“Stella, hurry up! You’re going to be late for school!”
“Okay, Mum. Coming!”
“Will it kill you to wake up on time?” you muttered to yourself while starting the speedboat to send your child, Stella, to school.
This may be exaggerated, unrelatable and ridiculous now but it may be a reality in time to come. To a certain extent without the speedboat at least.
At 721.5 km², it’s a known fact that Singapore has a shortage of land.
And so, we have to be creative.
Potential for floating living areas to be built in Singapore
Channel NewsAsia‘s program Land Unlimited studies how land-scarce countries adapt for the increasing population. In the latest episode of the show, Singapore’s problem was identified – the little red dot would require additional land (5,600 hectares) by 2030 to accommodate more people.
But is it possible?
How to create land out of air?
This is where Mr Shinichi Takiguchi, Managing Executive Officer of Shimizu Corporation comes in. After intensive research along with his team, they have come up with the Green Float, a floating city with houses, offices and vegetable farms at the top, middle and bottom respectively.
According to Mr Takiguchi, the required technology is already present; it’s only a matter of when.
Green Float
To help you better visualize it, this is how the Green Float (which operates on solar energy) looks like.
Senior architect and project leader, Masaki Takeuchi believes that “building a Float would cost the same as reclamation.” In addition, he has conducted research and is proud to say that safety won’t be compromised by wind and water currents due to Singapore’s prime location.
Reports state that the floating structure consisting of a 1km-high tower and a base of 3km in diameter would be ready in 10 years. After which, it would have a life expectancy of 100 years.
If you’re worried about motion sickness, fret not; the concept is similar to The Float at Marina Bay. This means you can go about your daily activities just as you would in a regular house.
According to Chng Kai Fong, Managing Director of the Economic Development Board, they are opened to any and every solution to cope with the land shortage. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Alternatives to building houses on the sea include the air – above existing structures, roads and canals. Unless you’re a heavy sleeper, living directly above roads doesn’t exactly sound inviting.
Rooftop property development
Already materialized in London by companies like Apex Airspace is the addition of houses on rooftops of existing buildings deemed suitable.
Research ran by them shows that it has great potential in meeting the annual housing demand. I can see this happening in Singapore for sure, as compared to the other options, though lesser buildings would qualify for this makeover as developers must first secure the rights to the airspace above a building before proceeding further.
Apex’s Chief Executive Officer, Arshad Bhatti states that each house is safely factory-made before it is transported and constructed within a day without overly inconveniencing residents.
Therefore, don’t be surprised if HDB becomes part of history.
Houses above Canals and Roads
This housing alternative was ideated by Mr Michael Shaw, a rooftop house developer from London.
Mr Shaw believes that the area above canals are an “underused” land potential; “a wasted land resource”. He plans to have factory-made houses supported by a strong frame, each with six levels and 60 units of assorted sizes.
Transport infrastructure such as roads, train stations and railway occupy a significant amount of land which architects are looking into to safely incorporate housing too.
If I have to choose one to live in, I’d probably want to try staying in the Green Float for research purposes y’know.
But in the meantime, let’s all just make do with HDB because who knows what’s going to happen in ten years. Aliens might have finally landed on Yishun.
Over in TikTok, there’s a drama involving property agents that’s caused by us. Here’s what happened:
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