Form Intelligence – Reimagining the Industrial Landscape for a Circular Economy

FORM INTELLIGENCE REIMAGINING THE INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Nirmal Kishnani Wong Mun Summ Swinal Samant

FORM INTELLIGENCE

FORM INTELLIGENCE

Nirmal Kishnani - Wong Mun Summ - Swinal Samant

REIMAGINING THE INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Nirmal Kishnani Wong Mun Summ Swinal Samant

ABOUT THE BOOK

form intelligence Reimagining the Industrial Landscape for a Circular Economy The work presented in this book was carried out over two years by students and professors of the Master of Science, Integrated Sustainable Design programme at the School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. The university, which consistently ranks as one of the world’s top tertiary institutions, is located in Singapore, an Asian city-state widely regarded as a global leader in green architecture and urbanism.

In the design studios that make up the core of this one-year, post-professional course, sustainability is examined both as an outcome and a process. The curriculum is Asian-centric and anchored in systems thinking as a pathway for design. This unique pedagogical approach begins by asking which systems matter, how built and natural systems interact, and which flows and exchanges can be altered for a more resilient system of systems.

The students who join the programme come from different disciplines and backgrounds to be taught by global experts in architecture, urbanism and landscape ecology.

FORM INTELLIGENCE

Publisher

Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture Department of Architecture School of Design and Environment National University of Singapore Authors and Editors

Nirmal Kishnani Wong Mun Summ Swinal Samant

Editorial Assistants

Jhanvi Sanghvi Shefali Lal Jocelyn Lam Ann Mathew Graphic Design

Spread (Barcelona): Tomoko Sakamoto - David Lorente Proofreader

Olistis, SCCL (Barcelona) Printer

Tiger Printing (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. Every effort has been made to produce this book using environmentally sound materials and practices. The paper was sourced from well-managed forests, a verification system tracked the raw materials from forest to end product, and it has been sized to minimise waste during production.

The printing process used 100% soy-based ink free from volatile organic compounds and water-based varnish. All the raw materials were free from hazardous chemicals. With the exception of the cover, lamination has been avoided to facilitate future recycling processes. The cover has been laminated with a pre-coated ­grade of Thermal OPP film with no solvent or water-based additives.

ISBN: 978-981-18-2642-9 Copyright

© Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture, Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 2021 Where text or image is credited, copyright is retained by the authors.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright owner.

Disclaimers

The information and arguments presented in this book have been assembled, derived and developed from various sources, including textbooks, academic papers, news media, reports, standards, guidelines, professional firms and the Internet.

These are presented in good faith.

The author and publisher have made every reasonable effort to make sure that the information presented is accurate.

Every effort has been made to ensure that intellectual property rights are rightfully acknowledged. Omissions or errors, if any, are unintended. ­W here the publisher or author is ­notified of an omission or error, these will be corrected in subsequent editions.

The opinions and views expressed within the content of this publication are solely those of the authors.

Photographic Credits

© Ken Webster based on Cradle to Cradle by W. McDonough and M. Braungart, 11 © W. McDonough and Partners, 12 © Seeram Ramakrishna, 14, 15 © JTC Corporation, 16-21 © Weixiang Lim, 22-23, 25-41, ­6 8-69, 78-79, 88-89, 152-153 © 2015 FABRICations, All Rights Reserved, 94 (top, Circular Amsterdam: marketplace and resource bank) © Filip Dujardin, 94 (left, People’s Pavilion) © Bert Rietberg for J.P. ­v an ­E esteren, 94 (right, Triodos Bank) © Kalundborg Symbiose, 95 © WOHA, 120-125 © Biomimicry 3.8, 141 (top) © EDB, Anuj Jain, 141 (bottom), 137 © bioSEA, 138 (top) © Bernard Dupont, 149 © Alan Owyong, 149 © Greg Hume, 149 © Forest and Kim Starr, 149 © Lee Tiah khee, 149 © Nick Baker, 149 © Tan Heok Hui, 149 All other images and drawings are the property of the National University of Singapore

Printed and bound in China.

Published by

Sponsored by

Department of Architecture School of Design and Environment National University of Singapore 4 Architecture Drive Singapore 117566 Tel. +65 6516 8736 www.sde.nus.edu.sg/arch/ facebook.com/nus.aki instagram.com/aki.nus/

JTC Corporation The JTC Summit 8 Jurong Town Hall Road Singapore 609434 Tel. 1800 568 7000 www.jtc.gov.sg

FORM INTELLIGENCE Nirmal Kishnani Wong Mun Summ Swinal Samant

REIMAGINING THE INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

INDEX

6

THE CIRCULARITY IMPERATIVE

8

THE CANVAS

10

AN INTRODUCTION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY Ken Webster and Laura F. Henao

14

SINGAPORE’S ZERO-WASTE POLICY Seeram Ramakrishna

17

INDUSTRIAL ESTATES IN SINGAPORE: A BRIEF HISTORY JTC / Urban Design & Architecture Division

22

AN INDUSTRIAL CONDITION

24 42

THE SUNGEI KADUT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE SUNGEI KADUT REIMAGINED

52 60 70 80

THE SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN ZONE 1 : A FACTORY IN A FOREST ZONE 2: AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR ZONE 3: THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

90

A SYSTEMS APPROACH

92

FORM AND SPATIAL STRUCTURE Nirmal Kishnani and Tanya Talwar

106

PUBLIC SPACE, MOBILITY AND LOGISTICS Swinal Samant

120

THREE-DIMENSIONAL PLANNING Wong Mun Summ with Lin Bolt and Jhanvi Sanghvi

136

BLUE AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE Anuj Jain, Celine Tan and Herbert Dreiseitl epilogue

154 156

MESSAGE FROM THE SPONSOR DESIGN AS RESEARCH: THE MSC ISD STUDIO

157 158 160

MSC ISD Team Bibliography Acknowledgements

THE CIRCULARITY IMPERATIVE We use resources and services faster than nature can regenerate them. In 2021, the ecological footprint of humans equalled some 1.7 Earths. The fact that we take too much, too quickly, is clearly a problem. Another problem is the fact that we fail to adequately manage or value the waste we generate.

In 2020, the world generated over two billion tonnes of solid waste annually, a figure that, by 2050, will reach 3.4 billion tonnes.1 In low-income countries, 90% of all waste is openly dumped or burned. 2 The landfills in these areas then facilitate the transmission of diseases, mainly affecting poorer communities.

Waste also impacts natural systems. In 2016, 242 million tonnes of plastic waste–equivalent to about 24 trillion plastic bottles–was dumped, a significant portion of which inevitably ended up in the world’s oceans. In the same year, the equivalent of 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions were generated from waste treatment and disposal, accounting for about five percent of global emissions. By 2050, this figure is likely to increase to 2.6 billion tonnes.

The problem of excessive waste can be attributed to the linear economy. Raw materials are collected, transformed into products that are used, and eventually discarded. Often, this is not so much a question of needs as it is of wants, wherein the underlying goal is to boost economic growth by producing and selling as many products as possible.3 There is ample evidence that the construction sector is a major generator of waste. This is due to the excessive and inefficient use of resources over the lifetime of a building, the day-to-day behaviours of its occupants, and how its systems are designed and operated. Often it comes down to the question of how long buildings are kept in use. In Singapore, where demolition waste is substantially recycled, there is little interest in stretching the life of buildings, resulting in a tear-down-and-rebuild mindset amongst building owners and developers.

The alternative to a linear economy is the circular economy. Advocates for circularity argue that we must:

All three have implications for the design of buildings and cities. This book examines how these principles affect decisions during the planning stages.

A key finding is that circularity compels a rethinking of the connectivity of people and resource flows, leading to the creation of new networks and pathways.

This imperative to connect affects the order in which elements are arranged or assembled, how they are clustered or juxtaposed or stacked, how edges facilitate or impede flow and what new permutations of programmes are needed. The overarching goal is to arrange the parts so that the whole, with new built-in connectivities, operates with a leaner metabolism.

The circular city is, therefore, an immensely complex, multivariate and multiscalar undertaking. It requires an in-depth understanding of systems – which systems matter, how they are sized, how they talk to each other. It calls for blue-sky thinking, which is far more intuitive but no less important. The proposals in this book ought to be seen as a delineation of systems, which is universal to any project anywhere, and a subjective position on ‘what-could-be’, which is specific to the context of Singapore. The integration of techno-economic hardware with a software of values, aspirations, and behaviours is key.

To unpack these ideas and their implications on urban form, the book is organised into three parts. The first outlines the larger canvas: the global call for circularity in the built environment, a policy initiative in the city-state of Singapore, and an overview of the city's industrial estates. The second explores circularity in the context of an actual site in Singapore: the Sungei Kadut industrial estate. The outcomes of this design exercise are shown as a series of visual collages. The third consists of expert views on circularity, relying in part on the Sungei Kadut study.

The drivers and assumptions that led to the masterplan are also discussed, and it becomes clear how visible form is really a set of networks and pathways that enable sometimes invisible biotic and abiotic flows.

1 — Eliminate waste and pollution from processes.

2 — Keep products and materials in use for as long as possible 3 — Regenerate natural systems.4 6

7

THE CANVAS

AN INTRODUCTION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY

AN INTRODUCTION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY KEN WEBSTER AND LAURA F. HENAO

Ken Webster is the Director of IS4CE (International ­Society for Circular Economy), the former Head of Innovation at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2010-2018) (UK) and a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University. He is the author of Circular Economy, A Wealth of Flows (2017).

Laura F. Henao is the Learning Engagement Manager for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Note: Ken and Laura are writing in a personal capacity.

This short introduction doesn’t start with buildings or even cities; it starts with the idea that a circular economy in its most profound form is a ‘lens’. It’s a way of seeing the world rather than a toolbox of business models and technologies, despite it being incredibly practical in that latter role. And, if it is about such an overview, then it's comforting to know much circular-economy thinking derives from the work of architects and designers. In this article, William McDonough and Walter Stahel will provide our touchstones, and Singapore will serve as an illuminative case study.

The notion of a circular economy at one level is really very simple; it’s intuitive. When it comes to resources, we're riding a linear takemake-dispose economic system. It’s been great; a generous portion of a very populous humanity has never lived so well or so long as they have in the post-World War II era. ‘Cheap’ energy and materials, slick technologies built on a growing knowledge base, available credit, and growing trade internationalisation set against growing demand. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, a few things. For example, if the economy is based on extracting natural and social capital, but the accumulated financial capital cannot stimulate a perfect substitute for what has been degraded. Or if the degradation has moved the overall system into a transitional phase (climate destabilisation being a prime example here).

The generalised myth is that, of course, human ingenuity can fix any problem encountered The canvas

while economic growth continues. Therefore, when it comes to decoupling resource use from growth, if we can close the loop on products, components and materials while taking consumers and customers with us as we shift to renewable energies and efficiency, what we have is a circular economy rather than a linear one! Intuitive, reassuringly mainstream, and as Walter Stahel says, “an economic opportunity driven by innovation”. Here is how the Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes it:

costs, existing material handling and categorisation systems, the design of buildings or districts that can and do reflect the conditions in which a take-make-dispose approach thrives. Still, the idea of “buildings like trees and cities like forests” (McDonough) gives us a glimpse of what we could achieve if an eco-effective, materials-as-nutrients approach could indeed become a reality. We need to think ‘organism within ecology’ rather than ‘sell and forget’. A circular economy as ecology internalises the costs as benefits.

An illustration of a comprehensive approach at a city level can be found in Singapore (see diagram).

Another worm in the apple is the use of the term ‘regenerative by design’. It looks harmless, but since a linear economy is based on transforming natural and social capital into financial and economic capital (by degenerating and extracting), where on earth does a capital rebuilding exercise fit in? It certainly needs to fit in a circular economy as a stock maintenance approach. The original quotation is “restorative and regenerative by design” and comes from Braungart and McDonough, the cradle to cradle design pioneers.

Here is my take on the cradle to cradle diagram. Their insights are more profound than many people realise.

I added the role of money and debt to the diagram because I believe the question of a circular economy cannot remain solely in the rather purist hands of those who primarily want to talk materials and energy – industrial ecologists, for example – when it’s plain that if money is active, as in the role that credit plays in bringing forward production, then it has a systems-wide influence. Cheap energy and cheap credit drive economic growth, and economic growth bolsters confidence that the loans will be repaid with interest – it’s a positive feedback loop. Worse, cheap credit drives an emphasis on rising asset values, especially urban land, which jostles shoulders uncomfortably with how space is used and the purpose of buildings. It can work against the need to build localised circular economy infrastructures that are cheaper and more accessible to citizens and small businesses. No one is sure how money might work in a full-on circular economy apart from speculating that – using the living systems lens – it will obviously

“A circular economy is a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment. In contrast to the ‘take-make-waste’ linear model, a circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources.”

The worms in this apple are not too hard to find. For a start, it’s a systemic approach. It’s not a question of sprinkling a handful of digitally inspired business models, getting nodding approval at the state level and job done. Even this would be to assume the successful marketing of a slew of innovations: on-demand/sharing economy/subscription services/pre-loved furniture/‘20-in-one’ appliances/HVAC as a service, etc., will do the rest. It simply won’t. Systemic approaches usually mean adjusting the ‘rules of the game’, i.e., the relationships between the actors in the economy.

The linear economy is thoroughly embedded: the price incentives, subsidies, the externalisation of 10

Linear to Circular + Money as Credit. Source: Ken Webster based on Cradle to Cradle by W. McDonough and M. Braungart.

11

Ken Webster - Laura F. Henao

AN INTRODUCTION TO CIRCULAR ECONOMY

ESSAY

have to be about creating and circulating value rather than extracting it.

The circular economy does have a very clear repositioning when it comes to materials, however.

Materials must be seen as ‘nutrients’, as food for the system. There are two main pathways.

Everything for which order can be rebuilt through the biosphere is distinguished from materials created by human artifice, for which order has to be recreated through human enterprise. These human-created materials must remain in a ‘technosphere’ since, within the biosphere, they are most often contaminants. In both pathways, entropy increases, but in the biosphere, these materials are called ‘products of consumption’. They are not just used but progressively used up as decay sets in and molecular chains are broken down. From tree to board to sawdust and soils: a cascading downward flow towards disorder. By contrast, durable materials in the technosphere become products of service. They are not typically used up during their use. They are, well, durable! What they offer is a service over time and the emphasis Design for Disassembly

is on extended product life or design for disassembly and recovery – keeping the item at its highest value. Immediately, one can appreciate that cheap single-use plastics are a disaster because they are durables designed to be products of consumption – and it doesn’t work. It's the wrong material for the job. The genius of the cradle to cradle approach was – and still is – in working through the thinking to give a powerful ‘first principles’ approach. The circular economy as a lens through which to see the world: systems orientated, logical, flexible in application, and designed for systemic fit.

Two further key insights unfold from the logic at this point. The first is that, for naïve commentators, a linear economy is often seen as a mechanical pipework system and, therefore, they believe we can create a circular economy by hammering the pipe into a closed loop. The classic recycling assumption – take the waste and renew it. It’s one heck of a job. But in nature, very few animals eat their own excrement and certainly not as a means of sustenance. The excrement is food for a million other lifeforms, from fungi to bacteria,

As an architect and designer, McDonough has exemplified a design for disassembly and recovery approach in Park 20|20, Amsterdam, the ‘first full-service Cradle to Cradle office park in the world.’ It also used three touchstones for creative and operational purposes: ‘waste equals food’, ‘use solar income’ and ‘celebrate diversity’ to create a number of practical and symbiotic circular solutions, including an Elevator as a Service initiative for the multi-tenant NOW building.5

Design ambitions for the NOW Building Park 20|20, Amsterdam. Source: W. Mcdonough and Partners (2014).

The canvas

12

Zero-Waste Singapore Faced with limited space and a seven-fold increase in the amount of waste generated in the territory over the last 40 years, the Zero-Waste Masterplan released in 2019 will have far-reaching impacts on city functioning and design. Landfill waste is to be cut by 30%.

The already successful closing of the water loop (NEWater) and the recycling of waste and ­metals from construction is to be joined by priorities around food, e-waste and packaging.

If ‘waste is food’, then designing

for industrial symbiosis, as in the Jurong chemical park and more generally, must involve processing and cascading materials into new uses as new resources, drawing on insights from living systems.

Waste becomes less about hygiene challenges and more about infrastructure-dependent resource opportunities. ­Sub­sidiarity is also key: anything that can be managed locally and efficiently should be – just as cells in the animal body deal with immediate exchanges

of energy and m ­ aterials. Turning food waste into compost is one example.

Infrastructures can also include spaces for repair ‘cafes’ in some street-food centres, donation stations to encourage reuse, and potentially, spaces for temporary storage. A circular economy is stock management orientated, and slowing the flow through the system calls for ‘buffer’ zones to allow access over an ­extended period of time. Efficiency is replaced by effectiveness in optimising the whole system.6

“A circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources.”

and services can be derived but also designed to be nourishing to the stock. Throughput is not a measure of wealth, nor is financial return on investment, but the increasing stock of ‘solutions’ that society can deploy for the individuals and communities within its boundaries and hinterlands over the long term, is.

and there is a clearly evolved system to benefit from it. Waste is indeed food, but usually for the system, not the originator. And if the product is in the technosphere, then the first approach is extended product life (maintain the embedded energy and materials in good order and only deconstruct it into molecules as a secondary option). Walter Stahel talks about the Era of ‘R’ (refurbish, repair, reuse etc.) followed by the Era of ‘D’ (delamination, depolymerisation etc.). He then complements this with ideas of total product liability – in other words, the end-of-life responsibility lies with the originator or manufacturer. Is the idea of a chain of responsibility from ‘cradle to cradle’ coming to a city near you? Let’s hope so, one day.

The second insight is the role of capitals.

So much of life is regenerated in the soils. Today's cities are home to civilisations and cultures, all an important source of social capital. The circular economy expressly focuses on stock maintenance and increase, from which flows of goods

Conclusion The circular economy could be part of a profound reorientation of economic thinking. Or it could be this year’s slogan. At its best, it takes a systems-based perspective founded on feedback-rich systems rather than mechanical systems. It is about effective systems, not just efficient ones – it seeks to optimise the whole, not just a part.

It emphasises design-for-system-fit more than waste management or the ‘hygienic’ cleaning up of waste.

It demands enabling conditions that reflect the full cost of materials and energy to stimulate different business models and trajectories and the creation of value chains that provide a chain of responsibility for resources. We will see more material data management for what are indeed valuable resources. And economic growth? If growth is no longer a measure of throughput but of increased well-being, then there will be economic growth, but not as we know it. Those days are gone, and much better days await us.

13

Ken Webster - Laura F. Henao

SINGAPORE’S ZERO-WASTE POLICY

SINGAPORE’S ZERO-WASTE POLICY SEERAM RAMAKRISHNA

Others (stones, ceramics, etc.)

Scrap tyres

Waste Generation and Recycling Singapore (2020).9

Glass Non-ferrous metal Used slag Textile/Leather

Total Recycled Total Disposed

Ash & Sludge

Dr Seeram Ramakrishna, FREng, Everest Chair, is a Professor of Materials Engineering and Circular Economy Taskforce Chair at the National University of Singapore.

He is also Chairman of PRCOE, Plastics Recycling Association of Singapore (PRAS) and an advisor to the Singapore National Environment Agency and the Ministry of Sustainability and ­Environment on Extended Producers Responsibility Scheme.

Wood Horticultural Food Construction & Demolition Plastics Ferrous metal

As per estimates by the World Economic Forum, less than nine percent of the human-run world economy is circular. In other words, human-made products, from syringes to skyscrapers, are discarded as solid waste that, over time, accumulates. Additionally, more than 20% of global emissions are due to the production of materials; the global human-made mass now exceeds all living biomass on Earth. In other words, materials are central to sustainability efforts, i.e. to mitigate the existential threats to humanity posed by environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

Against this canvas, Singapore’s commitments to a transition towards a carbon-neutral economy and become a zero-waste nation are immensely important for both current and future generations.7 With the Zero-Waste Masterplan, Singapore has set a national recycling rate target of 70% in 2030 with an increase in the domestic

Collection

Consumers

Total Waste Generated 21,083 t/d

recycling rate from 22% in 2018 to 30% in 2030, and an increase in the non-domestic recycling rate from 74% in 2018 to 81% in 2030.8 An overview of Singapore’s current solid waste management system is illustrated in the diagram below. The total waste generated is 21,000 tonnes per day. About 59% of the total waste is recycled, and the remaining 38% is incinerated. Incineration ash and 3% non-incinerable waste are sent to the Semakau Landfill. Energy recovered at the waste-to-energy (WTE) plant is utilised, and metals are recovered and recycled.

In other words, the overall recycling rate now is about 60%.

Let us examine the breakdown of Singapore’s 60% recycling rate by different waste categories (see the diagram on the next page).

Although construction and demolition waste and ferrous metals account for the most significant

Non-Incinerable Waste 625 t/d

Landfill

Singapore Waste Streams (2018).

3% Incinerable Waste 8,044 t/d

Commercial & Residential Retail Factories & Industries

Recyclable Waste 12,414 t/d

59%

38%

Ash 1,463 t/d

Metals Recovered 269 t/d

Total Recycled Waste 12,683 t/d

60% Recycling

Producers

The canvas

Waste-to-Energy

Electricity 2,437 MWh/d

14

Paper/Cardboard

amounts of waste generated, their recycling rates are above 99%. The recycling rates of paper/cardboard, food, and plastics are 38%, 19% and 4%, respectively. They make up the highest amount of waste disposed.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (3R) measures are at the heart of Singapore’s efforts to enhance circularity. Reducing waste at the source minimises the demand for the virgin resources needed to produce new products, saving natural resources. Reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing and repurposing keep materials and products in use, thus improving the circularity of plastics. Recycling diverts waster from incineration and landfill.

Of the several acts that were passed to help Singapore reach its targets, the Resource Sustainability Act (RSA), enacted in October 2019, gives legislative teeth to goals. It consists of regulatory measures that target three top priority solid waste streams: e-waste, food waste and packaging waste, including plastics.

Under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework, producers of regulated electrical and electronic products will be made responsible for the collection and proper treatment of their e-waste. These producers are companies that manufacture or import regulated products for the local market. All e-waste collected under the e-waste management system will have to be channelled to licensed e-waste recyclers for proper treatment.

15

The Singapore National Environment Agency (NEA) awarded the licence to operate a Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRS) to ALBA Group plc & Co. ALBA will collect e-waste across Singapore for proper treatment and recycling, and be responsible for the e-waste collection targets set by the NEA. Producers of consumer products will be required to join the PRS to finance the collection and recycling of their e-waste.

From 2024 onwards, generators of large amounts of food waste are required to segregate their food waste and manage it via on-site closed-loop waste treatment systems, or send their food waste to an off-site facility for treatment. As of 2021, it is mandatory for developers of new commercial and industrial developments to allocate and set aside space for on-site food waste treatment systems in their design plans.

These requirements will reduce the quantity of incinerated food waste, and instead convert it to products such as animal feed, compost/fertiliser, non-potable water or biogas for energy generation.

As a precursor to the planned EPR framework for packaging waste and plastics, Singapore initiated a Mandatory Packaging Reporting Framework in January 2021. Under this framework, producers of packaged products, such as brand owners, manufacturers and importers, as well as retailers such as supermarkets, will be required to submit packaging data and 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) plans to the NEA. Companies Seeram Ramakrishna

will have to provide information on the packaging placed on the Singapore market, broken down according to type (e.g. plastic, paper, metal, and glass), form (e.g. carrier bags, bottles) and corresponding weights. Furthermore, companies are required to submit details of key initiatives, key performance indicators and targets. They will be required to report on the progress of these plans in subsequent years. The plans that companies may consider include (I) packaging reduction; (II) packaging collection for reuse or recycling; (III) consumer or industry outreach related to packaging 3Rs; (IV) use of recycled content in packaging material; and (V) improvements in recyclability of packaging.

“Singapore’s commitments to a transition towards a carbon-neutral economy and become a zero-waste nation are immensely important for both current and future generations.

With the Zero Waste Masterplan, Singapore has set a national recycling rate target of 70% in 2030.”

It is noteworthy that in Singapore food waste, textiles, packaging, and e-waste are often commingled with plastic waste. Of these, plastics have the lowest recycling rate. The policy question here is how to enhance the circularity of plastics. Apart from encouraging reduce and reuse, mechanical and chemical recycling can be complementary methods for closing the plastics loop. Innovative chemical recycling methods are helping to recover and upcycle plastics. For effective recycling, identification, sorting and segregation of plastic waste are therefore necessary.

Water marking or digital marking or molecular labeling of plastics is deemed a good solution.

Fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies further strengthen the waste management practices. These include digital platforms for trading and tracking, robotics, automation, block chain, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, sensors, 5G, internet of things, modeling & simulation for waste analysis, digital twins, additive manufacturing, and nanotechnology. 4IR saves solid waste management costs while facilitating new business models and further innovations at The canvas

various stage of waste cycle. This enables optimization of waste flows and logistics, standardization and reliability, efficiency of operations, and planning and on-demand response. They are helpful to promote industrial symbiosis akin to symbiosis of diverse systems that exists in the nature.10 These measures can be augmented with eco-friendly product design (eliminating waste and pollution), design for easy disassembly, reuse and recycling, life cycle engineering in production processes, enhancing the resource-efficiency of products, switching to renewable and localsources, refusing to accept or support products that harm the environment and human health, lifecycle impact assessment, lifecycle management, rethinking business models, products as services, andregenerating nature to enhance circularity and lower the carbon footprint of plastics.

In order to achieve optimal plastic circularity with a low carbon footprint, in-depth research and innovations in terms of reimagining atoms and molecules, as well as harnessing nanoscience, single-atom science, and quantum science, are to be envisaged. For example, ALBA used 4IR technologies to create a data management system to track and report the amount of e-waste collected for recycling since the 1st of July 2021 to the NEA. E-waste collection starts with a track and trace process enabled by location (GPS), time, and a unique identifier (RFID or Barcode) assigned to the specific event. At the end of each quarter, the operational performance data, including all the consignments sent for recycling with the date, time, category, and weight, are published. This gives every stakeholder ample time to review operational performance before invoice creation and address any clarification ahead of time. Furthermore, ALBA is piloting easy to use Apps for outreach and educational programmes that encourage and incentivise the public to drive up E-waste collection and recycling rates.

Similar developments are to be expected as Singapore rolls out EPR schemes for food waste and packaging and plastic waste streams by 2025. Singapore’s zero-waste journey undoubtedly contributes to the resiliency of nature and sustainability and perhaps will serve as an exemplar of circularity for other communities, cities, and countries to emulate.

16

INDUSTRIAL ESTATES IN SINGAPORE: A BRIEF HISTORY JTC / URBAN DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE DIVISION

The author has received inputs from other JTC divisions, including Industry Clusters, the New Estates Division, the Technical Services Division and the Communications Division.

Singapore’s economy was heavily dependent on entrepôt trade prior to the nation gaining self-governance in 1959. The country was mired in chaos with riots and political clashes. Against this backdrop, and compounded by the island’s lack of natural resources, Singapore’s first Finance Minister, Dr Goh Keng Swee, pursued an ambitious industrialisation programme as the main driving force for Singapore’s economic growth and transformation into a modern citystate. Dr Goh had the full support of Singapore’s Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and his Cabinet.

The colonial period saw minimal industrial development as the British shied away from encouraging industrial progress for fear of generating competition for their home industries.

But after the new Singapore government came into power, it approached the United Nations to help revive the flagging economy. This move resulted in the Winsemius Report, which played a pivotal role in initiating Singapore’s industrialisation programme. The report highlighted the need to increase the level of manufacturing to support export-oriented industrialisation and implement an industrialisation programme to promote economic growth. This paved the way for the development of industrial estates on the island to provide the infrastructure required by Singapore’s industrialists, beginning with the Jurong Industrial Estate.

1960s–1970s — Labour to skillintensive industrialisation The development of the Jurong Industrial Estate was pivotal in alleviating mass unemployment in the 60s, facilitating the quick start-up of businesses to ramp up economic growth and create jobs.

The development blueprint for the estate included the provision of the necessary infrastructure for facilitating businesses, preparing land-based

17

1960. Aerial view of Jurong. An area of mangrove swamps and jungles.

JTC / Urban Design & Architecture Division

INDUSTRIAL ESTATES IN SINGAPORE: A BRIEF HISTORY

factories for companies requiring more extensive facilities, and building industrial spaces in the form of Flatted Factories for companies that needed smaller production spaces.

Planned as the first industrial garden township in Singapore, Jurong was envisaged not only to house the industrial factories that would provide large-scale employment but also to be an attractive new urban area in the west, with supporting land use that included residential, educational, recreational and communal facilities served by an excellent infrastructural and transport network.

1980s — CAPITAL-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIALIsATION In 1980, the economy moved into a capital intensive and high-technology phase of industrialisation. A 10-year masterplan was developed that highlighted opportunities for the new industrial infrastructure that would be needed to support higher-value industries. The Economic Development Board was attracting multinational

synergies and collaboration between industry and academia. By the end of the decade, Singapore had established itself as a stable, reliable, and efficient location for manufacturing with a skilled and educated workforce.

Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee (3rd from left) with officials, inspecting a site in Jurong in the 1960s.

“The industrial sector is projected to remain as an important pillar of Singapore’s economy and will continue to require a steady supply of land and space.”

Singapore Science Park developed in the 1980s.

Map of the Jurong Industrial Estate.

corporations involved in R&D and high-tech activities specialising in the financial, educational, lifestyle, medical, IT and software sectors. There was a need to create a new industrial typology – the Business Park – with clean and conducive office-like settings that could accommodate a combination of manufacturing activities and high-end services.

Opened in 1980, the first Business Park was the Singapore Science Park I, a science and technology hub in a park-like setting located near the National University of Singapore to facilitate

Six units of Terrace Factories in Jurong, built in the late 60s.

View of the Jurong factories in the early days, c. 1973.

The canvas

amalgamating seven offshore islands to create Jurong Island, a petrochemical hub that would house a cluster of chemical companies functioning as one mutually supportive ecosystem. A specialised integrated network of shared infrastructure and service corridors provided an attractive industrial environment that helped reduce costs and improve processes, pioneering the promotion of industrial symbiosis and circular economy.

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1990s — TECHNOLOGY-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIALIsATION The vision outlined in the 1991 Strategic Economic Plan was to achieve “the status and characteristics of a first-league developed country”, resulting in the need to move Singapore’s economy upstream to ensure its competitive edge.

The Cluster Development strategy was critical in identifying mutually supporting industries to form clusters, as industry integration would bring about economies of scale across companies in the value chain. By clustering the industries in one location, companies could share resources and facilities, resulting in land optimisation. New specialised industrial parks were developed to meet the industry requirements of the identified clusters – the Tuas Biomedical Park for the biomedical cluster, the Airport Logistics Park for the air logistics cluster and Jurong Island for the chemical cluster.

The Jurong Island project is a prime example of successful industrial clustering. With the decline of the electronics sector in the late 1980s, the decision was taken to actively ramp up the promotion of chemical projects and increase Singapore’s competitiveness with other countries in the region who were building their own refineries. And to cope with the land crunch, Singapore looked into extensive land reclamation as well as 19

Reclamation works in Jurong Island taken in the late 90’s.

2000s — KNOWLEDGE/INNOVATIONINTENSIVE INDUSTRIALIsATION To remain competitive in a maturing economy amid globalisation and technological advances, Singapore needed to diversify its economy into entrepreneurship and the creative industries. This led to the creation of an “enterprise ecosystem” where large companies and innovative start-ups could come together to generate new knowledge and capabilities. Singapore also started to pursue innovation-driven industries, like biomedical sciences, information communications and media, clean technology, and environment and water management.

As part of the 2001 Concept Plan, the URA instituted a new “impact-based” zoning system where different non-polluting businesses could be housed within a single development. The liberalisation in land zoning created great opportunities for a new typology of mixed-use environments and buildings where one could work, live, play and learn.

Conceived in 2000, one-north aimed to secure Singapore’s competitive edge in the region JTC / Urban Design & Architecture Division

INDUSTRIAL ESTATES IN SINGAPORE: A BRIEF HISTORY

as a key technopreneurial and knowledge-intensive research hub. Envisaged as an inclusive, urban, work-centric neighbourhood, one-north is a mixed-use development that seeks to attract international and local talents. This integrated business park serves to support the new knowledge-driven clusters of Biomedical Sciences, Infocomm Technology (ICT), Media, Physical Sciences and Engineering.

2010s — NEW DIRECTIONS IN INDUSTRIAL PLANNING The industrial sector is expected to remain an important pillar of Singapore’s economy and will continue to require a steady supply of land and space. Today, a significant area of the island’s total landmass is allocated for industrial use. Moving forward, we will need to source more creative and cutting-edge solutions to alleviate our industrial space constraints.

In addition, the projected increase in Singapore’s population will lead to competing land uses within a denser built environment, which means that industrial land will be planned in closer proximity to urban areas, residential areas, water catchment and recreational areas. Increasingly,

One-north is a vibrant research and business park for ­r esearch, innovation, and test-bedding.

the challenge will be finding ways to integrate these different land uses within a compact setting whilst maintaining a high level of liveability.

Also, to address land scarcity and population growth, decentralisation was initiated as part of a long-term national strategy to develop polycentres and create job centres closer to homes.

Driven by the decentralisation strategy and the vision to create more integrated mixed-use estates, three new polycentres are currently being developed – the Jurong Innovation District and Jurong Lake District in the west, and the Punggol Digital District in the north-east.

2020 AND BEYOND — THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING To further optimise land, there will be opportunities to rejuvenate mature industrial estates to maintain a steady stream of land supply for economic growth. There will also be a growing need to redevelop brownfield sites and opportunities to enhance estate infrastructure. And as industries become cleaner and less polluting in their operations, industrial parks will be planned with environmental sustainability in mind and be well integrated with the surrounding urban fabric and the wider community.

Aside from economic trends, the master planning and infrastructure provision for new industrial estates are also guided by the Government’s broader strategic plans and national

Aerial view of the seven southern islands that were reclaimed and merged to form Jurong Island.

The canvas

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Punggol Digital District, an upcoming smart district.

initiatives. For example, Singapore recently embarked on its “30 by 30” food security target, an effort to ensure the island-state can produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by the year 2030. As part of this initiative, a new AgriFood Innovation Park is being developed in the North Region, envisioned as an integrated urban agriculture and aquaculture technology hub that will contribute to Singapore’s food security goal.

It will be strategically located in the Sungei Kadut Eco-District to seed the progressive development of the northern Agri-Tech & Food Corridor. And with the increasing efforts to make Singapore a more sustainable and resource-efficient nation, there will be opportunities to adopt circular economy concepts and co-locate synergistic industries that can share common resource loops in upcoming industrial estates. Through better resource optimisation and an integrated planning approach, these coordinated efforts will contribute to the drive towards a zero-waste Singapore.

JTC / Urban Design & Architecture Division

AN INDUSTRIAL CONDITION

nirmal kishnani

THE SUNGEI KADUT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE Sungei Kadut is a 500-hectare industrial estate in the north of Singapore. It is bordered by residential developments to the south, the Central Catchment Nature Reserve to the east and farming areas, wetlands and a freshwater reservoir to the west. Its northern boundary is provided by the Straits of Johor, which separate Singapore from Malaysia. In its present state, the site is a low-rise and low-density estate, home to timber, furniture, construction and waste recycling industries. Over the next 20-30 years, it will be progressively redeveloped into a new industrial park with high-rise factories serving new growth sectors such as environmental technology and agrotech.

an industrial condition

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

Pang Sua Park Connector

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Pang Sua Canal

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

Public and private housing estates

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Pang Sua Canal

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

Kranji Reservoir

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Elevated Mass Rapid Transit line

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the sungei kadut industrial estate

Straits of Johor

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Elevated Mass Rapid Transit line

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sungei kadut reimagined

SUNGEI KADUT REIMAGINED SEEKING CIRCULARITY

Elevated Mass Rapid Transit line and train station an industrial condition

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sungei kadut reimagined

Elevated Mass Rapid Transit line and train station

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sungei kadut reimagined

Elevated Mass Rapid Transit line and train station

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sungei kadut reimagined

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sungei kadut reimagined

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THE SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN

THE SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN

Sungei Kadut, in its present state, is representative of the many ‘no-go’ zones in industrial estates around the world that were originally conceived to separate heavy, polluting and noisy industries from live-and-work neighbourhoods.

It suffers from mono-functionality, is segregated from the wider city and has a low-density population, making it lifeless, unattractive and poorly connected. That said, it is also endowed with notable natural assets owing to its proximity to the Kranji reservoir, the Mandai forest, the Sungei Buloh wetlands, the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and farming areas. an industrial condition

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THE SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN

Capitalising on its existing natural and built assets, the masterplan sought to overcome the banality associated with industrial environments, to become more vibrant and liveable, green and humane, and environmentally sustainable. In moving from segregated to integrated, from mono-functional to mixed-use, there emerged novel permutations of spaces for living, working, learning, creating and playing, accompanied by new qualities and experiences for residents and visitors.

In its current form, Sungei Kadut is characterised by linear flows. Therefore, the goal was to reimagine it as a prototype for a zero-waste development in which closed-loop resource flows would be its defining feature.

Technology and automation became central to challenging conventional planning and the hard infrastructural approach, and paved the way for land use optimisation and circularity.

Circularity called for new hardware and software. Hardware included infrastructure and technologies for resource creation, management and distribution, such as solar panels, urban farms and waste recycling plants. These occur at different places and scales, creating small and large loops that take the waste from one point and turn it into a resource for another.

Software targeted user interfaces and business models. For instance, the co-location of diverse programmes within a single building led to the optimisation and intensification of land use. This included the creation of ‘white spaces’ for future start-ups and co-working spaces, letting the buildings adapt to changing needs over time.

All of the above were overlaid onto a masterplan that pivots around transit hubs with high-density developments that accentuate movement in and around train stations. Vehicular traffic and logistics flows were moved to a below-ground network and automated, where possible. This segregation of fast and slow mobility, coupled with human-centric spaces at ground level, enhanced the efficiency of flows and made the estate attractive to businesses, residents and visitors.

Critical to this approach was the freeing-­ up of ground, which could be packed with vegetated areas, waterways, public spaces, pedestrian and cycling an industrial condition

pathways and farming. This transformed the livability quotient of the estate and improved its ecological systems.

Ecosystem services, such as the cleansing of water in wetlands, augmented circularity, creating loops that linked human-made and natural processes.

Spatially, the masterplan is divided into three distinctive zones: a manufacturing area to the north (Factory in a Forest), a creative cluster to the east (Industrial Incubator) and a mixed-use area to the west (Emergent Village). All are linked by a central logistical spine that forms a north-south planning axis.

A key driver of planning was the repurposing of existing buildings. With soft programmings, such as gallery spaces and F&B outlets, many old buildings, particularly in the Emergent Village, became lifestyle destinations and reminders of the estate’s industrial past.

Conserving buildings also reduces construction waste and extends the life of materials already in use.

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THE SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN

CONTEXT SINGAPORE

Sungei Kadut sits between several noteworthy ecological and economic areas in northwest Singapore.

GREATER SUNGEI KADUT

Canals that purify and detain stormwater

Location of major water bodies in Singapore

Existing Blue

Water Bodies

Redirecting Hydrological Flows

Rail Corridor

Establish continuity of mangroves along northern waterfront

1980

2019

CONNECTIONS

Activate rail corridor and canal edges with public space

The Kranji Water Reclamation Plant aids circulariy for the industrial sector

Location of major biodiversity hotspots and mangaged greens

Existing Green Forest Green

Area assigned to future recycling facility

Create biodiversity corridors through site and along its edges

Managed Green

Kranji Water Reclamation Plant Woodlands Check-Point

Scrubland

Reconnecting Green Fragments

Mangroves

Existing Road Network

Create agrotech areas within site to augment farms to the west and south, and support food-processing industries to the east The Kranji Water Reclamation Plant aids the circularity of the agrotech sector

Existing Infrastructure and Roads

Future Mobility Connections

Existing Train Lines and Stations

Mobility within the Site

NODES AND NETWORKS

Location of agrotech farms and foodprocessing centres

Existing Agrotech Areas

MRT Stations Agrotech Farms MRT Lines Food-Processing Centres

an industrial condition

Pedestrian Pathways

Creating New Agrotech Connections 56

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Retain road along the northern edge of site, bridging farms to the west with the Woodlands Check-Point, which connects to Singapore to Malaysia

MASTERPLAN & LAYERS

THE SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN

FAST MOBILITY

The masterplan is based on several organisational layers. The two primary drivers are the distribution of density and blue-green areas. The secondary drivers include mobility systems and the placement of solar canopies for the production of energy.

Primary Road Below Grade Road Secondary Road Minor Roads

The masterplan reverses the current emphasis on ground-level vehicular movement. Instead of being dominated by fast mobility systems, such as cars, the ground is given over to slow mobility systems, such as walking and cycling pathways. All heavy vehicular movement is pushed underground.

Mass Rapid Transit

ENERGY

LAND USE

1,304 GWH

81% of Gross Floor Area Industrial

Solar PV

POPULATION DENSITY High

SLOW MOBILITY

Basement 35.5% [Industrial (29.4) + Residential (6.1)]

Light Industry + Creative Cluster 17.4%

Agrotech 18.6%

Residential + Mixed-use 8%

Pedestrian/ Cycling Path

Heavy + Medium Industry 20.5%

Medium Low

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BUILT-UP DENSITY

GREEN

BLUE

5.2 FAR

1.1 Green Plot Ratio

22.94 mgd

High

Mangroves

Wetlands

Medium

Dense Green

Blue

Low

Managed Green

Reservoir

Scrubland

Sea

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A FACTORY IN A FOREST

ZONE 1 A FACTORY IN A FOREST

ORCHARD

MANGROVES

SEAWEED FARMING STRAITS OF JOHOR

AGROTECH MEDIUM INDUSTRIES

HEAVY INDUSTRIES

KRANJI RESERVOIR LOGISTIC HUB

FARMER’S MARKET MRT INTERCHANGE

RAIL CORRIDOR The Factory in a Forest is the productive zone to the north, with heavy and medium industries that are paired with high-rise agrotech farms.

Each building is linked to a below-ground network of automated mover systems and logistics hubs.

Heavy traffic moving in and out of the estate is diverted to this subterranean datum.

The factories are elevated, freeing the ground for dense vegetation. This forest provides ecosystem services. It is also a public park with paths and borders, such as boardwalks amidst restored mangroves along the northern edge and a sprawling network of pedestrian and cycling tracks linking the train station (MRT Interchange) to the Rail Corridor.

This site is home to Sungei Kadut’s major infrastructure elements, such as the water reclamation and bio-diesel plants, and a logistical hub. an industrial condition

Adaptive Reuse Solar PV Managed Green Dense Green Mangroves Wetland Water

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LAYERS & STRATEGIES Heavy and medium industries and agrotech farms are stacked and elevated to create a continuous and diverse biophilic experience at ground level, capitalising on the site’s rich and diverse green and blue assets.

Closed-loop vertical and horizontal water flows link the buildings above with landscapes below.

zone 1

GREEN (GROUND LEVEL)

GREEN (UPPER LEVEL)

1.45 Green Plot Ratio

4 Green Plot Ratio

Mangroves

Facade & Terrace Green

Dense Green

A FACTORY IN A FOREST

BIOPHILIC EXPERIENCE

Managed Green Scrubland

Past

Present

Future

The forest

The factories

Factories in the forest

STACKING FACTORIES

ENERGY

BLUE

201 GWH

1.35 mgd

Solar PV

Wetlands

Current low-density industrial estate

Water

Future high-density mixed-use industries

CONNECTIVITY

Blue-Green Infrastructure

PUBLIC SPACE

FAST MOBILITY

SLOW MOBILITY

Major Axis

Pedestrian / Cycling Path

Main nodes and Adaptive Reuse buildings

CIRCULARITY

Public space & streetloop

Connected blue-greenpublic space systems

Enablers

14,000,000 m2 Public Space New industries

To close resourceflow loops

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Nutrition recovery plant

To reduce the carbon footprint of industries

Algal bio-diesel plant

To recover nutrients from various sources

Enzyme production industry

Bio-char plant

To sequester carbon from the atmosphere

VIEWS

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zone 1

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A FACTORY IN A FOREST

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PRECINCTS

AGROTECH FARMS WITH HEAVY AND MEDIUM INDUSTRIES

A MIXED-USE COMMERCIAL HUB Responding to the site’s unique edge conditions, this commercial hub is elevated several floors above the ground, making room for a variety of public spaces and activities and a layered landscape that steps down to meet the water’s edge.

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A FACTORY IN A FOREST

zone 1

A nexus of heavy and medium industries shares logistics and mobility infrastructure in the basement. Pedestrian and cycling pathways are placed on podium roofs, creating seamless connectivity. Public spaces on the ground are enmeshed in greenery, forming a strong connection between the nearby train station and Rail Corridor.

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PRESENT AND PROPOSED

A MIXED-USE COMMERCIAL HUB

HIGH-DENSITY INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEM COMPRISING HEAVY AND MEDIUM INDUSTRIES AND AGROTECH FARMS

A concentration of commercial uses and industries sits over a large retail podium.

This is linked to the train station to the south, creating a mobility hub. The towers hover above the landscape while cascading terraces of the podium engender human scale, blending in with greenery and water on the ground plane.

A high-density industrial environment features modular and vertically stacked factories elevated above the ground to free up land for a forest of dense green that provides ecosystem services, diverse public spaces and community farming.

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A FACTORY IN A FOREST

zone 1

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AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

ZONE 2 AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR BIODIVERSITY CORRIDOR KRANJI MEMORIAL

CANAL The Industrial Incubator is a nexus of innovation and creativity, much of this housed within new work-play-learncreate typologies called creative clusters. These clusters facilitate collaboration and synergy and are designed to accommodate new industries that can drive the circular economy. Supporting these clusters are spaces for research and design, education and training, agrotech farming and light industries.

The buildings are designed for flexibility and adaptability, with an emphasis on co-locating programmes, and creating ‘white sites’; low-rent spaces of indeterminate use that can be house future start-ups and maker spaces. The towers include riverside-facing residences.

On an urban scale, this zone offers networks of slow-mobility pathways, including walking, cycling and water taxis. Ground movement is augmented by activity on the podium, which acts as an elevated datum and connector, with amenities such as exhibition streets, pop-ups and event plazas. an industrial condition

PROPOSED MRT

RAIL CORRIDOR YEW TEE FLEA MARKET GALI BATU MRT DEPOT

Adaptive Reuse Creative Cluster Solar PV Managed Green Dense Green Wetland Water

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LAYERS & STRATEGIES Buildings here are connected at multiple levels. The main logistical spine and warehousing is below ground. Above ground are two datums for people movement, each with spaces and amenities that act as social and economic enablers, such as maker spaces and flea markets.

Above these are towers with a mix of light industries and white sites.

zone 2

GREEN (GROUND LEVEL)

GREEN (UPPER LEVEL)

PUBLIC SPACE Public Space

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ECONOMIC ENABLER

1.08 Green Plot Ratio Mangroves

Managed Green

Dense Green

Scrubland

Facade & Terrace Green

ENERGY

BLUE

487 GWH

1.25 mgd

Solar PV

Wetlands

With a focus on a zero-waste economy, the new and emerging industries located on this site are supported by subterranean logistics infrastructures that enable material flows and exchanges.

Beyond that, the vertical stacking of mixed-use programming with light industry, low-rent spaces and white sites creates the new ecosystem required for an ‘Industrial Incubator’ that affords flexibility, learning, the sharing of resources and know-how, and collaborations.

FAST MOBILITY Expressway

Secondary Road

Major Axis

Internal Roads

White Sites/ White Studios

Light Industry

Brand Value Underground Warehousing

CREATIVE ENABLER Multiple ground levels are created as common platforms to facilitate interaction and the exchange of ideas and harness synergies and collaborations between emergent industries.

In addition, diverse, shared infrastructures are provided to support learning, entrepreneurship and creative enterprise, including recycling, up-cycling, and 3D printing facilities.

Water

711,050 m2

AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

SLOW MOBILITY

Learning & Awareness

Entrepreneurship 3D Printing

Shared Spaces Upcycling

Repair Stores

White Sites

SOCIAL ENABLER

Pedestrian / Cycling Path

Programmes are vertically stacked with the lower floors featuring diverse people-centric programmes, community and public spaces, and multiscalar/ white spaces for the light industries and new businesses above, all of which are tied together by stratified grounds to improve sociability in this precinct.

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Pedestrian

Community Farming

Flea Market

Public Plazas

Malls Arts & Culture

VIEWS

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AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

zone 2

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zone 2

PRECINCTS

AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

Cultural Centre + External Bus Stop Cultural Village (Repair Cafes, Secondhand vintage Stores) Sculpture Park

Cycling Hub Upscale F&B Outlets 1

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HYBRID BUILDING This site’s adjacency to the train station and a major waterway created unique opportunities. It led to the integration of people-centric programmes (commercial, retail, maker spaces, amenities and community spaces) on the lower floors with largescale public spaces, slow mobility corridors along the water’s edge, and a common podium that provided direct links to the MRT station.

Above this, a highly pixelated environment of mixed-use programmes was created, which included light industries, agrotech, white spaces and creative clusters located alongside residential units. an industrial condition

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1 Creative Cluster

Exhibition Street

Creative Cluster

Managed Green

Light Industry

Vertical Core

Light Industry

Canal

Residential

Event Plaza

Residential

Primary Pedestrian

Agrofarm

Urban Green

Agrofarm

Intermediate Mobility

White Space

Canal

Commercial

Slow Mobility

Podium

Primary Pedestrian

Podium

Adaptive Reuse Existing

Commercial

Slow Mobility

Vertical Core

Shared Space

Event Plaza

1 Sunken forest park near Sungei Kadut MRT station 2 Edge condition design along Pang Sua canal 3 Mixed-use programme in building for better collaboration 4 Exhibition street navigating people from MRT to Pang Sua canal 4

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INTEGRATION OF OLD AND NEW BUILDINGS Existing buildings are adapted for reuse as a cultural centre with F&B outlets, set amidst a sculpture park along the canal.

This is linked to the adjacent mixed-use building via a large event plaza and podium. Above, residential units are nestled with light industries, creative clusters and commercial spaces.

These are topped with agrotech farms.

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1 Sculpture park with adaptive reuse 2 Residential units overlooking rail corridor and Pang Sua canal

Rail Corridor

Adaptive Reuse New Additions Internal Water Mobility Hub

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PRESENT AND PROPOSED

zone 2

GREEN-BLUE SYSTEMS REPLACING A CAR-DOMINATED ROAD

ELEVATED TRAIN STATION The elevated train station and line are key elements of the development. They connect Sungei Kadut with the wider city, and enable internal movement between the three zones. The station is situated in a park that becomes the central organising space of the masterplan; a hub of human and ecological movement framed by high-rise developments on two sides.

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AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

Car-lite mobility was made possible by [1] placing car parks at the periphery, [2] sinking logistics and fast mobility to the basement, and [3] elevating the train station and line. This made way for slow-mobility networks on the ground. To this end, for example, an arterial road (seen to the right of the image) was converted into a canal that could be served by water-based transport.

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THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

ZONE 3

KRANJI RESERVOIR

THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

The Emergent Village combines live/work typologies with leisure programming, fostering a sense of community in an otherwise largely business-manufacturing estate.

At the building scale, the co-location of residential, agro-tech and light industry gave rise to novel building typologies. Heritage buildings are adapted to new uses such as retail, art galleries, upcycling and recycling cafes, and F&B outlets. Old and new buildings are connected via a network of public plazas and slow mobility trails.

At the urban scale, the edge conditions with the Kranji Reservoir, Pang Sua Canal and mangrove patches offer a powerful biophilic experience. The proposal capitalises on these natural assets with a waterfront promenade with social and cultural nodes that includes many conserved buildings. This creates a unique lifestyle destination that aims to attract residents and workers from within the estate as well as visitors from the wider Singapore area. an industrial condition

PROPOSED MRT PANG SUA CANAL

Public Space Adaptive Reuse Agrotech

CANAL

Solar PV Scrubland Managed Green Dense Green White Site Residential

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LAYERS & STRATEGIES The Emergent Village features medium-to-lowrise buildings, consisting primarily of courtyard typologies connected by slow-mobility systems.

These buildings emphasise public space. The numerous conserved buildings along the waterfront are the main draw, along with several iconic heritage buildings interspersed throughout.

zone 3

GREEN (GROUND LEVEL)

GREEN (UPPER LEVEL)

1.28 GnPR Dense Green

THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

ICONIC HERITAGE BUILDINGS The preservation of old buildings – itself an act of conserving built and symbolic capitals – creates a waterfront experience that is rich in history, potentially creating an upcycling hub for the wider Singapore area.

Facade & Terrace Green

Managed Green

Adaptive reuse as public space

Stacking on adaptive reuse

ENERGY

BLUE

83 KWH

0.79 MGD

Solar PV

Wetlands Water

Adaptive reuse as iconic symbol

LOCAL WATER LOOPS

PUBLIC SPACE

FAST MOBILITY

SLOW MOBILITY

Expressway

Cycling Path & Pickup Station

386,115 m2 Public Space

Major Axis

Bioswale as water remediation

Secondary Road Internal Roads

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Landscape features like bioswales facilitate closed water loops between buildings and neighbourhoods. These landscapes are also part of the public space network.

VIEWS

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zone 3

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THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

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PRECINCTS

zone 3

THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

HERITAGE BUILDINGS AS LIFESTYLE DESTINATIONS

INTEGRATING THE OLD WITH THE NEW

The northern edge of the waterfront...

Movement from the train station to the waterfront is characterised by...

Capitalises on views of the Kranji Reservoir.

The creation of hybrid typologies that absorb old structures within newer ones.

Incorporates a water detention pond with cleansing biotopes that acts as a transition to the mangroves further along the waterfront.

Gradients of privacy, from 24/7 access to semi-public courtyards.

Networks of space that become a stage set for cultural and social events.

Reduces the perception of scale with low-rise courtyard blocks and a publicly accessible ground plane.

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Proposed Buildings

Adaptive Reuse Buildings

PRESENT AND PROPOSED

zone 3

TRANSITION OF DENSITY

ICONIC WATERFRONT BUILDING

The Emergent Village is characterised by the distribution of density, moving from lower densities along the waterfront to higher densities along the train line.

The activation of heritage buildings lends a distinctive character to a new contemporary lifestyle destination.

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THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

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A SYSTEMS APPROACH

FORM AND SPATIAL STRUCTURE

FORM AND SPATIAL STRUCTURE

NIRMAL KISHNANI AND TANYA TALWAR Nirmal Kishnani has been at the frontline of sustainable design in Asia, where he is an active educator, researcher, consultant and author. He teaches at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment, where he is co-programme director of the MSc in Integrated Sustainable Design, which has a unique curriculum based on systems thinking.

Tanya Talwar is a researcher at the SingaporeETH Centre and the NUS, where she is also pursuing her PhD on urban climate resilience in high-density cities. She holds a master’s degree in Integrated Sustainable Design (NUS) and has worked extensively on developing an assessment criterion to evaluate circularity in buildings and construction projects.

Circularity is an economic model that needs to be translated into form and spatial structure. It is, however, mostly discussed in the language of business or finance, stakeholder engagements, and industrial processes. These might translate to soft infrastructure – regulatory frameworks, sharing platforms or digital marketplaces – which are immaterial, fluid, and ever-changing. But the built environment, as a stage set for circularity, is a collection of hard elements – buildings, neighbourhoods, infrastructure – with significantly longer lifespans than, say, a start-up company or manufacturing process. This temporal mismatch, and the need to link the material with immaterial, is at the heart of the circularity design challenge.

Several publications have sought to extrapolate the economic to the spatial.

In 2017, Arup, the design-engineering firm, postulated a six-point action plan, applied it to Stewart Brand’s Shearing Layers of a building and asked how each layer might, over time, regenerate, share, optimise, etc.11 Shortly after, Arup and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a team of circular economy experts, released a guide that expanded the canvas and talked about integrated infrastructure systems and holistic urban planning.12 The eight principles proposed included adaptive flexibility and material cycles, both rooted in the issue of time. In 2019, the same two authors came up with a series of guides for buildings and cities. Here, adaptable and flexible use returned as a theme.13 More recently, a white paper authored by 17 UN agencies in collaboration with industry partners framed the city as Assets and Products, which included, importantly, biotic and abiotic flows such as water and energy.14 The report did not, however, suggest how buildings and cities should be configured.

None of these publications, useful as they are, make specific recommendations on architectural form or spatial structure. There appears to be an implicit understanding that form is the outcome of a process and contingent on context, which means it cannot be generalised. Instead, one seeks an underlying logic of form.

The most cited form axiom is that of a city as layers of interacting, interdependent systems. A system comprises of elements, connections and enablers that, to create circularity, are configured as closed loops that include processes such as recycling. In this form-as-system approach, form-making is concerned with connecA SYSTEMS APPROACH

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tivity and exchange, linking one system to another and embedding smaller systems within larger ones.

System design, on a pathway, toggles efficiency and capacity. Efficiency is the input-to-output ratio: being lean and doing more with less. Capacity calls for redundancy and buffer, doing more with more. The quest for capacity, as a form dictum, favours polycentric structures over monocentric ones. The latter have fewer nodes and connections and are arranged hierarchically, much like a tree. The former have many more nodes and connections, appearing leaf-like. A polycentric system can be partially switched off without compromising the whole; it permits flows in multiple directions; copes with a wide variance of supply and demand, and is conceived as interdependent loops acting on multiple scales.

Another form driver is the bridging of human-made and natural systems, wherein designers seek symbiosis between the two. As a result, ecosystem services are restored, and biodiversity habitats and pathways for species movement are defragmented. At the drawing board, these goals are contingent on a multiscalar, cross-disciplinary approach linking architecture, landscape design and applied ecology.

The Sungei Kadut (SK) masterplan operationalises these rules and attempts to synchronise the temporal gap between a rapidly evolving economy and a slow-moving built form. The solution is deeply contextual, taking its cues from the mix and density of existing and future industrial estates in Singapore and conditions in and around the site. However, some of the features and strategies that emerge from the exercise are generalisable and scalable. They open the door to new typologies and morphologies, summarised at architectural and urban scales. This list can be compared with several circularity case studies carried out elsewhere.

ARCHITECTURAL FORM • Multifunctional surfaces. Every surface is multi-systemic and multifunctional. The ground, for instance, is freed up for pedestrian and ecological pathways.

New elements, often envelope-affixed, engage the building in the production of energy and food. Features such as decks, balconies, and double-skin façades expand the space available for these systems. The roof is contiguous, spanning several buildings to create a datum for solar canopies and farms.

• Fractal, fragmented geometry. Buildings channel water, wind, and light, which affects the amount of energy they consume and the quality of indoor environments.

They offer porosity and increased envelope surface area. Many have a podium-level datum for pedestrian movement between buildings.

• Materiality. Preference is given to low-impact materials and products that lend themselves to future recycling or reuse.

• Design for disassembly. This describes a method that involves the assembly, modularity and interchangeability of parts. It is a way of extending the useful life of a component and product. Tagging these with material passports creates a database for future reuse.

• Design for adaptation. This reduces the need to demolish and rebuild, extending the life of a building. In SK, a substantial portion of floor area is set aside as ‘white space’, i.e. an area of indeterminate use. A white space might be designated as 93

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The city of Amsterdam (Netherlands) introduced material passports and a digital materials marketplace to facilitate tracking and sharing. These systems were augmented with new elements that expand storage capacity, i.e. warehouses.15

The Triodos Bank (below) in the ­Netherlands was designed by RAU architects and is a fully re-constructible office built from “a temporary combination of products, components, and materials with a documented identity”. The parts retain value even as the structure is taken apart.16 Kalundborg (Denmark) is a purpose-built industrial estate and a well-known example of circular urban flows. It manages the exchange of abiotic streams – energy and water – with ­subterranean pipelines that connect the different factories. The clustering of industries creates efficiency in the loops.

“Circularity as a goal alters spatial thinking.

The circular city is less defined as an agglomeration of buildings, organised into hard-edged zones, and more by the flows and exchanges across permeable zones and interfaces.”

The People’s Pavilion (above) in ­Eindhoven was designed by Arup (2017, Eindhoven) and demonstrated a lease-based supply chain for materials and fittings by borrowing the components for a temporary building. Its reversible connections and prefabricated foundation meant that it could be dismantled at the end of its life and its materials used elsewhere.17

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residential initially, but because it has the spatial and structural attributes necessary for light industry or office space, it can be easily converted later. In some SK buildings, the structural system is over-designed and modular, allowing floors or services to be added or removed.

URBAN MORPHOLOGY • Mobility meets logistics. A city balances modes of mobility; the slow (walking and cycling) versus the fast (cars and trains). Industrial estates add heavy logistical demands to this mix with the flow of goods and raw materials. Often, they struggle to balance human experience with logistical efficiency. In the SK proposal, roads and rail lines are co-located and stacked on top of energy, water and material conveyance lines, thereby reducing their collective footprint. Abiotic flows are separated from biotic flows, the former submerged below ground. The ground is freed up for pedestrians and cyclists.

• Permeable zones. Industrial estates are clusters of similar building typologies, often in hard-edged, mono-functional zones with dead spaces intersected by large roads. In the SK plan, logistics/mobility are placed below ground which frees up the surface, making it permeable, fluid and people-centric. The ‘factory’ zone, for instance, is wholly accessible to pedestrians and fauna. The social and ecological pathways here extend to other zones. At the drawing board, attention is placed on the borders between zones. A park-cum-transit hub separates and connects the ‘incubator’ zone and ‘village’, acting as a transition space and epicentre of converging mobility lines.

• Blue and Green infrastructure. The SK plan defragments and reengineers waterways. New flows are created, and existing ones altered to include public space, create room for biodiversity and offer water-based mobility. As a result, ecosystem services are enhanced, and connectivity is restored. At the drawing board, ideas were assessed using an ecosystems tool to see how successful they were at improving air quality, cleaning water and reducing the air temperature.

• Multifunctional, multi-systemic land use. Integration is key. Systems overlap and interact. For instance, hydrological systems, public space, food production, and greenery are co-located or stacked.

MODULAR AND STACKABLE Buildings are seen as an assembly of multifunctional modular and stackable components, enabling them to respond to changing demands over time.

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Circularity as a goal alters spatial thinking. The circular city is less defined as an agglomeration of buildings, organised into hard-edged zones, and more by the flows and exchanges across permeable zones and interfaces. The goal is wholeness. And creating wholeness, from a form perspective, is about adding intelligence to connectedness. In many ways, the SK exercise was an experiment in purposeful connectedness. Its value proposition lies not just in its adaptable buildings, vertically-stacked programmes, new socio-ecological networks and subterranean networks for logistics and mobility. It lies in how all of the above come together to create something that amounts to more than just the sum of its parts.

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FLOWS AND EXCHANGES Circularity is enabled by connectedness, which allows various flows and exchanges to come together, forming closed-loop systems. Here, the built environment is both consumer and producer, destination and connection.

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WATER

Buildings are designed with the capability to capture rainwater and treat and recycle greywater. These systems are linked to similar, albeit larger, systems at the duster and precinct scales. Thus, excesses or deficits at one scale are offset by the next.

Mangroves Kranji reservoir Wetland Bioswales

Straits of Johor Anaerobic Digester

ENERGY

Passive strategies and efficient electromechanical systems reduce the energy demand of buildings. Solar canopies are placed atop buildings, often connecting several within a cluster. Biomass is the second source of renewable power, produced in an anaerobic digester at the district scale.

Floating Solar PV panels Solar PV panels over MRT line Solar PV panels on buildings

Greywater Treatment Plant

District Cooling Plant

Kranji Reclamation Plant

Anaerobic Digester Eco-refinery Tri-gen Plant Blackwater to Kranji Reclamation Plant

Micro-grid From Solar PV panels Biomass waste

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Chilled Water to/from Heat Exchanger

Rainwater filtered by green terrace Daylight Solar Shading UHI improved through greenery Natural Ventilation

Chilled Water to/from Heat Exchanger

Rainwater Treated Greywater Greywater Blackwater

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Rainwater to Bioswale

Potable water to building

Greywater to Greywater Recycling Plant

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Blackwater to Kranji Reclamation Plant

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Energy to Micro-grid Biomass to Collection Centre

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NUTRIENTS Agrotech

Urban farming on rooftops & community gardens on terraces

Urban farming on terrace

The agrotech sector generates a considerable amount of organic waste that is composted in anaerobic digesters.

This process is augmented with food and horticultural waste from buildings and landscapes in the neighbourhoods.

The nutrient-rich compost is then returned to farms across the district.

FLOW ENABLERS

An underground logistical spine acts as a flow enabler to free the ground level for pedestrians and cyclists. It co-locates roads and rail, automated goods movers and warehouses and services, running six floors deep in some places. It serves to connect the major infrastructural elements of the SK masterplan.

Basement Level 1 & 2 Logistics Hub DC 1 DC2 Trigeneration Plant WCP DC 3

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Trigeneration Plant

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENABLERS

Business

The masterplan features numerous recycling and upcycling nodes that serve both the resident population and visitors. It also has a substantial number of white sites (purpose-built multiple-use spaces), which allow the estate, as a whole, to change over time. Collectively, these socio-economic enablers facilitate and sometimes trigger new consumer behaviours and business models.

Adjacency to white sites: locate white sites adjacent to industries to promote innovation in industry.

Shared/co-working spaces: promote lowrent shared spaces to encourage artists and designers to build start-ups.

Retail Stores

Adding value: retail stores that sell upcycled and reused products to create a hip neighbourhood.

Coworking

Nurture creativity and collaboration in studios: site studios in close proximity to industrial and public areas to promote collaboration.

Consumer Behaviour

Promote the upcycling of products: old clothes, furniture and household products can be reused to create useful materials.

Stimulate heritage and cultural appreciation: art and culture centres can help connect people with their cultural heritage.

White Sites

Arts and Cultural Centre

Community Farming

Bio-Based Workshops

Products Boost product knowledge through education: teach the community how to make product use more intensive.

Encourage product repair: repair defective products to enhance material reuse and prolong product life.

Matlabs Repair Cafe

Community farming: foster community engagement through collective activities, such as farming.

Repair Cafe

Flea Market

Advocate material innovation through mat-labs: material labs and institutes to promote product repair and repurposing.

Attaining efficiency with product design workshops: redesign products to improve their efficiency.

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Nurture bio-based products: use workshops and the community as assets to increase focus on bio-based products.

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Public Space, Mobility and Logistics

PUBLIC SPACE, MOBILITY AND LOGISTICS

SWINAL SAMANT Swinal Samant is a Senior Lecturer and Co-Programme Director for the MSc Integrated Sustainable Design Programme at the National University of Singapore. She has a rich and diverse practice and academic experience (having worked in India, the UK and Singapore) with an emphasis on environmental sustainability in the context of global architectural and urban dimensions.

With the emergence of high-density, poly-centric, and vertical cities, particularly in Asia, mass rapid transit systems, transit hubs and transit-oriented developments (TOD) play a vital role in distributing densities around cities.

Advocates claim that advances in novel transit technologies, automation, mobility and logistical solutions paired with new and emerging industries, density, amenities and differing uses will create a circular logic whereby each component feeds off the other, resulting in reduced waste and a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

In this context, a robust system of public spaces and multi-modal transit will play a fundamental role in pulling together disparate components and harnessing synergies, allowing the stacking of previously segregated functions to create closed-loop systems, whereby the waste of one industry becomes a resource for another. Multiple stratified public spaces will create efficient collaborative networks and thriving social hubs to reap economic benefits whilst encouraging greening, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Furthermore, when combined with the three-dimensional planning of industries, infrastructure and services, they will ensure a seamless flow of goods and people.

The design and planning of future industrial landscapes could thus be reimagined to achieve a healthy balance, blurring the boundaries between industry, community and nature.

cal stratification of urban streets and squares. In Hong Kong (China) and Singapore, for example, MRT stations are often coupled with large retail/commercial/mixed-use buildings, with stratified pedestrian systems acting as significant local public space.21 As such, the public realm is brought higher up through a network of elevated public spaces that connect the horizontal city with the vertical environments.

While we increasingly use air space to spread urban densities vertically and decompress ground conditions, the ground level remains the most familiar anchoring datum. Underground layers are primarily used for mass rapid transit systems, combined with above-ground light railways and elevated walkway systems. However, secondary circulation networks, known as “stratified grounds”, may replicate the characteristics, amenities, attractiveness and vitality of the ground level. An overarching ‘three-dimensional’ public realm can thus be created to complement the streets on the ground.

Multilevel pedestrian networks and the vertical stratification of streets and squares combined with higher densities around transit nodes.

The Integration and Stratification of Public Space, Mobility and Logistics in Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) First coined in The Next American Metropolis by Peter Calthorpe, TOD was introduced as “a mixed-use community within an average 2,000-feet walking distance of a transit stop and a core commercial area”.18 Toronto is an exemplar, comprising TODs integrated with multi-modal public transport, whereby suburban neighbourhoods are well connected to the rail stations by high-quality, fully integrated bus services, reducing the use of expensive land around TODs for parking and preventing the typical traffic congestion found around transit stations.19 Well-designed transit systems characterised by inter-modal connectivity, high accessibility, diversity, and density are expected to improve public transit uptake, user well-being and the environment, as found in Singapore.20 As urban centres are increasingly intensified through the vertical city model, the segregation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and connectivity with transit hubs has led to the adoption of multilevel pedestrian networks and the more recent verti-

Increased mediation between the various typological and transit infrastructural needs will also give rise to new hybrid spatial, programmatic and operational conditions. City shaping and urban life, in this context, would be characterised by the necessary co-existence and interdependency of the public and private realms.22 It points to the need for more fine-grained hierarchies of publicness in future buildings, the blurring of public and private spheres into a continuum, and overall increased opportunity for social exchange and new modes of publicness.23 This integration of stratified transit infrastructure within hybrid developments and an increased emphasis on the ‘human scale’, focusing on pedestrianisation, greening, amenities, activity and attractiveness, will characterise the three-dimensional public realm and they provide the critical lungs of our dense urban environments.

The integration of transit infrastructure in particular (drone ports, for example), both within and between buildings, offers a unique opportunity to redistribute public spaces and landscapes vertically. Under a canopy of new fine-grained elevated

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networks and interstitial spaces, the ground plane can now be freed up and reimagined to host nature and biodiversity alongside public art, vibrant flea markets, walking, and cycling; thereby redistributing people and movement densities.24 With heavy industry support from the likes of Amazon, Lilium, Uber, UPS, Wing, DHL and others, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)/drones for transporting goods and people (drone taxis and personal-airborne transport) are set to take off and may fundamentally change urban mobility and the way we design and use buildings. Uber is expected to test air taxi services in Melbourne while Singapore, China, the USA and Germany are testing the use of drones.25 Humphreys similarly highlighted the need for separate access to rooftop “vertiports” for the operation of drones and the incumbent issues relating to noise, trespassing, privacy and so forth. 26 Beyond the technical, affordability, safety and regulatory challenges, passenger drones, for one, would require a system of air spaces or platforms for charging, take-off and landing, which would be integrated with other circulatory networks. Publicness can now be introduced at all levels, with common transport infrastructure straddling buildings to aid three-dimensional circulation.

Roof Top Drone Parcel Pick Up/ Drop Off

Vertical Core With Automated System for Floor-toFloor Parcel Delivery

Vertical Access for AGV from Basement 2 to Building AGV Tunnel Network from Logistic Hub to Buildings

Vertical Access for AGV to Ground Level for on Ground Cargo Movement by AGV

Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods

Vertical Access to Basement in Buildings and AGV Tunnel

AGV Tunnel Network

AGV Movement on Ground Level

Cargo Movement on Ground Level

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Heavy Vehicle Tunnel

Schematic Diagram for Autonomous Guided Vehicled (AGV). Access to Ground and Buildings

Light Cargo and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Parcel Movement at Building Scale

I­ ndeed, such interventions will have implications for design, logistics, regulations and planning, but they will also pave the way for the evolution of urban development and real estate more generally.

Rope-less elevators with larger carrying capacities and several cabins moving up and down a continuous loop and fewer and smaller shafts will free up usable space and vastly improve vertical, horizontal and diagonal mobility across urban components, creating new and exhilarating conditions for public engagement at all levels. Vertical transportation systems could extend the city-wide transport infrastructure, affording a more seamless transition between the horizontal and vertical realms. 27 Personal mobility devices (PMDs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs) alongside the uptake of greener alternatives – water mobility and increased emphasis on walking and cycling, are also expected. The commercialisation and proliferation of the various mobility systems will likely result in an increasingly stratified scenario for the movement of goods and people that TODs, in particular, will be able to capitalise on.

Cycling Hub Connection to Basement

“Multiple stratified public spaces will create efficient collaborative networks and thriving social hubs to reap economic benefits whilst encouraging greening, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.”

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Parcel Collection/ Drop Off Point on Every Floor

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Industrial Environments and Sungei Kadut Emerging industries and advances in technology, mobility and logistical solutions will have a particular bearing on shaping future industrial settings. With an increased focus on innovative AI, smart and clean technologies, agrotech, knowledge and service-oriented industries and specialised skills development, industrial environments can become liveable districts incorporating all aspects of life.

Moving towards circularity and zero waste will require industrial developments to have ‘software systems’ with mixed-use programming, bringing together live, work, learn, play and make in new ways, each benefiting from the other. Harnessing synergies across different industries and stacking previously segregated functions to create closed-loop systems will also be important. Furthermore, optimising and

intensifying land use and avoiding redundancies alongside the creation of low-rent, flexible and white spaces for start-ups and emerging industries will be critical.

Stratified public space and mobility and logistics have a huge role to play in realising this scenario. On-demand, autonomous and integrated transport alongside drone-based logistics will allow for the seamless movement of people and goods.

The current dominance of transport infrastructure (roads and parking provision) will become redundant and make way for greener and safer industrial environments comprising biodiversity corridors, natural water catchments, public and community spaces, and walking/cycling trails.

For example, in stark contrast to a typical industrial estate, Sungei Kadut is conceived as a TOD with three MRT stations, characterised by its high density and wealth of amenities, complemented by the Central Park and a plethora of ‘human-centric’ public spaces.

The storage and movement of goods, which is critical for an industrial estate, is managed by an underground AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) system operating in a corridor serviced by two logistics hubs. In doing so, the surface above ground is liberated for people, nature and biodiversity. The enhanced blue and green cover in the form of an estate-wide network of green spaces, parks, park connectors, and

Urban Centre

Urban Centre

Recreational Water Mobility First / Last Mile Modes of Transport

First / Last Mile Modes of Transport

Urban Air Mobility Concept

waterways provides ecosystem services. Examples of these services include using wetland plants to clean water for factory buildings, natural stormwater canals, and using nature to reduce pollution and urban temperatures.

Complementing the high-efficiency basement and green ground is an elevated mobility deck and a green corridor integrated with multi-modal transit offering last-mile connectivity. Crucially, when combined with high-density stacked industrial functions, the distinct layering of soft and hard public spaces enables the efficient transfer of resources (waste, raw materials, basic systems) and enhances synergies, sharing and reciprocity across different industries and uses, resulting in increased circularity.

Ultimately, public spaces will play a critical role and can be deployed to integrate economic, social and ecological aspects in future industrial landscapes.

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FAST, INTERMEDIATE AND SLOW MOBILITY

The master plan sought to create a comprehensive mobility strategy to improve efficiency, harness synergies and circularity and ensure liveability. This translated into a multi-layered mobility network that formed the backbone of the masterplan. Private cars and car parks were moved to the site’s periphery, making way for an extensive blue and green cover and intermediate and slow mobility at ground level. An extensive, multi-storeyed subterranean network of tunnels was incorporated for the fast movement of goods, energy, and water by heavy and automated vehicles between logistical hubs, aiding material flows within and beyond Sungei Kadut.

fast mobility

fast mobility

INTERMEDIATE AND SLOW MOBILITY

Slow Mobility

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Private Vehicle Movement

Parking Hubs and Internal Fast Mobility

Pedestrian Paths at Ground Level

Pedestrian Paths at Podium Level

Peripheral Parking Hubs

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Proposed MRT Station Kranji MRT Station

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Proposed MRT Station New Tee MRT Station

Extension of Downtown MRT Line

Proposed MRT Stations

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Percentage of Anticipated Private Vehicles entering Sungei Kadut

Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods

Access to Parking Hubs from External Roads

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Intermediate MobilityPedestrain Path with Dedicated Cycling/ Personal Mobility Device Path

Slow MobilityPedestrian Path Shared with Bicycle/ PMD Path

Elevated Street Layout

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TAXONOMY OF PUBLIC SPACES

Different types of public space are categorised by their predominant condition and/or character and include the biocentric and human-centric natural or naturalised blue-green spaces. Those related to various forms of transit are layered across the building section as transit-oriented spaces. Stratified spaces, whether transit-oriented or not, are soft or hard spaces at different levels of the building and urban infrastructure. Indoor and outdoor plazas are the defined, formal spaces, while the transitional and interstitial areas within and between buildings are the informal spaces. A robust system of public spaces is expected to play a fundamental role in harnessing synergies between previously segregated functions to create closed-loop systems and efficient, collaborative networks whilst encouraging greening, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.

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VERTICAL LAYERING OF LOGISTICS AND AUTOMATED MOBILITY SYSTEMS

SPEED-BASED MOBILITY SYSTEMS

The current dominance of ground-level transport infrastructure (roads and parking) is replaced with greener and safer pedestrianised environments comprising walking and cycling trails alongside biodiversity corridors, natural water catchments, and public and community spaces.

This is made possible by stratifying the different modes of transit and relegating logistics and automated and heavy goods movement to the basement levels.

ACCESS TO BASEMENT 1

PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT at GROUND level and on elevated streets

Cycling

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Elevated Street Connecting Buildings and Creating Second Datum

Vertical Access For AGV From Basement 2 to Building Vertical Core Access to Basement 1 Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods

Pedestrian Path on Ground Level Pick Up / Drop Off Lobby for Automated Vehicles

Vertical Core Access to Basement 1

AGV Tunnel Network from Logistic Hub to Buildings Four-way Tunnel for Heavy Vehicles

Logistic Hub

Pedestrian Path on Ground Level

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Vertical Access to Basement in Buildings and AGV Tunnel

Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods

Logistic Hub for Loading and Unloading Heavy Vehicles

Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods

Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods Vertical Access to Basement in Buildings

Vertical Access to Basement 1

Basement 1 (-9m from ground level) for Automated Shuttle and Pods

Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV) Tunnel Network

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Walking Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs)

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Multiple modes of transport were studied to develop an integrated and stratified transit system for the masterplan, ensuring inter-modal connectivity and high accessibility to improve efficiencies and offer users choice.

Pedestrian Path on Ground Level Urban Greens

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STRATIFIED PUBLIC SPACE NETWORK

Extensive greenery at ground level alongside walking and cycling trails A SYSTEMS APPROACH

A network of elevated streets connecting differing uses, land parcels and zones

Multi-modal transit hub

“The integration of stratified transit infrastructure within hybrid developments and an increased emphasis on the ‘human scale’, focusing on pedestrianisation, greening, amenities, activity and attractiveness, will characterize three-dimensional public realm and provide the critical lungs of our dense urban environments.”

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THREEDIMENSIONAL PLANNING

WONG MUN SUMM WITH LIN BOLT AND JHANVI SANGHVI Wong Mun Summ co-founded the Singaporebased architectural practice WOHA in 1994.

He is a Professor in Practice for the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. He sits on the Nominating Committee of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize and other design advisory panels in Singapore. WOHA works at all levels, from interiors and architecture to public space and master plans; its projects are designed to be living systems that connect to the city as a whole. With every project, the practice aims to create a matrix of interconnected human-scaled environments. These spaces foster community, enable stewardship of nature, generate biophilic beauty, activate ecosystem services and build resilience. WOHA has accrued a varied portfolio of work and applies its systems-thinking approach to architecture and urbanism in its building designs and regenerative masterplans.

The practice currently has projects under construction in Singapore, Australia, China and other countries in South Asia.

Lin Bolt is the Public Relations Manager at WOHA and has been taking care of the firm’s communications since 2017.

Jhanvi Sanghvi graduated from NUS with a Master’s in Integrated Sustainable Design and has been working on competition projects and publications at WOHA since 2019.

We are facing a massive environmental collapse. Our climate is changing rapidly due to human activity. The global population is set to grow by more than 25% to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, with 7 out of 10 of us living in cities. 28 We are over-exploiting earth’s resources and polluting our environment; forests are being cut down at an unprecedented rate, and cities are growing, pushing back nature. This is leading to a catastrophic loss of biodiversity, rising sea levels, and humanitarian, food and water crises.

The way cities are designed and the resulting urban sprawl is a big part of the problem. We will not be able to stop them from growing, which is why we must rethink the way we plan our built environment. If we look closely at the two-dimensional urban planning approach most commonly used, it is clear that it is no longer appropriate for the 21st century. Planning in horizontal planes leads to segregated, mono-use districts catering to specific functions such as industrial production, business, culture and entertainment, education and residential spaces. Each district has reduced usability, does not get fully utilised around the clock, and people have to spend time contributing to greenhouse gas emissions as they commute between districts to go about their daily lives. As cities grow, this planning approach leads to the continued outward expansion of urban boundaries, which infringes on natural environments and leads to a scarcity of land and natural resources.

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MOVING ONTO THE THIRD DIMENSION To move away from this 20th-century approach to urban planning, we need to stop thinking two-dimensionally and start designing three-dimensionally. Three-dimensional planning is the integration of horizontal and vertical lines of movement. This means that instead of placing programmes next to each other and expanding horizontally, programmes are layered on top of each other vertically, creating multifunctional, multi-systemic typologies. Instead of commuting long hours to various districts horizontally, people move vertically and horizontally to live, work, play, learn, and even farm, all within a much smaller three-dimensional sphere.

Cities become denser and reduce the surface area they take up as well as their ecological footprint. Density and the resulting compactness and proximity to life’s necessities not only optimise land use and free up space for nature and biodiversity but, when coupled with amenities, also allow for a better quality of life.

A three-dimensional planning approach leads to new ways of visualising form. One example would be the Kampung Admiralty project in Singapore, developed by our firm, WOHA. Sitting on a 0.9 ha plot of land, the project is primarily a public housing development for senior citizens, but it also serves as a prototype that integrates various programmes three-dimensionally, allowing people to age in a life-affirming, biophilic community. The development combines senior-friendly residential units, healthcare services, childcare and senior care, food and beverage options and retail, as well as a sheltered public plaza, a public rooftop park and an urban farm.

By housing such a wide range of programmes, it draws in the whole neighbourhood to create a vibrant, lively space that fosters an intergenerational community. The three-dimensional approach to this project has opened up ample roof space for greenery, and a recent biodiversity study has shown that the development attracts more animal species than a comparable park at ground level. 29 By being seamlessly plugged into the district and the public transport network, the development is integrated horizontally and vertically, both into the wider area and on a city-and island-wide scale.

KAMPUNG ADMIRALTY The compact site adjacent to a train station in a medium-rise publichousing area prompted a layered ‘club sandwich’ approach.

The result is a ­“ Vertical Kampung (village)”, with a Community Plaza sheltered by a Medical Centre supporting a rooftop ­Community Park overlooked by apartments for seniors. These three distinct layers juxtapose the various building uses to foster diverse cross-programming and free up the ground level for activity generators.

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3D PLANNING AND CIRCULARITY Integrating various programmes vertically within buildings and, in turn, using horizontal movement to connect different buildings on a district and urban scale opens up opportunities to share resources synergistically and take advantage of economies of scale with greater efficiency. A three-dimensional flow of natural and built systems allows for innovative land-use solutions

SELF-SUFFICIENT CITY The solar canopy comprises opaque photovoltaic cells directly above the buildings and semi-transparent cells cantilevered over the parkland layer. This arrangement will provide optimal daylight both at ground level and for the urban farms on the rooftop.

the energy and food production layer, housing homes and offices. The parkland layer consists of landscapes that encourage human activity and interaction, both with each other and the natural world. It gives space to plants and biodiversity, and its undulating topography of continuous rainforest provides ecosystem services that help reduce solar heat, sequester greenhouse gases, reduce other pollutants like PM10 particles, release oxygen and create rain. The final layer is the transportation and services layer that contains service networks and mass-transit rail systems within a multi-layered zone, which weaves through the parkland levels but could also go below ground.

In this model, the solar canopy, urban farm, housing and workspaces are connected in a vertical flow, while the parkland layer and ground and subterranean layer for services and transportation move in a horizontal flow.

“By combining three-dimensional urban planning with circular economy concepts, we can start to repair the damage we have done to nature. The resulting highly dense urban environments are vibrant, engaging, resilient and planned for long-term growth and sustainability.”

that are intensified both above and below ground level, laying the foundations for a circular city.

The proximity and density of a 3D plan enable the circular flow of regenerative services for energy, water and waste, as well as highly efficient and innovative food production. Closing the loops of these services provides the groundwork for self-sufficiency.

In our book Garden City Mega City, 30 we laid out a schematic design for a self-sufficient city in the tropics, in which four horizontal strata are layered within a vertical environment to form a three-dimensional matrix. The buildings are medium-rise, naturally lit and ventilated, and use passive strategies to minimise energy consumption. The rooftop canopy layer is utilised for energy production and urban farming. Its solar canopies allow light to reach the rooftop farms while shading the buildings below. The residential and workplace layer sits below A SYSTEMS APPROACH

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Having this three-dimensional flow of people, services and goods on a small footprint enables us to power everything with renewable energy sources and recycle water with minimal wastage. We can also close the loop on the waste cycle by seeing waste as a biological and technical nutrient31 rather than something to be discarded.

This can be achieved by recycling the materials from non-renewable sources, reusing them to produce new goods, and processing organic waste into products, like fertiliser, which then goes back into food production.

SELF-SUFFICIENT CITY By combining three-dimensional planning with the By visualising a city in concepts of a circular economy, we can truly co-exist with terms of layers in a threedimensional matrix rather nature and begin to repair the damage caused by human acthan a two-dimensional tivity. This planning approach also provides a better quality grid, we can confront the challenge of averting the of life by creating highly dense urban environments that are social and environmental dysfunction of mega-cities vibrant, engaging, resilient and designed for long-term growth and problems can be and sustainability. resolved.

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SELF-SUFFICIENT CITY SUNGEI KADUT AS A PROTOTYPE The broad expanse of FOR INDUSTRIAL ZONES flat rooftops provides ‘land’ for urban farming, The Sungei Kadut masterplan was conceived as the future of six metres beneath the industrial and production zones and based on three-dimensional canopy of photovoltaic panels. The positioning planning and circularity concepts. The masterplan leverages and orientation of the panels protects the crops the existing natural spaces and the district’s integration into the from the intensity of the public transport grid to bring people and nature back into the midday sun yet provides the bright, diffused industrial estate. light required for leafy The design approach includes layering programmes vegetable growth. and creating new building typologies for synergistic, systemic thinking on energy, water, air rights, ecosystem remediation and biodiversity regeneration. To maximise the enabled circularity on-site, the various industrial functions are layered on top of each other to efficiently transfer waste, resources, raw materials and other basic systems that can be shared among multiple units.

Highly efficient basements were designed, anchoring on technology for heavy vehicles and automated services, creating a car-free ground level and elevated strata for pedestrian connectivity, greenery and biodiversity. Strategies that leverage existing resources to reduce the need for new infrastructure were emphasised.

Three new mixed-use typologies were developed for this three-dimensional masterplan to allow for dynamic and active land development. While integrating various programmes within the structures vertically, the different typologies were designed to integrate with each other horizontally in terms of transportation, infrastructure, logistics, energy, water and waste to form a symbiotic, circular urban ecosystem.

The ‘Factory in a Forest’ is a typology that focuses on work and producing goods and food. Medium to heavy industries are co-located with agrotech farms and supplied with a circular flow of energy and materials. With transportation and logistics set in the subterranean layer, the ground plane is free from heavy traffic and provides

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SELF-SUFFICIENT CITY space for lush greenery, public spaces and pedestrian and The service networks and cycling paths for visitors. a mass-transit rail system are contained within The ‘Industrial Incubator’ provides space for starta multi-layered zone, ups, research and design activities and training centres. This which weaves through the levels of parkland. space is horizontally integrated into the transport network This idyllic vision of the and houses a mix of light industry, agrotech businesses and self-sufficient city is so radically at odds with the emergent enterprises that share infrastructure and amenities. mega-city reality it almost appears to be a fantasy.

The design offers elevated dynamic work and social spaces that encourage collaboration, creativity and interaction between the different programmes.

The ‘Emergent Village’ is a typology that combines live, work and play programmes. It is designed to be a work-live vertical neighbourhood that brings a vibrant lifestyle to the estate. The precinct includes residences, agrotech farms and lifestyle offerings such as art galleries and F&B establishments. The community-oriented residential model includes interactive community spaces geared towards art, education, wellness and recreation at various datums.

SUNGEI KADUT A combination of the various typologies designed to form a high tech, high value and highly liveable urban ecosystem. All the districts are connected at a subterranean level and share infrastructure and logistics to enhance circularity. Mixed-use typologies allow for dynamic and active land development.

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Three-Dimensional Planning

SYMBIOSIS AND MATERIAL FLOWS The exchange of materials within the development and at a district level results in closed circular loops that enable self-sufficiency.

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The challenge of circularity calls for new hardware and software. Examples of hardware include technologies for resource creation (e.g., renewable energy from solar panels) and distribution and flow (e.g., waste recycling). They can be found at different scales throughout the estate, resulting in circular loops of various sizes that take the waste from one element and turn it into a resource for another.

Examples of software include mixeduse programming, e.g., work-life areas, creating low-rent spaces for start-ups, and integrating parks and leisure spaces to make the estate attractive and liveable.

A SYSTEMS APPROACH

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Three-Dimensional Planning

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DENSITY AND TYPOLOGY

findings 1 — Urban Block Sizes

Circularity is enhanced when there is a mix of light, medium and heavy industries, built to high floor area ratios (FAR), and coupled with infrastructure for material storage and handling.

Material Bank

FA FA

100 x 150

.5 R7

Textile Recyling Plant

Enzymes

.0 R5

Automobile Recyling

Concrete Recycling Plant

250 x 250

250 x 300

Biochar

2 R A F

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Concrete Recycling Plant Biochar

2 — Limits of Circularity

Textile Recyling Plant

NG I T S E XI

INDUSTRIES Building

Fibre Board

Cluster Neighbourhood

Algal Farm

LIG HT

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Diversity and density of programmes increased Intensity of programmes increased Hierarchy of programming Circularity improved New industries close the loop Raw material prioritised

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MIXED-USE HEAVY MANUFACTURING TYPOLOGY MODULARITY & EXPANDABiLITY

The stacking of industries facilitates exchange, wherein the waste from one becomes the resource of another.

These mixed-use typologies share gantry cranes, holding areas, loading bays, etc., thereby reducing capital and operational costs.

The mixed-use manufacturing block consists of light, medium and heavy industries that are vertically stacked, with shared warehouses and maker spaces. Vehicular traffic is diverted to the basement, which is linked to a subterranean network of mover systems.

modules Multiple manufacturing spaces operate within a single floor plate in modules that are 15m wide. The flexibility of these modules is enhanced by artificial intelligence and robotics.

Industry Type 3 Stacking of Programmes

Agrotech

Multiple Ground Levels

Industry Type 3 Light Industries

Industry Type 2 Medium Industries Horizontal & Vertical Breeze Ways

Programme Modules

Industry Type 1 Vertical & Horizontal Connections

Heavy Industries

Modularity & Expandability

x: 45m y: 60m z: 10m

Basement 1 Mobility Warehousing

Industry Type 1 Heavy Industries x: 30m y: 45m/15m z: 7m

Basement 2 AGV & Heavy Vehicle Warehousing

Industry Type 2 Medium Industries x: 15m y: 15m z: 5m

Basement 3 Service Tunnel

Industry Type 3 Light Industries

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Three-Dimensional Planning

MIXED-USE LIGHT INDUSTRIAL TYPOLOGY

The buildings in the Industrial Incubator are a mix of agrotech farming, light industries, residential units and white sites. These creative clusters are augmented with retail and other amenities, which are situated at the podium level.

Agrotech

Residential

Horizontal Goods Movement

Vertical Goods Movement White Space Mix of Light Industry, Creative Custers and Residential

Creative Clusters

Podium

Commercial Units Exhibition Street, Commercial Units and Podium

Creative Cluster Exhibition Street

Mix of Light Industry, Creative Clusters and Residential Units

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Residential, White Space and Agrotech

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Three-Dimensional Planning

MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL TYPOLOGY

Adaptive Reuse

In the Emergent Village zone, a new mixed-use residential typology combines homes with dynamic community spaces at various datums. This is combined with agrotech farms above and conserved industrial buildings on the ground, the latter acting as lifestyle destinations.

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Commercial

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Podium

Sky Street

Detention Tank

White Site

Rainwater Treatment Plant Detention Tank

Circularity - Blue System

Vertical Connectivity Main Core Service Core

Cloud Street

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Residential

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Sky Street

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blue and green infrastructure

BLUE AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

ANUJ JAIN, CELINE TAN AND HERBERT DREISEITL

Elements used by Industry

Dr Anuj Jain is an ecologist and trained biomimicry professional with expertise in wildlife conservation, ecological place-making, biodiversity and ecosystem service assessments and biomimicry design. He is the Founding Director of BioSEA, an ecology and bio­mimicry design consultancy, and the Biomimicry Singapore Network.

Celine Tan holds a BA in Architecture and an MSc in Integrated Sustainable Design from the National University of Singapore. Her core interest lies in the intersection between ecology and architecture and how the two fields can be in better symbiosis with each other.

Herbert Dreiseitl s an urban designer, landscape architect, water artist, interdisciplinary planner and Professor in Praxis. His focus is on creating Liveable Cities all over the world. He is a highly respected expert who specialises in inspiring and innovative uses of water to solve urban environmental challenges, connecting technology with aesthetics and encouraging people to take care and ownership of places.

Nature produces no waste. It is inherently circular as one organism’s waste becomes another’s resource. It manufactures using a handful of highly abundant and benign elements such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. Powered by solar energy, these elements are organised in complex forms to meet the functional needs of its organisms. Organisms large and small, from hardwood trees to colourful butterflies, even snake venoms, are broken down by specialised organisms such as bacteria and fungi that secrete enzymes to digest dead organic matter. Even inorganic matter such as rocks break down into sand, silt and clay; they mix with dead and decomposing organic matter to form the soil, which, in turn, forms the basis for plants to grow, ultimately ensuring life thrives.

Human-made processes are not circular. They take raw materials from the natural surroundings and typically push out waste that cannot be returned to the natural environment, leaving behind an exhausted terrain. Designing industries like nature would entail manufacturing using predominantly organic materials, solar-­ powered processes and specialised products to achieve decomposition.

The planning of industrial developments is challenging. The conventional industrial planning process tends to focus on the efficiency of the monocentric production line and its supporting infrastructure, such as fast mobility on grey asphalt for all sorts of motorised vehicles. Little attention is given to pedestrians and cycling; slow traffic in such zones is an almost forgotten byproduct. Greenery is seen as secondary in that it disturbs the industrial production process. This is the opposite of how nature integrates biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) processes. Integrating industry with nature will require a complete overhaul of modern manufacturing processes that can benignly mix biotic and abiotic systems.

Such a design process calls for multidisciplinary thinking. Typically, architects, planners and landscape architects focus singularly on their vocation and end A SYSTEMS APPROACH

Element used by Natural Organisms

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Of the 118 chemical elements in the periodic table found on earth, naturalorganisms use only a handful of the most abundant. Industry, however, uses a broader range of elements, making it hard to benignly decompose and mix industrial products with nature’s abundant organic and inorganic materials. Image adapted from Biomimicry 3.8.

Most Abundant

Additional Element Used

Less Abundant

Small Amounts Trace Amounts

product. A lack of collaboration at the system level generates a failure to synergise flows between resources like water, air, light, nutrients, minerals on the ground and within buildings. Ecology is still poorly understood; blue-green is usually discussed mainly for biophilic reasons, and the improvement of biodiversity is ‘nice to have if we can afford it’. Ecology is rarely framed and discussed as an economic argument and seldom spoken of in terms of increasing financial value and the different forms of socio-economic and cultural capital it creates.

In the Sungei Kadut (SK) studio, our goal was to create a “Factory in a Forest”, one in which blue-green infrastructure was integrated with the industrial built form to aid the pursuit of circularity.

AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO DESIGN Creating a constructed ecosystem starts with understanding the socio-ecological context of the site and setting ambitious ecological targets. The ecological vision is to provide inter-connected habitats designed for species to live and thrive on-site. The ecosystem services provided by the site should be significant and comparable to the

Left: An Industrial “plant” in Jurong Island, Singapore. Right: Central Catchment forest reserve, Singapore. Despite being called “plants”, the industrial plants of today are quite a departure from the natural plants they were conceived to mimic. © EDB, Anuj Jain 137

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blue and green infrastructure

Industrial built environments can be biophilic and provide vital ecological functions and ecosystem services by integrating blue-green infrastructure in their planning process. © bioSEA

POSSIBILITIES AT THE SITE The Sungei Kadut industrial estate is surrounded by rich natural assets. It hugs two nationally significant mangrove areas in the north, namely the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Mandai mangroves. The Kranji Marshes Park and Kranji reservoir are to the west, with dense secondary forests at Mandai and Asrama to the south. Another significant natural asset is the green railway corridor that runs through the northsouth axis of the site. The variety of habitats and edge conditions present a unique opportunity to restore saltwater and freshwater ecology in mangroves, swamps, marshes, reservoirs, forests and grasslands.

The saltwater-freshwater continuum allowed us to explore unique landscape transitions in which we imagined users experiencing mangrove boardwalks on the north coast of the site. Here, otters, migratory birds and monitor lizards could roam

Air Concrete Water

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surrounding natural habitats. The design process must respond to these targets by identifying the key blue and green assets at the site and in its surroundings, such as proximity to any managed or wild green spaces and waterways and their characteristics. It is common for a site’s historic socio-economic context to be tied to the land and its natural assets. We must ask ourselves: how have these natural assets changed over the years, and would bringing certain elements back provide an opportunity to repair the ecology and culture of the site?

Designers can apply such thinking on multiple scales and optimise solutions to benefit biodiversity, facilitate water circularity, ecosystem services and/or bluegreen public spaces. Alignment with regional or national-scale nature conservation plans needs to be ensured at the city scale. At the district or sub-site scale, design becomes specific to site conditions (such as topography and elevation, salinity) and target flora and fauna need to be considered.32 The composition of planned green and blue areas becomes important in the context of the movements of target animal and plant groups and the infrastructure and corridors that may be needed to improve their connectivity. These can be quantified using simple ecological metrics such as the percentage change in composition and connectivity. At the building scale, envisaging interconnected horizontal and vertical spaces and understanding how fauna responds to height becomes crucial. Our past research has also shown that certain greening typologies, such as open-air rooftop planting, are generally better than green wall planting.33 Easy-to-use ecosystem service assessment tools, such as the ESII,34 now allow designers to compare a site’s ecosystem services with reference habitats, such as a tropical rainforest, and contrast existing and proposed design scenarios. These assessments require a spatial mapping of the site’s green areas using Google Maps or other satellite imagery interfaces to map key vegetation characteristics (such as average tree widths, heights, arboreal and fallen branch density, leaf litter etc.), in addition to the site’s abiotic conditions (such as temperature, humidity, wind).

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Mangrove Forest

Freshwater Marsh

Freshwater Marsh

Freshwater Marsh

Secondary Forest

Grassland

Grassland

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Freshwater Swamp

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Grassland

Sungei Kadut’s location close to the coast, a freshwater reservoir and dense forest allowed for the creation of various habitat transitions, from mangroves to swamps, marshes, forests and grasslands.

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Altitude

Speed

Drones should avoid vertical or steeply angled descents and adopt gentler trajectories to avoid interfering with the flight paths ofthe various local birds found at the site. These range from eagles that utilise air currents to gain height to water birds that routinely land and take off from water bodies.

free. Further inland, wild greenery was restored or intensified for the site to become a wildlife haven. The buildings were elevated at critical nodes to free the ground level, allowing connectivity between Singapore’s central forests and the coast. Here, kingfishers, bulbuls and munias could find a home.

The blue-green infrastructure of the Sungei Kadut estate was conceived to provide ecosystem services that not only make up for the perceived loss of Gross Floor Area to development but also cool the environs, purify the air, reduce noise, stabilise soils and increase water resilience.

Water self-sufficiency was considered a key design imperative as the industrial estate was reimagined to advance Singapore’s agrotech vision. The story of agrotech and water is inherently interconnected as the former has a high water demand which must be met through water-friendly estate design. At the heart of the estate, we imagined that water moved in a loop between buildings and landscape.

Every drop of water that fell on buildings could be captured, collected and stored in storage tanks for subsequent use. Surface groundwater could fill up the detention tanks. Overflows went through ecologically responsive bioswales and wetlands which could eventually connect to the mangroves or drain into the reservoir. These water innovations allowed for 100% self-sufficient greywater usage at the Sungei Kadut site.

Optimising the water and nutrient flows between landscapes through decomposition and natural succession, and restoring ecological processes through better pollination and seed dispersal can further improve circularity and produce landscapes that function like natural systems. The infusion of biodiversity and natural elements would be a welcome change for the industrial workers, residents and office-goers who would otherwise work and live around concrete factories devoid of life, bringing them much joy and refuge.

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CHALLENGES & LIMITATIONS During the studio’s design process, the students encountered conflicts between blue, green and anthropocentric infrastructure. The Human demand for freshwater required the Kranji reservoir on site to remain dammed. This was a missed opportunity for the richer biodiversity and ecosystem services that could be achieved by connecting the site with the saltwater ecologies of the adjacent Johor Strait. Mobility systems also spatially contest with wildlife movement. Drones and autonomous water systems moving goods and people cross with bird flight and aquatic fauna paths, respectively.35 Even the introduction of clean energy from floating solar farms poses potential threats to wildlife.

These issues point to a broader ideological conflict of economic, equity and environmental values. Ultimately, this conflict manifests on the urban fabric, whereby prioritising the continuity of one system fragments the continuity of a ­ nother.36 However, by delving deeper into each facet of urban planning, one also begins to understand that their interests might be synonymous. As the sustainable finance market develops, with mechanisms such as biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning contributing to carbon credits, we are reaching a higher plane of clarity in capturing the costs of externalities from trade-offs.

Post-industrial urban planning should therefore be viewed as a creative opportunity for spatial negotiation between these three systems, which begs the question: how far can a planner expand their imagination to embrace future possibilities despite these limitations? This might even extend beyond the physical and temporal boundaries of the project to an understanding of its place in a larger region of interconnected economic, social, and ecological networks in order to elevate sustainability.

“The integration of industry with nature needs a complete overhaul of modern manufacturing processes that can benignly mix biotic and abiotic systems.”

FUTURE DIRECTIONS The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that business-as-usual practices harm our biosphere and, ultimately, ourselves. We must push for a paradigm shift, where static and mechanical industrial processes emulate living systems, even becoming intertwined with life cycles and other natural processes. In the studio, we managed to integrate natural and industrial water cycles to create a “Factory in a Forest”. But there’s room to explore further, using the same principle for nutrient cycles to create an industrial ecosystem that truly functions like nature, becoming a “Factory as a Forest”. Discussions are underway to enhance building design and develop guidelines to improve the circularity of nutrient flows and thereby reduce solid waste in Singapore.

Progress has been made through the partial ecological restoration of our built environment. Nature-based solutions are becoming more mainstream globally, with carbon tax as a key mandate for climate action. But we can’t stop there. The call to action now is to build a more open, breathing system that pushes the biophilic attitude to a biocentric, biomimetic and, eventually, regenerative one.

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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

The proposed redesign of the site allows a rich variety of habitats to thrive, providing that provide vital ecosystem services such as improved aesthetic appeal, better air and water quality and reduced soil erosion.

Sungei Kadut masterplan

agrotech parcel

TYPES OF SERVICES: Provisioning (e.g., food), Regulating (e.g., pollination), Supporting (e.g., soil formation), Cultural (e.g., educational) Beauty

Water

Beauty

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Water

Visual

Water Conveyance

Noise Reduction

Water Provisioning

Air

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Water Quantity Control

Soil Mobility

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Overall

2X 2.7km 128,319m 125.6mWh 200% 1,508kg 210%

the existing greenspace on site

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of water runoff collected

of cooling load saved through ecosystem

natural particulate removal performance

42,163 kW 152,220 g/yr 3: 395,772 g/yr

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0.0 inches 4.5 mg/l 6: 4.5 mg/l 4:

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1,498 kW 2: 326.2 g/yr 3: 848.2 g/yr

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0.0 inches 5: 0.2 mg/l 6: 0.3 mg/l 4:

Dense Forest

22,343 kW 118,684 g/yr 3: 308,578 g/yr

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218,957 kW 2,771,463 g/yr 1,065,947 g/yr 6.2 inches 44.3 mg/l 52.2 mg/l Solar Heat Reduction

Mangrove

0.2 inches 0.3 mg/l 6: 0.4 mg/l 4:

5:

Air PM Removal

Air NOX Removal

Water Quantity Runoff

Water Quality TSS Removal

air temperature regulation performance

20,764 kW 2: 233,393 g/yr 3: 89,776 g/yr

0.4 inches 2.0 mg/l 6: 2.5 mg/l

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1.75 inches 5: 4.6 mg/l 6: 5.4 mg/l 4:

0.0 inches 16.6 mg/l 6: 16.6 mg/l 4:

5:

Wetlands

3,268 kW 1,850 g/yr 3: 711.8 g/yr 1:

2:

0.0 inches 0.4 mg/l 6: 0.6 mg/l 4:

5:

Dense Forest

Sparse Forest

Urban Green

1,635 kW 2: 26,315 g/yr 3: 68,420 g/yr

4:

2:

Max Water Quality TSS Removal

Sparse Forest 5:

153,896 kW 1,444,302 g/yr 3: 555,5 00 g/yr 1:

22,358 kW 308,788 g/yr 3: 118,764 g/yr

of air particulate removed per year

1:

Mangrove

1:

2:

18,714 kW 783,129 g/yr 3: 301,203 g/yr

0.2 inches 0.3 mg/l 6: 0.4 mg/l 4:

5:

4.3 inches 22.5 mg/l 6: 29.1 mg/l

1:

4:

2:

5:

1. Solar Heat Reduction / 2. Air PM Removal / 3. Air NOX Removal / 4. Water Quantity Runoff / 5. Water Quality TSS Removal / 6. Max Water Quality TSS Removal

A SYSTEMS APPROACH

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143

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blue and green infrastructure

WATER

Water self-sufficiency was a key design imperative for Sungei Kadut. Various types of water usage, such as grey and blackwater systems, were mapped out and studied to identify opportunities to drive water circularity.

WATER COLLECTION FROM ROOFTOPS AND SURFACES

ONSITE COLLECTION

EXCESS AND DEFICIT

Every drop of water that fell on buildings could be captured, collected and kept in storage tanks. Surface groundwater filled up detention tanks. Overflows were channelled through ecologically responsive bioswales and wetlands which eventually connect to mangroves or drain into the reservoir.

The multiple methods of water collection and storage allowed each zone to meet its own targets through their respective programmatic demands. Furthermore, any abundance from one zone could be easily transferred to a different zone with higher water demands, allowing for full water circularity across the Sungei Kadut estate.

Graywater System

72%

Self-sufficient

Factory in a Forest Blackwater System

100% Self-sufficient

Industrial incubator

185%

Sea Kranji Reservoir

Self-sufficient

Emergent Village As an industrial estate advancing Singapore’s agrotech vision, most of the agrotech parcel’s high demand for water was met by recycling wastewater and collecting rainwater from rooftops and surface runoff.

WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY FOR THE AGROTECH PARCEL

Carrot

Building Rooftop

19.35 millions l/week

Apple

≤

Rice Fish

million l/week

Wetland

million l/week

Soy & Grains

Water Demand A SYSTEMS APPROACH

144

3.87 millions l/week Dense Green

1.29 millions l/week

30.96 millions l/week

Mangrove

Urban Green

5.16 millions l/week

Water Supply

Forest

145

68.37 millions l/week

D: Demand S: Supply

Anuj Jain - Celine Tan - Herbert Dreiseitl

blue and green infrastructure

AGROTECH PARCEl

The combined volume of the detention and rainwater tanks was sufficient to meet the land parcel’s greywater demand for four weeks, ensuring self-sufficiency even during periods of drought.

detention tank volume

Water Flow

Core

Highest Ridge

Dense Green

32.3

Thousand m3/4 Weeks

Forest Detention Pond & Biotope

Wetland

Bioswale Catchment

Mangrove

Adaptive Use Building

Public Space

1,616.36m

Total Length

86m 86m

A parcel within the “Factory in the Forest” zone was selected for an in-depth study on the circularity of water flows and their interaction with the ecological landscape, including dense green forest, wetlands, mangroves and bioswales, detention ponds etc. This systemsscale rethink sought to synergise flows between resources like water, air, light and nutrients on the ground and within the buildings.

RAINWATER COLLECTION

76m 76m

76m 56m

76m

87m 56m 85m 85m

91m 86m

56m

50m

90m x 3

91m

86m

50m

All the rainwater that fell on rooftops was channelled to the rainwater collection tank, whereas the surface runoff was channelled to the detention ponds.

Rainwater

The detention and rainwater tanks were sized in proportion to the roof area and area of on-ground vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces.

RAINWATER tank volume

37.5

Thousand m3/4 Weeks

Roof Rainwater Collection

1,877.95m Total Length

70m 70m

9.3

66m 90m

66m 39m

Million l/ Week

39m

Collected from Rooftop 39m

52m

Basement Rainwater Collection Tank

39m 39m

99m 99m

78m 80m

90m x 3

39m

39m

52m

39m

94m

78m A SYSTEMS APPROACH

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PATHWAYS AND CORRIDORS The composition of green and blue areas plays an important role in providing habitat and facilitating the movement of target species on the ground and through buildings. Requirements vary for species found in inland primary and secondary green corridors and the mangrove and wetland corridors.

HABITATS mangroves

sections

GREEN NETWORK-----PATH

Johor Strait

Towards Sungei Buloh Wetlands

Woodlands

2

4

Mangroves are coastal, intertidal habitats that contain a wide variety of specialised biodiversities such as crabs, molluscs, migratory birds and insects. They store vast amounts of carbon, break sea waves during storm surges and are key for coastal defence.

Rail Corridor

1 Kranji Reservoir

3

Mangroves with silt roots © Anuj Jain

Horseshoe Crab © Bernard Dupont

Papyrus Sedge © Anuj Jain

Grey Heron © Alan Owyong

Dipterocarp Trees © Anuj Jain

Asian Fairy Bluebird © Greg Hume

Albizzia Tree © Forest and Kim Starr

Scaly-breasted Munia © Lee Tiah khee

Blood Flower © Anuj Jain

Striped Albatross © Anuj Jain

Malayan Monitor Lizard © Nick Baker

Smooth Coated Otter © Tan Heok Hui

WETLANDS

1

Wetlands are ecosystems characterised by flooding water, either permanently or seasonally. They are crucial for several species of aquatic fauna, including fish, frogs, migratory birds and dragonfly larvae, many of which provide vital services such as natural mosquito control.

Main Green Corridor

Collared Kingfisher

Plantain Squirrel

Common Mormon

DENSE FORESTs Mangrove Green Corridor

2

Mud Lobster

Mud Lobster

3

Dense forests support many species of flora and fauna and typically act as source populations for surrounding habitats. They also provide refuge for specialised species that may forage elsewhere.

Monitor Lizard

Grey Heron

Fiddler Crabs

Mudskipper

Monitor Lizard

Grey Heron

Fiddler Crabs

Mudskipper

Horseshoe Crab

SCRUBLANDs Dominated by young vegetation that has been established on cleared land, shrublands consist of grasses, sun-­ loving shrubs, climbers and sparse trees. They provide an important refuge for open-habitat species such as the Scaly-breasted Munia.

Horseshoe Crab

Secondary Green Corridor

MANAGED GREENs Oriental Pied Hornbill

4

White-breasted Waterhen

Common palm civet

Wetland Green Corridor

Common Fruit Bat

A SYSTEMS APPROACH

Scaly-breasted Munia

Purple Swamphen

This habitat type covers 28% of ­Singapore’s total land area and is widespread across parks and streetscapes.

While lower in biodiversity value than unmanaged green, it can be an important corridor, acting as a stepping-stone to unmanaged greens.

WATER The water habitats in Singapore cover both saltwater and freshwater ecologies. Most freshwater habitats are found in forest streams, reservoirs and riverbanks, and are home to species such as monitor lizards and smooth-coated otters.

White-breasted Waterhen

148

149

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EDGE CONDITIONS

Managed Green Wetlands

The infusion of biodiversity and natural elements in the interwoven landscapes on-site creates various typologies and edge conditions that serve as refuge and recreation opportunities for the public, as well as creating biodiverse habitats that enhance circularity and provide ecosystem services.

Mangrove

Water Scrubland

1

2 3 9

7 11

4

6

5

8

The various building typologies can interact with the landscape differently to allow a variety of species to live and thrive on-site.

For example, otters and monitor lizards can utilise water bodies, and birds and butterflies can fly across habitat patches between the built elements. In addition, at nodes where the building form is raised above the ground, the ground level is freed for biodiversity movement.

10 12

13 Dense Forest

A

A

1 Mangrove Edge

Pedestrian circulation

C D

B

Rain runoff

2 Kranji Reservoir Edge

100m wide dense forest Pedestrian circulation Rain runoff

6 Biodiversity Belt

Fauna Eco-link

10 Biodiversity Eco-Link

MRT

Vehicular Path

Purifying wetland

B

Rain runoff

3 Industry Canal

Bike path

Rain runoff Bike path

7 Road Roadside bioswale

11 Canal Road Intersection

Purifying wetland

Bioswale catchment deposit into canal Biodiversity corridor

Rain runoff

MRT

4 Urban Canal

12 Yew Tee Edge

8 Biodiversity Corridor Pedestrian circulation Purifying wetland

5 Urban Biodiversity Canal

Building runoff

Roadside bioswale

C

Pedestrian circulation

Rooftop social spaces

Adaptive reuse building

D

13 Building

9 Residential Edge

Pedestrian circulation Purifying wetland

A SYSTEMS APPROACH

150

151

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152

153

MESSAGE FROM THE SPONSOR

TANG HSIAO LING

Ms Tang Hsiao Ling is the Director of JTC’s Urban Design and Architecture Division

As the lead agency in Singapore spearheading the planning, promotion and development of industrial land in the country, JTC Corporation (JTC) has played a major role in Singapore's economic development journey by developing industrial infrastructure that catalysed the growth of new industries and transformed existing enterprises.

Since its inception in 1968, JTC has pioneered cutting-edge industrial infrastructure solutions to meet the fast-changing needs of companies with each phase of industrialisation. As Singapore’s economy transited through the labour-intensive, skills-intensive, capital-intensive, knowledge-intensive and innovation-driven phases from the 1960s until now, JTC has been at the forefront of innovating new land solutions and building space products to ensure a dynamic industrial ecosystem that continuously keeps pace with the evolving needs of the manufacturing landscape.

In recent years, JTC has embarked on an initiative to Reimagine Singapore’s Industrial Landscape and has rolled out rejuvenation and redevelopment plans for its mature industrial estates to ensure they remain relevant in the evolving manufacturing landscape, create job centres that contribute towards economic advancement and further optimise land while creating sustainable and liveable work environments. As the Sungei Kadut Industrial Estate in the North Region was one of Singapore’s first industrial estates and played a major role in the growth of the manufacturing sector in the country, it has been identified as the first brownfield estate to be rejuvenated under this initiative.

With the need to catalyse economic restructuring and industry transformation within the estate to ensure it meets the changing business needs of industrialists, the redevelopment also aims to contribute to Singapore’s decentralisation strategy by providing a new and exciting employment centre in the North Region.

This would have the two-fold advantage of bringing jobs closer to homes and offering an array of amenities and recreational facilities to position the estate as a new lifestyle and leisure destination. Hence, we envision the rejuvenated estate as a mixed-use eco-district where economic and natural assets can be integrated and woven into the masterplan. epilogue

154

The new Sungei Kadut Eco-District (SKED) is also envisaged as an Inclusive, Resilient, Generative and Beautiful next-generation industrial township that will seed, test-bed and spearhead the Circular Economy concept and lead the transformation of industries towards a more collaborative and innovative ecosystem amongst the existing Lifestyle and Construction and new Agri-Tech and Environmental Technology industry clusters.

JTC and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have been actively collaborating on multiple planning and design research projects for almost a decade.

With JTC’s extensive experience in industrial land and space development and the NUS’ multi-disciplinary expertise in the fields of architecture, design and engineering, this research collaboration has helped to trigger a vibrant industrial infrastructure research ecosystem through an industry-academia partnership.

JTC was able to use this design research studio to cultivate industrial knowledge amongst the students and promote the relevance of industrial development and its contribution to Singapore’s economy. The workshops organised by the research team gave the students an in-depth understanding of circular economy concepts and industrial ecosystems. And with the guidance of research and industry experts, the students were able to develop creative ideas, innovative industrial infrastructure solutions and land optimisation strategies for the estate. The outcome of this design research studio has provided our planning team with new planning concepts that can be further explored and taken into consideration as we progressively develop the rejuvenation masterplan for the Sungei Kadut Eco-District.

On behalf of JTC, we would like to express our appreciation to Dr Nirmal Kishnani, Dr Swinal Samant and their team at the NUS School of Design and Environment. Our thanks also goes to Wong Mun Summ and his team at WOHA for facilitating this design research studio and creating a platform that allowed students to contribute to the transformation of Sungei Kadut and formulate innovative, sustainable urban solutions for Singapore.

“The outcome of this design research studio has provided our planning team with new planning concepts that can be further explored and taken into consideration as we progressively develop the rejuvenation masterplan for the Sungei Kadut Eco-District.”

155

tang hsiao ling

DESIGN AS RESEARCH: THE MSC ISD STUDIO

MSC ISD TEAM

The programme focuses on Asian cities at the intersection between density and liveability, extrapolating this to questions of social equity and environmental risk and, in turn, examining the fractured relationship between human-made and natural systems. The overarching goal is to find ways to repair and regenerate, creating new wholes as opposed to merely fixing the parts.

To achieve this, the programme's pedagogy is anchored in systems thinking, starting with the identification of biotic and abiotic systems that are essential for life, how human-made and natural systems interact, and how the flows and exchanges within and between systems might be shaped.

In this way, design becomes research – a way of testing hypotheses in policy or science. The process produces new spatial structures and forms, arising from new ways of mapping and visualising flows. These conceptual and speculative ideas are then anchored to a dashboard of metrics that indicate how far to go.

Key to the MSc ISD approach is the principle of dynamic spatial-temporal boundaries. The focus shifts from making objects to enhancing capabilities. An adaptable building, for instance, might have the capacity to expand or contract, change its use, manage a variance of loads, incorporate emergent technologies, and cope with climate risk. On an urban scale, adaptable systems have buffers to handle a surge or drop in demand. A circular flow of materials, for instance, needs room to stockpile and a capacity to repurpose. The question then is when and where, in spatial terms, these elements are integrated with other systems.

The final pillar of the programme involves linking the architectural scale to the urban scale (and vice versa) on the understanding that neither one can sufficiently address the challenge in isolation. This multiscalar approach seeks a reciprocal relationship between the different parts and the whole.

JANUARY—MAY 2019

January—May 2020

RESEARCH AND PEDAGOGY

RESEARCH AND PEDAGOGY

School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore Assoc. Prof. Nirmal Kishnani Prof .Wong Mun Summ Prof. Herbert Dreiseitl (by appointment) Assist Prof. Lau Siu Kit (part-time)

School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore Assoc. Prof. Nirmal Kishnani Dr Swinal Samant Prof. Wong Mun Summ Prof. Herbert Dreiseitl (by appointment) Dr Anuj Jain (by appointment)

epilogue

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156

Workshop I

Dr Ken Webster, Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter, United Kingdom Ms Sann Carrière, Director, So Now Asia Workshop II

Dr Anuj Jain, BirdLife International (Asia), Biomimicry Singapore Network, BioSEA Studio Coordinator

Ms Shefali Lal, WOHA DESIGN

Aleya Farah Sinthee Anjali Dutt Bhavya Hemant Gandhi Brown Christina Xing Yizhen Harsh Vardhan Ivan Beliaev Jaclyn Alexandra Marie Javier Brillantes Jhanvi Yogesh Sanghvi Joan Santos De Leon @ Joan De Leon Tabinas Manikkar Karthik Shanbhogue Megha Jagdish Bilgi Natasha Kumar Nitika Agarwal Qin Shuxu Rajiv Tewari Samhita Giridhar Kotian Samyuktha Badrinarayanan Shreya Khandelwal Siddharth Babbar Stuti Jain Supratim Sengupta Thean Amirtha Varshini Tyagarajan Vidushi Nigam

Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore Prof. Seeram Ramakrishna Workshop I

Dr Ken Webster, Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter, United Kingdom Workshop II

Dr Anuj Jain, BirdLife International (Asia), Biomimicry Singapore Network, BioSEA Studio Coordinator

Ms Jhanvi Sanghvi, WOHA DESIGN

Anisha Malhotra Celine Rachel Tan Mae Tsze Elizabeth Eapen Evian Putra Setiawan Guo Bisheng Huang Jianqiao Liu Xingben Maitreyee Milind Fadnavis Pranoti Venkateshan Ramilo Runddy Dacallos Sirija Mandava Syed Mehdi Raza Tanya Talwar Varsha Bhaskar Kolur Wang Haiming Wang Jiatong Yang Yang Yao Yumo Yash Kishore Malani

BIBLIOGRAPHY

pp. 6–7 1 : https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_ waste_management.html 2 : https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2018/09/20/ what-a-waste-an-updated-look-into-the-future-of-solid-wastemanagement 3 : Dieguez, T. (2020). “Operationalization of Circular Economy: A Conceptual Model.” Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Development and Opportunities in Circular Economy. p.23.

4 : https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/ concept pp. 10–13 5 : https://mcdonoughpartners.com/projects/park-2020-master-plan/ 6 : See, for example, https://www.towardszerowaste.gov.sg/zerowaste-masterplan/ pp. 14–16 7 : https://www.greenplan.gov.sg 8 : https://www.towardszero-waste.gov.sg/zero-waste-masterplan/ https://www.towardszero-waste.gov.sg/recycle/ 9 : https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/waste-management/wastestatistics-and-overall-recycling 10 : Seeram R. (2021). “Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Technologies for Progress in UN SDGs”, United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) - Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), April-June. https:// www.apctt.org/techmonitor/fourth-industrial-revolution-technologies-inclusive-and-sustainable-development-0

pp. 106–111 18 : Calthorpe, P. (1993). The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community and the American Dream . New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

19 : Mees, P. (2014). “TOD and Multi-modal Public Transport.” Planning Practice and Research, 29(5), 461–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/02 697459.2014.977633 20 : Tamakloe, R., and Hong, J. (2020). “Assessing the efficiency of integrated public transit stations based on the concept of transit-oriented development.” Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, 16(3), 1459–1489. https://doi.org/10.1080/23249935.2020.1753849 21 : Xue, C.Q., Ma, L., & Hui, K.C. (2012). “Indoor ‘Public’ Space: A study of atria in mass transit railway (MTR) complexes of Hong Kong.” URBAN DESIGN International, 17(2), 87–105. https://doi.org/10.1057/udi.2012.6 22 : Madanipour, A. (2003). Public and Private Spaces of the City.

London; New York: Routledge.

23 : Pimlott, M. (2008) “The Continuous Interior: Infrastructure for Publicity and Control.” Harvard Design Magazine, 29, 75–86; Cho, I. S., Trivic, Z., & Nasution, I. (2015). “Towards an Integrated Urban Space Framework for Emerging Urban Conditions in a High-density Context.” Journal of Urban Design, 20(2), 147–168. https://doi. org/10.1080/13574809.2015.

24 : Rotmeyer, J. (2006). “Can elevated pedestrian walkways be sustainable? WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment.” Southampton, Vol. 93, Southampton: W I T Press. doi:10.2495/SC060281 25 : Humphreys, E. (2020). “How to Make a Tall Building Drone Ready.”

CTBUH Journal, Issue 2.

26 : Ibid.

27 : Mills, F. (2017). “What are Horizontal Elevators?” The B1M , Accessed: May 19, 2020. https://www.theb1m.com/video/what-are-­ horizontal-elevators (August, 2017). 1009009

pp. 92–94 11 : Arup (2016). The Circular Economy in the Built Environment.

London: Arup; Brand, Stewart. (1994). How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built. New York: Penguin Books.

12 : Arup; Ellen Macarthur Foundation. (2018). From Principles to Practice: First Steps Towards A Circular Built Environment.

13 : Arup & Ellen Macarthur Foundation (2019). Urban Buildings System Summary; Planning for Compact, Connected Cities; Designing Buildings for Adaptable Use, Durability, and Positive Impact; Making Buildings with New Techniques that Eliminate Waste and Support Material Cycles; Accessing and Using Residential and Commercial Space Differently; Operating and Maintaining Buildings for Maximum, Regenerative Performance.

14: United Nations (2020). A Guide To Circular Cities. Switzerland Geneva: United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative.

15 : Circle Economy, TNO & FABRIC. (n.d.). Amsterdam Circular Strategy 2020-2025. Amsterdam.

16 : RAU architects. (n.d.). Triodos Bank, Netherlands. Retrieved from https://www.rau.eu/portfolio/triodos-bank-nederland/ 17 : Arup (n.d.), People’s Pavilion, Eindhoven. Retrieved from Circular Pavilion Borrows From - And Returns - Materials To Local Suppliers: https://www.arup.com/projects/peoples-pavilion

pp. 120–125 28 : United Nations (2019). “Population Division.” World Population Prospects, 2019 Revision (Medium Variant).

29 : Anuj Jain LLP & BioSEA LLP (2018). Kampung Admiralty Biodiversity, Social & Ecosystem Services Audit.

30 : Bingham-Hall, P. and WOHA (2016). Garden City Mega City, Rethinking Cities for the Age of Global Warming. Sidney: Pesaro Publishing, pp. 284-293.

31 : Braungart, M. and McDonough, W. (2002) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press. pp. 136–141 32 : Hwang, Y.H. & Jain, A. (2021). “Landscape design approaches to enhance human-wildlife interactions in a compact tropical city.”

Journal of Urban Ecology 1 - 10. doi: 10.1093/jue/juab007 33 : Banerd, H., Kishnani, N. & Jain, A. (2018). “Urban Greening and Architectural Form: A Bird’s Eye View.” FuturArc, 61.

34 : https://www.esiitool.com/ 35 : Vas, E., Lescroel, A., Duriez, O., Boguszewski, G. & Gremillet, D. (2015). “Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines.” Biology Letters, 11: 20140754.

36 : Campbell, S. (1996). “Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities?

Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development.”

Journal of the American Planning Association, 62 (3), 296–312.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the help of many who gave their time and lent moral and financial support. Although all deserve mention, we can but highlight a few here, starting with Prof Dr Lam Khee Poh (Dean, School of Design and Environment), and Prof Dr Ho Puay Peng (Head, Department of Architecture), during whose tenure this work was carried out.

Credit for initiating the research goes to the JTC Corporation who sponsored the studios and offered us the context of the Sungei Kadut industrial estate – an actual site earmarked for future development in Singapore. Within JTC, we must single out several individuals who encouraged and facilitated this collaboration between industry and academia: Josephine Loke, Tang Hsiao Ling, Aloysius Iwan Handono, Chaerin Jin, Riya Nichani, Nguyen Huang Doc Duy, and Bij Borja.

To carry out the study, we enlisted the help of numerous experts who taught alongside us and later contributed to this book, including Dr Ken Webster, Prof Dr Seeram Ramakrishna, Dr Anuj Jain, and Herbert Dreiseitl. Two of the programme’s alumni, Jhanvi Sanghvi and Shefali Lal, helped us manage the studios and curate materials for publication. They were later assisted by Jocelyn Lam Ying Ju and Ann Mathew.

Guo Bisheng and Yang Yang worked on several key visuals for the future masterplan; Lim Weixiang delivered high-quality images of the present Sungei Kadut. All these disparate elements were then brought together by the gifted David Lorente and Tomoko Sakamoto, who were responsible for the book’s design.

Lastly, the students who participated in the studios infused the process with immeasurable curiosity and enthusiasm, without which we would have none of the many thought-provoking ideas that are contained herein.

epilogue

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Nirmal Kishnani is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment. He is co-Programme Director of the Master of Science, Integrated Sustainable Design, where, over the past decade, he has pioneered a pedagogy based on systems thinking and regenerative design.

For more than twenty years, Dr Kishnani has been an advocate of sustainable design, advising on projects and policies in Asia, formulating new platforms and scrutinising the space between front-line theories and drawing board pragmatism. As editor-in-chief of FuturArc magazine (2008-2021), he championed thought leaders in the field of design and made a case for a design approach specifically tailored to the Asian context.

His books Greening Asia: Emerging Principles for Sustainable Architecture (2012) and Ecopuncture: Transforming Architecture and Urbanism in Asia (2019) argue for upstream imagination over downstream mitigation, advocating new methods and frameworks.

Wong Mun Summ co-founded the Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA in 1994. He is a Professor in Practice at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Architecture. He sits on the Nominating Committee for the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize and other design advisory panels in Singapore.

The WOHA practice works at all scales, from interiors and architecture to public spaces and masterplans; their projects are living systems that connect to the city as a whole. With every project, the practice aims to create a matrix of interconnected human-scaled environments. These spaces foster community, enable stewardship of nature, generate biophilic beauty, activate ecosystem services and build resilience.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The pathway to a circular city is unclear. The making of urban and architectural form, as practised today, does not lend itself to the creation of closed-loop systems, nor does it offer a critique of the linear economy, which, in many ways, is a social and economic construct.

This book attempts to bridge this gap by framing circularity as the realignment and redistribution of urban systems, and testing it, hypothetically, on Sungei Kadut, an industrial estate in the city of Singapore, which, at the time of this publication, was in the early stages of redevelopment. Sungei Kadut is touted as a prototype for a new generation of industrial estates and a testbed for the city’s zero-waste policy, which seeks to bridge gaps between SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN procurement, consumption and waste management.

These gaps are examined from a spatial perspective, opening up questions around the adjacency, connectivity and embeddedness of systems, which leads to solutions that envisage juxtaposition of manufacturing and consumption, the co-location of work and home, the integration of the humanmade and natural, the layering of logistics and technology, and the distribution of public space and mobility networks. Fundamentally, it has compelled a rethink of the way the city is organised, how density is distributed and how programmes – once grouped in hard-edged, mono-functional zones – are arranged to harness synergies and close resource loops. This quest for the symbiotic, layered and multifunctional – arguably, the hallmarks of a circular economy – points to new architectural typologies and urban morphologies.

It has accrued a varied portfolio of work and applies its systems thinking approach to architecture and urbanism in its building design and regenerative masterplans. The practice currently has projects under construction in Singapore, Australia, China and other countries in South Asia.

Swinal Samant is a Senior Lecturer and co-Programme Director for the Master of Science, Integrated Sustainable Design Programme at the National University of Singapore. Prior to her move to Singapore, Swinal was an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, UK. Dr Samant has a rich and diverse teaching and research experience centred on environmental sustainability in the context of global architectural and urban dimensions. Her research on ‘Building Science’ and ‘Urban Design’ has resulted in several peer-reviewed publications (a book, chapters and journal articles), editorial refereeing and board memberships for international journals and conferences, funding, guest lecturer invitations and advisory roles, including her involvement in various capacities with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats. Her more recent and ongoing empirical research critiques tall buildings, transit-oriented developments, and stratified urban spaces and their contribution to vertical urbanism.

A FACTORY IN A FOREST

AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

If waste is no longer wasted (so to speak), and if the resources and materials that go into, and through, buildings and neighbourhoods have multiple lives, what will this imply for the way we plan human settlements and, importantly, how will this resolve the troubled relationship between human-made and natural systems? The speculative solutions proposed in this book go some way to answering these questions.

ISBN: 978-981-18-2642-9

ABOUT THE BOOK

The pathway to a circular city is unclear. The making of urban and architectural form, as practised today, does not lend itself to the creation of closed-loop systems, nor does it offer a critique of the linear economy, which, in many ways, is a social and economic construct.

This book attempts to bridge this gap by framing circularity as the realignment and redistribution of urban systems, and testing it, hypothetically, on Sungei Kadut, an industrial estate in the city of Singapore, which, at the time of this publication, was in the early stages of redevelopment. Sungei Kadut is touted as a prototype for a new generation of industrial estates and a testbed for the city’s zero-waste policy, which seeks to bridge gaps between SUNGEI KADUT MASTERPLAN procurement, consumption and waste management.

These gaps are examined from a spatial perspective, opening up questions around the adjacency, connectivity and embeddedness of systems, which leads to solutions that envisage juxtaposition of manufacturing and consumption, the co-location of work and home, the integration of the humanmade and natural, the layering of logistics and technology, and the distribution of public space and mobility networks. Fundamentally, it has compelled a rethink of the way the city is organised, how density is distributed and how programmes – once grouped in hard-edged, mono-functional zones – are arranged to harness synergies and close resource loops. This quest for the symbiotic, layered and multifunctional – arguably, the hallmarks of a circular economy – points to new architectural typologies and urban morphologies.

A FACTORY IN A FOREST

AN INDUSTRIAL INCUBATOR

THE EMERGENT VILLAGE

If waste is no longer wasted (so to speak), and if the resources and materials that go into, and through, buildings and neighbourhoods have multiple lives, what will this imply for the way we plan human settlements and, importantly, how will this resolve the troubled relationship between human-made and natural systems? The speculative solutions proposed in this book go some way to answering these questions.

ISBN: 978-981-18-2642-9