
Sharing Spaces: How Integrated Mixed-Use Developments Shape Communities
Opportunities for organic encounters and infrastructure for a thriving community — integrated mixed-use developments will define the way we live, work and interact with one another in the city.
Integrated mixed-use developments provide a holistic space by combining various opportunities, aspirations, functions and human needs into a single development.
City planners in Singapore have been moving away from single-use projects to encourage more mixed-use developments in recent years. This shapes land-scarce Singapore by providing for adaptable spaces in the future and creating vibrant, liveable neighbourhoods.
The movement towards liveability is evident in our city centres, which used to be dominated by offices and malls. This is no longer a landscape that we will see. Instead, our city centres will be populated with a range of amenities that encourage more meaningful human interactions — the very kind of lively spaces that a mixed-use development contributes towards.

The 'Social Exchange Artisan Market' at Guoco Tower's City Room.
HOW INTEGRATED MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS SHAPE COMMUNITIES
There is beauty in strangers crossing paths, enjoying various activities together in the same space or convened around particular happenings. These are moments shared organically. A thoughtfully designed mixed-use development provides a ‘heart’ for the community where such opportunities for human encounters can happen authentically. It also carves out a focal point in the city for all kinds of activities to take place.
To facilitate that, mixed-used developments are designed with ideas in mind that are centred around human needs. This could include infrastructure that helps people thrive, better accessibility and mobility options, active placemaking that encourages participation, amenities that promote diversity and inclusivity, and enjoyable green public spaces.
By design, a mixed-use scheme — its co-location of functions and seamless connectivity — draws in people from all walks of life. When different people instinctively gather around a thoughtfully planned space, the space becomes rich with connections and a diversity of experiences. All of that creates a thriving neighbourhood and place identity where a community can grow sustainably.
In many ways, integrated mixed-use developments allow the sharing of spaces to enhance a community in ways that single-use developments can’t achieve.

THE FUTURE OF INTEGRATED MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS
Integrating live, work and play is one of the central focuses of Singapore’s urban masterplan for the next decade. Currently, integrated mixed-use developments are seen as a viable and adaptable solution to this great urban transformation that will bring residential neighbourhoods, jobs and amenities closer together.
In an ever-evolving global economy that is producing increasingly varied lifestyle needs, what defines a mixed-use development will continue to evolve. One facet that will stay true, however, is that a mixed-use development involves coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort to successfully benefit a community.
Although this is a huge task, once a mixed-use development is thriving, it provides a catalyst in the city where even more diversity of functions and creative uses can grow around the development.
In an ever-evolving global economy that is producing increasingly varied lifestyle needs, what defines a mixed-use development will continue to evolve. One facet that will stay true, however, is that a mixed-use development involves coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort to successfully benefit a community.
“[R]eal estate development is not a zero-sum game. That is, all parties – stakeholders including buyers and tenants of units and the surrounding community – must benefit… everyone ultimately wants good and successful developments, and a vibrant, liveable city.”
— Mr Cheng Hsing Yao, ‘Not a zero-sum game’, The Business Times (6 Oct 2020)

Guoco Tower and Active Placemaking
Rising directly above the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, Guoco Tower — designed by internationally-acclaimed architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill — is an ambitious vertical city that comprises a dynamic mix of commercial, residential, retail, hotel and urban park components.
Guoco Tower has actively facilitated community bonding through pop-up play spaces, festive events and community campaigns. As such, the development not only sets the benchmark for sustainable and liveable developments in the city centre, it has also been vital in transforming Tanjong Pagar into a key business and lifestyle district.

Something to look forward to: Guoco Midtown
The upcoming Guoco Midtown is a mega integrated mixed-use development imagined as the ‘City of the Future’. Visualise a microcosm of living, working and playing: two condominiums (Midtown Bay and Midtown Modern), an office tower, commercial clusters, al fresco dining in sheltered public spaces, a City Room, a Market Place, and a variety of supporting amenities. These elements will bring in an intersecting traffic of office workers, residents and visitors weaving through pockets of concept gardens to get to their destinations every day.
Guoco Midtown is also conceptualised around the heritage buildings in the surroundings. With a focus on ‘human scale’, public spaces are designed to enhance street life. The landscaped areas are planned around ‘biophilia’ that emphasises physical and mental wellness. When completed in phases between 2022 and 2024, Guoco Midtown is expected to contribute to the transformation and rejuvenation of the Beach Road/ Ophir-Rochor Corridor.
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