My Reading - Quiet:
"desensitization training" - an approach that made sense to me. Often used as a way to conquer phobias, desensitization involves exposing yourself (and your amygdala) to the thing you’re afraid of over and over again, in manageable doses.
Developing Living Cities - From Analysis to Action
I’ve been trying to read as widely as possible. One of my areas of interest is city planning. I came across this book and it is indeed a good resource for city planners. This book provokes thinking and provides a framework on how to develop sustainable and dynamic cites – not just a place to work but also to live and play. In view of the accelerated pace of urbanisation in the next 10 to 15 years, the size of cities will continue to grow significantly. Therefore it is critical how city planners manage the process of city growth to ensure that cities do not deteriorate into centres of poverty, pollution and proliferation of epidemics.
On the contrary, with good governance, cities should be great centres of employment, industry, liveability and culture. The book seeks to compare Singapore’s development as a “living city” with other cities around the world. It offers first hand insights on the development choices that cities can make. It advances the concept and framework of a “living city” and poses 6 key inter-generational challenges to cities.
Leadership and good governance are the forces that drive cities and nations to succeed. Cities need leaders who are visionary, think out of the box, and dare to implement unpopular polices. Good governance is exemplified by transparency, accountability, autonomy and rule of law.
The 6 components of “living cities” that are proposed by the authors are inter-linked and one reinforcing another through loops. These components are:
1) Competitiveness - it is crucial for cities to be engines of growth for the nation. Commitment by the local political administration is critical for cities to maintain competitiveness.
2) Infrastructure – city infrastructure must be efficient and affordable to achieve competitiveness. It should be improved and expanded expeditiously; and operated on commercial principles that ensure sustainability.
3) Transport and communications – successful city residents spend nearly one-third of their time travelling and on the phone. Mobility should be efficient, safe and reliable for cities to function effectively and compete economically.
4) Information – this is a key factor for good governance. Transparent and low transaction costs through e-government are key requirements.
5) Environment – when the living environment is good, cities will be liveable and sustainable. Cities are not spaces for making a living; they must have life.
6) Shelter – the adequacy, availability and affordability of housing space through appropriate planning, land use and housing policy is a salient feature of a city with a vision.
Below are some examples of these features found in Singapore, one of the most liveable cities in Asia.
Singapore ranks third in the world and first in Asia Pacific according to a global city competitiveness report by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Singapore’s unique characteristics and highly accessible infrastructure make it one of the best places to live, study and work in Asia.
Received this from one of my Indian friends in Chennai. This is their vision for Indian cities. As we work with our Indian counterparts, I truly look forward to the day when Indian cities will be more liveable, equitable and sustainable.
As the Indian economy grows, cities are expanding faster than ever before. Just look at Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata etc. The challenge is to provide top class urban living spaces in such cities as they grow.
While the government is battling to renew the cities with funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, it can do little to stop the migration of people from the villages to the cities and the creation of new urban extensions. A ranking of Indian cities by a Ficci-Ernst & Young study, titled Indian Real Estate Report 2007: Growth and New Destinations, maps India’s most and least liveable cities on several counts. New Delhi, the Capital, tops the overall ranking.
Indian cities today are over populated. In spite of that it is teeming with activities and vibrancy. Professor Ehrlich’s original population epiphany was triggered by a wild ride in a Delhi taxi which he described in the prologue to The Population Bomb:
I have understood the population explosion intellectually for a long time. I came to understand it emotionally one stinking hot night in Delhi a few years ago. My wife and daughter and I were returning to our hotel in an ancient taxi. The seats were hopping with fleas. The only functional gear was third. As we crawled through the city, we entered a crowded slum area. The temperature was well over 100, and the air was a haze of dust and smoke. The streets seemed alive with people. People eating, people washing, people sleeping. People visiting, arguing, and screaming. People thrusting their hands through the taxi window, begging. People defecating and urinating. People clinging to buses. People herding animals. People, people, people, people. As we moved slowly through the mob, hand horn squawking, the dust, noise, heat and cooking fires gave the scene a hellish aspect. Would we ever get to our hotel? All three of us were, frankly, frightened… since that night I’ve known the feel of overpopulation.
Far more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet, according to a United Nations study on how to improve sanitation levels globally.
India's mobile subscribers totalled 563.73 million at the last count, enough to serve nearly half of the country's 1.2 billion population.
But just 366 million people - around one-third of the population - had access to proper sanitation in 2008.
Poor sanitation is a major contributor to water-borne diseases, which in the past three years alone killed an estimated 4.5 million children under the age of five worldwide, according to the study.
Do you think we can transform Indian cities to be more liveable, equitable and sustainable ?
Visit this link for more information on liveable cities discussed at the World Cities Summit, 2to4 Jul 2012 in Singapore
Miha Artnak, the artist behind the brilliant Layers series, has recently finished his newest piece of street art entitiled The Rise of The Fall. Found in Slovenia, in this piece Artnak covered the branches of a tree with a number of plastic bags that nearly obscure it when observed from a distance. Much like his other work featuring the medium of plastic bags, The Plastic Bag Monster, Artnak is hoping to make a statement and raise awareness about humankind's waste and rampant consumerism. By covering the tree, this can be interpreted to mean that if something isn't done to help reverse this trend, our garbage may soon overtake nature.
The largest mangrove swamp in
Singapore is the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. This 87-hectare park was
officially opened on the 6th of December 1993. It includes Pulau Buloh and is
situated in North-west of Singapore, between Kranji Reservoir and Sarimbun
Reservoir.
I have not been there and so on
one of my leave days I took a trip there with my wife to enjoy the wetland. Sungei Buloh Nature Park is
reached by Neo Tiew Crescent, off Neo Tiew Road and Kranji Road (take the Mass
Rapid Transit System to Kranji MRT Station then take Trans-island Bus Services
(TIBS) bus service no. 925 to Kranji Dam Carpark and walk (15 mins) to the park
on weekdays; the bus will take you directly to the park on Sundays and Public
Holidays). Check it out on the website. There are a lot of details to help you with the visit.
More information on the reserve and about history of mangroves in Singapore can be found on this website.
This uniquely
preserved mangrove reserve is a very good place for bird-watching especially
between Sep and Mar where you can see migratory shorebirds or waders. At
the visitors information centre, you can watch a 13 mins video show at a small
theatrette. It will show you what to look out for when you go on your own walk.
There are 4 routes to choose from.
Route 1 - a 3km long route. Enjoy the tranquility and
peace f the mangrove habitat. You will see lots of huge monitor lizards along
the way.
Route 2 - a 5km long route which will lead you to the
tower hide and prawn pond. You will walk on the longest boardwalk of the
reserve.
Route 3 - a 7km route which will lead you the inhibitants
of the freshwater habitat.
Mangrove Boardwalk - a short 500m walk through the
mangrove without getting your feet wet or muddy.
I reached there about 10 am and the walk is rather shady. In spite of this, do bring along sun tan lotion,mosquito repellent and sun glasses. Just in case, have an umbrella ready.You never know.
Here are some pictures I took and I hope you enjoy it. The few images below show the Visitors' Info Centre.
Be sure to visit the washroom before you proceed your walk into the wetland. Photos of the wetland ....
I was in Dubai in April 2011 to attend the 59th UITP World Congress.
On the back on of the Congress, I made a visit to Masdar City in Abu Dhabi which is only just over an hour's drive away. Masdar aims to be the first carbon neutral city in the world.
Here, in the heart of the desert, thousands of dedicated people, billions of dollars and years of effort are coming together to achieve a groundbreaking goal: the world’s first entirely carbon-neutral, zero-waste city... constructed from scratch !
Masdar City will be a clean technology research hub, designed to rival Silicon Valley. Commissioned by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, the city’s five and a half square kilometres will be home to 50,000 people, 1,500 businesses and some 40,000 daily commuters, and will strive to be entirely self-sufficient for all energy needs.
Some 80 percent of water will be recycled. In addition to solar and biomass conversion, other renewable sources of power under consideration include geothermal, hydrogen and wind. Biological waste will be used to create fertiliser, whilst industrial waste will be recycled or re-used.
This is an experiment of colossal proportions, with no historical frame of reference. Yet it’s also a serious business venture with a tight schedule and savvy project managers. The question is, how do you manage a build of this scale? How can you contain costs and manage cash flow of such vast sums of money? And how do you prove to the watchful eyes of the world that the entire build is, and always will be, completely carbon-neutral?
Along with a public metro line and light rail, Masdar's driverless cars, or Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) vehicles were at the core of Masdar City's public transportation strategy.
After touring Masdar City, I can personally attest to the fact that cruising around in a driverless electric car that is pre-programmed to take you to the next station at the touch of a button is a remarkable experience. However, it is a rather expensive option since such vehicles are really not proven to work when the demand is high. Whilst the ride and the look of the vehicle is good, we have to wait and see it the technology is really reliable and cost effective.
Watch the PRT video here.
All these features are very interesting, but will Masdar become the world's greenest city. Read Jan 25 2011 Time magazine's article ... Masdar: World's Greenest City ?
I was in Ho Chi Minh City recently for a project. This is my second time there after some 3 years ago. There are certainly more traffic on the streets and not surprising I see more cars and taxis on the road as well, most likely due to the greater affluence of the people. The motor cycles are still there and ever growing as well. The noise too.
With more cars on the roads, it is now more risky to ride a motor cycle on the roads of Ho Chi Minh City. There is greater friction between these two modes of transportation. And so the probability of a motor cyclist involved in an accident is higher.
I also notice that there is an unspoken discipline on the roads. The cars will try to keep to one side of the road and the motor cycles on the other side. This is good and will increase the efficiency of the road's throughput and safer for the motor cycles as well. However, the danger arises when the cars decided to make a turn at the junctions and this can be rather dangerous for the motor cyclists.
I also notice the greater growing urban divide of the people. There are a growing group of Vietnamese who are very well off in contrast to the majority who are still in the lower income bracket.
Here's a very nice Cantonese restaurant serving some of the best Cantonese cuisine and seafood you can find anywhere in the world.
People are having a great time eating the finest and freshest food, socializing, drinking and in their best designer wear.
Yet not too far away from this top end restaurant, one can see the wide contrast in the kind of food served and conditions of another less fortunate group of Vietnamese. Road side stalls are plentiful. Some squat, some sit on small stools, some stand and that is how they would have their simple meals.
This is the sad state of affairs in many of the developing countries in Asia. Asia’s economic expansion is celebrated as an example of successful globalization, but it has not been equally distributed among the populations.
1. The Asia-Pacific region is leading the reduction of overall poverty in the world.
2. Economic growth has not benefited all urban dwellers in the region equally. Urban income poverty in Asia is declining more slowly than its rural counterpart. Urban inequality is rising in the Asia-Pacific region.
3. Since the year 2000, the lives of 172 million slum-dwellers in Asia have been improved through various policies and programmes.
4. The Asia-Pacific region remains host to over half of the world’s slum population, and huge sub-regional disparities remain.
5. Most Asian cities are on their way to achieving the target set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for access to water.
6. Although Asian cities have made considerable progress in providing access to improved sanitation, many are likely to miss the Millennium sanitation target.
The world's population has just gone past seven billion on 31 October 2011. The birthday may be emblematic, but the demographic marker it symbolises is startlingly real - there are now twice as many people alive on earth as there were as recently as the 1960s.
Behind the seven billion population figure lies a complicated demographic picture - one that masks huge disparities. The current rate of growth means that there are 78 million more people every year. Nearly all of that growth - 97 out of every 100 people - is occurring in less developed countries. In developed nations, on the other hand, the population growth rate has largely stagnated: in Japan and across Europe, for instance, fertility rates are about 1.5 births per woman, bringing concerns about lower fertility and ageing.
11 September 2011 marked the six-month anniversary of Japan's massive earthquake and tsunami.
Some 20,000 people are dead or missing. More than 800,000 homes were completely or partially destroyed. The disaster crippled businesses, roads and infrastructure. The Japanese Red Cross Society estimates that 400,000 people were displaced. Half a year later, there are physical signs of progress.
Much of the debris has been cleared away or at least organized into big piles. In the port city of Kesennuma, many of the boats carried inland by the tsunami have been removed. Most evacuees have moved out of high school gyms and into temporary shelters or apartments.
The Kyodo News agency distributed an amazing group of combination photographs showing three scenes. The first scene is right after the earthquake and tsunami hit, then three months later, and finally how the scene looks now.
Another one here which showed the progress. More pictures here.
