Sustainable Development of Housing

you must be able to:

a) Describe the impact that housing has on the environment.

b) Describe the impact that housing has on people.

c) Explain the strategies taken to sustainably manage housing in Singapore and other countries.

d) Evaluate the strategies taken to manage housing in Singapore and other countries. (For G3 students only)

Overview

The picture on the left shows the overview of the learning in chapter 9.

•Housing developments in cities promote high-density living and increase the resource demands made of any surrounding area.

Check out the before & after images in Singapore

[Click Me!]

Mouse over the different images and move the middle white strip to see the difference!

Our Learning points so far...

•Cities consume large quantities of natural resources to meet the needs of large and growing urban populations.

•Housing large populations puts stress on the natural environments and often leads to negative environmental impacts.

•People living in these places need electricity to power their devices, food to eat, water for sanitation, space to dispose of their waste, and open spaces for recreation

•To meet these needs, natural resources need to be extracted and used. (back to 1st point)

Land
Building Materials
Fossil Fuels
Water

As urban populations grow, cities need more space.
Natural resources such as land is cleared to make space for urban use
Estimated 18.7 million acres of forest are lost each year due to general deforestation
Developing housing for a large and growing urban population results in growing demand for various resources.
Forests – cut down and used as building materials, furniture, doors, housing and for cooking
Iron and aluminium are mined form the ground, and mining can bring about wide-ranging negative environmental impacts.
Fossil fuels are consumed to generate heat and electricity for households and this consumption releases greenhouse gases .
Some cities extract resources from beyond their physical boundaries ie imported from other places around the world eg Singapore (eggs from Poland, Malaysia)
Cities can have a very serious impact on the natural environment not only on its immediate surroundings, but also faraway places due to the nature of global supply chains.

Land Pollution

•What: Soil contamination of land by factory chemicals, sewage and other wastewater

•So: Continuous land pollution can lead to long term damage of land, making it unsafe eg for building houses

•Where & How does the pollution comes from:

•Human produce vast quantities of waste, in factories, schools, offices, and homes.

•Some build landfills to dispose of their waste products.

•Some cities incinerate their waste products to reduce the space needed for disposal.

•Leftover material from incinerators still needs to be properly managed to avoid pollution.

The Exciting short journey of Trash, in Singapore.

Watch this short video to find out where our waste goes!

You may also explore the other videos.

Where does your rubbish go?

Pulau Semakau - Singapore's Last Landfill

A Day with a Singaporean Waste Truck Drive

Waste Management Technologies & Innovation

Issues with Pollution

A high concentration of people in one area makes the problem of pollution worse

Urbanisation brings large numbers of people together in cities

This concentration the waste that pollution produced in a single area

Cities can create efficient control points for pollution by putting in place infrastructures to manage the waste and pollution generated

How does access to housing affect people?

Fulfilling Basic Needs
Providing Amentities
Building Communities

1.Fulfilling Basic Needs

Formal housing provides people with:

•Shelter

•Clean water

•Electricity

•Sanitation

•Access to infrastructure

•Improves the well-being and overall health of individuals

2. Providing Amenities

•Amenities are desirable or useful features of a place that provide comfort, convenience or enjoyment to its residents.

•Healthcare

•Groceries

•Schools

•Retail outlets

•Food and beverage outlets

•ACCESS to such services and amenities are important because residents do not need to travel long distances to have their needs met and their well being improved.

•ACCESS to amenities also reduces the environmental footprint of people in formal housing as they do not need to travel to have their needs met, so less fossil fuels is consumed for transport.

3. Building Communities

•Humans are social creatures, so formal housing also strives to meet the social needs of its residents

•People need places to interact and develop friendships, bonds and ties. The availability of common spaces within the neighbourhood for social gatherings is important.

•Social interactions build a:

•strong sense of community

•Sense of inclusivity

•Sense of belonging

•Community spirit

•Resilient community

How can housing be sustainably managed?

Integrated Land-use planning
Provision of Inclusive Public Housing
Environmental Features in buildings

Making Singapore a great place to live, work and play

Urban design marvel

Understanding what it means by integrated land-use planning

Kampung Admiralty

Learning POINTS - Integrated land-use planning

It is important that the different stakeholders come together to:

•Decide how the city should be developed

•Manage and coordinate different activities sustainably

•Stakeholders include: Govt, businesses, property developers, industries, communities

The development of an area should never be done in isolation or independently.
Housing developments should take into account the other functions of the city such as industries, entertainment,, support services and infrastructure
Amenities and support infrastructure for daily living should also be built inside or surrounding housing developments

Challenges of this strategy - Integrated land-use planning

Integrated land-use planning is a great solution to sustainable housing, but it is difficult to achieve because:

•It requires coordination between the stakeholders

•Conflict resolution as stakeholders often have competing or different interests, needs and perspectives

Inclusive Public Housing

a) A sustainable city must provide a range of housing to cater to the needs of different households:

•Larger homes for extended families

•Smaller homes for singles and couples

b) Building inclusive public housing means creates s strong sense of belonging; and allows residents to feel at sense

c) Inclusiveness means that:

•everyone would have access to housing that meets their needs,

•All ages and physical conditions are considered

Environmental Features in Buildings

We need to ensure environmentally friendly technology is incorporated during the construction of homes.

This helps to promote sustainability.

EXTENSION OF LEARNING

Where Singapore's future homes could be built...

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