Singapore to Close Kranji Racecourse: Land Supply Issues and Housing Demand

Singapore and Hong Kong also have land supply problems. The housing supply has decreased and more young people are living independently, causing housing demand to exceed supply and rents to soar. Founded in 1842 and with a history of 181 years, the Singapore Turf Club suddenly announced on Monday that the 100th Singapore Gold Cup to be held on October 5 next year will be the “closing race” of its Kranji racecourse. 120 hectares of land will be handed over to the government for redevelopment in 2027. The area of ​​the Kranji Racecourse is equivalent to about 200 football fields, and the government will use it for the construction of public housing “HDB” and leisure facilities.

The Singapore Turf Club is saddened by the government’s decision to close the racecourses, but understands Singapore’s need for land. The Kranji Racecourse will be included in the northern development plan. Second Minister of National Development Indranee said that the number of people entering the racecourse has been decreasing year by year, and it is necessary to re-examine the use of the land. “The public’s demand for land is constantly increasing, and the government regularly reviews land use. plan to optimize relevant resources to meet the needs of Singaporeans”. She pointed out that the government has already requisitioned several golf courses, and there are not many lands that can release 120 hectares of land like a horse farm, enough to be used for planning residential areas.

Scottish businessman Reid introduced horse racing to Singapore in 1842, using the Farrer Park venue for horse racing. With the increasing popularity of horse racing, the racecourse moved to the larger Bukit Timah in 1933, and then moved to Kranji in 2000. However, in recent years, there have been fewer and fewer horse fans attending the race day, from an average of 11,000 people a day in 2010 to about 6,000 before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2019. It will reopen in April 2022, and the number of visitors will be reduced to about 2,600. It is reported that in 2010, the annual betting amount of horse racing in Singapore was about 2.1 billion Singapore dollars (about 12.2 billion Hong Kong dollars), but today it is only about 1.1 billion Singapore dollars (about 6.394 billion Hong Kong dollars). Compared with Singapore, in the 2021/22 financial year of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the amount of betting on horse racing will increase by 3.1% year-on-year to nearly 140.4 billion yuan, and the horse racing betting tax that the Jockey Club will have to pay will also increase by 2.9% to 14.1 billion yuan.

Hong Kong Star Racecourse is hard to compare

As for whether Hong Kong can follow the example of Singapore and convert part of the land occupied by racecourses to residential use, Liu Zhenjiang, a member of the Land Supply Task Force and former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, believes that Singapore racecourses cannot be compared with Hong Kong racecourses, because Singapore’s horse racing activities have declined, but Hong Kong horse fans Hundreds of thousands, and gambling involves huge charitable causes and social services, demolishing the racecourse and building houses will have a great impact. According to the planning, the density of Happy Valley is already very high, and it has the lung function of the city, so it is not suitable for development. Yu Weiye, a member of the Urban Planning Committee, pointed out that every change of land use is a balance of public interests. For example, the community has discussed the rezoning of sports clubs and other facilities to build houses, and it is necessary to balance their public use and housing needs. The level of public use is wider. “All Hong Kong citizens can use it and can enter the venue.” If housing is built, the impact will be great.

Originally published on AM730