Green Space in Singapore

Singapore is located one degree north of the equator between the tip of Malaysia and the islands of Indonesia. Slightly smaller than New York City, the city-state has a total landmass of 692.7 square kilometers consisting of one main island (42 by 23 kilometers) and more than 30 smaller surrounding islands. With a population of over five million people, Singapore is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

In 2017, Singapore was ranked as the world’s second most open economy, as well as the world’s second most pro-business regime by the World Bank. Its real GDP per capita was $94,941 and life expectancy was 86.19 years. Despite its small domestic market and a lack of natural resources, Singapore successfully managed through the 2008 financial crisis. Today, the Singapore economy is one of the most stable in the world, with no foreign debt, high government revenue and a consistently positive surplus. The Singapore economy is mainly driven by exports in electronics manufacturing and machinery, financial services, tourism, and the world’s busiest cargo seaport.

One of the earliest environmental initiatives was a vision by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1967 to turn Singapore into a “Garden city” with abundant greenery and a clean environment. This was achieved by the 1980s after careful land-use planning and effective pollution control. Then it was followed by the implementation of the Environmental Public Health Act in 1969, which aimed to strengthen Singapore’s health legislation and improve public health standards. However, in light of increasing concern over global warming, preservation of biodiversity, and a growing population that expected higher standards of living, a major policy review was carried out, and thus the Singapore Green Plan (SGP) was born in 1992. To keep the SGP up-to-date, SGP 2012 and SGP 2030 were subsequently launched to ensure that the specific targets are being made. Under the SGP, Singapore has established more parks, housing and business developments that include urban green corridors and linkages, and buildings that are designed to maximize energy efficiency and reduce waste.

While Gardens by the Bay may be the face of Singapore's futuristic melding of city and nature, it is by no means the nation's only such project. As a part of SGP 2012, and accelerating through the SGP 2030, Singapore has created financial incentives for building developers and owners to install "skyrise greenery" such as rooftop gardens and green walls. The projects serve a dual purpose. First, they physically introduce nature back into urban areas where biodiversity would otherwise be suppressed, thus providing ecosystemic benefits as well as quality of life improvements for the citizens who interact with the natural spaces frequently (Oh, Richards, and Yee 2018). Secondly, skyrise greenery provides significant functional benefits such as reducing interior cooling requirements, mitigating urban heat islands, and even capturing rainwater (Nyuk Hien, Puay Yok, and Yu 2007). As of 2017, 80.5 hectares of skyrise greenery had been installed across 110 buildings in Singapore. By 2030, Singapore hopes to increase that to 200 hectares (National Parks n.d.).

These skyrise greenery projects tend to be concentrated in more urbanized areas, but they are present across the nation. Rooftop gardens are especially popular, making up the majority of the 375 projects the Singaporean Government currently has on record. However, Singapore has also established horticulture research parks where methods of growing and training plants vertically are rapidly being researched, developed, and implemented (Newman 2014). Green walls are expected to become a critical method of introducing greenery to urban areas via their inclusion on the sides of buildings and infrastructure.

Looking at the concentration of rooftop gardens, green walls, and other skyrise greenery projects in Singapore's 2020 planning districts, it's notable that they tend to be concentrated in heavily trafficked, urban areas. For example, districts such as Orchard and Downtown Core each have north of 30 skyrise greenery projects despite not being primary residential areas. They also correlate closely with concentrations of designated tourist attractions, signaling that Singapore sees these unique constructed greenspace projects as part of their international brand and something international visitors should connect with.

Air Quality and CO2 Reduction

Looking at the trajectory of green development in Singapore since the conception of the Lush 5.0 Program, we can begin to associate the reduction in CO2 and Air Pollutants to the construction of green space. 

Taking into account the massive population growth in the west region and the constant population growth in the other regions. It would be expected that the air quality and CO2 content would increase significantly. 

There is a clear decline in the CO2 Emissions in Singapore after the movement transitioning to green space. Although the decline is minimal, it is significant. Due to the nature of built green space, there is a loading phase before the full effects can be observed.

Overall, the content of air pollutants seems standard. There is a clear upswing in 2017, this may occur due to the incurred carbon cost for developing more green space. Even though there is a somewhat constant level of air pollutants, It is clear that there is still progress. The Singapore population continues to rise but the air pollution levels stay the same. This very well could be as a result of sustainable efforts like added green space.

Singapore Population Statistics

As the Population increases in Singapore, the CO2 emissions seem to decrease and the air pollutants stay constant. We can make the conjecture that there could be a relationship between the constructed green space and the relative reduction of air pollutants and carbon emissions.

Green Architecture has many benefits other than just climate control. Looking at the change in wall temperatures, green facades and rooftop gardens limit the thermal mass of walls and roofs significantly. This is important because walls with high thermal mass radiate heat into the building throughout the day and night, even after the sun sets. This phenomenon requires more cooling, which means more energy and CO2 are used.

Benefits of Green Architecture

Based on the data above, we can conclude there is a correlation between green architecture and development and the reduction of CO2 and air pollution. While there is not a direct cause and effect relationship there is a clear correlation based on the policy and the unanimous change in harmful pollutants.

Green buildings can even be cost efficient. One important aspect of green building and design is the incurred starting cost. Like most new developments, green building will cost money to build, but with carbon neutral/negative programs and tax breaks it will ultimately pay for itself.  On average green buildings will cost more to construct than the current construction practices. It will cost $3.00 -$5.00 more per square foot or 2% more than current construction (Green Building Cost).

Building Aesthetics and Climate Control

Access to nature and natural light is proven to improve mood and productivity in architecture. Green architecture often features extensive glass openings and seams of natural light. The Lighting Research Center in New York concluded that natural light and daylit environments increase productivity, comfort, and provide stimulation helping the regulation of circadian rhythms.

Nature has a significant impact in inciting feeling among humans. According to a University of Minnesota Study trees and other natural elements have calming effect on humans. Multiple studies monitoring heart rates in hospitals noted that patents pending surgery in rooms detailed with natural elements exhibited lower heart rates before going under than those in plain white rooms.

Building further on green developments and the movement into green cities. The Marina Bay Financial District of Singapore has implemented a central cooling system coinciding with the green development in buildings. The development utilized one underground cooling plant that distributed chilled water to the entire financial district. The plant uses a compression refrigeration system to chill water on a massive scale. The compression refrigeration system is among the most energy-efficient of cooling systems utilizing a very limited amount of ozone toxic refrigerants. Water is then distributed through a network of underground pipes to all buildings within the envelope effectively providing individual, efficient climate control for all buildings in the area.

One of Singapore's central goals for its next decade of urban development is to further integrate urban and natural areas so the city itself feels embedded within nature rather than the other way around. Skyrise Greenery is a key tool for achieving this goal as it allows Singapore to bring green space and vegetation to areas where there is little open horizontal space for parks such as city and industrial centers. Effectively, skyrise greenery has allowed Singapore to plug gaps in access to green space in urban areas where building full parks is not feasible (DAN 2020).

However, skyrise greenery is not a silver bullet, especially when it comes to biodiversity. Surveys of Singaporean citizens have revealed that despite a high level of support for conserving natural spaces, they expect green areas to be optimized for human usage rather than biodiversity or replication of endemic habitats (Khew, Yokohari, and Tanaka 2014). Skyrise greenery is especially susceptible to becoming aesthetics-driven rather than ecosystem functions driven due to its integration into spaces designed specifically for the use of humans. Though some developments such as The Eden have made a name for themselves by prioritizing ecological diversity in their projects, At least currently, the majority of Singaporeans want manicured natural landscapes that fit with their perceptions of what parks and green corridors should look like (DAN 2020). However, researchers note that the increasing prevalence of skyrise greenery projects may create a positive feedback loop of education whereby citizens, by virtue of being surrounded by nature, will learn about the benefits of targeted efforts to foster biodiversity and support less manicured projects in the future.

Skyrise greenery remains a highly effective method of melding interior and exterior spaces so that citizens do not necessarily even need to leave their building to experience the benefits of natural areas. New developments such as Marina One and The Eden are designed around hybrid interior/exterior spaces that encourage residents to think of nature and the built environment as connected rather than separate concepts (Saiidi 2018). One of Singapore’s long-term goals is to instill a green spirit into its citizens by integrating nature into their everyday lives. Skyrise Greenery implemented in public spaces as well as private residential settings is proving to be critical to that endeavor (Zhang and Tu 2021).

While Singapore is internationally recognized as a leader in sustainable urban design, they still have many areas where it can improve. In early 2021, the Singaporean government introduced the  Green Plan 2030 , a bold framework for taking the nation toward carbon neutrality by incentivizing green building, expanding natural spaces, and developing and deploying new sustainable technologies. The Green plan builds on previous  Sustainable Singapore Blueprint s and sets more aggressive targets for air quality, decreasing flood-prone areas, and reducing per capita resource consumption across the board (Government of Singapore 2016). It also continues to promote the expansion of parks and natural green space by setting a goal of planting 1 million more trees as well as the continued construction of new skyrise greenery projects (Singapore Government Agency 2021).

Singapore has also been active in spreading its expertise in sustainable urban design to neighboring countries such as China and Malaysia. Since 2007, Singapore and China have collaborated on the  Tianjin Eco-city , a redevelopment of salt pans and toxic waste dumps into a state of the art sustainable city home to 350,000 people (“Tianjin | Collaboration” n.d.). The project was designed to foster collaboration between the two nations and has spurred exchanges of urban design expertise as well as economic investment and cultural exchange. Similarly, through a land swap deal with Malaysia, Singapore has jointly invested in the development of multiple billion-dollar, eco-friendly developments (Reuters 2010). One such LEED-Platinum development, Marina One, is now the Asia headquarters of companies like Facebook and PWC. Although Singapore has good reason to promote their sustainable practices and share their expertise, they are an island nation that will be acutely impacted by sea-level rise and other climate change symptoms, their commitment to lead by example and bring other nations with them is laudable.

Based on current trends, we can see that Green Architecture in Singapore will be effective in reducing carbon emissions and propelling Singapore towards its goal of becoming a city in a garden. While new techniques of embedding nature into the urban landscape such as skyrise greenery and the marina bay cooling system are not catch-all solutions, they have become compelling ways to integrate nature into daily life, expand access to green spaces, and distinguish Singapore as an international leader in sustainable urban development. Given its history of rapid sustainable development and the lofty goals set by SGP 2030, Singapore will likely be leading the charge in the global movement toward carbon-neutral cities. Other countries and world cities would do well to learn about the technical, economic, and policy methods that Singapore has deployed in its urban development in hopes of replicating its stunning results.

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