SINGAPORE: Singapore will not proceed to nominate the Padang and its surrounding buildings for inscription as a World Heritage Site after a Unesco preliminary assessment recommended planning measures that would restrict future development across the wider Civic District.
These measures include a larger buffer zone with regulatory protection, safeguards for key views to and from the site, and controls to ensure future developments do not compromise the site’s heritage significance, said the National Heritage Board (NHB) on Nov 3.
The assessment found that the buffer zone that Singapore had originally proposed was insufficient. Expanding the buffer would affect buildings in the Hill Street, Dhoby Ghaut and Beach Road areas.
The proposed World Heritage Site – formally called the Padang Civic Ensemble – includes surrounding civic buildings such as the Asian Civilisations Museum, The Fullerton Hotel, the Old Parliament House, the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and St Andrew’s Cathedral.
It was added to Singapore’s tentative list of World Heritage Sites in March 2023, the first step for it to be nominated as the country’s second World Heritage Site after the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
In September that year, NHB voluntarily requested a preliminary assessment, which is not compulsory for World Heritage nominations till 2027.
In a preliminary assessment, advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee review a country’s tentative nomination to gauge its feasibility before a full nomination is made. Singapore received the assessment report in 2024.
The report “recognised the heritage significance of the Padang Civic Ensemble, including its role in Singapore’s transition from colonial rule to nationhood, and its significance as an example of a British colonial civic square in the tropics”, NHB said in a statement on Nov 3.
“The report also acknowledged the site’s potential for a World Heritage Site nomination.”
However, it flagged “significant challenges to the nomination”, NHB said, particularly a recommendation to widen the buffer zone.
All World Heritage Sites generally have a buffer zone around them as an added layer of protection. This comes with legal restrictions on land use and development to ensure that important views to and from the sites remain unobstructed, among other things.
“Implementing these measures recommended by the advisory bodies would introduce additional considerations and consultation requirements for future planning and development across the wider Civic District, including areas well beyond the Padang,” said NHB.
For instance, Singapore would have to consult Unesco on developments that could affect the site’s heritage significance.
“This could apply to modifications to existing buildings or new plans in the surrounding areas affecting important views to and from the Padang,” the board added.
While many historically important buildings within the proposed site and buffer zone are already conserved or gazetted as national monuments, NHB noted that imposing additional requirements on private commercial buildings, such as malls and offices, would significantly affect property owners and the future rejuvenation of the Civic District.
The decision not to proceed “reflects the need to strike a careful balance between safeguarding the heritage significance of the Padang Civic Ensemble and retaining sufficient flexibility for any future plans in the larger Civic District”, it said.
For instance, in its submission, Singapore had argued that the coalescence of colonial-era and post-independence civic institutions within the Padang Civic Ensemble “bears testament to the historically widespread phenomenon of decolonisation and the globally significant transition of long-held British territories to newly independent nations”.
Based on this, the advisory bodies had also advised Singapore to look into protecting its post-independence buildings within the site. The Supreme Court Building and Parliament House are among those within the proposed site boundary that have no legal protections.
NHB had acknowledged in 2023 that the Padang would be a “challenging nomination” because of the opportunity costs for future redevelopment of the surrounding area.
It said it proceeded with the preliminary assessment to get official input and guidance from Unesco, and had hoped the evaluators would consider Singapore’s context as a small, densely built city-state.
In reaching its decision, the board said it had studied overseas cases and recognised that Unesco requirements could span decades and become more stringent over time.
It cited Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City in Britain, which was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2004 but delisted in 2021 after new developments within the site and its buffer zone were deemed to have damaged its authenticity and integrity.
NHB also considered the cases of Jongmyo Shrine in South Korea and the Old Town of Regensburg in Germany, which are both World Heritage Sites.
A high-rise complex outside the buffer zone of Jongmyo Shrine has been stalled after Unesco in November 2025 asked the Seoul government to suspend building approvals, citing concerns that the buildings might damage Jongmyo’s landscape.
About 1.5km from Regensburg’s buffer zone, a proposed 98m-tall building had to be redesigned following concerns that it would impact views of the site.
With the decision not to proceed with the nomination, the Padang Civic Ensemble will be removed from Singapore’s tentative list. NHB said that it has not identified any other sites for inclusion on the list.
The board added that it would have to carefully consider if the requirements and guidelines raised in the preliminary assessment will apply to future potential nominations.
It said that its resources are now focused on nominations to Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list, adding that the process involves local communities and allows for more collaboration with international partners. - The Straits Times/ANN
