Lights, action and more ads

Source : Sunday Times – 30 Aug 2009

Imagine Bugis resembling Tokyo’s Shinjuku or New York’s Times Square – commercial signs throbbing with lights, music blaring from every corner and crowds thronging the sidewalks.

This could be a reality soon with the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) push for the area, earmarked as Singapore’s entertainment hub, to cultivate some vibrancy and verve.

Orchard Road and Chinatown too have been singled out by the authority for some bright lights and action.

It is wrapping up a review of its guidelines on advertising signs and is expected to relax existing rules before the year end.

Changes it will likely roll out: expanding the areas where signs are allowed in Bugis, Orchard and Chinatown, and allowing advertising signs to go higher on buildings fronting strategic road junctions in Orchard and Bugis.

This means lifting the height restriction of 30m, or about six storeys. ‘At key road junctions, signs can be a bit higher. Then, you can mark that as a gateway or node for that area,’ said Mr Andrew David Fassam, URA’s director of urban planning.

But it will not budge on its ban on free-standing billboards, signs on rooftops or in residential areas, or anything high enough that can be seen from other parts of the city.

These advertising formats, once a significant part of Singapore’s cityscape, were outlawed in 1993 because the authorities felt they marred the city’s image.

That clean-up drew mixed reactions from the public. Some accused the authorities of overly sanitising the city, making it dull compared to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai. But others welcomed the uncluttering.

‘From an advertiser’s point of view, you get maximum exposure with these signs. But what is their impact on the city? At night when they are all lit up, it may look attractive. But you don’t see the steel structures behind them,’ said Mr Fassam.

Anyone – landlords, advertisers or contractors – who wishes to put up an outdoor advertising sign has to apply for a licence from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

The statutory board grants about 30,000 licences a year. Nearly half are for company signboards. Another 46 per cent are for advertisements while 5 per cent are for banners.

Those who flout regulations can be fined up to $5,000. URA has been loosening the reins over the past decade. In 1997, it introduced guidelines to allow advertisement signs in Orchard, New Bridge Road and Eu Tong Sen Street, and Bugis.

In 2001, it included three more areas: Raffles Place, Marina Centre and Singapore River. In 2002, flicker lights made a comeback.

The URA benchmarked itself against cities like Sydney, New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul. They had one thing in common: guidelines varied from district to district.

While they encouraged advertising signs in shopping and entertainment precincts, they generally frowned on signs in business, residential and heritage areas.

In New York, Wall Street is largely devoid of garish advertising signs while Times Square swings the other way. In fact, the latter’s vibrancy is carefully orchestrated, said Mr Fassam, adding that the authorities mandate that every building owner there puts up signs.

Experts say billboards can be an eyesore, but given the right touch, they can also enhance the streetscape. ‘The principle behind the guidelines is to be sensible and sensitive to the architecture of the city,’ said architect Tan Kay Ngee.

He thinks the skyline can be made more attractive if elegant signs are allowed on top of certain skyscrapers in the Central Business District, ’so the city is not so sleepy’.

Another issue concerns trees. Said architect Wong Mun Summ: ‘One of the things that have to be tackled is, while we want to support all this, the trees are in the way. If we want designated bright lights, we need to make sure the signs are visible.’

In Bugis where there are many proper walkways, trees can be smaller so they do not block signs. In Orchard where big trees provide shade and shelter, guidelines should allow for signs to be seen through the trees either at the bottom or the top, suggested Mr Wong.

URA has urged landlords to consider incorporating ad space or lights into the building’s architecture.

Outdoor media firms welcome the changing signs of the times.

There is a shortage of outdoor advertising space, said Mr Edward Tang, general manager of SPH

MediaBoxOffice. It operates digital screens both indoors and outdoors as well as billboards and banners.

‘We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,’ he added.