Following the phenomenal success of New York’s High Line – a disused railway transformed into a public greenway – architects across the world have been keen to get their hands on similar projects, with cities and countries keen to capitalise on the unused space. The Singaporean government is the latest to get involved, shortlisting five architects to develop a feasible plan for 24km (15m) of track spanning the length of Singapore from north to south.

The Singapore Rail Corridor is the site of the country’s previous rail link to Malaysia. The stretch of track has four key entry points around Singapore: Buona Vista, the Bukit Timah Railway Station area, the former Bukit Timah Fire Station, and Kranji.

Singapore’s government is looking for a project that is strong in responding to the ecology of the site and that can respect its natural qualities: “We want the corridor to be an outstanding urban asset, and are therefore open to innovative concepts, particularly in and around the nodes; ideas that demonstrate freshness of approach and potentially exceptional design qualities that will enhance our urban landscape.”

Out of 64 firms who responded to the government’s call for ideas to transform the Singapore Rail Corridor, five teams made up of West 8 and DP Architects; Grant Associates and MVRDV with Architects 61; Turenscape International and MKPL Architects; Nikken Sekkei with Tierra Design; and OLIN Partnership and OMA Asia with DP Architects have been selected to move onto the architectural competition’s second stage.

“The expanse of the corridor running through the centre of the entire country presents an unprecedented opportunity to develop a new typology of landscape with transformative effects for the country as a whole,” said OMA Partner Michael Kokora in a statement. “This is a project that has the potential to improve quality of life for generations to come.”

Most recently, South Korea announced plans for a High Line-stye ‘Skygarden’ by MVRDV, while James Corner Field is working on Miami’s underground Underline, BIG is developing the Dryline storm barrier in New York, Sydney is working on the Goods Line and London is developing an underline for cyclists and pedestrians.

The teams will now develop proposals for Singapore’s Rail Corridor with a public preview set for between October and December and the winning team to be announced after that.