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FOR some time now, Singapore has been seeking to make its Central Business District (CBD) more vibrant after office hours and on weekends, by encouraging more homes to be built to inject a bigger live-in population into the district.

In the past two decades, some 15 projects yielding about 6,100 private homes were completed in the district, shows a compilation by PropNex Research. These include the likes of The Sail @ Marina Bay, Icon, Marina One Residences, V on Shenton and The Clift. Another four projects, with nearly 1,500 homes, are under construction: Skywaters Residences, W Residences Singapore – Marina View, One Bernam and Newport Residences (see tables).

However, merely introducing new housing stock will not necessarily liven up the CBD. There is a need for supporting amenities – including schools, playgrounds, sports facilities, wet markets, festival markets and community-bonding activities – to attract more families to live there, say property industry observers.

Moreover, prevailing property cooling measures, especially the punitive 60 per cent Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rate on foreigners buying a residential property in Singapore, have affected demand for private homes in prime areas, including the CBD.

On the other hand, some observers feel that a more pressing concern in the CBD is a looming shortage of prime offices – with no new significant supply of Core CBD Grade A office space slated for completion over the next three years. The last time the government sold a substantial site with predominant office use in the CBD was in 2016. Instead it has turned its attention to promote decentralised office clusters in places such as Woodlands, Punggol and Jurong Lake District.