Learning Outcome:

• Define sustainable urban neighbourhood

• With the use of examples, explain the features of a sustainable urban neighbourhood

• Design a fieldwork to investigate the sustainability of urban neighbourhood 

• Meet the needs of the present population by achieving high standards of living for all 

• Ensure the ability of future generations to meet their own needs 

Social sustainability can be achieved by:

•  Ensuring residents feel included and have a sense of shared identities.

  • This can be fostered through shared community spaces to promote regular social interactions. (e.g: community centers, exercise corners, parks, etc)

• Keeping small population size in urban neighbourhood can facilitate regular interactions amongst the residents and positive relationships, promoting open communication, mutual respect and understanding to reduce misunderstandings and conflicts.

• Residents coming together to discuss issues affecting the neighbourhood and find solutions

Economic sustainability can be achieved by:

•  Ensuring residents that a neighbourhood has a high enough population density, which helps to support local businesses and keep transportation and infrastructure costs low. 

• Local business are able to sustain themselves with sufficient demand for their goods and services.

• Residents can take up employment at these shops to earn income and increase their standard of living.

• Transportation and infrastructure costs can be kept low within the community.

• Building and objects are usually located close to one another. 

  • E.g: Schools and transportation hub and/or houses

  • E.g: Bus interchange is usually located near MRT station to reduce time for residents to travel and cost to build additional infrastructure to support the movement.

Read the news article / watch the video in "Commentary: Tengah residents' complains reflect age-old problem of moving into non-mature estates."

See: What do you notice after reading the news article or watching the video?

Think: What do you think is the reason for the lack of services and shops?

Wonder: What does this makes you wonder about the economic sustainability in Tengah?