Senior Appointment Changes at the Urban Redevelopment Authority
The leadership transition signals continuity in long-term urban planning, potentially sustaining initiatives involving growth districts, public spaces, conservation and car-lite development.
Lim Eng Hwee was appointed URA Chief Executive Officer from 1 September 2017, succeeding Ng Lang, while Hwang Yu-Ning became Acting Deputy CEO and Chief Planner.
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The Ministry of National Development (MND) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced today the following senior appointment changes at URA:
• Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of URA will relinquish his current appointment on 31 August 2017, before taking on the appointment as CEO, JTC Corporation on 1 September 2017.
• Mr Lim Eng Hwee, currently Chief Planner and Deputy CEO of URA, will be appointed as CEO, URA on 1 September 2017.
• Ms Hwang Yu-Ning, Director (Land & Liveability), Strategy Group, Prime Minister’s Office, will be appointed as Acting Deputy CEO and Chief Planner, URA on 1 October 2017.
As CEO of URA for the last seven years, Mr Ng Lang has placed people, partnership and public spaces at the core of urban planning. He oversaw master planning initiatives like the Master Plan Review 2013, the Rail Corridor, the Punggol Digital District and the Jurong Lake District. Under his leadership, URA has fostered deeper partnerships with the community and other government agencies to transform places like the Kranji Marshes into inclusive public spaces. Mr Ng also played a key role in pushing forward the car-lite movement in Singapore, through initiatives such as Car-Free Sunday SG and weekend street closures in the historic districts. To transform urban planning, Mr Ng led a three-year digitalisation plan to fully digitise planning processes in URA. This has allowed planners to use data analytics to improve planning insights, and enhance inter-agency collaboration for better planning outcomes and productivity. He also started the URA SPACE to make available more planning data, to help businesses and the community make informed decisions.
Mr Lim Eng Hwee has served in the Singapore public service for almost 30 years. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge in urban planning, urban design and land use policies, and development initiatives. He has also served in the Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Trade and Industry in various capacities, overseeing urban development and economic development policies. Mr Lim firmly believes in planning for pedestrians and cyclists as part of urban planning. He helped to develop the National Cycling Plan that was released as part of the Draft Master Plan 2013. He also played a pivotal role in outlining key planning initiatives such as Singapore’s decentralisation strategy to create new growth centres outside the city centre and bring jobs closer to homes of Singaporeans. Under his guidance, a hierarchy of commercial nodes was developed outside the city, from regional centres such as Tampines, Jurong and Woodlands Regional Centre, to sub-regional centres such as one-north, Paya Lebar Central and fringe centres like Novena.
Ms Hwang Yu-Ning was trained as an architect and has served in the Singapore public service as an urban planner and policy maker for more than 20 years. Her experience ranges from long-term strategic planning to local urban design and master planning. Prior to her current posting in the Strategy Group of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms Hwang oversaw the master planning and development of key growth areas such as the Kallang Riverside and Paya Lebar, in her capacity as Group Director of Physical Planning at URA. She also led a study to develop an islandwide leisure plan to enhance our living environment by capitalising on Singapore’s unique identity and pervasive sense of greenery.
A more detailed write-up of Mr Lim Eng Hwee and Ms Hwang Yu-Ning can be found in the Annex.