Marina Bay is a bay located in the Central Area of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, 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 many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...

Marina East Marina East is a planning area located in the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore, covering of reclaimed land. It is the location of NTUC Club's Marina Bay Golf Course (formerly known as the Marina East Course) and the Gardens by ...

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 Straits View is a planning area located in the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area is currently relatively undeveloped, with fewer commercial developments compared to the adjacent Downtown Core. Straits View planning area ...

. 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 commercial and business centre 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 with the "city ...

. It is also the new downtown of

, built on reclaimed land. Buildings include

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

, the

Marina Bay Sands Marina Bay Sands (abbreviation: MBS) is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. The resort is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and at its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino prop ...

Marina Bay Financial Centre The Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) is a mixed-use development located along Marina Boulevard and Central Boulevard at the Downtown Core of Singapore. It consists of three office towers, two residential towers and retail space at Marina Bay ...

Asia Square Asia Square is a retail and office building located along Marina View at Marina Bay in Singapore. It is located in Marina Bay, Singapore's new business and financial precinct. It comprises of office space, over 30 entertainment and dining prem ...

The Sail @ Marina Bay The Sail @ Marina Bay is a waterfront lifestyle condominium located in the Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay area in Singapore. It was completed in 2008. The first tenants have moved into Central Park Tower in July 2008. Residents moved into Marina ...

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 board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. Mission The authority was established on 1 Apri ...

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

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

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, at night - 201208

In 1969, land reclamation work to create 360 hectares of prime waterfront site began at Marina Bay. The

reclaimed land Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lak ...

forms what is today the

Marina Centre Marina Central or Marina Centre (Chinese: 滨海中心; ms, Marina Pusat) is a zone of reclaimed land within the Downtown Core in the southern part of Singapore. Together with the Marina South area, it encloses the sheltered Marina Bay. Suntec ...

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

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 watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

'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 The Helix Bridge, officially The Helix, and previously known as the Double Helix Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge linking Marina Centre with Marina South in the Marina Bay area in Singapore. It was officially opened on 24 April 2010, however, on ...

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 Lee Kuan Yew to help achieve greater self-s ...

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

Events at Marina Bay

The

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Singapore Grand Prix The Singapore Grand Prix; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் கிராண்ட் பிரிக்ஸ் is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Cir ...

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

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

adjacent to Marina Bay. Since its construction in 2007,

The Float@Marina Bay The Float at Marina Bay, stylised as The Float@Marina Bay and also known as the Marina Bay Floating Platform, is a multi-purpose outdoor venue at the Downtown Core area of Marina Bay, Singapore. The venue consists of a steel platform in the Mar ...

has hosted events such as the National Day Parade, New Year's Eve Countdown and Singapore Fireworks Celebrations, 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 ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

. 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 MRT may refer to: Transport Rapid Transit Systems * Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation) * MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore * MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand * Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...

, and the new Marina Promenade and

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 ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 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 (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

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

District cooling

SP Group Singapore Power Limited, trading as SP Group (abbreviation: SP) is a government-affliated electricity and gas distribution company in Singapore. Singapore Power Group is the corporatised entity of the former electricity and gas departments of t ...

's subsidiary, Singapore District Cooling, started operating Singapore’s first district cooling plant, supplying chilled water supplies to

One Raffles Quay One Raffles Quay () is an office building complex located at Raffles Place, the central business district of Singapore. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, One Raffles Quay (ORQ) consists of the 50-storey North Tower and the 29-storey South Tower, to ...

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 The Public Utilities Board (PUB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment of the Government of Singapore responsible for ensuring a sustainable and efficient water supply in Singapore. The PUB regulates an ...

announced plans to construct a new downtown reservoir by damming the

Marina Channel Marina Channel is a waterway in southern Singapore that connects the Kallang Basin in the north and Marina Bay in the west to the Singapore Straits in the south. Formed as a result of land reclamation in the 1980s, the Marina Channel effective ...

. This barrage was completed in 2008. Known as the

, it turned Marina Bay and the

Kallang Basin Kallang Basin (; ms, Lembangan Kallang) is an enclosed bay in Kallang, Singapore. The Kallang River, Rochor River and Geylang River empty into the Kallang Basin. The Marina Channel connects the Kallang Basin with the Singapore Straits. At pr ...

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 A Chinatown () is 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, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

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 a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

Raffles Place Raffles Place is the centre of the Financial District of Singapore and is located south of the River, mouth of the Singapore River. It was first planned and developed in the 1820s as Commercial Square to serve as the hub of the commercial zone o ...

, Marina Bay, Bayfront,

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers 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 distric ...

Telok Ayer Telok Ayer Street is a street located in Singapore's Chinatown within the Outram district, linking Church Street to Cecil Street. Telok Ayer MRT station is located at the junction of Cross Street and this road. Etymology Telok Ayer Street w ...

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 fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

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

stations, all no more than five minutes of each other. The

Thomson–East Coast MRT line zh, 汤申-东海岸地铁线 ta, தாம்சன் - ஈஸ்ட் கோஸ்ட் எம்ஆர்டி வழி , close = , owner = Land Transport Authority , operator ...

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

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

network links developments and

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 ArtScience Museum is a museum within the integrated resort of Marina Bay Sands in the Downtown Core of the Central Area in Singapore. Opened on 17 February 2011 by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, it is the world's first ArtScience m ...

* Bayfront Bridge * Circle line *

Clifford Pier Clifford Pier was a former pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of the Central Area, Singapore. The pier, which opened in 1933, ceased operations in 2006. In 2008 the site was converted into a restaurant, One ...

* Common Services Tunnel *

Conrad Centennial Singapore Conrad Centennial Singapore ( Chinese：康莱德酒店) is a hotel located in the Downtown Core (near Millenia Tower), Marina Centre, Singapore. The hotel has 512 guest rooms including 25 suites, and 31 floors with two basements. The hotel's car ...

* Downtown line *

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (also known as the Esplanade Theatres (''Malay'': Teater di Persisiran) or simply The Esplanade) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and a performing arts centre loca ...

* F1 Pit Building *

Marina Bay Street Circuit The Marina Bay Street Circuit (otherwise known as the Singapore Street Circuit) is a street circuit around Marina Bay, Singapore, encompassing the planning areas of Downtown Core (Turns 4 to 23) and Kallang (Turns 1 to 3). It is the venue for ...

* The Fullerton Heritage Precinct: Customs House,

The Fullerton Hotel Singapore The Fullerton Hotel Singapore is a five-star luxury hotel located near the mouth of the Singapore River, in the Downtown Core of the Central Area, Singapore. It was originally known as the Fullerton Building, and also as the General Post Offi ...

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 Clifford Pier was a former pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of the Central Area, Singapore. The pier, which opened in 1933, ceased operations in 2006. In 2008 the site was converted into a restaurant, One ...

* The Helix Bridge *

Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore The Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore (also known as the International Cruise Terminal and abbreviated as MBCCS) is a cruise terminal in Singapore, located at Marina South. The construction of the S$500 million terminal began in October 2009 and ...

* Marina Bay Golf Course * Marina Bay Link Mall *

Marina Bay MRT station Marina Bay MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North South (NSL), Circle (CCL) and Thomson–East Coast (TEL) lines in Singapore. Located in the Downtown Core district near Marina Bay, the sta ...

Marina Bay Suites Marina Bay Suites is a condominium located in Marina Bay, Singapore. It is one of six towers of the Marina Bay Financial Centre. It was developed by Keppel Land, Cheung Kong Holdings Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, is a multinational cong ...

Marina Coastal Expressway The Marina Coastal Expressway ( Abbreviation: MCE) is the tenth of Singapore's network of expressways. Construction for the MCE began in 2008 and was completed at the end of 2013. The expressway was officially opened on 28 December that year by ...

Marina South Pier Marina South Pier is a pier that is located in Marina South, Singapore. It is used as a terminal for tourists and day-trippers who are boarding small boats and ferries heading for the Southern Islands. There are regular ferries from the pier to K ...

Marina South Pier MRT station Marina South Pier MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station in Straits View, Singapore, which is operated by SMRT Trains. Built as part of the North South line (NSL) Extension, it is the southern terminus of the line. ...

Marina Square Marina Square is a shopping mall in Singapore which opened in the late 1980s. It is part of the first building complex built on the reclaimed land at Marina Centre, and was the largest shopping mall in the country at the time. The complex also hou ...

Millenia Walk Millenia Singapore is an integrated landmark development of Pontiac Land Group, nested in the Downtown Core of Singapore. It sits on land reclaimed in the 1970s from Marina Bay with five buildings designed by award-winning architects Kevin Ro ...

* North South line *

One Marina Boulevard One Marina Boulevard, sometimes called NTUC Centre, is a 32-storey, skyscraper at 1 Marina Boulevard, in the zone of Raffles Place and Marina Bay, in the central business district of Singapore. The building is near other skyscrapers, such as ...

One Shenton Way One Shenton Way is a high end real estate redevelopment project with 341 apartments along Shenton Way in the Tanjong Pagar area of Singapore. It consists of two towers, the tallest of which is 50 stories. It was completed in 2011 and is notabl ...

* OUE Bayfront *

Singapore Flyer The Singapore Flyer; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் ராட்டினம் is an observation wheel at the Downtown Core district of Singapore. Officially opened on 15 April 2008, it has 28 air-conditioned capsules, each able to acco ...

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 Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, convention centre. Con ...

The Float @ Marina Bay The Float at Marina Bay, stylised as The Float@Marina Bay and also known as the Marina Bay Floating Platform, is a multi-purpose outdoor venue at the Downtown Core area of Marina Bay, Singapore. The venue consists of a steel platform in the Mar ...

* The Lawn @ Marina Bay * The Promontory @ Marina Bay (formerly Central Promontory Site) *

* 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 Collyer Quay () is a road in Downtown Core, Singapore that starts after Fullerton Road and ends at the junction of Raffles Quay, Finlayson Green and Marina Boulevard. The road houses several landmarks namely, Clifford Pier, Change Alley, Hit ...

and Bayfront areas was completed in 2010.

Gallery

File:Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, at night - 201208.jpg, Marina Bay at night File:Marina Bay Sands11.jpg,

File:Singapore Helix Bridge bei Nacht 4.jpg, The

File:Singapore Marina-Bay-Panorama-01.jpg,

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

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 The Merlion () is the official mascot of Singapore. It is depicted as a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore and Singaporeans in general, it is widely used to repre ...

File:Singapore (SG), Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay -- 2019 -- 4731.jpg,

File:Marina Promontory 300522.jpg, Marina Promontory

References

External links

*
Urban Redevelopment Authority Official Website
{{Portal bar, Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Places in Singapore Bays of the Pacific Ocean