Jan 15, 2013 | Comments 0
With the Battersea Power Station apartments set to launch in Singapore this weekend, potential investors have been warned by London based property search agent, Sourcing Property, not to get "swept up in the hype" surrounding the development of the Battersea and Nine Elms area in northeast London.
Although the plans for the Battersea Power Station development include commercial ventures such as hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment, the worry is that the new developments will fail to create genuine communities where people live and work. Over speculation and prevalence of foreign investors, the reasoning goes, may result in empty units and people moving on fairly quickly.
The reasoning is valid. First of all, the area around Battersea has been neglected for years contributing to a somewhat negative perception amongst Londoners who for most part do not consider Battersea as a highly desirable place to live. Second, with large international agents touring key markets in Asia with the stock gives weight to the notion regarding international investors and third, the concept of so-called 'artificial' neighbourhoods or planned townships that fail due to the lack of real community – is not a new one. Malaysia's Johor is arguably going that way.
On the other hand, there exist plenty of examples of planned townships that have become hugely popular – and populated. Las Vegas is one of them. Secret cities were created as part of the Manhattan Project. Entire parts of Singapore and Hong Kong exist today because of government township planning. Post-docks Canary Wharf was until major redevelopment in the late 80s just another abandoned industrial area – today it houses some of the world's largest corporations and the priciest real estate in the world.
One could write books on what exactly makes or breaks planned townships – I'm sure people have – but overall I think it's safe to say that there has to be genuine demand and need for the type of project planned, and the product should be unique. London needed a second business district, Las Vegas concentrated the gaming industry and Singapore's districts succeeded due to land scarcity. What the uniqueness of Battersea is and whether people will want it, remains to be seen.
Filed Under: Blog • Country News • Malaysia • Singapore
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/01/16/to-be-or-not-to-be-a-community/
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