Green Urbanism: Holistic Pathways to the Rejuvenation of Mature Housing Estates in Singapore

Abstract

Cities play a crucial role in the way out of the environmental crisis. This chapter argues that our fast growing cities need to develop as more compact, polycentric mixed-use urban clusters, strongly inter-connected by public transport and highly mixed-use, towards sustainable “network city” models (Castells, The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996). Cities are systems already under stress; cities are resource-intensive, and can sometimes be messy and chaotic. Not everything in cities can always be planned to last more than 25 or 30 years; mature components, such as housing estates, have to be re-engineered and retrofitted. Today, many mature housing estates, which play such a significant role of Singapore’s urban fabric, are over 3 decades old and in need of urgent rejuvenation and retrofitting. Some of them are relatively energy-inefficient and highly air-conditioning dependent – but what could be the most appropriate model for such rejuvenation? It is timely to rethink and re-conceptualize these aged estates and districts of Singapore, in order to future-proof them for a fast approaching low-to-no-carbon society. Eco-city planning and the retrofitting of existing inefficient housing estates involves the introduction of mixed-use programmes and smart densification of the urban form. These concepts go far beyond environmental aspects; they include systems’ integration and holistic thinking, rather than piecemeal approach or single-minded “techno-fix” approaches. System-integration and holistic conceptual approaches are necessary to ensure that these rejuvenated estates become part of a larger sustainable ecosystem, in regard to their management of waste, energy, water, public transport, materials and food supply. What is needed is a practical strategy for re-energising tired housing, to undergo radical modernization, to meet the changing aspirations and lifestyles of contemporary Singaporeans. It also requires new typologies for both public and private housing, appropriate to the tropical climate, with terraced gardens, courtyards, and environment friendly solutions. This study explores the typology and findings of a German case study: the city of Freiburg, where two recently completed eco-districts are analysed, as they could inform urban developments in Singapore. This case study shows that cities need to always find local solutions appropriate to their particular circumstances, and that government is key in driving the outcome. The argument is that good urban governance and governmental leadership is crucial to eco-development. In connection with this, the paper also examines a study conducted by the author at the National University of Singapore: an architecture master class, which was looking at careful neighbourhood re-configuration and the integration of the existing estates, avoiding the negative impact of demolition of these estates, to maintain the social community networks.