Singapores Jewel Changi Airport - always raising the bar

Abstract

Completed on-schedule and on-budget in 2019, the Jewel terminal at Singapore's Changi Airport (also known as the Jewel Changi Airport or the Jewel Changi) continues Singapore's four-decade efforts to raise the bar for global airport excellence. The Jewel is not a true terminal. It doesn't include arrival or departure gates or passenger lounges. What it does include inside its 5-story glass and steel toroidal structure is a full-height indoor waterfall and garden, a 130-room luxury hotel, an 11-screen movie theatre, a 30-restaurant dining and shopping arcade that includes, Marks & Spencer, Muji, Zara, Uniqlo and the only airport Apple Store anywhere in the world. Designed by a consortium of architects led by Moshe Safdie, who also designed Singapore's iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel, and developed at a cost of US $1.3 billion as a joint venture between airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) and property developer CapitaLand, Jewel Changi is meant to establish Changi Airport a branded traveler destination, similar in concept to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or to the Louvre in Paris. Six months after its soft April 2019 opening, Jewel Changi had already welcomed 50 million visitors. Jewel Changi's success reflects Singapore's ability to continually deliver cutting-edge megaprojects that combine economic development, environmental sustainability and quality of life improvements. Among the factors that have contributed to this capability are: (i) a 60-year government enthusiasm for undertaking transformative infrastructure investments; (ii) a willingness to invest in public sector planning and engineering expertise; (iii) Singapore's practice of constantly benchmarking itself against competitors big and small looking for any advantage; (iv) a balanced approach to privatization that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship; and (v) a top-down government commitment to ensuring that major infrastructure investments serve residents' quality of life concerns as well as national economic development purposes.