News Releases

24 April 2008

Forum on 'Sustainable urbanization in the information age' at the United Nations headquarters, New York, 23 April 2008

PANELIST PRESENTATION BY:

MRS CHEONG KOON HEAN,
CEO(URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY) SINGAPORE

Strategies for Sustainable Urban Development in Singapore

Good afternoon. I am honoured to be here today to share with you Singapore’s strategies for achieving sustainable urban development.

Singapore is located in South East Asia, strategically placed at the crossroads of trade between the East and the West. It is a small island city-state of about 700 sq km, with a cosmopolitan population of 4.6 million people.

Over the last 5 decades, Singapore’s economy has transformed from one dependent on its trade and port to a highly diversified economy. Its real GDP grew from US$702 mil (US$427 per capita) in 1960 to US$161.3 bil (US$35,163 per capita) in 2007. Within this period, its population has grown from 1.6 million to 4.6 million. Despite this growth, Singapore has managed to house all its residents. Some 90% of Singapore’s population now own their own homes.

With a small land size and practically no natural resources, this transformation was achieved against all odds. This is due largely to careful long-term planning and a steadfast commitment to sustainable development. In the process, Singapore has transformed itself into an economically vibrant city that is also one of the most liveable cities in Asia.

We have to plan for many land uses within our small island. In addition to uses like housing, commerce and industry, we have to cater for defence, waste disposal and water needs, as well facilities to support our role as a major air hub and as one of the largest container ports in the world.

Given these limitations, we have formulated our own brand of sustainable development. Firstly, we developed a good system of governance and long-term, comprehensive planning.

Secondly, we take a pragmatic and result-oriented approach in seeking environmentally sustainable outcomes. This means we experiment and make investment decisions bearing in mind changes in technology and ensuring cost-effectiveness.

Thirdly, we try to achieve economic growth, good quality of living, and a good environment in a balanced and pragmatic way.

Our approach addresses the context of Asian cities that are densely populated and face trade-offs between economic growth and environmental protection.

Singapore’s Planning Approach:
Concept Plan

The URA uses a Concept Plan, which is a strategic land use and transportation plan to map out the vision for Singapore in the next 40-50 years. Our planning process is a highly integrated one where all agencies involved in economic, social, environmental and infrastructural development come together to resolve competing needs and trade-offs.

This ensures that future development balances economic growth with environmental stewardship and social progress.

The Concept Plan safeguards land for key growth sectors to ensure we have enough land to meet all our development needs even in the long term. For example, Marina Bay was planned as a new extension to our existing city to cater to financial, business and tourism sectors. Land is also set aside for high value, high-growth industries such as those in research, pharmaceuticals, petro-chemical and aeronautical sectors.

Master Plan

The Concept Plan is translated into the Master Plan—which is a more detailed statutory landuse plan that guides Singapore’s development over a 10-15 year time-frame.

When drawing up plans for development, the public is consulted for feedback through focus groups, on-line consultations and public exhibitions. We do this because we believe that an informed and involved public helps us to better factor in their needs and concerns. The Master Plan is made public and provides transparency and certainty for investment decisions.

In drawing up our plans, we focus on how Singapore can continue to grow in a sustainable manner. Let me now go into some detail on our key strategies.

A Compact and Liveable City

In Singapore, we encourage the development of a compact city. To conserve land and to optimise the provision of infrastructure, priority is given to developing new projects in the more developed areas, rather than open up new land.

Different housing densities and housing forms are provided to give greater variety. However, more land is zoned for high density around major nodes and transit stations. Public housing estates, where more than 80% of our population resides, are high-density. This form of urban development optimises our limited land and also makes for a more walk-able urban environment. A compact city also makes the provision of an extensive rail network viable.

Provision of ample parks, facilities and amenities

High density developments are mitigated by making the living environment a high quality one. Within housing estates, we provide a comprehensive range of amenities like parks, schools, sports and health facilities. Most of these facilities are within walking distance for the residents.

A City In A Garden

As Singapore becomes more built-up, parks and open spaces become increasingly important to provide relief as well as to promote community interaction. Today, Singapore is known as a Garden City. But we would like to move towards becoming a City in a Garden.

We are implementing innovative ways to inject greenery and `expand our space’. Park connectors are introduced to link town centres, sports complexes and homes to all major parks and the coast around the island. These serve as green corridors for cycling, jogging and the general enjoyment of nature.

Today, Singapore has a total of 70 km of park connectors. We aim to extend this to 200 km by 2012, and to over 400 km in the long term. Eventually the whole island will be linked up in a round island loop.

Another attempt to increase urban greenery is to encourage developers through suitable incentives to incorporate skyrise greenery into their developments. We are also studying the use of the Green Plot Ratio, and the feasibility of a 100% greenery replacement requirement for key development areas.

These greening measures can help reduce heat island effects, which allows for a better living environment and reduces the energy needed to cool buildings.

Besides the ‘green’ of our urban landscape, the ‘blue’ aspects of Singapore are also important. The Active, Beautiful and Clean (or ABC) Waters Programme will create more inland water reservoirs, and transform utilitarian drains and canals into beautiful streams and rivers. There are also plans to convert some waterbodies into wetlands that can filter and clean the stormwater that enters our rivers.

Many of our waterbodies will also be opened to the public for watersports and other recreational activities.

Protecting our Nature Areas

Protecting our Nature Areas is another priority. 4 Nature Reserves have been safeguarded in our Masterplan, and these are protected by law. Another 18 Nature Areas have also been identified.

These nature areas will be integrated with parks where feasible, which increases their accessibility and enables more people to enjoy them. Other nature areas not needed for development will be kept for as long as possible.

As a result, we have managed to co-exist with an unusually rich biodiversity: the 9% of our land area devoted to green space and nature reserves is home to over 2,300 species of plants, 300 species of birds and a large variety of animals.

Conserving our Built Heritage

We are also very conscious of the need to preserve our local identity and history through the conservation of our built heritage. To date, more than 6,500 buildings and structures have been conserved, many conserved as whole districts. This adds unique character and identity to our city.

Leisure Plan

Beyond just physical planning, a Leisure Plan have been formulated. This Plan addresses the need to improve the quality of life by making available leisure opportunities for outdoor activities, as well as arts, cultural and lifestyle activities.

A Public Transport Oriented City

Singapore has actively promoted the use of public transport over the years, as a more sustainable way to travel. The Land Transport Authority have put in place various measures to make public transport more attractive and accessible, as well as to discourage private vehicle usage.

For example, there are strong policy measures to manage the use of cars through a vehicle quota system and congestion pricing measures.

Congestion pricing was first introduced in 1975, as the Area Licensing Scheme, and later updated to the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system.

Today, motorists have to pay a charge when they drive past gantries set up across highly congested roads during peak hours. This moderates vehicle usage on these roads.

At the same time, we are investing heavily in rail. The Government recently announced an additional $14 billion USD investment to double our rail network from 138 km today to 278 km by 2020. Our rail coverage then will be comparable to New York’s and London’s.

Land usage is intensified around our rail stations to encourage more rail transit use. For example, employment-generating commercial centres are located around major public-transport interchanges, to allow for higher intensity developments without the usual traffic gridlock.

We also focus on providing good, sheltered pedestrian networks, especially to MRT stations, to make walking convenient and comfortable.

Water and Waste Management

Let me now touch briefly on Singapore’s water management policy. Singapore adopts a `Four National Taps “strategy, to ensure a sustainable water supply for generations to come. These ‘four taps’ are:

Another innovative water management system that has been adopted is the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) — a long term, more land-efficient solution to meet Singapore’s needs for used water collection, treatment and disposal. The DTSS will replace all the existing 6 water reclamation plants and 130 pumping stations, freeing up close to 1,000 ha of land for other uses.

As for waste management, Singapore has a zero-landfill policy. Already, more than 90% of construction and demolition waste in Singapore is recycled. Waste that cannot be recovered, reused or recycled is incinerated and the resultant ash, together with waste that cannot be incinerated, is disposed of at the Semakau Landfill.

When developing the landfill, care was taken to protect the existing mangrove swamps and corals. As a result, the area is now a popular destination for nature lovers.

Green Building Design

Singapore also has in place programmes to encourage environmentally friendly buildings. The Green Mark Scheme is a green building rating system, similar to LEED and BREAM, to evaluate buildings for their environmental impact and performance. This month, the government has mandated Green Mark requirements for new buildings and existing ones undergoing major retrofitting works.

We are also incorporating sustainable features into public housing projects. The Treetops@Punggol is Singapore’s first public housing project which will incorporate eco-friendly features such as centralised recyclable refuse chutes, a rainwater collection system, solar-powered lighting, as well as energy and water-efficient fittings.

Challenges - Responding to Climate Change

Globally, there is much concern on climate change and environmental sustainability. To address this, Singapore has formed various inter-ministry groups and is investing in research on issues such as the impacts of climate change, energy efficiency, clean energy and the other new technologies. This may involve making fundamental changes to the way we live, work, play and commute.

Using ICT to achieve sustainable development

One important tool we leverage on to meet the challenges of climate change and of achieving greater sustainable development is ICT.

Today, we have an active e-Government and is host to a thriving infocomm industry with close to $30 billion USD in annual revenues.

Singapore is very well connected digitally with 100% nation-wide mobile broadband coverage and more than 6000 public wireless hot spots under the wireless@sg project.

In 2006, Singapore launched the Intelligent Nation 2015(iN2015) 10-year infocomm masterplan that aims to harness infocomm to add value to the economy and society.

The use of ICT supports our long-term, integrated planning approach, allows for greater efficiency in delivering government services, and helps us better engage the public.

For example, the Singapore “Land Data Hub” is a one-stop information hub for land data exchange. The exchange of information is done electronically, and allows the public sector to access a standardised set of data, such as buildings, roads, utilities and topography to facilitate planning work.

URA uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) and 3D visualisation models in our daily work. The Singapore Land Transport Authority uses transport modelling software systems to forecast traffic patterns, in order to plan transport infrastructure.

Under the e-Government Action Plan, more than 1600 government services have been implemented online, ensuring more efficient delivery of these services.

For example, URA’s Electronic Development Application (EDA) system has led to all development applications being submitted online. This is a fast and convenient way to submit plans.

The URA’s Real Estate Information System (REALIS) provides detailed property information on private sector projects in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. This includes information on existing stock, upcoming projects, time series such as price and rental indices, and land transaction details.

ICT has also increased the government’s effectiveness in engaging its citizens. The online forum called “REACH” allows the public to hold discussions on various topics online. This helps the government obtain invaluable feedback, and allows our people to have more say.

Conclusion

Our experience is that an integrated `whole-of-government’ approach and strong political will were crucial to achieving sustainable development. But many challenges remain ahead. We hope to continue to learn from other countries new technologies and new strategies for urban sustainability in this forum.

Thank you.