Senior Vice-President of HOK Planning Group Robert Marshall (L)
with Vice-President of the HOK Planning Group and Principal Urban
Designer of the BSB Development Masterplan Sylvester Wong

Development Masterplan To Study Growth Direction For Next 25 Years

Bandar Seri Begawan - Creation of a green city, development of a diverse economy and celebration of Bandar Seri Begawan's (BSB) stately capital quality are the three main directions taken into account in the design and formulation of the BSB Development Masterplan.

Global consultancy firm HOK Planning Group Senior Vice-president Robert Marshall said that it is now essential to look ar the growth of the city from many perspectives when coming up with a masterplan that will guide BSB's development in the next 25 years.

"We do not want to bring Hong Kong or Singapore to Brunei, but instead we are studying and understanding the situation here to try to make (BSB) better, more sustainable and economically diverse in the future." he said in an interview earlier this week.

Marshall said that they hope to first create a green city which respects the ecology that is already in place.

"We want a city in the garden and not a garden city... there is a very major distinction. It is not just what we intend to promote in terms of building and development, but also what we would like to protect in terms of the natural and cultural heritage of the city," he said.

"For the past two months, we have found through public workshops, stakeholder interviews and people on the street, that there are so many wonderful things about the forest, river and environment things that we want to conserve and enrich," added the senior vice president.

"We are looking at the natural systems here in the city and focusing on it right now as the first step of the planning process."

"We are going through good design (models) to improve people's access to the natural resources so that they will actually realise that they are living in a river city where right now people often don't really see it." he said. It was also learnt that the HOK Planning Group plans to help Brunei develop a diverse economy and everything necessary to support such diversification.

Vice-president of the HOK Planning Group and Principal Urban Designer of the BSB Development Masterplan Sylvester Wong said there has been a lot of talk and focus on the planning and implementation side of the plan but there is also a large economic side to it as well.

"We are looking for ways to develop and sustain a diverse economy by opening up the attractiveness of the city to attract foreign investments."

'How can we open up opportunities for the skills-based industry here to improve and what kind of future education, work skills, creative industries and research should we focus on?" he asked.

"This also relates to social sustainability, especially in issues concerning the ability to support the lives of all its citizens and economic classes, providing quality education and health services, as well as good job opportunities for the people," added Wong.

He further said that the masterplan also hoped to help the city celebrate its stately capital quality, while establishing the sense of identity shared by many cities around the world.

"BSB is very fortunate to have so many resources around which to build a strong city identity. Recognising that there are many existing places that are memorable, we want to use good urban designs and city management techniques to not only guide the way the city evolves, but also create a framework in which over time, the population of Bandar can mould and form it to become a city of their own," he said.

He added that the HOK Planning Group has learnt many things about unique Bruneian values, such as the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) lifestyle and celebration of family, which they felt was fundamental building blocks to creating a place of vibrancy and could establish BSB as one of the world's most liveable places.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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