Stepping into Singapore for the first time, you will encounter a sweltering wall of heat and humidity. Only fair, as this tiny island state is a lush, tropical city brimming with greenery. A young country, Singapore has only just celebrated its 49th National Day, yet has achieved much more than older nations. It continues to be one of the most economically advanced nations in the world, by defining itself as a port and transportation hub (its Changi Airport is regularly ranked to be one of the best in the world) and a financial power in its own right.
Visitors to Singapore are welcomed to what some call an “Asia Lite” – that is, the city has all the amenities you would find in leading cities across the world, but with a uniquely Singaporean twist. Singapore is, after all, a place of mixed cultures – its amazing street food is a testament to that fact - with a large proportion of its population made up of expatriates.
Singapore’s hot and wet climate has given the small city-state the natural means to develop itself into a city of gardens rather than concrete. When Singapore was newly established, its first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, envisioned a Garden City. Today, Singapore is indeed a “Garden City”; though it is highly urbanized with 5 million people living in an area little over 700km2, Singapore has maintained its greenery by dedicating 3318 hectares of its land to parks, park connectors, and open spaces. The city is in fact transforming itself from a Garden City to a “City in a Garden”.
Gardens by the Bay
One of Singapore’s latest and greenest achievements is its famous $1 billion project “Gardens by the Bay”, a series of gardens located in the heart of Singapore’s downtown district. The large purple trees – dubbed “Supertrees” - which dominate the landscape are on their way to becoming as almost as iconic as images of Singapore’s famous Merlion on Marina Bay. Visitors are able to capture views from atop these man-made trees via a skywalk connecting the 18 giant trees. Even more “super” about these trees is their ability to capture rain water and solar energy to light themselves for breathtaking daily light shows.
Apart from its Supertrees, the Gardens by the Bay houses a huge selection of the world flora in its futuristic-shaped glassed conservatories.
Indeed, the Gardens are a clear exhibit of the ability of cities to merge nature, awe-inspiring architecture and environmental engineering.
Botanic Gardens
In the heart of Singapore are the Botanic Gardens, a large sprawling park that cuts across the city. Its many entrances allow pedestrians to leisurely walk to their destinations amid greenery in a tropical setting rather than rely on public transport; unlike other national botanic gardens of the world, there is no admission fee– unless visitors wish to see its famous Orchid Garden, which houses over 1000 different types of orchids.
Also within the Botanic Gardens are various lakes and ponds. On one such lake is the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage which faces a large grassy meadow where people can sit and enjoy musical events that are held throughout the year.
Architecture
A huge part of any city is, of course, its buildings. And while many cities have taken it upon themselves to become “greener”, Singapore’s concrete structures truly embody what a “green city” should look like. Taking advantage of its tropical climate and abundant rainfall, many of Singapore’s vertical structures have integrated actual greenery into their designs. In fact, developers are highly encouraged to add green technology to their buildings, such as solar panels and efficient ventilation systems, as well as add rooftop gardens – or other creative means to display some sort of natural greenery atop their structures.
For architecture lovers out there, Singapore’s a place to go scope out cutting-edge clean and green designs.
The little city-state of Singapore has gone out of its way to integrate green standards into its urban planning, making it one of the most advanced cities in the world when it comes to sustainable energy and green technology implementation.
By incentivizing its citizens to be environmentally conscious through a variety of national schemes, Singapore is well on its way to developing its dream of becoming a “City in a Garden”. We can only hope that other cities of the world follow its lead.