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Computer-assisted land use planning in Singapore
Computer-assisted land use planning in Singapore
Belinda Yuen
The need for careful stewardship of land, together with the more intensive use and management of the resources upon it, is emerging as a major global concern. This article examines how Singapore is developing a programme and strategy for the administration and provision of information about land to support its physical planning. Some of the distinctive features of the Singapore initiative are examined and current developments are outlined. The author is at the School of Building and Estate Management, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 0511.
The use of computer technology in urban planning dates back to at least the mid-1960s. However, recent advances in microcomputer technology have made it increasingly easy for user departments to gain access to computers. Computers are becoming smaller, cheaper, easier to communicate with and therefore more accessible to users. More importantly, developments in hardware have been paralleled by software design. The availability of low-cost software packages and computer systems, together with the expanding requirements of diverse users, have directed the attention of many organizations to the need for improved land information management. This article discusses Singapore’s efforts to develop one such m~~nagcment strategy, using geographic information system (GIS) technology.’ The intention is not to present Singapore’s experience as a complete package ready to be imitated and implemented elsewhere. Indeed, it would be foolish to conclude that Singapore offers such a model, given its many unique features. Nevertheless, certain aspects of Singapore’s in particular its implementation of an efforts in computerization, land information system, merit serious consideraintegrated national tion.
Small land size ‘For a discussion of GIS, see for example P.A. Burrough, Principles of GIS for Land Resource Assessment, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1986; and K.J. Deuker, ‘Geographic information systems and computer-aided mapping’, Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol 53, 1987, pp 383-390. internal attained self‘Singapore government in 1959 and independence in 1965. 3Many of the statistics quoted in this first section are taken from Singapore Facts and Pictures 1990, Ministry of Communications and information, Singapore. 4Nearly half of the main island is covered by water catchment areas where urbanization is limited.
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Singapore, founded as a British colony in 1819, is today an independent republic, consisting of one main island and 57 islets.’ The country’s total land area, including all reclamation to date, is 623 km2.3 The present populati~~n is 2.7 million and is expected to reach 2.9 million by the year 2000. Singapore is a small, compact, densely populated city-state with 4337 persons/km2. Within its limited land area the spatial needs of the population, the city and the nation have to be accommodated. Land use planning in Singapore thus has to contend with the constraints imp(~scd by the scarcity of land and also various other development constraints posed by water catchment areas and facilities such as airports, defence installations and telecommunications.” Since the 1960s Singapore’s physical landscape has undergor~e a massive transformation. Changes can be seen in the new city skyline and the dominance of high-rise, high-density public housing. Since 1967 the
0264-8377/91/030214-l
3 0 1991 Butte~o~h-Heinemann
Ltd
Co~pzifer-uss~fe~
land use planning
in Singapore
built-up area on the main island of Singapore has expanded by 80%, at an average annual rate of 824 ha.’ More than 46% of the main island’s total area is built up. The process of urban transformation continues unabated and can be seen in the redevelopment of the central area and the building of new towns, office parks and business parks. Government departments and statutory boards play an important role in the metamorphosis of urban Singapore. ’ All the activities of local and national government are carried out by departments or statutory boards characterized by function. The government departments are organized under minist~es, each under the charge of a minister responsible to the Cabinet and Parliament.7 The statutory boards, on the other hand, are action agencies specially created to take charge of various economic and urban functions, each with its specific terms of reference and duties8 They are empowered with sufficient authority, including the compulsory acquisition of land, to implement their programmes. Some 76% of the country’s land is in state ownership.” The government departments and statutory boards are each custodians of large amounts of geographic information accumulated over the years which, if integrated, could provide an enormous resource for more effective land management. %See 1982 Land and Bu~ldjng Use Report of Survey, Planning Depa~ment, Singapore, 1983. ‘The present organization of a central authority and statutory boards replaces the old order of differential levels in authority (the Legislative Assembly, the City Council and the Rural Board) under the colonial administration. 7Singapore’s Parliament comprises 82 members elected under universal adult suffrage once every five years. ‘The statutory board, though not a part of the Civil Service, is answerable to (and appointed by) the minister under whose portfolio it comes. The purpose of the statutory board structure is to emphasize efficiency and expediency in specialized economic and urban functions, without loss of ultimate responsibility to the appropriate cabinet minister. ‘KC. Lin, ‘Land utilisation policy in Singapore’, paper presented at the BE&tREDAS Joint Seminar ‘87, Sinoapore. ‘OJ K Tan, ‘Urbanisation and national development planning in Singapore’, South East Asia Development Advisory Group Papers on Problems of Development in South East Asia, The Asia Society, SEADAG, New York, NY, USA, 1972. “Since 1 September 1989 the Planning Department, formerly a government department under the direct administration of the Ministry of National Development, has been transferred to the URA, a statutory board responsible for central area redevelopment, urban renewal and conservation programmes. By virtue of the amalgamation, all planning functions for the physical development of Singapore are brought under a single planning authority. “For further discussion of the master plan and planning system in Singapore, see P. Motha and B.K.P. Yuen, Singapore Real Property Guide, 3 ed, Singapore University Press, Singapore, 1989, Ch 6.
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Land information management
practices
The physical planning process in Singapore has been recognized as an important instrument of national economic development.‘0 It provides a structured framework for the implementation of the country’s economic strategy and the coordination of the various development authorities’ activities. All matters pertaining to the development of land and the construction of buildings are the subject of statutory control in Singapore. While building control is administered by the Public Works Department (PWD), physical planning and development control are the responsibility of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), a statutory board within the ambit of the Ministry of National Development.” The Ministry of National Development, one of 13 ministries set up by the government, is responsible for the physical development and planning of Singapore. Its main functions inciude road development, building control, planning, urban redevelopment, provision of parks and recreational facilities and public housing. These are executed through its three departments - the PWD, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Primary Production Department - and the three main statutory boards - the URA, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). National development policy is set out in the country’s development plans, the statutory master plan and the long-range concept plan. The statutory master plan essentially provides the framework for control over private sector development and is considered an adequate shortterm plan for the next five years. ‘* The master plan, approved in 19.58 and subject to review every five years, aims primarily at land use regulation through zoning, density and plot ratio controls, and the reservation of land for infrastructural development and other essential community uses. Public developments are generally guided by action plans prepared by the respective development authorities, eg the HDB for public housing
215
Cornpurer-assisted land use planning in Singapore Cabinet
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and new town developments, within the framework provided by the long-range concept plan. Though non-statutory in nature, the concept plan has been accepted by the government as a physical development policy plan to guide long-term development through the allocation of land. It also provides the basis for the periodic review of the statutory master plan. A large amount of information on land, building, roads and other development-related matters is required by planners in the preparation of these plans and in development control work. However, at present the information is manually maintained and kept in documents such as index cards, files, maps and plans, sometimes in different departments. Some of the information, such as socioeconomic data, is held and cg the Ministry of Education and maintained by other ministries, Ministry of Trade and Industry. This means that much time and effort are often expended in searching and retrieving particular information, and causes problems of data accuracy and duplication. Mujor development uuthorities Virtually all ministries and statutory boards are involved in land matters in one way or another. Besides the Ministry of National Development, the other major authorities are the Ministry of Environment (drainage and sewerage), Ministry of Law (land titles and cadastral maps), the statutory boards, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) (industrial land development) and the HDB (public housing) (see Figure 1). The HDB was one of the first statutory boards set up by the government and is the
216
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action agency for the formulation and implementation of public housing policies and programmes.“” Its establishment in 1960 marked the beginning of the present phase of large-scale and integrated public housing development. Statutory boards such as Singapore Telecom and the Public Utilities Board (PUB) are the major utility authorities, while the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) is responsible for charting the territorial waters and foreshore developments. These government organizations have accumulated large quantities of geographic information, with data about land being collected, stored and sometimes kept up to date independently by their ‘owners’. A government survey in 1987 showed that the collection and maintenance of such data are largely uncorordinated, with each authority adopting the traditional ‘housekeeping’ approach. l4 Each authority invariably collected and maintained its own specific set of data for its own use. Data were usually kept in a particular format suitable only for a specific purpose; the requirements of other development authorities were often ignored even though these may be easily met in the course of the authorities’ regular operation. Inevitably data are often fragmented and there is a high degree of data independence for each department or board. For example, the topographic data captured and stored by the HDB for its own internal use can be quite independent from that collected in the same area by another authority, eg the JTC. The standards of accuracy also differ and there has been little forma1 attempt to share common data. Resulting problems include duplication of effort, inconvenience to users, and high costs. All these factors indicate the need for a computerized land information system to manage spatially referenced data. It has become apparent to the government that better and coordinated land information management is needed to provide critical support to Singapore’s future planning and growth. Recognizing the inadequacies of the traditional, manual-oriented methods of land data recording, the governInent has taken a major initiative in implementing an inforination technology plan to computerize and integrate these data so as to minimize the costs of collection and maintenance, and to make the information more readily accessible.
Computerization push in Singapore The trajectory of development
‘3The other board was the Economic Development Board estabiish~ to spearhead the industrialization pr~ramme. Its industrial estate development and management function was subsequently transferrered to a new statutory board, the Jurong Town Corporation. 14Land Systems Committee, Ministry of Law, Map Sources and Mapping Systems, 1987. ‘5Economic Committee, Ministry of Trade and Industry, The Singapore Economy: New Directions, Singapore, 1986. ~6~a~nai Computer Board, Anffua~ ffeport, f9anaa.
LAND USE POLICY July 1991
Singapore policy makers see information technology (IT) both as a means for improvjng productivity and as a growth industry.‘” A national IT plan, shown in Figure 2, was endorsed by the government in 1986 as part of its blueprint for Singapore’s next phase of economic growth. The plan’s dual objectives are to turn Singapore into an international centre for the development and export of IT products and services, and to apply IT as an enabling technology to enhance the competitiveness of every economic sector.ih Consequent to the government’s adoption of the development strategy to computerize and automate for the 1980s a Civil Service Computerization Group was set up in 1980 and commissioned to study information system needs and to prepare a master computerization plan for the entire Singapore Civil Service. The Group recommended the establishment of a statutory board - the National Computer Board (NCB) - to spearhead IT development, together with the Civil Service
217
Climate for creativity and enterprise
IT manpower
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Figure 2. National Information Technology Plan.
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Programme (CSCP) to enhance the efficacy of public administration. Most of the Group’s recommendations were accepted and in 1981 the NCB was set up and assigned the role of moving Singapore into the information age. fn the same year the CSCP was initiated to decentralize computeriz~tjon and set up computers in ah ministries. Prior to the establishment of NCB, no government ministries (with the exception of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education) had their own computer systems; they were dependent on a central service provided by the Computer Services Department of the Ministry of Finance. Under the CSCP, each ministry will set up a Computer Information Systems Department headed by a senior ministry official. NCB staff are seconded to the department to be responsible for developing information systems and installing and operating the computers. NCB essentiaily provides expertise in technology, and costing and advice on issues such as compatibility or legality, whilst policy issues are set by the individual user departments. Policy matters relating to the overall direction, strategy and priority-setting are dealt with by a steering committee which comprises heads of user departments. The programme is reported to have created an extensive computing and database infrastructure for the government.” By 1990 the NCB had installed 107 mainframes and minicomputers and more than 10 000 personal computers and terminals in all ministries and government bodies including Parliament and the Judiciary. C~mput~~i~ati~n
’ 'Ibid.
218
LAND USE POLICY
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Computer-assisted
land use planning
in Singapore
Urban Redevelopment Authority
I
Public Works Department (Roads and Transportation Division)
r--l L__~
Public Works Department (Building Control Division)
Development application
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Figure 3. Integrated tem (ILUS) appiicaton
Land Use Sysflow chart.
The statato~y boards
Under the impetus provided by CSCP, by as early as 1983 the statutory boards had made various major investments in automation and computerization programmes, each quite independent of the other. This has resulted in different types of computer systems with different installation times, stage of implementation and degree of sophistication. The statutory boards’ computer applications are often developed for a single objective to support the business functions of the individual agency. Applications are largely in the area of general administration, eg payroll and computer-aided design and drafting. In many cases they are concerned with automation of map production, though there has been a growing awareness of the need to create land databases, albeit specifically to meet the particular agency’s internal business objectives. While most of these systems would initially help to improve the efficiency of the existing functions of their agencies, they are not designed to provide public access or interagency access. The result of this has been the duplication of effort, money and data.
Land information system development Integrated larzd use system
The Ministry of National Development has set up a Computer Information Systems Department as part of the CSCP initiative. It is implementing a land-based information system with GE applications to computerize its land and building data. Under the project, all the information requirements pertaining to planning, development and building control functions will be computerized. This Integrated Land Use System (ILUS) project, shown in Figure 3, is expected to be completed by 1993 and operational in 1994.” Its primary objectives are “See
The Straits
Times, 16 July 1987, Weekly,
Singapore, and Asia Computer Vol 9, No 10.
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
to: a
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support for decision making and problem
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land use planning
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?LUS Tender Document 1987, Ch 2; and URA, ILUS Fact Sheet, 2 October 1989. *oiLus, ibid. *‘Chaired by the Chief Executive Officer, URA, with members consisting of managers from user groups and NCB. ‘*‘A primary function of leadership is to set clear goals and objectives, to win acceptance among IS/IT users for such goals and objectives, and to provide commitment to achieve project goals and tasks.’ J. Edralin, ‘Implementing information systems/ technology in local/regional planning: a review of critical success factors’, in fntegrating lfff~f~ation Syste~s~ecbnol~y in L~a~~~iunaf Ptannjng, UNCRD, Nagoya, Japan, 1989, pp 37-46. *%omprising representatives from the user organizations, NCB and the vendor, Siemens Pte Ltd. ‘?“, Cartwright, ‘Information systems for planning in developing countries: some lessons from the experience of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)‘, Habitat International, Vol 11, 1987, pp 191-205. 25With members from URA, PWD and HDB.
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in its user departments; raise the level of information services to the public and other government organizations; increase productivity of staff engaged in information support, planning and evaluation activities; and provide an enhanced and expanded information service to the public and other government organizations.‘”
ILUS was first conceived in 1980 as a computerized system of land and building data designed to provide comprehensive informati~~n support to its users. The creation of the system involved: a centralized up-todate database of informati(~n on land, building, population and development constraints; the processing and evaluation of development and related applications such as building plan approval; and the review, interpretation and study of land and development.“’ The project initially aimed to serve the two user planning and building control departments of the Ministry of National Development. ie the former Planning Department and the PWD. The merger of the former Planning Department and the URA on 1 September 1989 means that ILUS is now being implemented by the URA. An important feature of the project is the establishment of a well-structured administrative organization to oversee its development and provide the appropriate policy support. At the outset, administrative arr~~ilgernents and procedures were established for decision making in general and specifically with regard to computing resources. ILUS comes under the control of the ILUS Steering Committee which charts the priorities and provides the overall leadership and direction for the project. 2’ This is necessary and crucial as data collection and administrative responsibilities are fragmented, and many ‘layers’ of geographic information are held independently by their owners. The critical role that is played by leadership in such projects has been emphasized by Edralin.” A Project Management Committee has also been set up within the URA to monitor and review the progress of the project.” In the development of the system, working groups are further established to define the detailed requirements of each subsystem. Each working group comprises information systems officers and representatives from user organizations. Continued system support is an essential ingredient for success and is dependent on the degree to which ideas, requirements and problems are communicated both vertically - to higher management, political leaders and staff - and horizontally - to other departments, organizations and users. The crucial question is as much what can be done with the data as what data are available in the system. As Cartwright has observed: information
systems serve a purpose.
well they serve that purpose. clear understanding
and how good they are depends on how
This means that their
design should be based on a
of who is going to use the system,
what it will be
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and how it wilt be used.”
Besides developing a communication network among user communities and administration, a L,and Data Administration Committee has been set up to ensure data consistency and standardization in 1LUS.25 The terms of reference for this Committee are to: identify common data needed by the organizations; prepare a Corporate Land Data Dictionary; and formulate, implement and monitor policies and procedures
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Comparer-assisted land use planning in Singapore
relating to data administration. At the same time, in order to develop and consolidate work within the framework of the initiative as a whole, a plan has been drawn up with the NCB to ensure progress and quality, and to ensure that the data put into the database is ‘error free’ and that the project runs on time and according to budget. While a well-structured organizational framework is important, due recognition must be given to the advances in technology especially in the field of GIS in the last 10 years. ILUS was conceptualized in 1980, but earlier attempts to launch the project were frustrated by the lack of appropriate technoIogy to meet project requirements.~~ As a result, the project was not initiated till 1989. Since the early 1980s there have been major breakthroughs in cost, speed and data-storage capacity of computer hardware and great advancement in GIS technology and software. The development of GIS is seen by the UK’s Chorley Committee on Handling Geographic Information as the ‘biggest step forward in the handling of geographic information since the invention of the map’.27 Another distinctive feature of Singapore’s efforts is the high level of political support and commitment to the project. The government in Singapore plays a dominant role in economic and urban development, is a primary focus of policy, and promotes the diffusion of technology.2x Policy support is an important prerequisite for success and is as crucial as the planning and implementation of the system itself. The diversity of data and functions implicit in a land information system makes it difficult to identify special interest groups (or even ‘pressure’ groups), and to obtain political commitment . , . Yet, by its very nature, and because the land information system attacks many of the well-established special interest groups, a strong political commitment would seem to be an essential ingredient for its
success.29
*‘A prequalification tender for the project was called in 1986 but was subsequently shelved because of poor response. Tender was subsequently called in 1988 and successfully awarded in 1989. 2’Depa~ment of the Environment, Handling Geographic lnformetion, Report to the Secretary of State for the Environment of the Committee of Enquiry chaired by Lord Chorley, HMSO, London, UK, 1987. 28See, for example, its efforts in industrialization (B. Yuen, ‘Planning and development of industrial estates in Singapore’, Third World Planning Review, Vol 13, No 1, February 1991, pp 47-68. *‘A. Hart, ‘The politics of land information systems’, Proceedings of URPIS 13 ConAdelaide, Australia, 1985, ference, pp 293-304.
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Such support is reflected in the government’s willingness to invest in IT manpower training, which is a critical factor in computer utilization, and in the funding of the project. In 1982 S$4 million was approved by the government for a five-year feasibility study to identify and establish the scope and functional requirements of ILUS and its implementation plan. The two user departments of ILUS together hold more than 200 000 records of buildings, estates, roads and other major development projects from the past 30-40 years. Information to be computerized includes: 2 million pages of textual and numeric information; 35 000 land use maps and plans, many of which are of different scales, some torn, tattered and annotated; and 15 million pages of documents from case files on building and development proposals. There are two major components to the project: the micrographic and the computerization. In 1984 a budget of S$4.4 million was approved to convert all historical paper records up to 1985 to microfilm so as to reduce storage space and facilitate easy retrieval A further budget of S$36.2 million was granted in 1986 for the implementation of the computerization of the project over the period 1986-93. Under the computerization programme 20 application systems will be developed to support the functions of urban planning, development control, building control, road planning and control, and strategic and operational decisions. It will be implemented in two phases. Phase I, as shown in Figure 4, covers a period of 35 months to be completed by 1992, including a 1Zmonth pilot phase. It will take the form of a turnkey project. The system’s hardware consists of the Siemens 7580 mainframe,
221
Computer-assisted
land use planning in Singapore
Pilot assessment Pilot ,.,. i ...,,;h,‘]..
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Initial letter of acceptance of system
Figure 4. Integrated
Land Use Sys(ILUS) implementation schedule for phase I. tem
30The four application systems are: land safeguarding, development application, building application and building application road plan subsystems. 3’Covers nine town subdivisions of Singapore - TS 14, 16, 17. 18, 19, 26, 27, 28 and 29 - and processes only new applications for subdivision, new submissions for erection of buildings and new amendment applications to approved submissions. ‘*As Edralin has commented, ‘The successful projects will continue to evolve and adapt to new applications A major goal for these projects is to become “learning systems” - systems that continually update their activities, refresh their training facilities and review their goal and objettives.’ Edralin. OD cit. Ref 22, D 43. 33Expected to bk available in about 1992. 34The Electronic Information Service. 35The development register is a register of the decision and particulars of development applications submitted to the planning authority for consideration. This register is available for public inspection at a fee. 36The charging policy for subscribers for data access has not been finalized yet. A nationwide electronic data interchange network has been implemented for trade documentaion. See K.H. Ko, ‘Electronic data interchange and the construction industry’, paper presented at the 1st IES Information Technology Conference, 2527 May 1989, Singapore. 37See Asia Computer Weekly, Vol 9, No 10.
222
System guarantee period ..,/................., : 12 months
: Final letter of acceptance of system
five workstations, 13 graphics terminals, 40 personal computers and two electrostatic plotters. Four application systems including that for the processing of development applications and building plans will be developed during phase I?” The pilot phase was launched on 1 December 1990 with the first of the four application systems ~ the development application subsystem, which became operational in a 940 ha pilot area.3’ The remaining 16 systems will be developed in-house over the next four to five years under phase II of the implementation programme. The relevance of phased implementation cannot be underestimated; particularly important in this respect is the need to develop systems that evolve in response to changing circumstances? When developed, the public will be allowed only limited access to the database by electronic transfer of data, eg they cannot access ‘confidential information’ nor update information.33 As early as July 1987 the Ministry had initiated a pilot scheme to provide electronic information relating to planning and building approvals.“’ Information that can be retrieved includes the type of development proposals. date of approval/ disapproval, reasons for disapproval and names of owners and consultants. Such information was previously offered in paper form, in the development register and in the monthly listing of building approval statistics.” Subscribers of the service can access the records by way of computer link-up through the existing telephone network.‘” As ILUS progresses, more on-line features are expected to be introduced. One proposal is a one-stop service to process all enquiries, which will replace the present manual and time-consuming method of making routine enquiries such as road interpretations and master plan zoning interpretations in development applications. ILUS has been described as the biggest computer system on land and building use in the world.” Its implementation makes it the first ever nationwide land database computerization project. The project provides an important route to ‘unlocking’ the vast land data resource which for many years has been held on paper. The GIS component in ILUS offers analysis functions to support planning and evaluation activities. This will help towards better-quality management information for decision making and an enhanced information service to both the public and government authorities. The availability of a centralized land use database will help to reduce data duplication and redundancy.
LAND
USE POLICY
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Table 1. ILUS major data groups. Data groups
information details
Land
Land use, cadastral, topographic, road reserves, mass rapid transit alignment, drainage reserves Type of structure, building form, building height, floor areas, number of storeys, buiiding use Buffer zones, security areas, polution control, height restriction, water catchment, adverse wise zones Master plan, microzoning plans, concept plan
Building Development
constraints
Planning maps and polygons Appljcation data
Source: WA.
S~ioeconomic
data
Planning submission, details of approval, applicant and establishment, development types, development appiicatjons, building plan a~lications demographic, employment figures
Although progress in the development of the system has been encouraging, major difficulties remain in the area of data conversion..18 Existing data from a variety of sources such as maps, files and index cards must be extracted, collated and cross-checked to build up the ILUS database. Most of these records are based on manual recording methods and, in converting such maps and records to a digital format, many previously unnoticed errors and conflicts become apparent. Data conversion forms the criticat path of the ILUS project. An extensive data conversion exercise is in progress. Six major data groups have been identified and are shown in Table 1. The initial phase of data formatting and inte~retation is one of the most difficult to resolve. In creating common data that can be maintained and utilized efficiently and effectively by the user departments, the areas of maintaining data consistency and integrity are important. Many facets come down to the need for compatibility, eg agreement on basic spatial units and data exchange standards, and the problem of data confidentiality. There is a need therefore to establish standard data codes and formats, and procedures for ensuring the quality of the data to maintain the integrity of the system and for updating purposes,. This will facilitate data input as well as the interchange of data amongst users. The establishment of the Land Data Administration Committee has facilitated this work. Data conversion is expected to be complete in five to seven years. In addition to the data herd within the ILUS user organizations, other data relevant to planning purposes (eg that of a socioeconomic nature) will also be captured and will be sought from other government organizations through national data-sharing projects such as the Land Data Hub. Land Data Hub Zn addition to ILUS, Singapore is moving towards a national integrated
land information system which integrates the land databases of various government agencies on a national scale. This is a major step forward as, under current practices, such data are kept and managed by different government organizations. A government-commissioned study on the extent of data duplication in the Singapore Civil Service suggested that data could be effectively organized into three major ‘hub’ databases - people, land and establishment (see Figure 5). These would manage the ‘departmental’ data collectively as a key resource. The functions of public administration would be greatly improved if data were treated as a corporate resource =See J.W. Werle, ‘Problemsin automat- and shared by the various ministries and boards. ing traditionalland records data’, CampuAs with ILUS, an institutional framework (shown in Figure 66) has fefs, ~n~roff~en~and ff&fr~S~s&fns,Val been established to facilitate data administration. The leading Commit9, No 2/3,1984, pp 199-202. LAND USE POLICY July 1991
223
THE
DATABASE
HUB
Home Affairs
Figure 5. The data hub - land, people and establishment.
“%e Ministry of Law has become the de facto coordinating authority, as most land data are referred to the cadastre. The Ministry of National Development, Elections Department, Property Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance and the statutory boards of HDB, JTC, URA and NC6 are represented in the Committee. 40Not all land information has been digitized. To complicate matters the authorities also operate on different computer systems. 4’The Survey Depa~ment, which began using a computerized mapping system in 1987, has commissioned a Survey and Mapping System for its cadastral information. In December 1988 the Registry of Titles and Deeds started to implement a non-graphic Lot-Base System to computerize its data on land, strata and accessory lots. The system was officially launched in October 1990.
tee of Permanent Secretaries provides the policy direction for the implementation of data administration to ensure that common data are created, maintained and utilized efficiently and effectively by all ministries. Various data administration committees are set up at the working level to coordinate the development of the databases. The devel~~pment of the land hub database is coordinated by the Land Systems Committee (LSC) chaired by the Ministry of Law and comprises representatives from the major land-related agencies? The project of land data sharing by government organizations is still in its developing stage. To achieve a fully integrated land information system digital land data must first be readily available and shared.“” In this regard, the LSC has sought assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and, in 1987, the LSC and UNDP initiated a two-year land data sharing prototype project to develop the technical and institLitiona1 mechanisms needed to accomplish the task of effective data sharing. The project, known as the Singapore Land Data Sharing Network (SLDSN), identified the following data sharing areas: 0
legal land descriptions, including cadastral spatial information and basic information on the land parcel or lot which are maintained by the Survey Department and the Registry of Titles and Deeds respectively, both within the Ministry of L~w;~’
r
Figure 6. The Civil Service institutional structure for data administration.
224
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Computer-assisted
0 0 0
a 0 0 l
land
use planning
,in Singapore
land ownership, which is maintained by the Registry of Titles and Deeds, Ministry of Law;42 telephone networks, maintained by Singapore Telecom; utilities networks, ie the electricity, gas and water lines which are maintained by the Public Utilities Board; sewerage and drainage networks, maintained by the sewerage and drainage departments, Ministry of Environment; building outlines, road network and land use information, being computerized under ILUS implemented by the URA; topographic information, air surveyed by the Ministry of Defence;43 hydrographic information, maintained by the Port of Singapore Authority.
Much of this information is being digitized. Some of the departments have only recently started computerization and are undergoing a massive conversion process. As with ILUS, data conversion will be a critical area in the implementation programme and is expected to take five to seven years to complete. The proposed Singapore Land Data Sharing Network system is expected to be launched in 1991. When fully implemented it will contain all of Singapore’s shared land data, in both graphic and textual forms. The system will serve as a data-exchange centre for all land-related data and provide ‘one-stop’ access to all current and major geographic information in Singapore. Such a facility is highly relevant when considering the reduction in time, effort and expenses in obtaining land information from the various administrating authorities. It will also reduce duplication of data capture and maintenance, while improving data accuracy.
Conclusions
“In addition to the Lot-Base System, the Registry is presently developing a Singaoore Titles Automation Reoistration Sysiem to computerize all land transactions under the Land Titles Act and Land Titles (Strata) Act, but does not include the Housing and Development Board (ie public) flats and commercial properties. 43Data conversion of this information has been completed and the computer records are maintained by the Survey Department, Ministry of Law. 44H B Dunkerley, ‘Land information systerns for developing countries’, The Surveyor, Vol 21, No 1, 1986, pp 14-20.
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Few countries of the world can reasonably claim to have fully integrated land information systems at a national level; in developing countries, land information systems are mostly very weak and loosely related.j4 Yet in the last 10 years Singapore has conceptualized and begun implementation not only of a land information system to facilitate and support its urban planning, but also of a nationwide land database computerization project. The resulting database will increase operational efficiency and also provide a centralized up-to-date information source for decision makers. This development is made possible by recent advances in computer and information technologies, especially in the area of land information systems. While technological development is important in the utilization of computers in planning, its availability alone does not ensure that the tools will be used effectively. Other qualitative prerequisites such as the administrative/organizational context and policy support are equally important in the effective application of computer technology to planning. While acknowledging the technological achievements that lie behind GIS capability, the Chorley Committee has drawn attention to the human and institutional problems that must be resolved if this potential is to be fully realized. Although there is no easy answer to these problems, the Singapore efforts have demonstrated one way in which these barriers and problems may be resolved, ie by setting up a
225
Computer-ussisted
land
i4se piunning
in Singapore
well-structured organizational framework to act as a focus and forum for users and to promote GIS. Implicit in this is the importance of government support, as the government is the main collector and provider of geographic data. Strong political commitment is an essential ingredient for success, otherwise the system may have little or no impact on decisions and on decision makers. While it is too early to assess the success of this system, the output and the benefits that LLUS will bring to its users are promising.
226
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Belinda Yuen
The need for careful stewardship of land, together with the more intensive use and management of the resources upon it, is emerging as a major global concern. This article examines how Singapore is developing a programme and strategy for the administration and provision of information about land to support its physical planning. Some of the distinctive features of the Singapore initiative are examined and current developments are outlined. The author is at the School of Building and Estate Management, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 0511.
The use of computer technology in urban planning dates back to at least the mid-1960s. However, recent advances in microcomputer technology have made it increasingly easy for user departments to gain access to computers. Computers are becoming smaller, cheaper, easier to communicate with and therefore more accessible to users. More importantly, developments in hardware have been paralleled by software design. The availability of low-cost software packages and computer systems, together with the expanding requirements of diverse users, have directed the attention of many organizations to the need for improved land information management. This article discusses Singapore’s efforts to develop one such m~~nagcment strategy, using geographic information system (GIS) technology.’ The intention is not to present Singapore’s experience as a complete package ready to be imitated and implemented elsewhere. Indeed, it would be foolish to conclude that Singapore offers such a model, given its many unique features. Nevertheless, certain aspects of Singapore’s in particular its implementation of an efforts in computerization, land information system, merit serious consideraintegrated national tion.
Small land size ‘For a discussion of GIS, see for example P.A. Burrough, Principles of GIS for Land Resource Assessment, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1986; and K.J. Deuker, ‘Geographic information systems and computer-aided mapping’, Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol 53, 1987, pp 383-390. internal attained self‘Singapore government in 1959 and independence in 1965. 3Many of the statistics quoted in this first section are taken from Singapore Facts and Pictures 1990, Ministry of Communications and information, Singapore. 4Nearly half of the main island is covered by water catchment areas where urbanization is limited.
214
Singapore, founded as a British colony in 1819, is today an independent republic, consisting of one main island and 57 islets.’ The country’s total land area, including all reclamation to date, is 623 km2.3 The present populati~~n is 2.7 million and is expected to reach 2.9 million by the year 2000. Singapore is a small, compact, densely populated city-state with 4337 persons/km2. Within its limited land area the spatial needs of the population, the city and the nation have to be accommodated. Land use planning in Singapore thus has to contend with the constraints imp(~scd by the scarcity of land and also various other development constraints posed by water catchment areas and facilities such as airports, defence installations and telecommunications.” Since the 1960s Singapore’s physical landscape has undergor~e a massive transformation. Changes can be seen in the new city skyline and the dominance of high-rise, high-density public housing. Since 1967 the
0264-8377/91/030214-l
3 0 1991 Butte~o~h-Heinemann
Ltd
Co~pzifer-uss~fe~
land use planning
in Singapore
built-up area on the main island of Singapore has expanded by 80%, at an average annual rate of 824 ha.’ More than 46% of the main island’s total area is built up. The process of urban transformation continues unabated and can be seen in the redevelopment of the central area and the building of new towns, office parks and business parks. Government departments and statutory boards play an important role in the metamorphosis of urban Singapore. ’ All the activities of local and national government are carried out by departments or statutory boards characterized by function. The government departments are organized under minist~es, each under the charge of a minister responsible to the Cabinet and Parliament.7 The statutory boards, on the other hand, are action agencies specially created to take charge of various economic and urban functions, each with its specific terms of reference and duties8 They are empowered with sufficient authority, including the compulsory acquisition of land, to implement their programmes. Some 76% of the country’s land is in state ownership.” The government departments and statutory boards are each custodians of large amounts of geographic information accumulated over the years which, if integrated, could provide an enormous resource for more effective land management. %See 1982 Land and Bu~ldjng Use Report of Survey, Planning Depa~ment, Singapore, 1983. ‘The present organization of a central authority and statutory boards replaces the old order of differential levels in authority (the Legislative Assembly, the City Council and the Rural Board) under the colonial administration. 7Singapore’s Parliament comprises 82 members elected under universal adult suffrage once every five years. ‘The statutory board, though not a part of the Civil Service, is answerable to (and appointed by) the minister under whose portfolio it comes. The purpose of the statutory board structure is to emphasize efficiency and expediency in specialized economic and urban functions, without loss of ultimate responsibility to the appropriate cabinet minister. ‘KC. Lin, ‘Land utilisation policy in Singapore’, paper presented at the BE&tREDAS Joint Seminar ‘87, Sinoapore. ‘OJ K Tan, ‘Urbanisation and national development planning in Singapore’, South East Asia Development Advisory Group Papers on Problems of Development in South East Asia, The Asia Society, SEADAG, New York, NY, USA, 1972. “Since 1 September 1989 the Planning Department, formerly a government department under the direct administration of the Ministry of National Development, has been transferred to the URA, a statutory board responsible for central area redevelopment, urban renewal and conservation programmes. By virtue of the amalgamation, all planning functions for the physical development of Singapore are brought under a single planning authority. “For further discussion of the master plan and planning system in Singapore, see P. Motha and B.K.P. Yuen, Singapore Real Property Guide, 3 ed, Singapore University Press, Singapore, 1989, Ch 6.
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Land information management
practices
The physical planning process in Singapore has been recognized as an important instrument of national economic development.‘0 It provides a structured framework for the implementation of the country’s economic strategy and the coordination of the various development authorities’ activities. All matters pertaining to the development of land and the construction of buildings are the subject of statutory control in Singapore. While building control is administered by the Public Works Department (PWD), physical planning and development control are the responsibility of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), a statutory board within the ambit of the Ministry of National Development.” The Ministry of National Development, one of 13 ministries set up by the government, is responsible for the physical development and planning of Singapore. Its main functions inciude road development, building control, planning, urban redevelopment, provision of parks and recreational facilities and public housing. These are executed through its three departments - the PWD, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Primary Production Department - and the three main statutory boards - the URA, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). National development policy is set out in the country’s development plans, the statutory master plan and the long-range concept plan. The statutory master plan essentially provides the framework for control over private sector development and is considered an adequate shortterm plan for the next five years. ‘* The master plan, approved in 19.58 and subject to review every five years, aims primarily at land use regulation through zoning, density and plot ratio controls, and the reservation of land for infrastructural development and other essential community uses. Public developments are generally guided by action plans prepared by the respective development authorities, eg the HDB for public housing
215
Cornpurer-assisted land use planning in Singapore Cabinet
I Prime
Minister
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Permanent
lment
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11 1 L J Government department
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1 I Singapore L--_--l
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Figure 1. Administrative
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I ,I -8
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Notes: Shows only government departments and statutory boards whose activities are concerned with or have impact on physical planning. “Ministers of defence, education, foreign affairs, finance, health, home affairs, labour, community development.
and new town developments, within the framework provided by the long-range concept plan. Though non-statutory in nature, the concept plan has been accepted by the government as a physical development policy plan to guide long-term development through the allocation of land. It also provides the basis for the periodic review of the statutory master plan. A large amount of information on land, building, roads and other development-related matters is required by planners in the preparation of these plans and in development control work. However, at present the information is manually maintained and kept in documents such as index cards, files, maps and plans, sometimes in different departments. Some of the information, such as socioeconomic data, is held and cg the Ministry of Education and maintained by other ministries, Ministry of Trade and Industry. This means that much time and effort are often expended in searching and retrieving particular information, and causes problems of data accuracy and duplication. Mujor development uuthorities Virtually all ministries and statutory boards are involved in land matters in one way or another. Besides the Ministry of National Development, the other major authorities are the Ministry of Environment (drainage and sewerage), Ministry of Law (land titles and cadastral maps), the statutory boards, the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) (industrial land development) and the HDB (public housing) (see Figure 1). The HDB was one of the first statutory boards set up by the government and is the
216
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
action agency for the formulation and implementation of public housing policies and programmes.“” Its establishment in 1960 marked the beginning of the present phase of large-scale and integrated public housing development. Statutory boards such as Singapore Telecom and the Public Utilities Board (PUB) are the major utility authorities, while the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) is responsible for charting the territorial waters and foreshore developments. These government organizations have accumulated large quantities of geographic information, with data about land being collected, stored and sometimes kept up to date independently by their ‘owners’. A government survey in 1987 showed that the collection and maintenance of such data are largely uncorordinated, with each authority adopting the traditional ‘housekeeping’ approach. l4 Each authority invariably collected and maintained its own specific set of data for its own use. Data were usually kept in a particular format suitable only for a specific purpose; the requirements of other development authorities were often ignored even though these may be easily met in the course of the authorities’ regular operation. Inevitably data are often fragmented and there is a high degree of data independence for each department or board. For example, the topographic data captured and stored by the HDB for its own internal use can be quite independent from that collected in the same area by another authority, eg the JTC. The standards of accuracy also differ and there has been little forma1 attempt to share common data. Resulting problems include duplication of effort, inconvenience to users, and high costs. All these factors indicate the need for a computerized land information system to manage spatially referenced data. It has become apparent to the government that better and coordinated land information management is needed to provide critical support to Singapore’s future planning and growth. Recognizing the inadequacies of the traditional, manual-oriented methods of land data recording, the governInent has taken a major initiative in implementing an inforination technology plan to computerize and integrate these data so as to minimize the costs of collection and maintenance, and to make the information more readily accessible.
Computerization push in Singapore The trajectory of development
‘3The other board was the Economic Development Board estabiish~ to spearhead the industrialization pr~ramme. Its industrial estate development and management function was subsequently transferrered to a new statutory board, the Jurong Town Corporation. 14Land Systems Committee, Ministry of Law, Map Sources and Mapping Systems, 1987. ‘5Economic Committee, Ministry of Trade and Industry, The Singapore Economy: New Directions, Singapore, 1986. ~6~a~nai Computer Board, Anffua~ ffeport, f9anaa.
LAND USE POLICY July 1991
Singapore policy makers see information technology (IT) both as a means for improvjng productivity and as a growth industry.‘” A national IT plan, shown in Figure 2, was endorsed by the government in 1986 as part of its blueprint for Singapore’s next phase of economic growth. The plan’s dual objectives are to turn Singapore into an international centre for the development and export of IT products and services, and to apply IT as an enabling technology to enhance the competitiveness of every economic sector.ih Consequent to the government’s adoption of the development strategy to computerize and automate for the 1980s a Civil Service Computerization Group was set up in 1980 and commissioned to study information system needs and to prepare a master computerization plan for the entire Singapore Civil Service. The Group recommended the establishment of a statutory board - the National Computer Board (NCB) - to spearhead IT development, together with the Civil Service
217
Climate for creativity and enterprise
IT manpower
1
I
IT
industry 1
I
I
lT
application
I1
I
Coordination and collaboration
I
I
IT I
Figure 2. National Information Technology Plan.
Information Communicatiori Infrastructure
I-
culture 1
1
_I
_
_ National
IT
Plan
Programme (CSCP) to enhance the efficacy of public administration. Most of the Group’s recommendations were accepted and in 1981 the NCB was set up and assigned the role of moving Singapore into the information age. fn the same year the CSCP was initiated to decentralize computeriz~tjon and set up computers in ah ministries. Prior to the establishment of NCB, no government ministries (with the exception of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education) had their own computer systems; they were dependent on a central service provided by the Computer Services Department of the Ministry of Finance. Under the CSCP, each ministry will set up a Computer Information Systems Department headed by a senior ministry official. NCB staff are seconded to the department to be responsible for developing information systems and installing and operating the computers. NCB essentiaily provides expertise in technology, and costing and advice on issues such as compatibility or legality, whilst policy issues are set by the individual user departments. Policy matters relating to the overall direction, strategy and priority-setting are dealt with by a steering committee which comprises heads of user departments. The programme is reported to have created an extensive computing and database infrastructure for the government.” By 1990 the NCB had installed 107 mainframes and minicomputers and more than 10 000 personal computers and terminals in all ministries and government bodies including Parliament and the Judiciary. C~mput~~i~ati~n
’ 'Ibid.
218
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Computer-assisted
land use planning
in Singapore
Urban Redevelopment Authority
I
Public Works Department (Roads and Transportation Division)
r--l L__~
Public Works Department (Building Control Division)
Development application
1
Figure 3. Integrated tem (ILUS) appiicaton
Land Use Sysflow chart.
The statato~y boards
Under the impetus provided by CSCP, by as early as 1983 the statutory boards had made various major investments in automation and computerization programmes, each quite independent of the other. This has resulted in different types of computer systems with different installation times, stage of implementation and degree of sophistication. The statutory boards’ computer applications are often developed for a single objective to support the business functions of the individual agency. Applications are largely in the area of general administration, eg payroll and computer-aided design and drafting. In many cases they are concerned with automation of map production, though there has been a growing awareness of the need to create land databases, albeit specifically to meet the particular agency’s internal business objectives. While most of these systems would initially help to improve the efficiency of the existing functions of their agencies, they are not designed to provide public access or interagency access. The result of this has been the duplication of effort, money and data.
Land information system development Integrated larzd use system
The Ministry of National Development has set up a Computer Information Systems Department as part of the CSCP initiative. It is implementing a land-based information system with GE applications to computerize its land and building data. Under the project, all the information requirements pertaining to planning, development and building control functions will be computerized. This Integrated Land Use System (ILUS) project, shown in Figure 3, is expected to be completed by 1993 and operational in 1994.” Its primary objectives are “See
The Straits
Times, 16 July 1987, Weekly,
Singapore, and Asia Computer Vol 9, No 10.
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
to: a
improve information
support for decision making and problem
219
~#mpt~~~r-assist~d
land use planning
in Singapore solving
a a 0
?LUS Tender Document 1987, Ch 2; and URA, ILUS Fact Sheet, 2 October 1989. *oiLus, ibid. *‘Chaired by the Chief Executive Officer, URA, with members consisting of managers from user groups and NCB. ‘*‘A primary function of leadership is to set clear goals and objectives, to win acceptance among IS/IT users for such goals and objectives, and to provide commitment to achieve project goals and tasks.’ J. Edralin, ‘Implementing information systems/ technology in local/regional planning: a review of critical success factors’, in fntegrating lfff~f~ation Syste~s~ecbnol~y in L~a~~~iunaf Ptannjng, UNCRD, Nagoya, Japan, 1989, pp 37-46. *%omprising representatives from the user organizations, NCB and the vendor, Siemens Pte Ltd. ‘?“, Cartwright, ‘Information systems for planning in developing countries: some lessons from the experience of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)‘, Habitat International, Vol 11, 1987, pp 191-205. 25With members from URA, PWD and HDB.
220
in its user departments; raise the level of information services to the public and other government organizations; increase productivity of staff engaged in information support, planning and evaluation activities; and provide an enhanced and expanded information service to the public and other government organizations.‘”
ILUS was first conceived in 1980 as a computerized system of land and building data designed to provide comprehensive informati~~n support to its users. The creation of the system involved: a centralized up-todate database of informati(~n on land, building, population and development constraints; the processing and evaluation of development and related applications such as building plan approval; and the review, interpretation and study of land and development.“’ The project initially aimed to serve the two user planning and building control departments of the Ministry of National Development. ie the former Planning Department and the PWD. The merger of the former Planning Department and the URA on 1 September 1989 means that ILUS is now being implemented by the URA. An important feature of the project is the establishment of a well-structured administrative organization to oversee its development and provide the appropriate policy support. At the outset, administrative arr~~ilgernents and procedures were established for decision making in general and specifically with regard to computing resources. ILUS comes under the control of the ILUS Steering Committee which charts the priorities and provides the overall leadership and direction for the project. 2’ This is necessary and crucial as data collection and administrative responsibilities are fragmented, and many ‘layers’ of geographic information are held independently by their owners. The critical role that is played by leadership in such projects has been emphasized by Edralin.” A Project Management Committee has also been set up within the URA to monitor and review the progress of the project.” In the development of the system, working groups are further established to define the detailed requirements of each subsystem. Each working group comprises information systems officers and representatives from user organizations. Continued system support is an essential ingredient for success and is dependent on the degree to which ideas, requirements and problems are communicated both vertically - to higher management, political leaders and staff - and horizontally - to other departments, organizations and users. The crucial question is as much what can be done with the data as what data are available in the system. As Cartwright has observed: information
systems serve a purpose.
well they serve that purpose. clear understanding
and how good they are depends on how
This means that their
design should be based on a
of who is going to use the system,
what it will be
used for
and how it wilt be used.”
Besides developing a communication network among user communities and administration, a L,and Data Administration Committee has been set up to ensure data consistency and standardization in 1LUS.25 The terms of reference for this Committee are to: identify common data needed by the organizations; prepare a Corporate Land Data Dictionary; and formulate, implement and monitor policies and procedures
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Comparer-assisted land use planning in Singapore
relating to data administration. At the same time, in order to develop and consolidate work within the framework of the initiative as a whole, a plan has been drawn up with the NCB to ensure progress and quality, and to ensure that the data put into the database is ‘error free’ and that the project runs on time and according to budget. While a well-structured organizational framework is important, due recognition must be given to the advances in technology especially in the field of GIS in the last 10 years. ILUS was conceptualized in 1980, but earlier attempts to launch the project were frustrated by the lack of appropriate technoIogy to meet project requirements.~~ As a result, the project was not initiated till 1989. Since the early 1980s there have been major breakthroughs in cost, speed and data-storage capacity of computer hardware and great advancement in GIS technology and software. The development of GIS is seen by the UK’s Chorley Committee on Handling Geographic Information as the ‘biggest step forward in the handling of geographic information since the invention of the map’.27 Another distinctive feature of Singapore’s efforts is the high level of political support and commitment to the project. The government in Singapore plays a dominant role in economic and urban development, is a primary focus of policy, and promotes the diffusion of technology.2x Policy support is an important prerequisite for success and is as crucial as the planning and implementation of the system itself. The diversity of data and functions implicit in a land information system makes it difficult to identify special interest groups (or even ‘pressure’ groups), and to obtain political commitment . , . Yet, by its very nature, and because the land information system attacks many of the well-established special interest groups, a strong political commitment would seem to be an essential ingredient for its
success.29
*‘A prequalification tender for the project was called in 1986 but was subsequently shelved because of poor response. Tender was subsequently called in 1988 and successfully awarded in 1989. 2’Depa~ment of the Environment, Handling Geographic lnformetion, Report to the Secretary of State for the Environment of the Committee of Enquiry chaired by Lord Chorley, HMSO, London, UK, 1987. 28See, for example, its efforts in industrialization (B. Yuen, ‘Planning and development of industrial estates in Singapore’, Third World Planning Review, Vol 13, No 1, February 1991, pp 47-68. *‘A. Hart, ‘The politics of land information systems’, Proceedings of URPIS 13 ConAdelaide, Australia, 1985, ference, pp 293-304.
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Such support is reflected in the government’s willingness to invest in IT manpower training, which is a critical factor in computer utilization, and in the funding of the project. In 1982 S$4 million was approved by the government for a five-year feasibility study to identify and establish the scope and functional requirements of ILUS and its implementation plan. The two user departments of ILUS together hold more than 200 000 records of buildings, estates, roads and other major development projects from the past 30-40 years. Information to be computerized includes: 2 million pages of textual and numeric information; 35 000 land use maps and plans, many of which are of different scales, some torn, tattered and annotated; and 15 million pages of documents from case files on building and development proposals. There are two major components to the project: the micrographic and the computerization. In 1984 a budget of S$4.4 million was approved to convert all historical paper records up to 1985 to microfilm so as to reduce storage space and facilitate easy retrieval A further budget of S$36.2 million was granted in 1986 for the implementation of the computerization of the project over the period 1986-93. Under the computerization programme 20 application systems will be developed to support the functions of urban planning, development control, building control, road planning and control, and strategic and operational decisions. It will be implemented in two phases. Phase I, as shown in Figure 4, covers a period of 35 months to be completed by 1992, including a 1Zmonth pilot phase. It will take the form of a turnkey project. The system’s hardware consists of the Siemens 7580 mainframe,
221
Computer-assisted
land use planning in Singapore
Pilot assessment Pilot ,.,. i ...,,;h,‘]..
Pilot defects
_;Y.~Y!.;. . .p..
lniiial letter of acceptance of pilot
liability
.,.f:;9pths.. .*,
1’ Letter of acceptance of pilot
2 Decision on continuation
: :
Phase II :..........,............ 16 months
Initial letter of acceptance of system
Figure 4. Integrated
Land Use Sys(ILUS) implementation schedule for phase I. tem
30The four application systems are: land safeguarding, development application, building application and building application road plan subsystems. 3’Covers nine town subdivisions of Singapore - TS 14, 16, 17. 18, 19, 26, 27, 28 and 29 - and processes only new applications for subdivision, new submissions for erection of buildings and new amendment applications to approved submissions. ‘*As Edralin has commented, ‘The successful projects will continue to evolve and adapt to new applications A major goal for these projects is to become “learning systems” - systems that continually update their activities, refresh their training facilities and review their goal and objettives.’ Edralin. OD cit. Ref 22, D 43. 33Expected to bk available in about 1992. 34The Electronic Information Service. 35The development register is a register of the decision and particulars of development applications submitted to the planning authority for consideration. This register is available for public inspection at a fee. 36The charging policy for subscribers for data access has not been finalized yet. A nationwide electronic data interchange network has been implemented for trade documentaion. See K.H. Ko, ‘Electronic data interchange and the construction industry’, paper presented at the 1st IES Information Technology Conference, 2527 May 1989, Singapore. 37See Asia Computer Weekly, Vol 9, No 10.
222
System guarantee period ..,/................., : 12 months
: Final letter of acceptance of system
five workstations, 13 graphics terminals, 40 personal computers and two electrostatic plotters. Four application systems including that for the processing of development applications and building plans will be developed during phase I?” The pilot phase was launched on 1 December 1990 with the first of the four application systems ~ the development application subsystem, which became operational in a 940 ha pilot area.3’ The remaining 16 systems will be developed in-house over the next four to five years under phase II of the implementation programme. The relevance of phased implementation cannot be underestimated; particularly important in this respect is the need to develop systems that evolve in response to changing circumstances? When developed, the public will be allowed only limited access to the database by electronic transfer of data, eg they cannot access ‘confidential information’ nor update information.33 As early as July 1987 the Ministry had initiated a pilot scheme to provide electronic information relating to planning and building approvals.“’ Information that can be retrieved includes the type of development proposals. date of approval/ disapproval, reasons for disapproval and names of owners and consultants. Such information was previously offered in paper form, in the development register and in the monthly listing of building approval statistics.” Subscribers of the service can access the records by way of computer link-up through the existing telephone network.‘” As ILUS progresses, more on-line features are expected to be introduced. One proposal is a one-stop service to process all enquiries, which will replace the present manual and time-consuming method of making routine enquiries such as road interpretations and master plan zoning interpretations in development applications. ILUS has been described as the biggest computer system on land and building use in the world.” Its implementation makes it the first ever nationwide land database computerization project. The project provides an important route to ‘unlocking’ the vast land data resource which for many years has been held on paper. The GIS component in ILUS offers analysis functions to support planning and evaluation activities. This will help towards better-quality management information for decision making and an enhanced information service to both the public and government authorities. The availability of a centralized land use database will help to reduce data duplication and redundancy.
LAND
USE POLICY
July 1991
Table 1. ILUS major data groups. Data groups
information details
Land
Land use, cadastral, topographic, road reserves, mass rapid transit alignment, drainage reserves Type of structure, building form, building height, floor areas, number of storeys, buiiding use Buffer zones, security areas, polution control, height restriction, water catchment, adverse wise zones Master plan, microzoning plans, concept plan
Building Development
constraints
Planning maps and polygons Appljcation data
Source: WA.
S~ioeconomic
data
Planning submission, details of approval, applicant and establishment, development types, development appiicatjons, building plan a~lications demographic, employment figures
Although progress in the development of the system has been encouraging, major difficulties remain in the area of data conversion..18 Existing data from a variety of sources such as maps, files and index cards must be extracted, collated and cross-checked to build up the ILUS database. Most of these records are based on manual recording methods and, in converting such maps and records to a digital format, many previously unnoticed errors and conflicts become apparent. Data conversion forms the criticat path of the ILUS project. An extensive data conversion exercise is in progress. Six major data groups have been identified and are shown in Table 1. The initial phase of data formatting and inte~retation is one of the most difficult to resolve. In creating common data that can be maintained and utilized efficiently and effectively by the user departments, the areas of maintaining data consistency and integrity are important. Many facets come down to the need for compatibility, eg agreement on basic spatial units and data exchange standards, and the problem of data confidentiality. There is a need therefore to establish standard data codes and formats, and procedures for ensuring the quality of the data to maintain the integrity of the system and for updating purposes,. This will facilitate data input as well as the interchange of data amongst users. The establishment of the Land Data Administration Committee has facilitated this work. Data conversion is expected to be complete in five to seven years. In addition to the data herd within the ILUS user organizations, other data relevant to planning purposes (eg that of a socioeconomic nature) will also be captured and will be sought from other government organizations through national data-sharing projects such as the Land Data Hub. Land Data Hub Zn addition to ILUS, Singapore is moving towards a national integrated
land information system which integrates the land databases of various government agencies on a national scale. This is a major step forward as, under current practices, such data are kept and managed by different government organizations. A government-commissioned study on the extent of data duplication in the Singapore Civil Service suggested that data could be effectively organized into three major ‘hub’ databases - people, land and establishment (see Figure 5). These would manage the ‘departmental’ data collectively as a key resource. The functions of public administration would be greatly improved if data were treated as a corporate resource =See J.W. Werle, ‘Problemsin automat- and shared by the various ministries and boards. ing traditionalland records data’, CampuAs with ILUS, an institutional framework (shown in Figure 66) has fefs, ~n~roff~en~and ff&fr~S~s&fns,Val been established to facilitate data administration. The leading Commit9, No 2/3,1984, pp 199-202. LAND USE POLICY July 1991
223
THE
DATABASE
HUB
Home Affairs
Figure 5. The data hub - land, people and establishment.
“%e Ministry of Law has become the de facto coordinating authority, as most land data are referred to the cadastre. The Ministry of National Development, Elections Department, Property Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance and the statutory boards of HDB, JTC, URA and NC6 are represented in the Committee. 40Not all land information has been digitized. To complicate matters the authorities also operate on different computer systems. 4’The Survey Depa~ment, which began using a computerized mapping system in 1987, has commissioned a Survey and Mapping System for its cadastral information. In December 1988 the Registry of Titles and Deeds started to implement a non-graphic Lot-Base System to computerize its data on land, strata and accessory lots. The system was officially launched in October 1990.
tee of Permanent Secretaries provides the policy direction for the implementation of data administration to ensure that common data are created, maintained and utilized efficiently and effectively by all ministries. Various data administration committees are set up at the working level to coordinate the development of the databases. The devel~~pment of the land hub database is coordinated by the Land Systems Committee (LSC) chaired by the Ministry of Law and comprises representatives from the major land-related agencies? The project of land data sharing by government organizations is still in its developing stage. To achieve a fully integrated land information system digital land data must first be readily available and shared.“” In this regard, the LSC has sought assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and, in 1987, the LSC and UNDP initiated a two-year land data sharing prototype project to develop the technical and institLitiona1 mechanisms needed to accomplish the task of effective data sharing. The project, known as the Singapore Land Data Sharing Network (SLDSN), identified the following data sharing areas: 0
legal land descriptions, including cadastral spatial information and basic information on the land parcel or lot which are maintained by the Survey Department and the Registry of Titles and Deeds respectively, both within the Ministry of L~w;~’
r
Figure 6. The Civil Service institutional structure for data administration.
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Computer-assisted
0 0 0
a 0 0 l
land
use planning
,in Singapore
land ownership, which is maintained by the Registry of Titles and Deeds, Ministry of Law;42 telephone networks, maintained by Singapore Telecom; utilities networks, ie the electricity, gas and water lines which are maintained by the Public Utilities Board; sewerage and drainage networks, maintained by the sewerage and drainage departments, Ministry of Environment; building outlines, road network and land use information, being computerized under ILUS implemented by the URA; topographic information, air surveyed by the Ministry of Defence;43 hydrographic information, maintained by the Port of Singapore Authority.
Much of this information is being digitized. Some of the departments have only recently started computerization and are undergoing a massive conversion process. As with ILUS, data conversion will be a critical area in the implementation programme and is expected to take five to seven years to complete. The proposed Singapore Land Data Sharing Network system is expected to be launched in 1991. When fully implemented it will contain all of Singapore’s shared land data, in both graphic and textual forms. The system will serve as a data-exchange centre for all land-related data and provide ‘one-stop’ access to all current and major geographic information in Singapore. Such a facility is highly relevant when considering the reduction in time, effort and expenses in obtaining land information from the various administrating authorities. It will also reduce duplication of data capture and maintenance, while improving data accuracy.
Conclusions
“In addition to the Lot-Base System, the Registry is presently developing a Singaoore Titles Automation Reoistration Sysiem to computerize all land transactions under the Land Titles Act and Land Titles (Strata) Act, but does not include the Housing and Development Board (ie public) flats and commercial properties. 43Data conversion of this information has been completed and the computer records are maintained by the Survey Department, Ministry of Law. 44H B Dunkerley, ‘Land information systerns for developing countries’, The Surveyor, Vol 21, No 1, 1986, pp 14-20.
LAND USE POLICY
July 1991
Few countries of the world can reasonably claim to have fully integrated land information systems at a national level; in developing countries, land information systems are mostly very weak and loosely related.j4 Yet in the last 10 years Singapore has conceptualized and begun implementation not only of a land information system to facilitate and support its urban planning, but also of a nationwide land database computerization project. The resulting database will increase operational efficiency and also provide a centralized up-to-date information source for decision makers. This development is made possible by recent advances in computer and information technologies, especially in the area of land information systems. While technological development is important in the utilization of computers in planning, its availability alone does not ensure that the tools will be used effectively. Other qualitative prerequisites such as the administrative/organizational context and policy support are equally important in the effective application of computer technology to planning. While acknowledging the technological achievements that lie behind GIS capability, the Chorley Committee has drawn attention to the human and institutional problems that must be resolved if this potential is to be fully realized. Although there is no easy answer to these problems, the Singapore efforts have demonstrated one way in which these barriers and problems may be resolved, ie by setting up a
225
Computer-ussisted
land
i4se piunning
in Singapore
well-structured organizational framework to act as a focus and forum for users and to promote GIS. Implicit in this is the importance of government support, as the government is the main collector and provider of geographic data. Strong political commitment is an essential ingredient for success, otherwise the system may have little or no impact on decisions and on decision makers. While it is too early to assess the success of this system, the output and the benefits that LLUS will bring to its users are promising.
226
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July 1991