URA Lifts 12-Year Ban on Hotels, Hostels and Serviced Apartments in Boat Quay and Beach Road Heritage Precincts

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is lifting restrictions on new hotels, hostels and serviced apartments in the Upper Circular Road and Beach Road areas, giving property owners and developers greater flexibility to pursue short-term accommodation projects in these two heritage precincts.

Under current guidelines, new short-term accommodation uses are generally not permitted in the two areas to avoid an “over-proliferation of such uses.” Since 2014, proposals to set up such accommodations have generally been disallowed in the Outram, Rochor, Downtown Core and Singapore River areas to preserve these districts’ character as mixed-use neighbourhoods with historic shophouses that are home to restaurants, shops, boutique offices and other lifestyle facilities.

Speaking at the opening of the annual i Light Singapore festival on Friday (June 5) evening, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat noted that the moves were made in response to industry feedback and would allow developers and business owners to provide more diverse offerings to visitors. The lifting of restrictions in the Boat Quay area and Beach Road would provide visitors with more accommodation options in the two heritage precincts, with the Singapore River “right at their doorstep,” the minister added.

A pilot scheme of regulatory sandboxes will also be introduced, where selected rules on the use of space in certain precincts will be temporarily relaxed to allow new ideas to be tested and refined before being considered for wider implementation. Chee noted that this flexibility “will create new opportunities for businesses to innovate and attract more customers, while offering visitors more vibrant and distinctive experiences.”

Singapore could also see bolder light displays in public spaces such as waterfronts and bridges. According to the URA website, coloured and animated night lighting sequences are generally not allowed, as its lighting philosophy “is that of elegance, subtleness and harmony.” The Marina Bay skyline could get more vibrant and animated light-ups after the sun sets, as Singapore looks to relax lighting guidelines for building owners in the area.

Chee highlighted how local governments in Australia had loosened regulations to promote more arts and culture offerings and sports activities after sunset. He urged Singapore to “take some calculated risks and not be overly kiasu” and try not to “pre-empt every risk.” He added: “Importantly, we need to be cool with it when some things go wrong from time to time, which is bound to happen when we experiment with new ideas and push the boundaries.”

Chee, who visited Sydney and Melbourne in May on a work trip with a delegation from the Ministry of National Development, URA and the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS), cited examples in Australia where local councils can decide on trading hours and disamenity-management measures in designated precincts to support live entertainment venues and outdoor performances.

He also pointed to London with its “night-time enterprise zones” to facilitate longer business hours and more family-friendly nightlife. “We will do likewise for certain precincts in Singapore,” said Chee, who shared in a Facebook post that the trip was organised “to understand first hand and draw learning points from Australia’s experience in urban planning and rejuvenation.” Topics explored included the design of public spaces with a focus on connectivity and accessibility, adaptive reuse of heritage buildings, efforts to rejuvenate nightlife activity, and ways to increase residential development in the city centre.

The government’s latest moves follow last year’s relaxation of nightlife and liquor-trading restrictions in Boat Quay, and come amid a broader push to support businesses and increase vibrancy in the city centre. Since August 2025, businesses have been allowed to submit proposals for new bars, pubs and nightclubs along the Boat Quay waterfront area after a 16-year pause. Businesses in the Boat Quay and Clarke Quay area can also apply for extension of liquor licences till 4am on Thursdays and Fridays.

Chee noted that the decision to ease nightlife and liquor-trading restrictions was possible because Singapore River One had committed to stepping up private security deployments in the area, which gave the authorities “confidence to support a livelier, safer night-time environment for all.”

Singapore River One is a private sector-led partnership of property owners and business operators that oversees place management of the Singapore River. It is the first pilot Business Improvement District (BID) formed in 2017 to help revitalise the area. Other areas that have piloted the BID programme include Marina Bay, Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar.

In an interview with the media last August, Chee said the authorities will be introducing legislation to formalise the BID model and expand to more precincts across Singapore. URA noted that a more formalised placemaking framework would enable collective ground-up action to plan, fund and implement a shared business plan tailored to the needs of businesses, communities and visitors in an area. A public consultation on the upcoming BID legislation will be conducted through dialogue sessions and public platforms later this year. Singapore River One and Raffles Place Alliance have also extended their four-year BID term for a second time.