Tribute to a pioneer

Source : Business Times - 25 Apr 2009

IF ONE person could be said to have played an essential role in shaping Singapore’s landscape, Liu Thai Ker would be that man. Prof Liu is closely associated with the implementation of public housing here and formulating a vision for the urban development of the city. For his public service, he was honoured last night with an Outstanding Service Award from the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Prof Liu, who is currently director of RSP Architects, Planners & Engineers, made his mark on Singapore’s landscape while heading two major organisations - the Housing & Development Board, and later the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Trained as an architect, his sense of aesthetics was derived from his father, pioneer local painter Liu Kang. After graduating from the University of New South Wales, Prof Liu continued his studies and early career in Australia and the US.

On returning to Singapore he joined the HDB in 1969, and became chief executive in 1979. First, as head of HDB’s design and research unit, he guided the board’s planning concepts as it shifted from large-scale estates with localised facilities to near-self-sufficient new towns for 200,000 to 300,000 people.

While chief executive of the HDB, he oversaw the completion of more than half-a-million dwellings as the government embarked on its ‘Home Ownership for All’ policy. ‘The building programme was very important for Singapore,’ says Prof Liu. In 1984, the HDB built a whopping 64,000 homes - a ‘watershed year’ for the agency.

After his time at the HDB, Prof Liu moved on to become chief executive officer and chief planner of the URA in 1989, where he oversaw and completed the revision of the Concept Plan - credited with making Singapore the attractive and efficient city it is today.

Prof Liu says he started by working with an old concept plan from the 1970s, which he updated between 1989-1991. ‘The government wanted the Singapore masterplan to be on par with other advanced cities in the world,’ he says. His 1991 Concept Plan put forward a vision that is still in place - future master plans from the URA have used the 1991 Concept Plan as a template.

Prof Liu also initiated an island-wide conservation policy under which about 5,000 buildings were permanently gazetted as historic. He says his team surveyed as many as 10.000 buildings before coming up with the final list to be conserved.

During his time at the URA, Prof Liu also made sure that planning regulations and guidelines were transparent and unambiguous. ‘They (developers) then know very clearly what they can do and what they cannot do,’ he says. ‘That works in the interest of property development.’

The key ingredient to planning a successful city is attention to the ‘fundamental details’, says Prof Liu. ‘I think the success story of Singapore’s planning is that we put in solid work at the beginning to make sure everything works,’ he says. Issues such as traffic flow, infrastructure and a good mix of land use must be carefully planned.

‘What we want is a solid community, a solid city. And when we get these things done, in time the glamour will appear.’ His view has been somewhat vindicated - the city is slowly building up a buzz after the fundamentals were in place.

The other secret to successful urban planning is to set out clear parameters and then give designers and architects free rein. ‘We give a lot of room to designers and architects to exercise their talent,’ says Prof Liu.

He has also re-planned close to a dozen cities for millions of people across Asia and in the Middle East, as well as central business districts, townships and residential and industrial estates. His work also includes the master plan for NUS, as well as major city planning and urban design projects in India and South-east Asia.

Accepting the award last night, Prof Liu, who is an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said he is happy to be involved with NUS on academic matters, campus planning and architecture.