BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

DEVELOPING the “Riverfront Eco Corridor” along Sungai Kedayan is critical as it will be the defining feature of Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), said global consultancy firm HOK Planning Group’s director of landscape yesterday.

Barry Day said that they had gone through a number of alternatives on how to structure the capital city’s development, but in the end everyone felt that it would be most beneficial and successful if the development was focused along the river stretching from Kampong Ayer to the airport.

Day told The Brunei Times the river is now the main theme of the new masterplan which had already been approved.

It will also be a differentiation factor between Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) and other cities, and it also meets both the “green agenda” for the redevelopment of BSB and its river management objective.

“Historically, everything existed and is pretty much focused on the river so it makes sense. We are doing our best now to make sure that the landscape and open space strategies work well with the planning strategy that is focused on the river,” he said during yesterday’s BSB Development Plan Design Workshop.

“If it is going to be truly successful, the river will have to be activated and re-engage the population with the river front,” he added.

Project Director of the BSB masterplan Steven Townsend explained that the ecological baseline is a performance indicator of the water quality, habitat and environment.

“From there we can go and design our landscape plans that will restore a lot of habitats, the mangrove in the wetlands and how we can manage flood issues. The return is that we will be able to find new sites for walkway systems, running paths and hotels for recreation because all of these can co-exist,” said Townsend.

“The river is the heart of sustainable development. If we do not take care of it, it will affect all the surrounding ecosystems because all of these are interconnected. If we ignore it, we will lose the opportunity to build value around it,” he added.

The project director tied this with one of the key concepts of the BSB masterplan, which was to bring Brunei’s population back to living closer to the river.

“This can be a beautiful thing as the river offers stability that helps mitigate the tropical climate. It will be enjoyable to live with the cool breeze along the riverfront,” he said.

However, he said that they must first take care of pollution and solve the sanitary problems.

Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof attended a briefing on the masterplan yesterday afternoon where a recap of the discussions was given.

Meanwhile, Chairman of BSB Municipal Board Pengiran Hj Mohammad Ali Pengiran Hj Othman urged land owners and developers to play their role in making BSB a city in the garden and raising its status to one of the world’s most liveable cities.

“We would like to see that buildings are designed to take advantage of the scenic river frontage and connectivity provided by the river as well as respect the river ecosystem function,” he was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the BSB Municipal Department yesterday.

He added that one of the aims of the BSB masterplan was to provide land owners, developers and investors guidance on land use and design guidelines.

Through the masterplan, land owners and developers would be able to get information on what they can build on their property, how much open space or landscaped areas they must provide, as well as the maximum height they can build.

“However, the quality of individual building designs depend on the creativity of owners or developers and not solely on the guidelines provided by the relevant departments,” the press statement added.

The Brunei Times

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