Singapore wows Vancouver visitor

The Straits Times, April 27, 2007
By Michael Geller




CLEAN LIVING: No littering, no graffiti...Singapore has to be the cleanest country in the world, says Vancouver visitor Michael Geller.





IN THE early 1970s, I worked with British architects and planners at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp in Ottawa, helping to design public housing projects across Canada.

In the evenings, I 'moonlighted'. My after-hours job was a residential high-rise along the Rideau Canal.

The developer was Mr William Teron, who would go on to become president and chairman of the national housing agency. At a public meeting, one of the neighbours opposed the development on the grounds that it would block her view of the Parliament Buildings.

'Furthermore,' she said, 'the building is just for rich people.' I will always remember Mr Teron's reply. 'Well, the rich have to live somewhere too, you know!'

I thought of this when I arrived in Singapore. Here, the British tradition of public housing has continued in a significant way; here, a large percentage of the population resides in housing developed by the government, many of them in homes they own.

Both renters and owners take great pride in their homes, most of which are in large high-rise blocks.

In fact, each year the government has a competition to determine who lives in the cleanest public housing estate in the city. A prize is given to the winning residents.

This got me thinking. Perhaps the British Columbia Housing Management Commission should consider a similar competition in B.C.

My hope would be that Vancouver's public housing residents would start taking a similar sense of pride in their buildings. I am confident that the savings in maintenance and repairs costs would more than offset the cost of prizes!

Sense of pride is very evident around Singapore.

While we often hear people ridicule the country for its public prohibitions - no chewing gum, no spitting, no littering - Singapore has to be the cleanest country in the world.

During my stay, I did not see any litter on the streets, despite the daily handout of flyers and the presence of numerous fast-food outlets.

There is no graffiti; the streets are beautifully landscaped and maintained. Singapore is also one of the safest cities in the world. I believe there is a connection.

To fully understand life in Singapore, one has to know what goes on behind the scenes.

I was fortunate in having Warren and Rilla Buckley show me around. This is the same Warren Buckley who helped make the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre an international success in the 1990s.

For the past seven years, he has been CEO of Singapore's privately owned Suntec Convention Centre.

As we drove around the city, past the magnificent new concert hall and sold-out new-home projects, Warren spoke about traffic management and the sense of order on the streets.

In an effort to reduce congestion, some cars have red licence plates and can only be used on weekends.

Cars have a box on the dashboard that calculates tolls for using downtown roads at peak hours. There are lanes designated for public buses only at peak hours.

Although there is a high degree of government control, Singapore is not a 'dead' city.

It is very vibrant and active 24/7. Its residents are obsessed with eating and shopping. Every street feels like Robson Street on a Friday night! This is partly due to the government's efforts to encourage people to live close to where they work. Major new mixed-use communities are being planned adjacent to the downtown on lands being reclaimed from the sea.

Singapore is an incubator for new urban ideas. Many taxis are fitted with speed monitors. If a driver exceeds the limit, a sound goes off in the car, and a light flashes on the roof. Most transit riders have an easy-to-use pre-paid plastic card. It calculates fares based on the distance travelled, and can be topped up as required.

When I first arrived in Singapore, Warren suggested that I visit the Urban Redevelopment Authority's City Gallery. It contains scale models and other displays to allow visitors to see what has been built and what is planned for the future.

While I was there, school children were enjoying interactive displays on storm-water management, park-space planning and other urban concepts. I started to chat to one well-dressed man examining a portion of the model with great interest. It turned out he was a real-estate investor, curious to see what was planned for a site near one he owned.

Many years ago, Mr Ray Spaxman and a group of civilly minded Vancouver urbanists had visions of a similar centre for the city.

They called it The Urbanarium. Having now visited Singapore's centre, and an even more impressive facility in Shanghai, I think now is the time for Vancouver's real estate community, public and private sectors to sponsor something similar in Vancouver.

It could be a venue for Lighting The City, an exhibition currently on display in Singapore's centre. It offers creative ideas to improve night lighting around the city.

While we are all increasingly conscious of the need to conserve energy, I particularly look forward to the proposal for 'shimmering floating lights along the river, to bring out the sense of water'. I can visualise a similar proposal for portions of False Creek or English Bay.

Perhaps we might also implement the red licence plates, plastic transit cards, and taxis with flashing lights! Now, as for the ban on chewing gum and littering...

The writer is a Vancouver architect, planner and property developer. This article first appeared in the April 14 issue of The Vancouver Sun.