Amid competing demands for land, spaces under flyovers could be the next frontier for sport in Singapore

SINGAPORE: In the northwest of Singapore is a massive 60,000sqft arena in the unlikeliest of spaces.

Sandwiched between a Housing and Development Board (HDB) estate and a swath of forest, it comprises five sheltered pickleball courts, four futsal courts and a dedicated functional fitness training gym. Occasionally, there is the rumbling of cars overhead.

The Ark Sports Village is the latest to join a small group of sports facilities in Singapore that have one thing in common - being located under flyovers and viaducts.

Operators told CNA that despite several challenges, these spaces provide a number of key advantages and could see increased demand amid competing uses of land.

There are more than 100 flyovers and viaducts in Singapore.

And under them is about 60 hectares – or 84 football fields – of land and dead spaces. These are sterile pockets of land that result from infrastructural development.

Authorities have explored various ways to make use of these “dead spaces”, and one way that seems to have worked is turning them into sports facilities.

One such facility is under the West Coast viaduct.

In early 2017, it was used to host a night art market, before it became a test-bed for urban farming for a few months.

But those temporary uses soon gave way to Salt and Light archery, which found its permanent home under the vehicles.

Founder Tan Si Lie was introduced to the location by a friend.

A former national archer, he recalled how the lack of a sheltered archery range in Singapore meant that training sessions had to end before sunset and whenever there was bad weather. And so his criteria for the range were simple - that it was sheltered and could open at night.

His facility is not the only sporting facility to have taken root