Sustainable City Centre Development: The Singapore City Centre in the Context of Sustainable Development

Sustainable development has two parts to it. The first is development; the core dimension is here economic growth, the generation of wealth against poverty. Then there is the second part, “sustainable”. How do we keep growing with what we have; the environmental challenge to economic development. What is a sustainable city? It is organized so as to enable all its citizens to meet their own needs and to enhance their well-being without damaging the natural world or endangering the living conditions of other people, now or in the future (Girardet 2001). This definition emphasizes the importance of people and their needs. These include good quality air, water, good housing, a good working environment, good and healthy food etc. They also include job opportunities; healthcare, quality education, culture, safety as well as equal opportunities and the needs of the elderly and the disabled must be adequately provided for. The key question to be asked in a sustainable city is: are all users able to satisfy their needs without damaging the host environment?

This chapter looks at one small area, the Singapore City Centre – the very heartland and nerve centre of the nation’s sustainable economic planning and development. It conforms approximately to the “Central Area” used in the overall island planning, the Singapore Concept Plan. Its area has expanded since 1958 and it now covers an area of about 1,700 hectares (Fig. 3.1). It is perhaps small from a global perspective, yet it shows in a looking glass what can be achieved once there is a determined effort to reach certain goals.

Singapore is through its location and economic structure an integrated component in economic globalization, involving not only the corporate economy and the transnational corporate culture but also the immigrant economies and work cultures evident in global cities (Sassen 2006). However, Singapore like Hong Kong is unique because the state/nation or territory is contained within a fully urbanized and territorially constrained unit.