The Urban Lab is a dedicated exhibition space by URA that opened in January this year. This is part of URA’s efforts to bring R&D out of the labs to the community and public domain, so as to foster a more conducive environment where the R&D community, industry and public agencies can openly learn and share new ideas, trigger discussions, and forge partnerships and collaborations.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) launched the ‘Rethinking energy in cities’ exhibition at the Urban Lab today, and hosted the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between global energy generator Électricité de France (EDF) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) to develop new planning processes that include energy considerations at the design stage.
‘Rethinking energy in cities’ is the third instalment of the Urban Lab exhibition series. It presents current trends and challenges in the energy sector and showcases the latest energy innovations, their applications, as well as future possibilities. Visitors will discover exciting local and global innovations, including projects developed by over 2,100 EDF researchers. They will learn how these innovations contribute to more sustainable and liveable cities, as well as better lives for residents.
The exhibition will feature several aspects of energy innovations, including – i) empowering lives; ii) energy efficiency at work; iii) renewable energy; iv) smart grids; and v) planning for eco-districts. See Annex A [PDF, 221kb] for highlights of the exhibition.
The exhibition showcases energy innovations such as smart meters and solar energy Photo credit: Électricité de France (EDF)
URA adopts an integrated planning approach where planners can holistically evaluate economic, social and environmental factors when drawing up plans for the city. By including energy considerations in the planning process, planners can integrate processes such as energy, water and waste management with land uses and activities, and create districts that are well-designed, vibrant, environmentally-friendly, where people can also enjoy high levels of energy efficiency and cost savings.
URA is continuously finding new ways to better understand the relationship between land use planning and energy demand. Our interest is to be able to assess the energy impact of different planning scenarios more holistically. This allows planners to be able to identify strategies to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as make provision for energy infrastructure earlier in the planning process.
Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer of URA, said, “In planning for new precincts such as Marina Bay, Jurong Lake District and Punggol Eco-town, we now take a holistic approach to use land use planning and developmental policies to make these precincts much more carbon friendly and energy efficient. Through this Urban Lab exhibition with EDF, we hope to explore more ways to deepen our know-how in this area.”
Marina Bay is planned and developed as an energy-efficient district
At the launch, EDF and NUS’ School of Design and Environment signed a MOU to develop new urban planning processes that incorporate energy considerations. The MOU represents both parties’ commitment to further strengthen a two year-long collaboration to explore ways to reduce energy consumption in the planning and design process.
Professor Heng Chye Kiang, Dean of NUS School of Design and Environment, said, “The collaboration represents a commitment to research and innovation that create value to industries in Singapore and beyond. The collaboration launches a platform for students, academics, and practitioners to work together to foster imaginations and advance knowledge frontiers.”
Mr Jacques Sacreste, EDF’s R&D Vice-President for International & Partnerships, said, “Rethinking cities’ energy systems to enable low carbon and sustainable development is at the core of the EDF Strategy. EDF as an energy leader in low carbon growth innovates from advanced generation to energy services in cities, including smart grids. Our expertise on technologies and energy solutions coupled with a systemic approach for urban development will pave the way for liveable and low carbon cities. EDF is especially proud to have launched these collaborations with Singapore, the leading city in urban planning for better quality of life and sustainability. These collaborations with NUS and URA, are complementary to the on-going project with HDB, and will drive cities to low carbon futures.”
EDF and NUS signed a MOU to develop new urban planning processes that include energy considerations
In the coming weeks, Urban Lab will be organising events where members of the public and industry practitioners can learn more about EDF’s projects and the latest developments in the energy sector. These include a talk on EDF’s green urban design plan in Shanghai’s Lingang district and the future of sustainable city planning. URA will be sharing more details of the events on its Facebook page.
‘Rethinking energy in cities’ will run from 1 to 16 October 2015 at the URA Centre Atrium and admission is free. More details on Urban Lab and the exhibition can be found at the URA website.
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