Faysal Kabir ShuvoUrban Planner and PhD Researcher
The strategic plan for national development is a broad-brush planning approach to achieve long term planning objectives (e.g. DMDP Structure Plan of Dhaka). The national strategic plan that drives Singapore’s economic and physical development is called a concept plan which is translated in the local plans (master plan and development guide plan). When Singapore became an independent state, the city was facing similar problems like our major cities, i.e. polluted rivers and riverside activities, slums and squatter settlements, street vendors etc. However, a dramatic change could be made possible to eliminate these informalities due to having progressive leadership of the contemporary Government bodies and especially by their visionary decisions implemented through long term strategic plans. To date so far two concept plans i.e. Concept Plan 1991 and 2001; consequent Master plan 2003 and 2008 have been operating to modernize Singapore. The next Concept Plan is to come in the next 2011. All these two concept plans have included broad strategies for achieving a unique business hub with an urban quality of living as well as a distinct city in terms of enhancing cultural diversity.
The approach of making a concept plan is mostly a ‘top-down’ approach where the planning decision is taken at the top level of Government through various levels of consultations and public consents. Faced with the constraints of land and natural resources, the main aim of the first concept plan (1991) was to carefully select land uses and optimal land use (Ker, 2002). Subsequently, the latest concept plan (2001) has carried on the same focuses of the planning strategies, which are housing, recreation, business and identity. These have duly focused on two pillars of sustainable development, i.e. economic development and social progress. Analysis of various socio-economic time series indicators also indicate a thriving position of Singapore in the world in terms of per capita GDP, the third highest living cost in the world, its iconic green city structure, one of the busiest seaports, Asia’s third-best airport, recently as the Formula 1 venue and so on. However, noticeably Singapore has not responded well to the third pillar of the sustainability (i.e. Environmental sustainability) if we look at the key proposals of Concept Plan 2001 at the following table.
The strategic plan for national development is a broad-brush planning approach to achieve long term planning objectives (e.g. DMDP Structure Plan of Dhaka). The national strategic plan that drives Singapore’s economic and physical development is called a concept plan which is translated in the local plans (master plan and development guide plan). When Singapore became an independent state, the city was facing similar problems like our major cities, i.e. polluted rivers and riverside activities, slums and squatter settlements, street vendors etc. However, a dramatic change could be made possible to eliminate these informalities due to having progressive leadership of the contemporary Government bodies and especially by their visionary decisions implemented through long term strategic plans. To date so far two concept plans i.e. Concept Plan 1991 and 2001; consequent Master plan 2003 and 2008 have been operating to modernize Singapore. The next Concept Plan is to come in the next 2011. All these two concept plans have included broad strategies for achieving a unique business hub with an urban quality of living as well as a distinct city in terms of enhancing cultural diversity.
The approach of making a concept plan is mostly a ‘top-down’ approach where the planning decision is taken at the top level of Government through various levels of consultations and public consents. Faced with the constraints of land and natural resources, the main aim of the first concept plan (1991) was to carefully select land uses and optimal land use (Ker, 2002). Subsequently, the latest concept plan (2001) has carried on the same focuses of the planning strategies, which are housing, recreation, business and identity. These have duly focused on two pillars of sustainable development, i.e. economic development and social progress. Analysis of various socio-economic time series indicators also indicate a thriving position of Singapore in the world in terms of per capita GDP, the third highest living cost in the world, its iconic green city structure, one of the busiest seaports, Asia’s third-best airport, recently as the Formula 1 venue and so on. However, noticeably Singapore has not responded well to the third pillar of the sustainability (i.e. Environmental sustainability) if we look at the key proposals of Concept Plan 2001 at the following table.
A.Basic Facts
Vision: 40-50 years
Projected population: 5.5 million
Future reclamation can increase by 15% of the land
Scarcity of land area
B. Key Proposals
Housing
i. New homes in familiar places
ii. High-rise city living – a room with a view
Recreation
More choices for recreation
Business
i. Greater flexibility of businesses
ii. A global business centre
iii. An extensive rail network
Identity
Focus on identity
Fig: The Concept Plan of Singapore 2001 (Source: URA, Singapore)
In the ‘State of the Report on Environmental Sustainability 2005’, Singapore is claimed to be the densely populated, intensely urbanized, highly industrialized and economically successful city. Conducive geographical location and remarkably the successful implementation of sound policies of concept plan with the political consistencies have made Singapore one of the profound business hubs in Asia. This global outlook of Singapore has been achieved only within the last 30-40 years; however, during the same time, it had to meet the internal demands of housing and accessibility, jobs and business opportunities, social and cultural harmony, education and training, environment and conservation. Ker (2002) identified four success factors- strong political commitment, sound policies, assessment of achievements and competent professional bodies. However, among all these factors ‘political commitment’ seems to be the most important especially for a small country like Singapore. In addition, the highly educated government bodies and a rational nation have been playing a strong role to facilitate the implementation of the development plans. In the most of the developing countries, like Bangladesh, development plans cannot be fully implemented mainly due to political instabilities or to say perfectly lack of commitment among political parties; hence democratic practice, unfortunately, is not playing a good role. Singapore political system is neither fully democratic nor fully autocratic rather it can be said to be a smart dictatorship. However, an argument can be placed here that if people’s major and basic demands are fulfilled, they will not be bothered by the government’s role much. Singapore governments are highly successful in meeting those demands; diverse planning strategies of concept plan 2001 is an appropriate example of the above proponent.
Move towards Environment Sustainability
The first initiative towards the inclusion of environmental sustainability issues in national development processes of Singapore is the preparation of Singapore Green Plan 2012 which is a 10 years termed environmental planning undertaken by Singapore Ministry of Environment and Water Resources in 2002. This has been brought into light in line with Singapore’s preparation for World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 (WSSD) (MEWR). The preparation process of Singapore Green Plan 2012 is also the ‘top-down’ approach for national environmental planning. The principles that have governed in preparing this plan are i) sustainable development, ii) Natural resources management, iii)Polluter pays, iv)Product stewardship, v) Comprehensive plan, vi)Green growth; and during its preparation the challenges found are particulate matter in air, population growth, biodiversity loss, energy and water efficiency. The outcome of the planning process is target setting for the six indicators identified for Singapore‘s environmental sustainability, e.g. air, water, solid waste, nature, public health and international co-operation. As the target year, 2012 is very near and some of the targets already have been met as well as responding to the global challenge of climate change, new targets have been set for 2030 by Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development (IMCSD) in the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint which is launched in 2009.
To accomplish the associated activities to meet the targets, various statutory organizations entitled for looking after different development activities of Singapore have undertaken various rewarding skims. For example, Building Construction Authority (BCA) has started to reward ‘Green Mark’[1] for resource efficient buildings, offices etc. Green Plot Ratio[2] is highly emphasized for new developments to enhance urban greenery by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). For the pollutive industrial complexes Jurong Town Council (JTC) has planned industrial land uses on the basis of industrial symbiosis; that means the industries are in a symbiotic relationship, i.e. one industry’s wastes can be used as resources for another industry or sharing the resources, transportation and individual uses of which may have worse impact on the environment.
Singapore has already spent more than four decades after its independence and has reached in an economically vibrant city of the world. The economic transformation of Singapore is occurred as the outcomes of the Government’s strategies to foster sustainable economic growths that are spelt out in the concept plans. So far the CP 1991 and CP 2001 both have focused on the sustainable economic development and urban quality of living. While ensuring these objectives, they have been less caring for environmental sustainability or responsive to global environmental issues like ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’. So, this is now a great opportunity for Singapore to be a model country for the outer world in addressing the environmental issues in their strategic plan, therefore, should change the regime of concept plan in 2011. We should not fully expect that the cities of Bangladesh can be planned like Singapore; however, our government and urban managers can take the legible extract to be applied in a growing up city of Bangladesh as a test case. It is true that in the democratic practices many microscale planning initiatives may not successful but many uncertainties can be overcome through effective consultations and negotiations.
References
1.B.L, Ong (2003) “Green Plot Ratio: an ecological measure for architecture and urban planning” Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol 63 (2003), Pp 197-211
2.Ker, Liu Thai (2002) “Urbanizing Singapore: Optimizing Resources” Megacities Lectures (2002)
3. Keung, John (1998) “Planning for Sustainable Urban Development: the Singapore Approach” in Planning Singapore: From Plan to Implementation, eds Singapore Institute of Planners.
4. Statistical Year Book of Singapore, 2009
5. Singapore Concept Plan 2001; http://www.ura.gov.sg/conceptplan2001/
6. Singapore Green Plan 2012 http://www.mewr.gov.sg/sgp2012/about.htm
7. Singapore Green Plan 2012 http://www.mewr.gov.sg/sgp2012/index_2006.htm
8. Ministry of Environment and Water Resources Program/initiatives
http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/Contents.aspx?ContId=1342
9. Towards Environmental Sustainability: State of the Environment 2005 Report, Singapore
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan026873.pdf
10. BCA Green Mark http://www.bca.gov.sg/GreenMark/green_mark_buildings.html
