Logo of the URA
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Agency overview | |
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Jurisdiction | Singapore Government |
Headquarters | The URA Centre, 45 Maxwell Road, Singapore 069118 |
Agency executives |
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Parent agency | Ministry of National Development |
Website | www |
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (Abbreviation: URA; Chinese: 市区重建局; Malay: Lembaga Pembangunan Semula Bandar) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Singapore Government.
The authority was established on 1 April 1974, and is of especially critical importance to the city-state, because Singapore is an extremely dense country where land usage is required to be efficient and maximised in order to reduce land wastage in the face of land shortage.
The URA is also responsible for assisting to facilitate racial harmony, such as to have their urban planning avoid segregation, as well as seeking ways to improve aesthetics and to reduce congestion. It is also responsible for the conservation of historic and cultural buildings and national heritage sites.
URA’s main responsibility is land-use planning. URA planners devise both long-term strategic land use plans and medium-term plans which are reviewed every five to ten years. These plans designate the land use and urban density for the entirety of Singapore, which is divided by URA into 55 planning areas.
This is the responsibility of URA to evaluate and grant planning approval for development projects from the public and private sectors. In approving development applications, the URA states its goal is to foster orderly development conforming to the planning guidelines as stated in the statutory Master Plan and the existing control factors. URA tries to provide quality service when working in partnership with building industry professionals and the general public to foster development.