NParks launches public exhibition on Jurong Lake Gardens Central and East
26 Nov 2016
Community invited to shape the new national gardens in the heartlands
26 November 2016 — Having awarded the design consultancy tender for Jurong Lake Gardens (JLG) Central and East in October 2016, the National Parks Board (NParks) today launched an exhibition to gather public feedback on the winning consultant team’s proposal.
Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, officially opened the exhibition at the Canopy @ J Link this morning. The event was also attended by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Adviser to Yuhua Grassroots Organisations.
JLG Central (consisting of the Chinese and Japanese Gardens); and JLG East (consisting of a promenade fronting the future Science Centre and along the eastern shore of Jurong Lake), together with JLG West (which is currently under development and was renamed from Jurong Lake Park) together form the 90-hectare JLG. As Singapore’s new national gardens in the heartlands, JLG is envisioned to be a people’s garden where spaces will be sensitively landscaped and created for families and the community to come together.
Awarded masterplan for JLG Central and East
In developing the masterplan for JLG Central and East, the appointed consultant team considered the need to preserve nature and memories by retaining existing nature and biodiversity hotspots while enhancing the gardens sensitively. The masterplan focuses on four key areas:
- Tropical Horticulture and Garden Artistry
- Nature and Sustainability
JLG Central and East will be designed with a landscape that is complementary to JLG West. While JLG West will focus on the restoration of natural habitats and nature-themed family recreation, JLG Central will feature tropical horticultural gardens within a natural and rustic setting. Show gardens will bring out the colours and textures found in the tropics, and feature unique tropical flora including flowering trees, ornamentals and edibles. A series of ponds, water terraces and streams will be featured in aquatic gardens, and illustrate water remediation with plants. These vibrant and exciting landscapes will be adorned with garden art and offer programmes for the community. They will be complemented with flexible spaces to cater for corporate, private and community events, and science educational programmes.
Visitors can look forward to smart-enabled visitor services and ample amenities including F&B and diverse recreational activities. They will be able to take a leisurely stroll or cycle to explore the Gardens as well as enjoy water-based activities. A people mover system will help families and less mobile visitors to get around the Gardens. Familiar structures including the pagodas, stone boat, Bonsai Garden and Japanese guesthouse will be repurposed for new uses that complement the garden spaces. Events like Chinese New Year and Mid-autumn Festival will be celebrated in the Gardens to preserve and create new memories.
The Gardens will be developed in phases. Development of JLG West commenced in April 2016 and and is scheduled for completion in 2018. The development of JLG Central and East will be progressively completed from 2020 onwards.
Next phase of public engagement
NParks had previously engaged the public extensively in the design of JLG West. The JLG public engagement exercise in 2015 yielded more than 17,700 suggestions. NParks took into consideration the suggestions and incorporated them into the detailed project brief for the design consultancy for JLG's next phase of development.
Similarly, NParks hopes to generate the same level of public interest and feedback through the public engagement sessions for the JLG Central and East masterplan which will include exhibitions from 26 November to 11 December 2016 and townhall/roving exhibitions from December 2016 to February 2017. The public can also provide their suggestions through online feedback on the JLG website from 26 November 2016. The masterplan will be refined further with the ideas and suggestions from the various platforms.
More information on JLG and the public engagement sessions is available at https://www.nparks.gov.sg/juronglakegardens.