Lakeside Garden, western section of Jurong Lake Gardens, opens

Inaugural SGF Horticulture Show, J-Lake Fest, and community fitness activities to celebrate the opening of the new national gardens in the heartlands

The National Parks Board (NParks) today opened Lakeside Garden, the 53-hectare western section of the Jurong Lake Gardens. Visitors can now enjoy the first phase of Singapore’s third national gardens, and the first national gardens in the heartlands. Jurong Lake Gardens is a people’s garden, and the design of the garden took into consideration the feedback that was received after extensive consultations with the community. In developing Jurong Lake Gardens, NParks also worked with our partner agencies, Sport Singapore (SportSG) and People’s Association (PA), to enrich the diversity of recreational experiences and programming for visitors. In addition, Lakeside Garden was developed with a strong emphasis on nature, community and play, based on feedback received during our public engagement sessions. Jurong Lake Gardens is a green recreational node that leverages on its distinctive lakeside setting. It contributes to the larger plans for the Ju­rong Lake District in promoting sustainability and a healthy living environment by providing more spaces for recreation amidst lush greenery, restored wetlands and habitats for biodiversity, and with vibrant programming for the community. With its opening, Lakeside Garden provides the community with a space to gather and bond, and create shared memories.

The 90-hectare Jurong Lake Gardens comprises three segments:

• Lakeside Garden (Jurong Lake Gardens West/ former Jurong Lake Park)
• Chinese and Japanese Gardens (Jurong Lake Gardens Central)
• Garden Promenade (Jurong Lake Gardens East)

Overview of Jurong Lake Gardens

Image credit: NParks

Elements for nature, play and the community at Lakeside Garden

Lakeside Garden is centred around the themes of nature, play and the community. The garden has been developed sensitively to retain the serenity of the area whilst incorporating spaces for the community and recreational needs. Capitalising on its waterfront location, Lakeside Garden has spaces for all to enjoy amid nature, greenery and lakeside views. Visitors will have many opportunities to get close to nature in Lakeside Garden.

Children aged between five to 12-years-old will enjoy Forest Ramble, which is the largest nature playgarden in the heartlands. The 2.3-hectare play area comprises 13 different adventure stations for children to explore, and emulate the movement of animals which inhabit a freshwater swamp forest.

Clusia Cove is located at the northern part of Lakeside Garden, and features a water play area for visitors of all ages, an eco-pond and a cafe. Clusia Cove adopts a closed-loop circulation system that includes water being cleansed through a natural plant filtration system before cascading into a shallow tidal pool and sand-based ripple pool for children and families to enjoy.

Rasau Walk is a meandering boardwalk that brings visitors close to the water’s edge along the western part of Jurong Lake. The boardwalk takes visitors through a restored freshwater swamp forest that has been enhanced with some 50 species of plants, including clusters of Rasau trees, Nibong and Sealing Wax palms. The wetland habitat is inundated with water based on the water levels in the lake, creating zones for water birds to feed and forage. Rasau Walk is connected to the adjacent Grasslands and wetland trails, where visitors can experience a variety of habitats with its wide range of fauna, such as Grey Herons, Oriental Pied Hornbills, and Smooth-coated Otters.

Creating spaces for the community was also an important consideration in the design of Jurong Lake Gardens. The community can enjoy concerts, movie screenings, festivals and other events held at the open lawns, or simply enjoy the open spaces picnicking with families and friends.

More details about the features at Lakeside Garden can be found in Factsheet 1.

Celebrating the opening of Lakeside Garden with the inaugural SGF Horticulture Show

To celebrate the opening of Lakeside Garden, there will be a myriad of activities organised by NParks, People’s Association and Sport Singapore happening over two weekends.

NParks will be organising the inaugural SGF Horticulture Show, an offshoot of the main Singapore Garden Festival (SGF). The biennial SGF Hort Show is set to be a mainstay at Jurong Lake Gardens. Dovetailing with the objectives of Jurong Lake Gardens to showcase and promote our tropical plant collections, the Show comprises several competitive and non-competitive displays involving the local industry as well as the community. More information about the SGF Horticulture Show can be found in Factsheet 2.

J-Lake Fest celebrates the opening of PAssion WaVe @ Jurong Lake Gardens, the first waterfront facility in the West by PA offering integrated lifestyle activities for everyone, ranging from families to youths and working professionals.

A waterfront lifestyle carnival will be held on 27 April to offer residents programme try-outs ranging from arts and food and beverage to fitness and health and wellness. Participants can expect to soak in the panoramic views of the Jurong Lake Gardens skyline through sports try-outs or learn more about environment conservation methods through various activity booths. More details about the Waterfront Lifestyle Carnival on 27 April can be found in Factsheet 3.

Visitors can also look forward to Sport Singapore’s ActiveSG Park, which consists of a swimming pool and gym with a publicly-accessible covered pavilion and rooftop lookout deck that integrates the facility with the garden landscape. ActiveSG Park will be the programmable activity node nested within Jurong Lake Gardens. For more details, please refer to Factsheet 4.

The opening of Lakeside Garden was officiated by Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development, Second Minister for Finance, and Chairman of the Jurong Lake District Steering Committee. He was joined by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, and Advisor to Jurong GRC, and Advisors from the Jurong, Yuhua, West Coast and Bukit Batok Constituencies.

Next phase of development for Jurong Lake Gardens

With the opening of Lakeside Garden, NParks will proceed with the next phase of development by calling the construction tender for Chinese and Japanese Gardens, and Garden Promenade. The public can look forward to enjoy the remaining sections of Jurong Lake Gardens progressively from 2021 onwards.

Information accurate as of 26 April 2019.

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