Criteria that Qualify Housing Estates for Hawker Centres

Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether there is a minimum number of dwelling units or size of catchment area to qualify an estate for consideration for a hawker centre.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: HDB and URA currently oversee the provision of sufficient commercial facilities in HDB towns, that is, retail, eating and marketing facilities, to cater to the needs of residents. With the resumption of building hawker centres to provide more affordable cooked food options for Singaporeans, my Ministry is working closely with both agencies to include hawker centres as part of this planning process.

In planning for new hawker centres, we have, in the first phase, identified HDB towns, especially the newer ones, where there is a relative under-provision of cooked food stalls. The planning of new hawker centres also takes into consideration the existing and projected population catchment. The specific siting of a hawker centre is based on a number of factors, including the distribution of existing food establishments in the vicinity, easy access to public transport, land availability and compatibility of sites with adjacent land-users.

Sites have been identified in seven HDB towns that meet these criteria, namely, Bukit Panjang, Yishun, Pasir Ris, Tampines, Jurong West, Admiralty and Punggol. MEWR will continue to identify other suitable towns for new hawker centres in this and subsequent phases.

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