Smart Planning

Optimizing Land Space

As Singapore’s economy and population continues to grow, land must be used efficiently to ensure growth and quality of life are not compromised.

Going Underground

Credit: citiscope

Credit: citiscope

Underground development helps to save land space. While our transportation system has long gone underground, Singapore is looking into more opportunities to utilize underground space such as building underground reservoirs and underground city. However, psychological and ecological concerns remain. There is no natural light underground which is important to human functioning. Also, electricity consumption will increase as air-conditioner is needed for ventilation.

Decentralization

If you have been to Woodlands, you probably have noticed a big signboard that says “work closer to your home” at the field near Woodlands Regional Centre. This is part of government’s plan to shift jobs away from Central Business District (CBD) to regional commercial centres. This benefits employees by saving transportation time and money but more importantly, it would reduce traffic congestion and thus reduce vehicle emission.

Sustainable Energy – Solar power

Needless to say, solar energy is clean and sustainable. Moreover, given our tropical climate, it is a very attractive source of electricity. If effectively used, it can reduce our reliance on electricity import. Besides the relatively costly solar technology, the reason why solar panels have not been widely used here until recent years is because Singapore’s has limited space to garnered enough solar power.

Credit: NCCS

Credit: NCCS

In order to grow the solar industry, SolarNova Programme was launched to get the public sector to lead the demand for solar energy. HDB aims to expand the installation of solar panels to 5,500 HDB blocks by 2020. The electricity generated will be used to power lifts and lighting in common areas. As government lead by example, we can expect to see increase in demand from the private sector as government tend to be more trustworthy and this gives companies confidence in using solar energy.

 

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