Imagining an Eco Cityscape

Fougeron Architecture

Imagining an Eco Cityscape
By Kelly Wu

Cities are not exactly the image that comes to mind when people talk about the environment. But being the center of so many economic activities, a major consumer of goods and services and faced with the ever increasing rural – urban migration, the impact of cities and urbanization in general on the environment cannot be ignored.

What are some environmental problems associated with cities? Top of the list would be pollution emission from transportation and waste and water management. Any city which calls itself a sustainable or eco-city would need to at minimum address the above problems well. And more ideally, these cities should maximize conservation and live in harmony with Nature.

So some features which eco-cities should include would be compact residential development, a good public transport system which reduces dependency on cars, a recycling program, embracing the use of alternative energies like wind and solar and protecting nature and the natural hydrologic systems.

The 2000 URBAN21 Conference in Berlin defines sustainable urban development as “Improving the quality of life in a city, including ecological, cultural, political, institutional, social and economic components without leaving a burden on the future generations.”

Sounds impossible to achieve? Let’s look at what two cities in the world have done.

One of the most lauded sustainable cities amongst urban planners is Curitiba. Curitiba has been hailed as the ecological city of Brazil. This capital city of the State of Paraná started out like any other city, faced with the demands of a growing population which also needed a cost effective means of transport. How the city chose to tackle its development made all the difference – it had a Master Plan, which was created from the 1940s to the 1960s. The Master Plan essentially guided the city development to be along major road “arteries”. The mode of public transport chosen was buses which had express bus lanes to reduce travelling time. Bus stops were sheltered and you pay before boarding which reduces bus loading time. There is also a well-developed recycling program which engages the locals.

From overseas, let’s draw our attention back to Singapore. You may or may not have noticed it, but Singapore is actually acclaimed in the urban planning world for being a model of a planned city which “leaves nothing to chance”. We have a concept plan and develop our housing around New Towns which provides amenities to nearby residents living the city center less congested. By relocating people from slums to public housing, living conditions and hygiene was greatly improved. We also control our water collection, waste disposal and air pollution very efficiently. To top it off, we became a “garden city” with the building of parks and open areas and planting of roadside trees. Our latest moves include building park connectors, green roofs or facades on our buildings and a major makeover for our waterways.

Singapore has indeed done much to be proud of and it’s probably possible now to move to the next higher level! Some suggestions would be to encourage the use of renewable energy such as solar energy, reduce dependency on our landfill and to protect our remaining nature areas (and I don’t mean the parks here – I mean the remaining secondary forests, mangroves, and coral reefs etc. which have so far escaped development).

Just before this article ends, one upcoming project worth looking out for would be Masdar City in the UAE. This city has a big goal to be the world’s first carbon neutral and zero-waste city and its all happening in the dessert! Let’s see whether Masdar will re-define how we think about cities of the future…