Extensive coastal development since the 1960s led to the loss of 65% of reef habitat area in Singapore. The remaining reefs continue to face challenges from sedimentation and frequent incidents of elevated sea surface temperature. Persisting through these harsh environmental conditions, these habitats provide an invaluable opportunity to study their responses. Active management of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs was non-existent before the mid-2000s, after which proper institutional arrangements were established. This helped to consolidate support for coral reef research, which in turn led to more effective evidence-based management interventions. As Singapore looks towards balancing conservation and development, its coral reefs provide an important role functioning as a living laboratory. This series of reviews and syntheses of published work, long-term datasets and unpublished data is expected to provide insights into the responses and potential trajectories of urbanised reefs.