This postcard shows the Central Business District (CBD) skyline with its towering skyscrapers. The CBD area on the south bank of the Singapore River underwent major redevelopment in the late 1960s and 1970s as part of the government’s urban renewal scheme for the old city centre. New buildings erected in the CBD area as part of the renewal project included the 30-storey United Overseas Bank (UOB) Building (third from right), which was the tallest landmark in the city centre when it was completed in 1974. However, it was soon overtaken as the highest structure in the area when the 52-storey Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) Centre was completed in 1976 (second from right). More skyscrapers were added to the CBD skyline following another round of urban redevelopment in the 1980s. The most notable building to be erected was the 63-storey Overseas Union Bank (OUB) Centre (centre background). Built at a cost of $500 million to house the bank’s headquarters, the 280-metre-high structure was then the tallest building in Asia and the eleventh highest in the world when it was completed in November 1986. Amidst the changing city skyline stood old colonial structures such as the Anderson Bridge (right foreground) and the Fullerton Building (centre foreground), erected in 1910 and 1928 respectively.
