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Singapore City Gallery

Singapore City Gallery
Established 27 January 1999 (1999-01-27)
Location 45 Maxwell Road, Singapore
Coordinates Coordinates: 1°16′47.42″N 103°50′42.5″E / 1.2798389°N 103.845139°E / 1.2798389; 103.845139
Type Urban planning museum
Visitors 200,000 (annually)
Owner Urban Redevelopment Authority
Public transit access Chinatown (North East Line/Downtown Line), Tanjong Pagar (East West Line)
Website www.ura.gov.sg/uol/citygallery

Located between historic Chinatown and the Central Business District, Singapore City Gallery is a three storey visitor centre which houses an enormous model replica, giving visitors a complete view of the Central Area of Singapore. It also shows the city's physical transformation past, present and future.

Formerly known as the URA Gallery, it was established in January 1999, and is currently still managed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development, whose role is to plan and facilitate Singapore's long term land use and physical development.

The Gallery aims to showcase Singapore’s physical transformation in the last 50 years to become "one of the most liveable cities in Asia." It also aims to explain how "forward-looking, long-term and integrated land use planning and partnership between private and public sectors is achieved" in Singapore. The Gallery also presents "creative solutions to balancing different competing needs, the many live, work, play opportunities planned for, extensive conservation efforts and urban design strategies to create a more distinctive Singapore."

The gallery, which had an initial cost of 4.2 million Singapore dollars, was opened on 27 January 1999,by Lim Hng Kiang, who was National Development Minister at the time. The gallery was initially projected to attract 36,000 visitors a year over the first three years of its existence, most of whom were expected to be students or local community groups. In 2004, the gallery underwent a major renovation of 80% of its exhibits. Upon its reopening on 3 December 2004, the Gallery was renamed the Singapore City Gallery. The Gallery's key exhibit, the Central Area Model, was also expanded to include areas which were formerly not shown, such as Orchard Road, Kampong Glam, Little India, Bras Basah, and Bugis. The model was also updated to include the latest plans for Marina Bay. In 2008, the Gallery received its millionth visitor. In 2011, the gallery was redesigned again, and reopened in August of that year, to include new exhibits such as a 270-degree panorama of life in Singapore and an 8-player multimedia game on urban planning. This latest version won honours in the Singapore Design Award 2012 for both the Events/Exhibitions category and the Multidisciplinary Design category. The Gallery now receives about 200,000 visitors annually.


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