Recently I was hearing about the recent changes in Punggol and specific mention was made that the infrastructure needs to keep up with the population growth. However, it seems that there is no specific mention of upgrading of any other infrastructure.
Is making the place livable all about connectivity? I happened to pass by HDB hub one day and I had a look at a mock-up of the new Punggol. Seriously my heart sank when I saw it. The whole place is just full of flats.
Previously, I had the impression that the government is going to develop Punggol to more of a nature friendly place. However in recent years, all the green lungs that was in Punggol have all been made way for construction. All the "kite flying areas" have been greatly reduced and it seems to me that everywhere I see, I only see flats. After I saw the HDB model, I could understand why. Flats are everywhere. Do you know that the Punggol waterway in the future will be surrounded by flats?
Why is transport infrastructure the only reason why a place is livable? Where is the greenery that makes the place more stress free? Certain research shows that stressed workers can reduce mental and physical strain by up to 60% by staring at greenery for 15 minutes. The only greenery I can see now may be the fake wallpaper on someone's wall, or the small plants that we have at HDB carparks.
Seriously, after staring at so many tall buildings that are built so closely at our workplace, it would be good to go back to your home, a place where buildings are much more evenly spaced out, with greenery in-between and parks near every housing estate.
Stressed at work, and stressed at home. Transport infrastructure is not the only thing that will make the place livable.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Is making a place livable all about upgrading transport infrastructure?
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Singapore Ramblings
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It seems obvious to me that all this govt wants is to be able to accommodate the 6.5-7 million people they had as a target for this island.
This will bring in the money: jobs, taxes, economy, etc.
I don't think they care much about quality of life outside of material benefits. When citizens call for halting foreign imports or even to reduce the number of foreigners here, first thing they do is to warn about economic consequences. They avoid mentioning anything related to the Gini Coefficient.
I think this shows where their benchmark lies. They will continue with the economic drive until they are (somehow, miraculously) stopped.
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