walkway, will link the LRT station to the coastal promenade, allowing convenient and sheltered access to the waterfront.

The “Community Spine”, a two-level walkway runs seamlessly from the Samudera LRT station to the Coastal Promenade.

c) Two-storey Green Communal Deck

 The first level will comprise communal spaces such as a “Seafront Viewing Deck” and “Community Living Rooms” nestled amidst lush greenery, for residents to relax and enjoy the view, or to mingle and interact. On the second level, 3-Generation facilities such as a playground and fitness corners, will adopt a “wave-like” design, in line with the district’s seafront theme.

The two-storey Green Communal Deck provides opportunities for residents of all ages to engage in a myriad of recreational activities.

d) Seafront Commercial Centre

 A neighbourhood shopping centre, integrated with shops and F&B outlets, will draw residents and visitors to the waterfront esplanade, with a view of the Straits of Johor. Next to it will be the “Community Spine”, which promises to be a bustling platform that will bring, bind and bond the community over activities and programmes.

A Commercial Centre with a picturesque waterfront view.

e) Central Green

 The Central Green flanking the community spine, will sport eco-features such as a dragonfly pond and bioswales which promote biodiversity, treat surface runoff water, and enhance the landscape.

f) Solar Ready Roofs

 HDB blocks at Northshore will be installed with solar ready roofs, which are designed with structural and electrical considerations to allow future installation of solar PV systems.

Northshore will also be the first district to test-bed smart technologies in public housing. This will enhance the planning, design and maintenance of HDB estates to bring about a more liveable, efficient, sustainable and safe living environment. Some of the technologies which will be featured in the housing projects include:

• Intelligent Car Parks

 Every car park will have an intelligent parking demand monitoring system. The system will automatically increase the number of available lots during non-peak hours for visitors, as residents with season parking ticket (SPT) are out in the day. Conversely, it will also reduce the number of available lots for short-term parking visitors in the evening, to ensure sufficient lots are reserved for residents with SPT returning home.

• Smart Lighting

 Lighting with sensors, installed in the common areas will help HDB to understand human traffic patterns and optimise the provision of lighting. The lighting in common areas with little or no human traffic detected could be reduced to 30%, potentially reducing energy usage by as much as 40%.

• Smart Waste Management

 A Smart Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System will be incorporated into the design of HDB blocks. The sensors in the system will monitor waste disposal patterns, before the data is analysed to optimise the deployment of resources needed for waste collection. This system will also be implemented in the first housing precinct in Bidadari and Tampines North.

Moving Forward

Today, we have 26 HDB towns and estates, with more than 1 million flats housing the majority of our population. HDB will continue to inject fresh ideas into our new public housing projects to provide the best possible homes for Singaporeans. For more details, please visit www.hdb.gov.sg/futurehomesbetterlives from 11 Sep 2014.

Source: HDB