Why Singapore Is Insanely Well Designed
Summary
TLDRThe video contrasts the metro systems of Singapore and Los Angeles, highlighting Singapore's superior public transport design and infrastructure. Singapore's metro efficiently serves high-density areas with frequent trains, while LA's system focuses on city-center travel with less frequent service. The video also explores Singapore's policies to limit car ownership, promote cycling and walking, and develop green spaces and sustainable housing. It showcases Singapore's rapid urban development, land reclamation, and environmental initiatives, emphasizing its transformation into a well-designed, efficient, and green city-state.
Takeaways
- 🚇 Singapore's Metro system efficiently serves 2.1 million passengers daily over 200 kilometers, with frequent trains, unlike LA's less utilized system.
- 📊 Singapore's Metro design is ingenious, covering key areas and high-density population zones, unlike LA's system, which is focused on the city center.
- 🚗 High car ownership costs in Singapore, including a $99,500 price tag for a Toyota Corolla, are by design to limit cars and promote public transport.
- 🌍 Singapore, a small island nation, has designed its infrastructure to maximize limited land, supporting a car-light society.
- 🏡 Singapore's public housing strategy is a success story, with 80% of its citizens living in well-designed, mixed-income housing estates.
- 🚶♂️ Singapore is expanding its cycling and walking infrastructure, aiming to add 700 kilometers of cycling paths by 2030 and enhancing covered walkways for pedestrians.
- 🌳 Singapore has focused on environmental sustainability, creating a Garden City with 7,800 hectares of green space and strict green building regulations.
- 🏞️ Singapore's unique approach to land reclamation has added 25% more land to the city, though it has had environmental costs.
- 💧 Singapore's innovative water management includes reservoirs, desalination, and recycling wastewater to meet its water needs.
- 🏗️ Singapore's rapid development and ambitious projects are facilitated by a stable government, which has prioritized long-term planning over short-term politics.
Q & A
How many passengers does Singapore's Metro System serve daily?
-Singapore's Metro System serves 2.1 million passengers per day.
What is the approximate length of both Singapore's and Las Metro Systems?
-Both Singapore's and Las Metro Systems are roughly 200 kilometers long.
Why does Singapore's Metro System have a higher ridership compared to LA's?
-Singapore's Metro System has a higher ridership due to its design that serves all key areas and a ring that goes through nearly every high population area, as well as more frequent train services.
What is unique about Singapore's public transport system design?
-Singapore's public transport system design is unique because it includes a ring that serves high population areas, allowing for efficient travel from one side of the city to another without going through the city center.
How does Singapore's master plan for its Metro System include technology for maintenance?
-Singapore's master plan includes the installation of imaging sensors and laser scanners on trains to monitor track conditions in real time, which helps in knowing exactly when repairs are necessary and avoiding long delays and downtimes.
Why is owning a car in Singapore so expensive?
-Owning a car in Singapore is expensive due to the country's quota system that keeps the number of passenger cars stable, requiring drivers to buy a 10-year certificate of entitlement (Coe) at auction, which is costly, in addition to the high cost of the car itself.
What is the average rush hour speed on Singapore's expressways?
-The average rush hour speed on Singapore's expressways is 60 kilometers an hour.
How does Singapore's government plan to increase the cycling infrastructure by 2030?
-Singapore plans to increase its cycling infrastructure by adding another 700 kilometers of cycling paths by 2030, assuming the same quality of bike infrastructure is achieved.
What is the significance of the covered walkways in Singapore?
-The covered walkways in Singapore are significant as they provide a comfortable way for residents to walk, especially in the tropical climate with monsoon rains and intense sunshine, and are concentrated around public transport to improve connectivity.
How has Singapore managed to achieve high rates of home ownership in public housing?
-Singapore has achieved high rates of home ownership in public housing through the Housing and Development Board's approach of selling new apartments to citizens at market rates with a 99-year lease, enforced quotas for income groups and ethnicities, and a renovation program to keep older housing complexes attractive.
What is Singapore's strategy for water management?
-Singapore manages its water through four sources: imported water from Malaysia, rainwater catchment, desalination, and 'new water' which is treated wastewater. The city also collects water from two-thirds of its surface area through reservoirs.
How has Singapore's government addressed the issue of environmental degradation?
-Singapore's government has addressed environmental degradation by cleaning up polluted rivers, building reservoirs for rainwater, implementing desalination and 'new water' treatment, and creating a 'Garden City' with extensive green spaces, nature reserves, and green buildings.
Outlines
🚇 Comparative Metro System Analysis
This paragraph compares the metro systems of Singapore and Los Angeles, highlighting the significant difference in daily ridership despite similar population sizes. Singapore's metro serves 2.1 million passengers daily over 200 kilometers, while LA's serves 178,000 over 157 kilometers. The difference is attributed to Singapore's superior public transport design, including higher train frequency and a ring system that efficiently connects high population areas without requiring travel through the city center. In contrast, LA's metro is less frequent and less efficient for cross-city travel. Singapore's forward-thinking approach includes plans for real-time track monitoring with imaging sensors and laser scanners to minimize delays.
🌆 Singapore's Urban Planning and Car Saturation
This paragraph delves into Singapore's urban planning strategies that contribute to its high public transport usage and low car saturation. Singapore's small land area and high population density necessitate efficient infrastructure, which includes a quota system for vehicle ownership and high costs associated with car ownership, such as Certificates of Entitlement and expensive car prices. The government's policies discourage car usage, with congestion charges implemented since the 1970s, leading to well-managed traffic flow even during peak hours. Singapore also promotes alternative transport modes, with extensive cycling paths and covered walkways to enhance pedestrian accessibility, especially in conjunction with public transport nodes.
🏡 Singapore's Housing and Environmental Initiatives
This paragraph discusses Singapore's approach to public housing and environmental conservation. Since gaining independence in 1965, Singapore has made significant strides in housing, with the Housing and Development Board providing modern amenities in high-rise flats. Unlike failed public housing projects elsewhere, Singapore's mixed-income and ethnically diverse estates have been successful, supported by comprehensive town planning and home ownership incentives. The government also focuses on environmental sustainability, with ambitious projects like the 'Garden City' and 'skyrise greenery', aiming to incorporate green spaces into urban development. However, the rapid development has had environmental costs, including the loss of mangrove forests and the potential impact on remaining natural habitats due to future infrastructure projects.
🏞️ Singapore's Environmental and Architectural Heritage
This paragraph examines Singapore's efforts to balance urban development with environmental and architectural preservation. The city has made strides in cleaning polluted rivers and reducing reliance on imported water through various sources, including rainwater catchment and treated wastewater. Singapore's vision for a 'Garden City' has evolved to include green spaces in new developments, with government incentives for green roofs and walls. Despite the loss of architectural heritage and environmental impacts, the government is making efforts to integrate historical structures into new developments and preserve the cultural identity of the city.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Singapore Metro System
💡Los Angeles Metro System
💡Public Transport Design
💡Certificate of Entitlement (COE)
💡Land Reclamation
💡Garden City Vision
💡Public Housing (HDB)
💡Environmental Sustainability
💡Cycling and Walking Infrastructure
💡Urban Planning
Highlights
Singapore's Metro System serves 2.1 million passengers daily over 200 kilometers, significantly higher ridership compared to LA's Metro.
Singapore's Metro trains run every 2-3 minutes during rush hour and every 5-7 minutes during off-peak times, contrasting with LA's less frequent service.
The design of Singapore's Metro System includes a ring that connects nearly every high-population area, improving connectivity across the city.
LA's Metro System primarily focuses on moving people to and from the city center, limiting its usefulness for cross-city travel.
Singapore plans to install imaging sensors and laser scanners on trains to monitor track conditions in real-time, enhancing maintenance efficiency.
A Toyota Corolla costs $99,500 in Singapore, highlighting the country's strategy to control car ownership through high upfront costs and a quota system.
Singapore's unique approach includes a 10-year certificate of entitlement (COE) for car ownership, contributing to a car-light society.
Singapore has 120 kilometers of cycling paths and plans to add 700 more by 2030, surpassing Amsterdam and Copenhagen in bike infrastructure.
The city has developed a 200-kilometer network of covered walkways, making walking an attractive option despite the tropical climate.
Singapore's public housing program, initiated in the 1960s, has led to over 80% of the population living in government-built homes.
Unlike other countries' public housing failures, Singapore's projects are successful due to mixed-income communities and continuous renovation programs.
Changi Airport, often rated the best in the world, was built on reclaimed land and is set to double in size by 2035.
Singapore has increased its landmass by 25% through land reclamation, a larger proportion than the Netherlands.
Singapore's Garden City vision includes 7,800 hectares of green space, with a goal for all residents to live within 10 minutes of a park by 2030.
Singapore's rapid development has come at an environmental cost, but the government is replanting mangrove forests and focusing on sustainability.
Transcripts
this is Singapore's Metro System it
serves 2.1 million passengers per day
and stretches 200 kilometers and this is
a Las Metro System it saves 178 000
passengers per day and is 157 kilometers
in dank which doesn't make sense I mean
how can two places with population sizes
that are so similar have so different
ridership on their Metro systems well it
has to do with Singapore's amazing
design and incredible public transport
you see while these two systems are
roughly the same length train frequency
is very different Singapore's Metro
trains come every two to three minutes
during rush hour and every five to seven
minutes at off-peak times in La it's a
different story here they come every 5
to 10 minutes depending on the time
which isn't great but that's just
because people aren't using them so why
are so many people using Singapore's
Metro system and not Las well this is
where we get into the ingenious design
of sync course Metro to show you what I
mean here is the map of Singapore's
Metro System I just showed you but
overlaid on a map of the population
density of the city and as you can see
the Metro System serves all the key
areas but most importantly has a ring
that goes through nearly every High
population area serving people who want
to go from one side of the city to
another rather than having to go through
the city center which isn't the case
with LA's Metro system as you can see
from this map where I've done this same
thing overlaying the Metro System on top
of a population density map clearly this
system is good at moving people to and
from the city center but not from one
edge of the city to another which could
very well be the explanation for the
much lower ridership of the LA Metro and
just to highlight how much further ahead
Singapore is than La their official
master plan states that they will
install Imaging sensors and laser
scanners although trains to monitor
track conditions in real time to know
exactly when repairs are necessary
avoiding necessarily long delays and
down times but I think it's time we
discuss the fascinating car saturation
in Singapore see here a Toyota Corolla
costs 99 and a half thousand dollars
which admittedly is very expensive but
that is by Design and to understand why
a Toyota Corolla is so expensive and how
it contributes to the insanely good
design of Singapore you just have to
look at this map see Singapore is an
Island located here between Malaysia and
Indonesia the country is home to over 5
million people on just 719 square
kilometers of hand to put that into
perspective that's half the size of Los
Angeles but with 1.7 million more people
this just goes to show that Singapore is
designed its infrastructure to make the
most of its small Footprints making it
one of the best assigned cities in the
world but of course with such limited
land available the city has taken a
unique approach to achieve such success
as Singapore uses a a quota to keep the
number of Passenger cars on the roads
stable at around 600 000 vehicles to
enforce this quota drivers must buy a
10-year certificate of entitlement also
known as a Coe for the right to use the
country's roads at auction the Coe
currently runs around 58 000 for a small
car or nearly eighty thousand dollars
for a larger one that means drivers pay
a lot more for the car up front but
there are still more as the total cost
of owning a Toyota Corolla over a
10-year period is nearly a hundred and
fifty thousand dollars which is of
course achieved by having the car itself
cost about 99.5 thousand dollars as well
as insurance repairs parking road tolls
and petrol comparing this to a Corolla
in the United States that starts at
around twenty thousand dollars the price
seems exorbitant so it's quite a bit
more expensive in Singapore to own a car
and this is without taking congestion
charging into account see Singapore
began charting vehicles to enter the
city center in the 1970s well before
European cities like London or Rome did
it the result is that traffic flows very
well even at rush hour the average rush
hour speed on Singapore's expressways is
still 60 kilometers an hour just a bit
lower than the 90 kilometers an hour
speed limit and interestingly New York
City will soon follow their leads and
become the first U.S city to charge
vehicles to enter paying 23 dollars to
access parts of manhassen which goes to
show that this system must work and
while car enthusiasts might call these
anti-car policies Singapore's government
claims it doesn't want to ban cars but
just move towards a car light Society
another way they are incentivizing the
use of different modes of Transport is
their cycling and walking infrastructure
as Singapore is planning a future with
lots of ways to get around the city
already has 120 kilometers of cycling
paths and it plans to add another 700
kilometers by 2030. assuming the same
quality of bike infrastructure is
achieved that's actually longer than
Amsterdam or Copenhagen even if their
cities have much smaller populations
Singapore's plan even includes 21.5
kilometers of continuous bike and bus
lanes running north to south by 2026 but
their walking infrastructure is a Marvel
in and of itself and it might be even
more impressive as the city has
developed a 200 kilometer long network
of covered walkways in a city with a
tropical climate Monsoon rains and
intense sunshine this is a genius way to
make walking an attractive option for
its residents the walkways are
especially concentrated around public
transport to improve the walk between
Metro LRT and bus stops it really goes
to show how much Singapore cares about
its population further emphasized by
their unique approach to housing and
this is where things really start to get
interesting what's incredible is how
much of what I'm about to tell you has
happened in such a short time frame
since Singapore became an independent
nation in 1965. all right so when the
Housing and Development board was
created in 1960 many residents of the
quickly growing city-state lived in
overcrowded and unclean housing so the
hdb got to work and quickly started
building high-rise Flats Forest
residents with modern amenities like
electricity and running water by 1976
probably a decade after Independence
more than half of singaporeans were
living in public housing during the same
era Europe and the U.S infamously
embarked on public housing projects as
well but the end result couldn't be more
different take for example the period
iGo housing project which was built in
St Louis in 1954. it aimed to provide
proper accommodation to people living in
slums but in less than 10 years it
became one itself and the massive 30
building complex was demolished after
less than 20 years so how come the
results was so different in Singapore
well there are a few different reasons
unlike fruit I go Singapore's public
housing Estates include a mix of income
groups and ethnicities which is enforced
by quotas but even just did a sign of
Singapore's public housing is radically
different major projects are built
around quote New Towns or a Hobbs with
schools restaurants shops and Transit
within walking distance many housing
Estates have Hawker centers which
feature Singapore's world famous street
food next Singapore's government has a
renovation program to keep older housing
complexes attractive places to live but
the most important factor I think is
home ownership the Housing and
Development board sells new apartments
to Citizens for both their Market rates
but there is a catch you must keep the
flat for more than five years and
technically speaking you don't own it
you have a 99-year lease which I know
sounds annoying but are you really going
to live beyond 130 anyway the results of
the hdbs approach is that more than 80
of singaporeans live in public housing
today and 95 of that is owner occupied
Singapore really has a knack for
ambitious construction projects one of
those being the country's chiangai
airport that is regularly rated the best
in the world with its eye-catching Jewel
Fountain and Gardens and the airport is
even said to double in size by around
2035 with the addition of Terminal 5
which is designed for an additional 50
million passengers per year it's truly
astonishing but what's most amazing is
that the Apple was built on land that
used to be underwater which leads us to
the most fascinating aspects of
Singapore if you ask me see since
colonial times Singapore has added over
14 000 hectares of land through land
reclamation adding nearly 25 percent
more land than before the British
arrival in 1819. just look at this map
to see the land added so far and then
what may be added in the future
Singapore actually he has a larger
percentage of the land claimed than the
Netherlands which is crazy to think
about but still no country is perfect
and land reclamation has come at a cost
for the environment an example of the
mangrove tree forests that dropped from
75 square kilometers in size in 1819 to
just 6.6 square kilometers a day and
this is quite sad because these mangrove
trees aren't used any type of trees as
they have almost magical properties like
surviving in salt water soaking up huge
amounts of carbon and protecting the
coast from Storm Coast flooding and
erosion and with most of Singapore less
than 15 meters above sea level it's no
surprise the government has tried to
replant some Mangrove forests
Singapore's rapid continued development
has come with other environments that
cost though with only two square
kilometers left of what was once 400
square kilometers of tropical forests
what's alarming is that some of these
remaining forests could be threatened by
Future rail projects since Independence
in 1965 though the city has made an
effort to reverse environmental
degradation from the beginning one major
goal they wanted to achieve was to clean
up the city's polluted rivers to reduce
its Reliance on imported water in case
tensions flared up with Malaysia so
they've built reservoirs to catch
rainwater and they now collect their
water from two-thirds of the
city-state's entire surface today
Singapore gets its water from four
different sources imported water from
Malaysia rainwater catchment
desalination and what it calls quote new
water and if you're wondering what new
water is it's just a fancy term for
treated Wastewater the reservoirs
include Marina Bay which alone can
provide for 10 of the city's water needs
but the city's focus on the environment
goes beyond just water in 1967
Singapore's first prime minister
announced his vision for a Garden City
at first this was mostly planting trees
but the idea has expanded over time
today the city boasts 7 800 hectares of
Green Space including four nature
reserves and since 2009 developers have
been required to replace the land that
they take up with green spaces this
requirement has set to Green buildings
across the city like the 340 meter long
Sky Park on top of Marina Bay Sands the
city's skyrise Greenery project aims to
add 200 hectares of green Walls and
roofs to buildings in the city by 2030.
the government is providing incentives
too offering developers up to half of
the installation cost for green roofs
and Walls by 2030 the city's green plan
aims for all residents to live 10
minutes or less from a Park which is
great news I mean I know first hand how
much joy I get from living close to a
park here in Copenhagen but anyway most
amazingly of all this is how Singapore
has managed to accomplish it all in less
than 60 years and there for this might
be its peculiar government see while
Singapore is a democracy the people's
action party has maintained a monopoly
on ruling the island city-state giving
them the time to plan long-term projects
without worrying much about opposition
this situation has allowed for this
massive construction of infrastructure
and housing of course progress has come
at a cost beyond the environmental
damage much of Singapore's architectural
Heritage has been lost to development
seeing the city used to be dotted by
these kampongs which are small villages
with a unique architecture and Rural
lifestyle today only two Camp homes
survive still since the 1980s huge
effort has been put into preserving the
city's iconic Chinese top houses with
over 7 000 buildings now legally
protected but the government is now
prioritizing incorporating historical
structures into new developments like
the great mattress hotel which was built
as one of the city's first public
housing projects in 1840s so yeah
Singapore isn't perfect but its
solutions for transport housing and
green spaces are a huge inspiration and
there's no doubt an insanely
well-designed place but that's it for
this video thank you for watching and
I'll see you in the next one
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