Pictures
The Great Wall of HortPark: NPArks showcases the latest international ‘green wall’ technologies at their new flagship park at Alexandra. Plant-covered walls reputedly lower a building temperature by at least 1 degree.
Hotel CapitaLand: One George’s iconic sky garden rivals any five-star hotel’s offering. On an otherwise miserable afternoon, the building’s workers come here for yoga, drinks, and a some personal space.
Green lung: Post-lunch office workers refresh their lungs– and then destroy them smoking — in this quiet garden behind China Square, before heading out again into their concrete cubicles.
Point us the right way: Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, presides over the landmark ‘Gardens by the Bay’ project that will bloom the urban downtown and indeed, define Singapore’s image as a City in a Garden.
The green in-between: CBD workers rush about increasing their stress factor, obvlious to the ‘Lush Garden’ nestled between OCBC building’s two towers. Nevertheless, urban geography experts call such gardens essential in subconsciously providing respite.
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The Secret Gardens
Seletar’s Secret Garden: Bird watchers sight migratory birds in Seletar Airbase’s peaceful surrounds. A young enthusiast even spots an ‘owl’ amongst the golf course’s tree-lined driveways. But in five years, a sprawling aerospace hub will render the garden secret — and peaceful — no more.
Alexandra’s Secret Garden: One would mistake the colonial estate at Alexandra Park for an English countryside, but for the soaring 35-degree noontime temperature. In the evenings, photo-posing wedding couples can be found rolling about its rolling plains.
Portsdown’s Secret Garden: The giant One-North development may have razed a chunk of Portsdown’s colonial houses and quaint winding roads. But life still soars above a bicycle stunt ground and in Colbar, the area’s iconic eatery that once serviced British military officers.
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Singapore style: Bukit Timah Nature Reserve faces constant encroaching development projects. One new condominium’s buy-me line goes “If you love nature, you will love The Raintree”.
Dead-end: Roads, barriers, and cars galore surround the iconic reserve.
Labrador’s labour of love: Balance is better achieved at Labrador, where shelters and seaside boulevards remain in Labrador Park, leaving the adjacent nature reserve relatively unmolested.
A place in the sun: At parks like the Singapore Botanic Gardens, more space can be catered for public enjoyment with less fear of ecological degradation.
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The Coasts
Finding nemo: Just 100 metres from the Sentosa’s acclaimed Underwater World, nature enthusiasts enjoy the authentic version. Far fewer people appreciate this natural — and free — viewing gallery. Contrary to popular belief, ‘Nemo’ is not a species of fish, it is merely the name of a cartoon caricature based on the clownfish.
Leave no shore unturned: Reclamation works have covered Sentosa’s northern and Labrador’s southern coasts. The Resorts World IR development is expected to bring 20 million visitors to its shores and kill 66 percent of its coral reefs.
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Green Corridors
A City in a Garden: By 2010, NPArks’ ambitious park connector network — 200 km-long — will link many nature areas around the island, creating ‘virtual space’ in land-scarce Singapore.
“A wonderful home for all”: MP for Holland-Bukit Timah Christopher de Souza thinks highly of a planned HDB project to build 1300 flat units near Ghim Moh. The move — estimated to clear 70 hectares of woodland — is dreaded by the Nature Society (Singapore) and existing residents.
Heritage Road: Arcadia Road, unbeknownst to many residents there, is protected by an NParks programme that conserves roads that have high ecological and aesthetic value.
Singapore's Green Awakening 
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