City building is a process, it is a journey.
Back in the 60s, our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew set four goals for Singapore. The four objectives are clean air, clean water, affordable housing, and greenery and date.
We are still work in progress for these goals – an ongoing journey of continuous improvement. That’s the mindset we embrace. However, we move forward thoughtfully, integrating latest technology and artificial intelligence into our approach.
As an example, we have launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030. The green plan is a national government initiative aimed at advancing Singapore’s sustainable development agenda with concrete action plans that impact nearly every aspect of our lives. It is built around five key pillars: City in Nature, Sustainable Living, Sustainable Energy, Green Economy and Resilient Future.
The key targets actually are: increasing green spaces, reducing consumption, increasing renewable energy generation, carbon efficient investment, adapting to rising sea levels, among others. This will strengthen our efforts to fulfill our commitments under the Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris agreement, positioning Singapore to achieve our long-term net-zero emission goals as soon as possible, while also boosting biodiversity and ensuring that humans and wildlife can live in harmony.
After being branded as the Garden City in 1965, we now aim to become the most beautiful «City in Nature». This vision means bringing natural environments right into the city. Our goal is to strengthen our climate, ecological and social resilience, while expanding island-wide park connectors to create a seamless network that links the entire island together.
In 2009, we launched the LUSH program, which stands for Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rise policy. This urban and vertical greening initiative includes specific requirements and incentives. As we develop, the greenery on the building footprints is being replaced more than a 100% of greenery on the building itself, whether it is in the roof, midway up, or as a vertical greenery. Imagine the impact this has on temperature and the urban landscape in a high-density city like Singapore, where 80% of population lives in public housing flats.
DOUBLE PLAN
Climate change is the most pressing issues affecting each of us. It is also the driving force behind the severe sinking of Jakarta, causing the flooding and taking countless lives. So, how do we address this?
We must ensure sustainable and resilient development in everything we do. It is crucial that we reduce social stresses and social inequality. Whatever we do, we must focus on people and the community. Whether it’s long-term planning for public spaces or other projects, people must remain at the heart of it all.
We don’t plan long-term or short-term, nor do we plan for ourselves. We plan for the community. So, first, we must understand who the community is, what their needs are, and what their love for the city is. Only once we reach the alignment and a shared objective, the entire community, with political parties and organizations, can we move forward together.
At some point all cities will face short-term versus long-term. The resources are limited, so whether it’s funding or whether it’s professionals to do the work, we can’t be devoting everything to either short-term or long-term.
Let’s look at the real example from Singapore. When we became independent in 1965, we faced many challenges, much like Bilbao in the 70s and 80s – flooding, sanitation issues, unemployment, the polluted Singapore River…. These were immediate, short-term needs. But we still believed in the importance of the long-term. In 1971, the UNDP (United Nation Development Program) helped us, as we had a brand-new concept plan that looked 50 years ahead. So, we developed a the long-term 50 year vision plan, while also creating the master plan for the next 15 years.
For instance, looking 50 years ahead, we recognized the need for more space in Marina Bay, so we reclaimed 376 hectares of land to create Marina Bay Sands. This development will take us through the next 20 years, devoting 100 hectares to green public space in Singapore. In practice, this required that someone in the government or city administration would commit significant time, resources, attention and focus on long-term planning. How did they accomplish that?
That’s the role of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, where I have been a member for 20 years. We developed our long-term plan, which we revisit every 10 years in order to make sure we account for changes in the external factors. Throughout the process, we consult with the people to ensure the plan remains relevant and aligns with their current needs.
And that is the institutional design, so to speak, that made it possible. It wasn’t achieved on our own, but in collaboration with the people.
I believe one of the most fundamental and important barriers, whether here or any other city in the world, is the lack of alignment in objectives and vision among the government, businesses, the community, and, of course, the people. Without shared goals and objectives, progress becomes much harder to achieve.
I think, cities must have long-term as well as short-term plans. It´s not enough to simply have them, they must be discussed, deliberated upon, and contrasted to come up with a clear and cohesive vision.
Whatever you plan for the long-term, your short-term actions should always contribute to your long-term vision, even if adjustments are needed to adapt to the changing external environment. Living on an island with only 728 square kilometers, where the distance from north to south is just 23 kilometers, we have learned to be creative in our decision-making. For example, the park connector project, or the canal cleaning initiative are a result of this creativity.