Singapore’s former chief planner Liu Thai Ker dies aged 87
Dr Liu Thai Ker was widely regarded as the “Father of Urban Planning in Singapore”.
Liu Thai Ker speaking at the opening of the World Cities Summit in 2012. (Photo: Liu Thai Ker)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s former chief planner Liu Thai Ker has died, his company MORROW Architects & Planners announced on Sunday (Jan 18).
He was 87.
Frequently hailed as the "Father of Urban Planning of Singapore", Dr Liu spent 24 years in Singapore’s public service, serving as the chief architect and chief executive of the Housing and Development Board, where he oversaw the development of 20 new towns and over half a million housing units.
During his tenure from 1969 to 1989, a total of 23 satellite towns with a population of over 200,000 were planned and designed, and around 500,000 houses and related facilities were built.
Dr Liu subsequently moved over to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as CEO and Chief Planner to oversee a major update of the Urban Concept Plan of Singapore from 1989 to 1992.
Dr Liu also served as the Founding Chairman of the advisory board of the Centre for Liveable Cities, which was founded in 2008.
He was also a board member of Singapore Cooperation Enterprise. The organisation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Enterprise Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and mandated to develop government-to-government projects.
Dr Liu started his own company MORROW Architects and Planners in December 2017.
Mr Daniel Liu, Dr Liu's son, told The Straits Times that his father died from complications after a fall.
Dr Liu’s work influenced urban development across the region, notably China.
His expertise was recognised by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who, as Fuzhou party secretary at the time, invited Dr Liu to design the Changle International Airport.
Dr Liu was in 2018 awarded the Graham Mitchel Award – International Chapter by the Australian Institute of Architects. In 1993, he was awarded the 2nd ASEAN Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to Architecture.
He also received The Singapore National Day Award – The Distinguished Service Order, The Singapore Design Council – Golden Jubilee Award, The Singapore Institute of Planners Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award and the Singapore Institute of Architects Gold Medal.
MORROW Architects and Planners said in a statement that Dr Liu's "legacy is not only historical; it is a standard for what cities must continue to be".
"His vision and leadership shaped Singapore’s urban landscape and influenced cities far beyond our shores," the firm added on Facebook.
Dr Liu had in 2013 made a comment that the world "doesn't end in 2030, and population growth doesn't end at 6.9 million" in reference to the government's 2013 White Paper on Population. Then, he had also suggested that Singapore could plan ahead, perhaps to 2100 where it could have a population of 10 million.
A year later, he said that Singapore should plan for 10 million people for it to remain sustainable in the long term.
In 2022, Dr Liu maintained that a population size of 10 million is "not really a ridiculous number" for Singapore.
He was responding to a question on whether Singapore was becoming too overcrowded at a yearly conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies think-tank.
"We must be prepared for possibly faster economic growth to stand tall among them," he said.
"To do so, we must accept population growth. And partly because of that, a few years ago, I said, 'Let's plan for 10 million people'."
