Marina Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

located in the Central Area of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, surrounded by the perimeter of four other planning areas, the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

, Marina East,

Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. It is largely home to Gardens by the Bay as well as the Marina Barrage. The name has also been used to refer to the larger peninsula the plannin ...

and Straits View. The area surrounding the bay itself, also called Marina Bay, is a 360 hectare extension to the adjacent

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. It is also the new downtown of

, built on Singapore's reclaimed land. Buildings include

Gardens by the Bay The Gardens by the Bay (GBTB) is an urban park spanning in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden in Marina South, Bay East ...

, the

Marina Bay Sands Marina Bay Sands is a integrated resort fronting Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay in Singapore and a landmark of the city. At its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino property at Singapore dollar, S$8&nbs ...

, Marina Bay Financial Centre, Asia Square, The Sail @ Marina Bay and Marina One integrated mixed-use developments. It is one of the key focus areas by the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...

. Marina Bay is envisioned by the URA as a work-live-play vibrant 24-hour CBD.

Geography

The Marina Bay is a

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

bay at the confluence of four rivers: the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper drainage basin, watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Plann ...

Kallang River The Kallang River (, ) is the longest river in Singapore, flowing for 10 kilometers from the Lower Peirce Reservoir (originally named "Kallang River Reservoir") to the Kallang Basin. It originates in the Planning Areas of Singapore, planning ar ...

, Geylang River, and Rochor River.

Master Plan

The

(URA) Master Plan for Marina Bay aims to encourage a mix of uses for this area, including commercial, residential, hotel and entertainment.

History

In 1954, land reclamation work to create 360 hectares of prime waterfront site began at Marina Bay. The

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

forms what is today the

Marina Centre Marina Central or Marina Centre ( Chinese: 滨海中心; ) is a zone of reclaimed land within the Downtown Core in the southern part of Singapore. Together with the Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area ...

and

areas, and the reclamation work was completed in 1992. In the reclamation process, Inner/Outer Basins (anchorage area for commercial and naval vessels), Telok Ayer Basin (now site of Asia Square Tower 1 and 2) and Inner Roads was removed from the map by reclaiming land, while the

's mouth now flows into the bay instead of directly into the sea. The long term visions for the Marina Bay area were first articulated in the 1983 Master Plan by the

(URA), with the waterfront areas being deliberately kept open to the public. In 1988, the draft plan for Marina Bay was presented to the public in a two-week exhibition where it set out the objectives for the development, among which are optimising the waterfront location and creating a distinctive image with international landmarks that could become a focal point for the city. The URA Master Plan for Marina Bay aims to encourage a mix of uses for this area, including commercial, residential, hotel and entertainment and to turn it into a work-live-play vibrant 24-hour CBD. In 2005, the Urban Redevelopment Authority spent $400,000 on a branding exercise to name the Marina Bay area in order to sell the new major developments in the area, only to settle with the original name "Marina Bay". The Singapore government also spent $35 million to complete the 3.5 km Waterfront Promenade around Marina Bay. It includes a new eco-friendly visitor centre and the Helix Bridge linking Bayfront to Marina Centre where the Youth Olympic Park is located. The Promontory @ Marina Bay (formerly Central Promontory Site) will be used as an interim event and public space used for activities such as theatres and carnivals."Downtown @ Marina Bay". URA. http://www.ura.gov.sg/cudd/cawebsite/downtown-map.htm Retrieved 2010-07-08. In 2008,

Marina Barrage Marina Barrage is a dam in southern Singapore built at the confluence of five rivers, across the Marina Channel between Marina East and Marina South. First conceptualised in 1987 by then Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister Lee Kuan Yew t ...

was built, converting the basin into a freshwater Marina Reservoir.

Events at Marina Bay

The

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Singapore Grand Prix has taken place annually since 2008 (with the exception of the and seasons) on a

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

adjacent to Marina Bay. Since its construction in 2007, The Float@Marina Bay has hosted events such as the National Day Parade, New Year's Eve Countdown and

Singapore Fireworks Celebrations The Singapore Fireworks Celebrations was an annual event held in Singapore as part of its National Day (Singapore), National Day celebrations. It featured several local and foreign teams which launched fireworks displays on different nights. His ...

, and also serves as a spectator stand for the Singapore Grand Prix. Furthermore, it also played host to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the inaugural

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

. The area also hosts the annual i Light Marina Bay, a sustainable light art festival. The event space next to Marina Bay Sands, known as The Lawn, hosted the first overseas and Singapore edition of ArtBox Bangkok on two separate weekends, 14–16 April and 21–23 April 2017. Marina Promontory Panorama 300522

Infrastructure

The Singapore government pumped nearly S$2 billion (about US$1.2 billion) to build the infrastructural base for Marina Bay, which includes the

, increased connectivity to the MRT, and the new Marina Promenade and Helix Bridge.

Common Services Tunnel

The Common Services Tunnel is a development of the Marina Bay area in Singapore. It is said to be the second of its kind in Asia after

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. This

utility tunnel A utility tunnel, utility corridor, or utilidor is a passage built underground or above ground to carry utility lines such as electricity, steam, water supply pipes, and sewer pipes. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television, ...

houses telecom cables, power lines, water pipes as well as provision for pneumatic refuse collection pipes. The phase one of the tunnel has cost about S$81 million (about

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

51 million) while phase two, cost around S$137 million (about US$86 million).

District cooling

SP Group's subsidiary, Singapore District Cooling, started operating Singapore's first

district cooling A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

plant, supplying chilled water supplies to One Raffles Quay in May 2006. A second district cooling plant was commissioned in May 2010, which will supply chilled water for the air-conditioning of buildings in the area through pipes housed within the Common Services Tunnel, according to the report. Built at a cost of some S$110 million (about US$69 million), the second district cooling plant will be able to serve 1.25 million square metres of gross floor area and free up space which should be used for building chiller plants and cooling towers for separate buildings. The second district cooling plant started operations on 3 March 2016.

Water management

In 2004, the Public Utilities Board announced plans to construct a new downtown reservoir by damming the Marina Channel. This barrage was completed in 2008. Known as the

, it turned Marina Bay and the Kallang Basin into a confined freshwater reservoir with limited access to marine transportation to regulate the water quality. The new reservoir provides another source of drinking water for Singapore, as well as a stable water level for a variety of water activities and events. The barrage also prevents flooding in the

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

area.

Transport

There are currently eight rail stations:

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, Raffles Place, Marina Bay, Bayfront,

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, Telok Ayer,

Esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

and

Promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

serving Marina Bay. As the plan set out, by 2020, the 360 hectares of Marina Bay boasts a comprehensive transport network as Singapore's most rail-connected district. The first three new MRT lines ( Circle line, Downtown line) opened between 2012 and 2013. By 2018, the Marina Bay district had more than six MRT stations, all no more than five minutes of each other. The

Thomson–East Coast MRT line The Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) is a medium-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore), Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Coloured brown on the rail map, it is fully underground. When fully completed, the sixth line on the country's MR ...

created better connections within Marina South, opened in 2022. A

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...

network links developments and MRT stations."Seamless Connectivity". Marina Bay Singapore. 2008. http://www.marina-bay.sg/connectivity.html . Retrieved 2010-06-03. Within greater Marina Bay, water taxis will even double up as an alternative mode of transport.

Key developments

In Marina Bay

ArtScience Museum The ArtScience Museum is a museum within the integrated resort of Marina Bay Sands in the Downtown Core of the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area in Singapore. Opened on 17 February 2011 by Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, it feat ...

* Asia Square * Bayfront Bridge * Circle line * Clifford Pier * Common Services Tunnel * Conrad Centennial Singapore * Downtown line * Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay * F1 Pit Building *

* Marina Bay Street Circuit * The Fullerton Heritage Precinct: Customs House, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore,

The Fullerton Waterboat House The Fullerton Waterboat House, originally known as the Water House, is a historic water supply house formerly used to supply fresh water to incoming ships in Singapore. The former Water House was gazetted for conservation in 2002 and has since re ...

, One Fullerton, Fullerton Bay Hotel * The Helix Bridge *

* Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore * Marina Bay Financial Centre * Marina Bay Golf Course * Marina Bay Link Mall *

Marina Bay MRT station Marina Bay MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore), Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North South MRT line, North South (NSL), Circle MRT line, Circle (CCL) and Thomson–East Coast MRT line, Thomson–E ...

* Marina Bay Suites * Marina Coastal Expressway * Marina South Pier * Marina South Pier MRT station * Marina Square * Millenia Walk * North South line * One Marina Boulevard * One Raffles Quay *

One Shenton Way One Shenton is a high end real estate redevelopment project with 341 apartments along Shenton Way in the Tanjong Pagar area of Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Sout ...

* OUE Bayfront * Singapore Flyer *

Suntec City Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a convention centre. Construction began on 18 January 1992 and was comple ...

* The Float @ Marina Bay * The Lawn @ Marina Bay * The Promontory @ Marina Bay (formerly Central Promontory Site) * The Sail @ Marina Bay * Thomson–East Coast line * Youth Olympic Park

Other places of interest

*The 101-hectare

site is made up of Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden, and Bay Central Garden across the mouth of the

. All three gardens will be interconnected via a series of pedestrian bridges to form a larger loop along the whole waterfront and linked to surrounding developments, open public spaces, transport nodes and attractions. *A 3.5 km waterfront promenade linking the attractions at the

, Collyer Quay and Bayfront areas was completed in 2010.

Gallery

File:Marina Bay Sands11.jpg,

File:Singapore Helix Bridge bei Nacht 4.jpg, The Helix Bridge File:ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.jpg,

File:Singapore (SG), Gardens By The Bay -- 2019 -- 4755.jpg,

File:Marina Promontory 300522.jpg, Marina Promontory File:Singapore (SG), Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay -- 2019 -- 4731.jpg, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay File:Rear view of the Merlion statue at Merlion Park, Singapore, with Marina Bay Sands in the distance - 20140307.jpg, View of Marina Bay from the Merlion File:Skyline of the Central Business District of Singapore with Esplanade Bridge in the evening.jpg, Esplanade Bridge

References

External links

* * of the Urban Redevelopment Authority * https://focaljourney.com/marina-bay-waterfront/ {{Portal bar, Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Places in Singapore Bays of the Pacific Ocean