Houses like Trees, Cities like Forests

Dr. Ong Boon Lay

Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore

If architects, designers and planners wish to develop sustainable cities, they must
engage with the principles of ecology. This thought generated the idea of ecological
design, as design that captures the essence of the principles of natural ecosystems.
Cities like the natural ecosystem will continue to use resources of the planet; yet the
natural ecosystem is sustainable and cities often are not. Natural ecosystems are not
about zero sums, but it is about consumption of resources for the right processes and is
a dynamic system that changes over time. The presentation discusses ways in which
nature can be incorporated in a city so that the city becomes more of an ecosystem. This
interlocking can also provide the enhanced possibility of material exchange, recycling
and long term sustainability.

Green Plot Ratio (GPR) is a planning instrument that can be used to measure ecological
sustainability in cities. The concept is based on the assessment of the Leaf Area Index
(LAI) whereby GPR is presented as a ratio that is similar to the building plot ratio (BPR).
The tool can be used for design and planning, such that on one hand, architects gain
more flexibility in design while, on the other, regulators can use this tool to regulate the
minimum greenery required for the city.

The nurtured landscapes concept emphasizes the need for specially designed unique
landscape for complementing the needs of the city, and not planting random greenery
around city areas. For example, providing a nurtured landscape between the industrial
landscape and natural landscape will reduce the impact of industries on nature. This
approach has been applied in Jurong Island, Singapore, to design an eco-Industrial
park. As part of the study of this project, three groups analyzed the Industrial Park. The
first group studied the areas of pollution and possible areas for greenery and the ways to
link these together so that the pollutants can be naturally cleaned before discharging into
natural landscape. Another group studied the industrial process to propose the closing of
the material and energy loop, as well as the water networks to merge the proposals into
the overall master plan. The third group looked at industries in time scale and concluded
that petroleum may not be sustainable, and that biofuels should replace it.

The presentation included several planning examples. LiuXianCun, an eco-city in China,

adopted the nurtured landscape approach in its planning, such that the city level was
raised by 5 storeys to accommodate all the paths underground and for the ground level
to be used only for parks. Another example is a plan for One-North, a high-tech science
park for which the greenery was organized around the low lying parts of the site that
floods during high rainfall, and for the rainwater to be collected and used to form
interconnected water bodies. The third example presented was the renovation of
Terminal II of Changi airport, where the toilets were redesigned using an innovative
combination of plants, water and light, and a modular system to provide a ‘living screen’
that was adaptable, flexible, maintainable and sustainable.
Dr. Ong Boon Lay
Dr. Ong is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture, School of Design and
Environment, National University of Singapore. His research areas are ecological design
in the tropics, plants and buildings; and he teaches environmental science and
architectural design. He is a trained architect and has contributed to winning entries of
eco-city and other design competitions.