The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) announced on Tuesday that the Singapore government has agreed to swap land parcels at Holland Road with Johor’s regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

Tunku Ismail, who is also the Crown Prince of Johor, currently holds 21.1ha of land at Holland Road that has been privately owned by the Johor royal family for generations. The regent intends to develop this land, prompting the need for the swap, according to a joint media release by the authorities.

The purpose of the land swap is to ensure that the regent's planned developments are situated further away from the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Singapore Botanic Gardens, established 166 years ago, became Singapore’s first World Heritage Site in 2015.

As part of the agreement, the Johor regent will transfer a 13 ha parcel of land, located next to the Botanic Gardens and bordered by Tyersall Avenue to the east, to the Singapore government. In return, the Singapore government will transfer 8.5ha of state land to the Johor regent, which is situated to the west of his current holdings.

The authorities have confirmed that the land parcels involved in the swap are of similar value. The remaining 8.1ha of land between the exchanged parcels will continue to be privately owned by the regent.