Urban System Growth

Case study : Singapore

Including infrastructure improvements over time,
such as transport, sanitation, water, waste disposal
and telecommunications
• Singapore has experienced economic growth and development since
it gained independence in 1965.
• Singapore is a city-state, which basically means it is a city sized
country.
• The ppt will show some of those changes, with a specific focus on
infrastructure development relating to transport, water, waste
disposal and telecommunications.
• Singapore Tourism videos:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtIcWwQTllQ

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EZSBLKhAYY

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJE3HIkQ4zU
• Approximately 40 km by 25 km
The next few slides show Singapore
around 1965 and today
• Waterfront
The main shopping
street of Singapore
– Orchard Road
Water Infrastructure Improvements
• Singapore has a limited
amount area from which it
can collect water. They try to
capture as much rainwater as
they can and put it in
reservoir. In 1965 there were
3 and today there are 17.
• More than ⅔ of the surface in
Singapore is engineered to
collect rainwater and send it
to reservoirs.

• The dark blue patches are the reservoirs and

the green shows the catchment lands.
Manmade channels are shown by the lighter
blue lines.
• Singapore has been
buying water from
Malaysia for many
decades. The pipes run
beside the one of the
two bridges that
connect the countries.
• Over time Singapore
has been reducing its
dependence on
Malaysian by
developing the
“4 National Taps”

Singapore’s Four National Taps
• Singapore 430 million gallons of water a
day (about 720 Olympic size pools)
• Local Catchment has increased from 3 to
17 reservoirs
• Imported Water accounts for more about
½ of Singapore’s water supply
• NEWater involves recycling wastewater
directly back to drinking water and this
started about 15 years ago. A second
NEWater plant was recently completed
• Desalinated Water is the most recent
addition as when added when efficiency
and fuel prices made it affordable about 9
years ago.
• Singapore aims to meet 85% of its need
from NEWater and Desalinisation by 2060.
They also aim to reduce per capita usage
in order to reduce pressure on water
infrastructure.
NEWater

• Short clip about NEWater

https://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/23/living/newater-
singapore/index.html
Transportation Infrastructure
improvements…
• International airport in 1965 had one runway and
one terminal.
• Changi International airport has 2 runways and 3
terminals. It would probably be much larger if
land was not so limited in Singapore.
• Regularly voted the world’s best airport in terms
of service and facilities.
 Road network
• First Roads
The earliest roads were laid out in the
Jackson Plan in 1822. A grid system
was adopted for the town with roads
for carriages being 16 yards wide, and
those for horses four yards wide.
• This plan covered a very small area of
Singapore
 Road transport continued…..
• Today Singapore has a very developed road and motorway system.
• The original motorways form a loop in the centre of the island connecting
many of the “new towns”. The new towns included many government
housing projects (90% over Singaporeans live in government housing).
Over the years the motorway network has increase with many new linking
motorways and tunnels.
 Road Network continued
• Singapore makes a considerable effort to keep its road infrastructure
attractive and garden like. Singapore calls itself a Garden City and it is
surprising green in colour for such a densely populated city.
Public Transport - Buses
• First Steam Trams
Steam trams began in 1867 to carry goods from the harbour to the town. However it was not a commercial
success and the service was auctioned off to the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company which used them to carry freight
until the service was discontinued in 1894.
• first Tramways
In 1902, the Singapore Electric Tramway Ltd was the first company to build, equip and run tramways. 6 lines
were laid through the town and trams started running in 1905. At its peak, trams carried an average of 11,000
passengers daily.
• First Motor Buses
The first motor buses were introduced in the 1930s and soon they replaced the trolley buses.
• First Trolley Buses
In Oct 1925, the Shanghai Electric Construction Company Ltd established the Singapore Traction Company,
which was given a 30-year monopoly to run trolley buses within the town. The first service started in Aug 1926.
By 1929, there were 90 trolley buses serving a total distance of 30.5 km, from Tanjong Pagar to
Joo Chiat Road. In 1962, the trolley buses were phased out by faster motor buses.
Public Transport - Buses
• First Double Decker Buses
Singapore Bus Service (now known as SBS Transit) launched its first double-decker bus service on 13 Jun 1977
with 20 Leyland Atlanteans.
• First Bus Lanes
Bus Lanes have been introduced since 1974 to improve travel time of buses. Other vehicles are not allowed to
be in these lanes during certain peak hours. In 2005, full day bus lanes were introduced on busy roads. The
scheme improved bus speeds as well as ridership.
• Oldest Bus Stop
A 1970s bus stop located along Old Choa Chu Kang Road originally slated to be torn down as part of
improvement works, has been preserved by the Land Transport Authority. The bus stop is made of concrete and
metal.
• First WiFi-Enabled Buses
In Nov 2007, the Nokia WiFi Zone trial was started on 12 bus services. This initiative brought high-speed internet
access to consumers on the go, allowing them to access the Web to chat, surf or play throughout the bus routes
for free. This service was only available to Nokia phone users.
Public Transport
• Below are buses in Singapore in the 1960’s.

• To the right is a picture of the first double

deckers in Singapore in 1977.
• Very efficient and
modern subway
(MRT) shown on the
right
• Singapore’s Mass rapid Transit
(subway) and Light Rail Transport
consists of below and above
ground rail lines with a total
distance of about 230 km with
119 stations and over 3 million
rides per day.
• Singaporeans pay very very high
taxes on cars which has helped
pay for a very dense and efficient
public transport, including an
expensive subway network.
• Singapore’s investment in public transport has meant they have avoided the
air pollution and traffic issues of many other cities in the same region.
• Bangkok on the left and Jakarta on the right.
• Car ownership in Singapore:
• Singapore 149/1000 people (GNI PPP per capita 51,880)
• NL 420/1000 people (GNI PPP per capita 46,000)
• US 795/1000 people (GNI PPP per capita 56,810)

• Despite have a similar GNI, Singapore has low car ownership because of the
high taxes on cars and the high quality of the public transport system.

• Why is it worthwhile to invest heavily in public transport and get cars off
roads in cities?
Investment in cycling infrastructure is increasing but
the focus is much more about recreational cycling
rather than commuter cycling.

• Why does cycling

seem to disappear
as a city develops
and then return
again…. eventually.
Sanitation Infrastructure Improvements
• Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking
water and adequate treatment and disposal of human excreta and
sewage.
• In the 1960s, under the British rule, Singapore was a
polluted, congested city where open defecation was
rampant.
• In the urban area, household waste was collected in
a bucket under a hole in a squat toilet. The buckets
were filled with soil to minimise the odour and
collected mainly at night to be transported to
collection centres.
• In the rural area, pit latrines were located outside
and shared by a number of families. It consisted of a
drop hole in the ground, a slab over the hole and
shelter. Once the pit was full, the waste was
emptied manually and disposed directly into nearby
waterways. Public health suffered due to poor
sanitation and hygiene practices from frequent
outbreaks of typhoid fever and diarrhoea.
http://worldtoilet.org/50-years-of-sanitation-in-singapore/
• With the advancements of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System to optimise land space
and Housing Development Board to provide improved public housing, Singaporeans
had moved into their new flats with a flush toilet, which was considered a luxury.
• One of the fundamental factors contributing to Singapore’s
progression is the focus on public health based on a “clean and
green” strategy. It took 10 years to clean up the Singapore River that
was polluted from heavy boat traffic, untreated animal and human
waste. In 1974, PUB had built a wastewater treatment plant and
spearheaded the recycling of used water into potable and industrial
water.
• By the 2000s, Singapore progressed steadily with the completion of
the NEWater plant. Singapore’s advancement in water treatment
technologies and innovative water management has turned their
rivers into reservoirs for sustainable water supply.
• By focusing on the prevention of diseases and providing clean water
and sanitation, Singapore created a healthy, productive workforce
ready for international business and commerce.
• Singapore also carefully
manages “standing
water” to prevent
mosquito borne diseases
such as dengue
Waste Disposal Infrastructure Improvements
The following few slides are from a Singapore Government website
•Singapore’s long term goal is Zero Waste!

•Is that realistic or useful as a goal?

• Singapore incinerates most solid waste that is not recycled. This reduction
the volume of waste by 90% by reducing the material to ash. In land
scarce Singapore this reduction of the volume of waste is of huge benefit.
• The ash from the incinerators is being used to create a man made
island, for future recreational use. Singapore produces about 2% of
its electricity from the heat produced by the incinerators
Telecommunications Infrastructure
Improvements
• The history of telephone service in Singapore began in 1879 with a trial
connection made between Raffles Square and Tanjong Pagar using a telegraph
line over a distance of 1.5 km
• The first Private Telephone Exchange also 1879 made up of a simple manual
switchboard with 50 lines. Singapore was the first colony in the East to have a
telephone system, barely three years after Alexander Graham Bell patented his
invention.
• The start of international services was inaugurated by a Singapore-London call
on 1 December 1937.[3]
• In 1955, the British colonial government formed the Singapore Telephone Board
(STB), which would merge with Telecommunication Authority of Singapore in
1974 to form Telecoms. In 1982, Telecoms, after installing more than 500,000
private and public telephone lines, merged again with the Postal Service
Department. By 1990, a significant milestone was reached when Singapore
installed its one millionth telephone line.
Public
payphones
have largely
disappeared
in Singapore
like many
other parts of
the world
 Cell phone coverage and speeds have
progressed steadily
• 1988 marked the beginning of present-day mobile phone communications, when 1G
networks were introduced. It only allowed users to make phone calls and did not support
SMS or internet services. The network retired in 1994.
• 2G networks took over the reins immediately after. Besides voice calls, people could send
SMSes and access basic internet services with their mobile phones.

• The year 2005 was a turning point for the mobile communications landscape, when 3G
technology was introduced. Faster data speeds allowed for heavy Web surfing on
smartphones.
•
The latest evolution in 2011 was 4G technology. With people doing more on their devices,
higher internet speeds were needed to support the proliferation of video streaming and
online mobile gaming.

• Going forward, 5G technology has a potential speed 10 times that of 4G, and it could
support bandwidth intensive applications. It will likely play a key role in Singapore's Smart
Nation initiative.
Internet development
• Dial-up access – began in 1993. Access to the Internet via telephone line.

• Broadband access - via dedicated cable began in 1997

• Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network – high speed fibre

connection to all homes has been completed.

• Wireless@SG
This is a free public Wi-Fi service across Singapore, with hotspots
available at many locations, including malls, museums, public libraries,
community centres, subway stations, Changi Airport ………
SMART CITY?
A “Smart City” is one where people are empowered by technology to lead
meaningful and fulfilled lives.
Using the power of networks, data and info-comm technologies, to improve
living, create economic opportunity and build a closer community.

Smart Cities aim to maximize the benefit of the city’s infrastructure

• Video clip explaining the idea of a Smart City:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bANfnYDTzxE

Are Smart Cities good or bad?

Underground infrastructure saves space
• Singapore has developed a dense network for tunnels under the city in
order to minimize the use of land needed for:
• Public transport (subways)
• Road tunnels
• Sewage
• Electricity transmission

• Utility tunnels in Singapore

• http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapores-deepest-tunnel-
system-close-to-completion-will-ensure-reliable-electricity