There is still hope for the country
Us Singaporeans see green spaces as being critical to the health, well-being and quality of life. It influences the purchasing of houses, decisions to be made in, around and for households, and the stress levels in the community with the country’s fast-paced working culture. Hence, we strongly believe that their preservation is essential for environmental balance and for the generations after us. We want to preserve and create a safe place to live and breathe in for many more generations to come.
As a society, we give credit where credit is due. We applaud and commend the Singaporean government and all bodies involved in the country’s urban development as it balances green spaces and infrastructure amid limited land and space. We understand that it will always be a tough nut to crack, as there will constantly be challenges such as costly eco-friendly initiatives, underutilised community spaces, and the need for integrated amenities and sustainable transportation. There are more layers to these problems which the relevant authorities have to deal with and tackle head-on. As citizens of Singapore living in heartlands all around the country, we see and recognise the efforts of all those involved in helping the country grow and prosper, from inside and out.
Meanwhile, regarding the land space of new built-to-order (BTO) housing locations, many of our interviewees have raised their concerns. Some of them include physical hazards such as an increase in radiation levels with the rise of electric vehicles and their charging parking lots, as well as issues with climate change and how it will affect buildings in Singapore and its infrastructure. Though it may seem far fetched on the surface, we do not want to invalidate their fears. We have all seen what can happen to buildings when natural disasters strike through our neighbouring countries, and with the issue of climate change not improving any time soon, more members of the public may have the same fears sooner or later.
On the note of housing, our participants all agreed that housing in Singapore has to focus on affordability, accessibility and balancing development with conservation. Influenced by social and economical factors, residents’ perspectives are formed by varying personal priorities and practical considerations. However, at the end of the day, Singaporeans’ main worry is not being able to afford to buy a house in a country where the cost of living is amongst the highest in the world. A post-pandemic world where prices have been inflated has also thrown a lot of Singaporeans into survival mode. Now, more than ever, we need the country to be able to sustain the working class and all residents with sufficient and reliable public transportation support to aid in accessibility, amidst many other basic needs and requirements we all have.
This basic need of survival throws the citizens into a resigned acceptance state of mind. Due to the ever-decreasing land space in Singapore, almost everyone realises that if the government doesn’t clear green spaces to build more housing, where else can it be done? We are currently seeing it happen in Tengah, Dover, Khatib and many more areas and estates on our tiny island. The authorities are balancing urban development with green options and spaces, as seen in Tengah for example. Called the “Tengah HDB Eco Town”, Singapore Power (SP Group) and the Housing Development Board (HDB) designed it to be a smart energy town where the development includes energy and water conservation features both internally in homes and externally around them. However, in its early stages, public opinion and views of such development looks to be bleak. They question the practicality and overall effectiveness, and weigh it against the loss of natural space which the area was built on. “Is it really worth it in the long run?”, one even asks.
This leads to many Singaporeans hesitating to move into distant BTOs due to worries regarding accessibility in public transportation, accessibility with their own vehicles, safety concerns with the infrastructure of the houses due to accelerated works to meet demands and timelines, and many other issues. However, they do still appreciate the nearby green spaces of those areas as these new estates are often built on cleared green spaces but there are still some of them left untouched and to attract potential buyers due to that beautiful view.
This shows us where the focus and priority of Singaporeans lie. They value practicality over anything else. On the flipside, our insights still do show that there is a focus on personal sustainability efforts to aid the country in the long run. Acts such as reusing items more and helping to preserve natural habitats through volunteering efforts show a glimpse of how efficient the country can be to be sustainable together. We need to all stay committed to doing our part in our aid towards environmental care and accessibility to urban green spaces. At the end of the day, it is a team effort!
Albeit that, there is still a generational divide in perspective of Singapore’s urban green spaces in our data. Younger folks may view sustainability differently from their elders, who recall more natural surroundings in the past and how good they had it back then. They find it hard to empathise with the current younger generation as they view it as this is humanity’s fault and wrongdoing. That this is due to greed and capitalism. Over time, all the construction activities led to significant negative changes. We saw firsthand the transformation of farmland into barren land and landscapes altered due to debris like cement and sand, which also made rivers muddy. What does not help either is the lengthy process required to restore healthy soil and regrow said forests post-construction. Regeneration will take months and years.
Yet, together as one nation, all interviewees urged policies to change. Our participants advocated for the curbing of deforestation impacts, platforms for public opinions and voicing out, better or even more green space-urbanisation balance and tighter immigration laws to curb housing demands and needs.
Our findings made us believe in a future for Singapore, and for the future generations after us. We were happy to find that even though many of our interviewees resigned to accepting the country’s landscape for what it is, due to its small nature, some still had hope and were optimistic for change when given a different perspective.
