Assessment and planning of underground space use in Singapore

Abstract Underground space development has become an economic imperative for land-scarce Singapore. In 2007, the government, under the Ministry of National Development, set up an inter-agency Underground Master Planning Task Force that aims to map out the long-term development of underground space, bringing underground space development to a strategic level. In 2010, the Economic Strategies Committee made developing underground space part of the government’s long-term economic strategy with specific recommendations on master planning, geological investigations, investment in research and development, and various policy issues. The ESC report also recommended that the government should take the lead in catalysing the use of underground space. Based on these recommendations, the Singapore government have taken various initiatives and studies, and initiated various research projects in support of these initiatives. This paper gives a review of the history of underground space development, highlights the potential utilisations, and discusses the various recent studies and planning issues, and examines possible strategies for future use of underground space in Singapore.