Futuropolis: Greening Singapore
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FUTUROPOLIS When it comes to sustainable innovations that improve quality of life and enhance tourism, Singapore is a smooth-running green machine. Here’s how—and why—the island nation is focusing on smart development, and what its vision can teach the rest of us. By Jeff Book Photography by Greg White FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 2 / 2013 Previous pages: Below: (top) A quiet (left) Garden variety moment; (bottom) at 158 Cecil Street; 158 Cecil Street (right) Reflections at Right: Gardens by 130 Keppel Bay towers the Bay “supertrees” in the 1960s, when Singapore proclaimed island,” says Professor Heng Chye Kiang, Dean Singapore’s holistic itself “The Garden City,” a cynic might have of the School of Design and Environment at the thought it yet another example of development National University of Singapore. “More than approach to sustainable growth taking the name of what it replaced—in this 80 percent of our population lives in public “may help the rest of the planet case, the tropical rain forest that once covered housing, which pioneered sustainable design. deal with an epic, ongoing wave this equatorial island nation. But the govern- In recent years, government programmes have ment threw its support behind the slogan. A given more incentives to the private sector, of urbanization. programme that plants at least 10,000 saplings for everything from green-design training each year was an early instance of what would for workers and professionals to retrofitting become a profusion of eco-savvy measures. The buildings to be more energy-efficient.” ” greening of Singapore (literal and figurative) “It helps that the government—not some expanded even as its GDP jumped and its popu- outside organization—administers Green lation more than doubled (from 2.4 million in Mark, the system that [like LEED in the U.S.] 1980 to more than 5 million today). Today it rates buildings for environmental impact,” leads the world’s major cities in percentage of notes Nirmal Kishnani, director of the green space (48 percent, just ahead of Sydney). National University’s Integrated Sustainable It’s a hothouse for innovative, resource- Design programme and author of Greening efficient buildings and infrastructure. Asia. “That has allowed a much faster pace These achievements are no mere greenwash- than a purely market-driven approach. Now ing: Singapore’s environmental ethos is tightly every building above 5,000 square metres intertwined with its reputation as a top spot in [1,000 square yards] in size has to conform to Asia to live and do business. Perhaps even more Green Mark standards. The target is that by important, its holistic approach to sustainable 2030, 80 percent of the buildings in Singapore growth may help the rest of the planet deal with will be Green Mark–certified.” an epic, ongoing wave of urbanization. Gardens in the Sky Cultivating Progress When it comes to green space, the island’s The island city-state is blessed with a strate- government certainly puts its money where its gic location between the Indian Ocean and mouth is, seeking innovative ways to expand the South China Sea—the reason Sir Thomas natural areas. After establishing more than 300 Stamford Raffles planted a British trading parks and four nature reserves in Singapore’s post there in 1819. After gaining full independ- 700 square kilometres (270 square miles), ence in 1965, Singapore became known under government planners might have rested on long-time prime minister Lee Kuan Yew for their laurels. Instead, to find more space for severe penalties for drug possession and other nature, they looked up. Historically, the idea violations. Critics decried Lee’s authoritarian of structures sprouting foliage has brought to rule, but he was intent on forging Singapore’s mind lost Mayan cities, Piranesian ruins or Chinese, Malay and Indian populations into a that wonder of the ancient world, the Hanging cohesive, prosperous society. Gardens of Babylon. It’s a concept that’s been Since independence, per capita income gaining traction worldwide, for example in (adjusted for inflation) has increased more Milan, where the Bosco Verticale (vertical than tenfold. Crime and corruption are remark- forest) residential project is scheduled to open ably low. Singapore is number four on the later this year. In Singapore, NParks, the Global Financial Centres Index (after London, national park agency, oversees a programme New York and Hong Kong). Its port is second that subsidizes the cost of green roofs and only to Shanghai’s in tonnage, while Changi walls. At HortPark, standing panels planted Airport is rated best in the world. Citizens are by NParks test different versions of vertical required to save into a “provident fund,” which gardens. The result: more than 50 projects to pays for health care, housing and retirement date, a bumper crop of verdant architecture. benefits. Government-provided universal edu- Entrepreneurial local firms are heeding the cation yields consistently high scores in math government’s call and finding creative means and science. Excellent mass transit helps of implementation. The Singapore-based firm make up for policies that curb traffic with WOHA has led the way with buildings such as exorbitant vehicle license fees and electronic Newton Suites, 36 storeys of projecting garden tolls. For the vast majority of its people, this terraces and a soaring green wall; the School clean, orderly country functions very well. of the Arts, a multifunction mid-rise with a “Since the early days of independence, green façade and a rooftop park; and ParkRoyal the government has created a framework to Tower, dubbed “a jungle in the sky” for the promote sustainable development across the riotous greenery and water features on its FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 2 / 2013 Left: Henderson Right: Visitors Waves walkway, lend a sense of midpoint of the scale to one of Southern Ridges the supertrees at 9-kilometre trail Gardens by the Bay. 133 Architect Ken Yeang says that the impact of a building can be minimized at the design stage. ‘Green building is not “just about eco-technology. It has to do with imitating ecological systems—making our built environment imitate the natural environment insofar as possible.’ ” contoured balconies. WOHA’s 27-storey Oasia Downtown tower, now under construction, will be overrun by foliage, down (or up) to its lofty, open-sided sky gardens. Integrating flora is part of a growing movement to open up the city’s buildings to the outdoors—as at 158 Cecil Street, where a sealed, barren atrium became a seven-storey Singapore vertical garden with a glass wall open to outside air. Far from mere window dressing, planted surfaces provide insulation and serve with other systems to make a building more efficient—for example, helping to capture ASIA & THE PACIFIC SINGAPORE rainwater for irrigation. They’re usually an Green Is the Colour True appreciation of the island’s eco-savvy spaces comes from experiencing outward sign of deeper green design. Architect them firsthand. Whether you’re staying atFour Seasons Hotel Singapore or The Regent Singapore Ken Yeang’s sinuous Solaris office building (A Four Seasons Hotel), these visionary developments are easily accessible. features extensive roof and terrace plantings, but also a naturally ventilated atrium, rainwa- ter recycling and sun-shading louvres. Yeang has said that the impact of a building—which Malaysia Malaysia he calls “a human-made ecosystem”—can be minimized at the design stage. “Green build- Sky Greens ing is not just about eco-technology,” he says. “It has to do with imitating ecological systems— Ubin Island making our built environment imitate the natural environment insofar as possible.” Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Solar panels and LED lights conserve Bishan Park energy at Daniel Libeskind’s residential SINGAPORE project, Reflections at Keppel Bay, where six curving towers, topped by open-air gardens Henderson Waves Four Seasons Hotel Singapore and linked by landscaped sky bridges, seem to The Regent Singapore (A Four Seasons Hotel) Newton Suites dance together by the water. Other striking, School of the Arts Solaris Building eco-friendly projects are in progress, reflect- 158 Cecil Street ing both their success in the real estate market HortPark Gardens by the Bay and the requirement that all larger new Jurong Island Oasia Downtown Alexandra Link buildings be certified under the Green Reflections at Keppel Bay Marine Life Park Mark programme. Singapore’s ultimate green domain, Singapore Strait Gardens by the Bay, opened last year. Costing US$8 million, the 250-acre complex on Marina Illustration Ole Häntzschel Illustration Bay features two vast conservatories, one FOUR SEASONS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 2 / 2013 Below: (top) The Right: High above School of the Arts; Marina Bay, the (bottom) Flower panoramic view Dome at Gardens from SkyPark is 134 by the Bay framed in greenery. containing arid, Mediterranean-climate aluminium towers—a vertical solution for Far from mere window flora, the other (a vertical garden with misty urban farms. waterfalls) a cloud forest environment. They’re Precious Water dressing, planted surfaces said to house 80 percent of the world’s plant A further example of how commitment to “provide insulation and serve species, including many endangered ones. Beside green practices has improved local quality with other systems to make a them stand 18 solar-powered, rainwater- of life, as well as adding interest for tourists collecting “supertrees”—towering, branching and inspiration for other cities, can be found building more efficient. structures festooned with plants, LED beacons in Singapore’s water conservation efforts. and high walkways. Gardens by the Bay is a Tired of importing nearly 40 percent of its showcase of sustainability, its conservatories water from Malaysia, Singapore mounted ” cooled by energy from photovoltaic cells and a an ambitious campaign to boost production biomass boiler system fuelled by horticultural and conservation (for example, by raising waste.