Hanam Mayor Lee Hyeon-jae Sees Hanam's Future in Singapore's Mixed-Use Development Success

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Eom In-yong] Hanam Mayor Lee Hyeon-jae visited Singapore from the 15th to 18th and successfully benchmarked 'mixed-use urban development cases.'

This Singapore visit was undertaken based on advice from Choi Chang-gyu, Vice President of the Korean Urban Planning Association (Professor at Hanyang University), who noted that mixed-use development with themes of Work+Live+Play is a global trend and that Singapore is a representative best practice. The visit focused on benchmarking successful mixed-use development cases.

During an on-site meeting with Professor Lee Kwan-ok from Singapore National University, ranked 8th globally, the mayor heard the explanation: "If there are only performance venues without residential facilities, urban hollowing is a concern, so Singapore is also rapidly pursuing mixed-use development."

In particular, Professor Lee advised that "Singapore's eco-friendly mixed-use development through securing sufficient green spaces would serve as a good reference, as it is similar to the situation at K-Starworld, which has a green space ratio of 60%." Accordingly, the mayor's delegation visited major mixed-use development facilities including a large-scale performance venue, Marina Bay Sands Hotel, and shopping malls.

Meanwhile, while Singapore has several mid-to-small scale performance venues of fewer than 2,000 seats such as the Esplanade, the city built a 55,000-seat national stadium to address the problem of lacking a specialized performance venue to accommodate large numbers of people. A large-scale performance venue with approximately 20,000 seats is also being built in the hotel being newly constructed by Marina Bay Sands.

In fact, Singapore generated remarkable revenue of 300,000 attendees and 7.52 billion won in ticket sales from six performances by popular pop artist Taylor Swift in March 2024, and also achieved approximately 5.5 billion won in sales and over 10 billion won in tourism effects from performances by Coldplay and Lady Gaga.

Finally, the mayor visited Sentosa Island to learn Singapore's tourism development strategy that makes use of its natural environment.

Mayor Lee Hyeon-jae concluded the benchmarking by stating, "Singapore is a small city-state, but we confirmed that it is a global best practice where the available land is developed efficiently and work, residential, and performance facilities are well distributed throughout the city." He added, "This experience will serve as a very important reference for implementing Hanam's major projects such as K-Starworld, Gyosan New City, and Camp Colby."