12v11: Sherianne Lew, Eremus Soh, Ho Jing En

Gather information that you might use to determine if

X has the typical characteristics of the CBD.
To determine whether this location is a CBD, we conducted fieldwork and off site research of
Location X, managing to gather the following characteristics of this mysterious location, which
we found to be Raffles Place.

Maps of Location X:

Legend:
[Orange Box] : Road
[Blue Box] : Building
[Purple Box] : Transportation
Buildings:
A : Republic Plaza
B : One Raffles Place
C : The Arcade
D: Clifford Center
E : Cheveron House (formerly Caltex House)
F: Singapore Land Tower
G : HSBC Bank
Roads:
A : Battery Road
B : Fullerton Square
C - D : Collyer Quay
E : Dalmeida Street
F : Malacca Street
Transportation:
A/B : Raffles Place MRT Station

Aerial View of Location X:

Tallest buildings in the city

Raffles Place consists of mainly tall office buildings located close to one another for effective
land use because of high demand and competition for land in this area, resulting in high rents
Building Name

Height
(m)

Side notes

One Raffles Place

280

one of the three tallest skyscrapers in

Singapore

Republic Plaza

280

one of the three tallest skyscrapers in

Singapore

Singapore Land Tower

190

19th tallest building.

Hitachi Tower

179.0

Chevron House (formerly Caltex

152.0

House)

Two of the country's tallest skyscrapers are located here, One Raffles Place and Republic
Plaza, both of which has 60 floors and are of 280 metres in height, which is the maximum height
attainable due to aviation restrictions. The 19th tallest building, the Singapore Land Tower is
also located in the area. However, despite of the height limitations, these skyscrapers are so
densely packed that the density of offices in this area is arguably the highest in Singapore.
Raffles Place thus fits the CBD characteristic of containing the tallest buildings in the city.

Picture 1: The Chevron House, 152.0 m tall.

Picture 2: Maybank building and other tall infrastructures.

Constantly undergoing change

In 2008, A new commercial tower was constructed next to the existing tower, then called
Overseas Union Bank Centre. The new tower was opened in 2011 and upon completion of this
tower, the complex was renamed One Raffles Place. Also, the area is constantly undergoing
renovation and rebuilding, as construction sites are seen beside The Arcade.

Picture 1: Ongoing construction and renovation beside The Arcade.

Picture 2: One Raffles Place

High proportion of citys major offices

Many buildings in Raffles Place used for commercial activities and have major offices and
service activities like banking and finance. Some of the banks located in this vicinity
include American Express Bank, Australia And New Zealand Bank, Bank of China and
Standard Chartered Bank.

Picture 1: Bank Of China

Picture 2: CIMB bank
Picture 3: Maybank

Greatest number of pedestrians

The number of pedestrians at Raffles place very large, as seen from the pedestrian count at 2
different locations:
Location 1: In front of Raffles MRT station

The pedestrian count at the Raffles MRT from 4.15pm to 4.25pm is 189. Generally, there are
about 150-200 people passing by at a non-peak hours.
Location 2: Junction between UOB plaza and standard chartered

The pedestrian count outside UOB plaza and standard chartered was 159 people from 3.50pm
to 4.05pm on a working day.
From the information above, it is evident that the concentration of pedestrians for both areas at
Raffles Place is extremely high. Hence, this matches the characteristic of the CBD that it has
the greatest number of pedestrians.

High concentration of traffic, well linked by transport systems

Location: Battery Road, Raffles Place.

Right view

Left View

Time (min)

12

No of vehicles

41

46

32

39

15
50

The vehicles we counted included cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, vans, and bicycles.
There is a high concentration of traffic at Battery Road, Raffles Place, with a total of 208
vehicles counted from 3.54pm - 4.09pm at Battery Road. This number is considered as very
high especially since the this period of time was not a peak hour.
Also, Raffles Place MRT station is located in the middle of Raffles place, making it easily
accessible for people to travel to the CBD area for work especially since the mrt station is the
intersection of the North-South Line an East-West Line. Hence, Raffles place also shows the
CDB characteristics of having the greatest concentration of vehicles.

Raffles Place is also strategically located with many roads leading to it. The area is found at the
meeting point of major lines of transport into the city such as Chulia Street, Collyer Quay and
Battery Road. Additionally, Raffles is well linked by underpasses to facilitate easy travelling into
the area

Major retailing outlets

Most of the buildings within Raffles place are retail outlets and are usually branded chain stores
and high end services. For example, in change alley itself, there is a total of 165 shops within
the mall, 64 retail stores, 39 shops providing services and food and beverage service stores
amount to a total of 52.

Highest land values in the city

The Raffles Place area is one of the most sought after area in Singapore for offices by banks
and financial institutes and business centres. Raffles Place has the highest concentration of

Grade A buildings and is known as the Wall Street of Singapore. The current rental rates for
premium buildings here are in the range of S$10 S$20 psf (per square feet) per month. This is
considered to have a higher rental than other city areas like, Dhoby Ghaut, Chinatown area
which have an average rental rate of $6.00psf per month, highest found was $7.50psf per
month.

As seen from the table above, the rental rates at Raffles Place is the highest among the other
areas. Although the rental rate has dropped from 2008 to 2010, its rates are still among the
highest. Hence, Raffles Place has the CBD characteristics of having the highest land value in
Singapore and as compared to Raffles Place, the land values in other areas of the City are
lower.
CONCLUSION:
THE QUESTION WAS: DETERMINE IF X HAS THE TYPICAL CBD CHARACTERISTICS.
As seen from the characteristics above, it can be concluded that yes, location X has the
characteristics of the typical CBD. Location X:
has the tallest buildings, as well as many other tall infrastructures situated and built close
together
has the heaviest concentration of traffic and pedestrians
has major retailing outlets
has the highest value of the city
has the highest proportion of major offices
is constantly undergoing change
These are all typical characteristic of a CBD, and hence, Location X do have the typical
characteristic of a CBD. :)

Bibliography:
http://www.knightfrank.com.sg/content/upload/files/Office_Property_Market_1Q_2011.pdf
http://www.guidemesingapore.com/incorporation/office-space/singapore-office-location-guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Area
http://maps.google.com.sg/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_864_2004-12-30.htm
lhttp://sketchup.google.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffles_Place
http://www.singaporevr.com/vrs/RafflesPlace/RafflesPlace.html
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