GOLF UP

National University of Singapore Singapore of Design and Environment

By: Hu wen (A0057586n)

This design thesis examines the relationship between Singapore’s severe land scarcity and golf. It is precedented by a series of group research on the Singapore metropolitan region and its ‘ hot and wet’ness which was taken as basis for the design thesis exploration.

‘It is doubtful whether the pace and speed with which we have achieved merger would have been possible without the leisurely and relaxed atmosphere on the golf courses of Singapore ... They made some delicate and dif icult problems appear so much much easier to the Tunku and ourselves.’

Legend

Land Additions since 1960

Territorial Boundary

The following are extracts from ‘Hot and Wet’ - Land lust, illustrating Singapore lust for land and the hard realities of the thickening limit

More land, more sand: 2 312 000 000m3 of sand used enough to cover the whole of singapore up to 3m height

AND THICKER Insatiable Thirst for Land

‘‘Over the last four decades, Singapore’s borders have swollen by nearly 20 percent with a relentless series of land reclamation’ projects.’’

This is a story of Singapore’s immense appetite for land and her constant lust after Terracentricity at great costs.

The tiny island with not more than 49 km in width is obessessed with becoming longer and thicker. Since the 1960s, Singapore has been actively thickening itself through massive land reclamation. It has swelled from an original of 590km2 to the 760km2 that was projected by URA in year 2030.

Indeed, it is hard to say no to get longer and she just wouldnt’t stop.

Up to date, it is estimated that the amount of sand that we have used in reclamation is able to engulf the whole of singapore up to a height of 3 metres. Just the sand alone is costing us million of dollars. Despite this costly operation, the young city state doesnt seem to mind the bucks. As long as we become bigger, money is not a problem.

And thus, the quest to become longer and thicker continues...

Size matters. The bigger the better. The more sand and sea that we eat, the better. Singapore is definitely not expanding without the neighbours knowing. They are fully of it and have long turned their backs against us to show their displeasure at our size increment and banned the sand trade to stop us from getting any bigger.

Without Malaysia and Indonesia’s sand, we couldnt possibly sit on our laurels and do nothing! Alternatives, yes. The search for alternative sand provider came quick and almost immediately, we managed to hook up with Cambodia and China for sand.

It doesnt really matter that Nipah island in Indonesia has sank because of the massive dredging, it doesnt matter that the dredging in Cambodia is happening right near the natural preserved sites, as long as we get our sand ...

‘‘Singapore Changi Airport was built on reclaimed land on the east end of the island in 1981 (the sand alone is worth US$1.5 billion).’’

Source: http://basementgeographer.com/reclaimed-land-in-singapore-nation-building-in-the-most-literal-sense/

"It is a war for natural resources that is being fought secretly," said Nur Hidayati, Greenpeace Indonesia spokesman. "The situation has reached critical levels and the tropical islands of Nipah, the Karimun islands and many small islands off the coast of Riau are shrinking dramatically and on the brink of disappearing into the sea.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/singapore/7221987/Singapore-accused-of-launching-Sand-Wars.html

Sand Keeper

Sand. The key ingredient to help us get longer and thicker. What would we do without it?

With so many enemies made through our acquisition of sand, are we not afraid that we may never get sand again? why not stockpile our sand just in case in for future use?

Massive mountains of sand dunes were spotted in many parts of the tiny island being stacked up to a whopping height of 3metres! With other countries stockpiling gold bars, we are storing sand.

Like a tick, we are constantly sucking blood off our neighours and feeding off it to grow.

According to Malaysia's former prime minister, 700 lorries a day loaded with sand cross the border to Singapore.

“What these people are doing is selling a little bit of Malaysia, dig, keep digging Malaysia and give her to other people,” Dr Mahathir Mohamed

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/singapore/7221987/Singapore-accused-of-launching-Sand-Wars.html

Legend

State

Minor Statutory Board

Mindef

Jurong Town Corporation

Land Ownership

Whose land is it? How does one gain control of the land and mark out their territories? Why does one lust after land?

Assets. That is what has been played up. Land is one of our only asset. So to gain more assets, there has to be nore land. And to do that, reclamation is the only way. On top of this, Developments have always been focused on land and have willfully assumed that as the only way to develop. Thus we see how all of our legal legislations and tax frameworks are always based on terracentric propositions.

In singapore, every parcel of land ultimately belongs to the state - They have the power to decide what stays and goes ...

Legend

State

Minor Statutory Board

Mindef

Jurong Town Corporation

Shipping Lanes

Anchorages

Sea Ownership

Being the fifth busiest port in the world, Singapore has always looked at the water around us as a means of economic and financial avenue. As a result of this, people stop looking at the sea as a way to develop.Though anchorages and shipping lanes seem to have claimed ownership to the sea, there sitll lies much space in between that does not belong to anyone. The truth is, the land is pretty much saturated. Every parcel of land is owned or to be owned in the future. There isn’t much to territorise and claim ownership of.

More Land, More Sand

‘When reclamantion works began in earnest in the 1960s, the depth off Singapore's shore was about 5 metres (16 ft). That has sunk to about 20 metres (65 ft), requiring four times as much sand -- and four times more money -- to fill every square metre.’’

Going Deeper

‘‘... shallower coastal areas around Singapore have all been reclaimed. As a result, future reclamation projects have to deal with depths greater than 10 meters and often to a depth of 20 meters.’’

Can’t Go Any Deeper

‘‘... Land reclamation has its own limitatins. It is suitable when the water depth is shallow (less than 20 m). When the water depth is large and the seabed is extremely soft, land reclamation is no longer cost effective or even feasible.’’

Can’t Expand No More

Sadly, the truth is it’s getting too hard to be thicker now. The reality is, there just isn’t much sea space for us to reclaim anymore. Any thicker, we would have to eat into the shipping lanes and anchorages.

It’s Expensive

‘‘The increasing cost of imported sand partly leads to the unit cost of reclamation rising from less than $20/m2 in the 1970s to more than $200/m2 in the 1990s ... the need for alternative fill materials for future reclamation in Singapore has become increasingly evident.’’

Http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10635/13605/01Chap.pdf?sequence=2

A state imposed strategy of keeping 50% of the land empty creates the illusion of land scarcity. Land is kept to modulate its supply thus arti icially in lating the land price. However, despite such ‘scarcity’ in land that requires ‘prudent usage’, up to 15km2 (4% of the used up land) is set aside for the 19 golf courses in Singapore. Serving only 0.5% of the population , is this appropriate? The problem of land ‘scarcity’ persists through the unequal and ‘inef icient’ distribution of state assets.

‘’Singapore has among the highest concentrations of golf courses in the region, with 18 golf clubs covering 1,500ha.’’

However, the recent move by the state to discontinue expiring lease on golf courses seems to suggest a recalibration based on the idea of ef iciency to redistribute the state’s assets. One can only hope for a more economically diverse and benevolent distribution ...

There are altogether 19 golf clubs in Singapore with Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) being the largest with four 18 holes courses at 2 locations, Bukit and Island situated around the central catchment area taking up a combined area of 2.97km2. It is the club exclusively for the rich and famous.

Among the 10 golf clubs that were affected by the recalibration, the largest, most expensive and extensive club in Singapore remains almost unaffected.

Thesis endeavour:

Despite the overall state strategy to establish the fact of a severe land scarcity, the reality is that the state has total control of land. What stays and goes depends solely on the political will and agenda of the state.

What should be allowed on land when there is land ‘scarcity’? How may one deal with the need for golf and also the apparent lack of land? How can they coexist?

In resistance to current land usage model dictated by the state, the thesis explores an alternative way for golf to exist. When golf cannot go sideways, the only way to go is up …

The site: Singapore Island Country Club

Taking the SICC holes as a starting point, original holes were twisted, compacted and then stacked into a mega golf giant which is inserted into the original site of SICC’s. with the new golf giant taking up only 20% of the original course, the surrounding areas are envisioned to return back to forest lands.

Each level is spaced from one another based on the golf ball projectiles (according to the professional golf association of America)

Using the original holes from SICC, they were comapcted and twisted to it into a loor area of approx 400m x 150m. There are altogether six levels with each elvel containing three holes each.

With the advantage of the stacking, golfers no longer need to follow the given path and may choose to skip holes vertically. Snake and ladder circulations are introduced in the middle of the giant with the more normative circulation at the sides.

With pressing land issues and the need for golf, golf up is imagined to be duplicated and pluggable and be the alternative way for golf to exist in times of land scarcity.