Latest news with #urbanplanning
Bloomberg
12 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Singapore's Blueprint for a Future City
Each week we bring you insights into one of Asia's most dynamic economies. If you haven't yet, please sign up here. This week, Gabrielle Ng looks at how Singapore is trying to adapt its city for an aging population and a hotter world, while Ishika Mookerjee bemoans the pressures that could make air travel even more expensive.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
How to win the housing density debate
When making the argument for more housing in cities, advocates and politicians should consider why the federal carbon fuel charge failed. Climate change is a real and pressing issue. But rather than make it clear that sacrifice would be needed, Ottawa chose to pretend that reducing carbon emissions would be painless. It would have been more effective to acknowledge that no solution to climate change would be pain-free, but then make a convincing case that any other approach would hurt more. To put it crassly, appeal to people's self-interest. A similar approach can be applied to the urgent debate over how cities should grow. Focusing on the need for housing because it will make cities more affordable, while a noble goal, can be too abstract a way to overcome entrenched resistance. Instead, cities should acknowledge that neighbourhoods will change, and not everyone will like the result. But the cost of inaction is worse: real estate costs rising so high they strangle what makes cities attractive to their residents. Again, appeal to self-interest if that's what it takes to convince people. Editorial: The slow crawl of cities on housing reform People are attracted to cities for their economic opportunities and cultural appeal. But there aren't many ways cities can accommodate a growing population: a small number of tall towers, expanding forever into the countryside or adding a large number of buildings that are a bit bigger than traditional houses. Relying on tall buildings to house people puts far too much development in a handful of sites while sprawl requires long commutes and destroys the countryside. Widespread mid-scale development can be the Goldilocks option. But there is a long-standing hostility to density in English-speaking Canada. 'Townhouses today, slums tomorrow' is a sentiment that upset residents will give voice to in planning meetings. That hostility underpinned the sad failure of Toronto city council this week, which abandoned a plan for a citywide authorization of multiplexes of six units. Obviously, politicians and planners need to listen respectfully to resident concerns – and then explain how more people improves both neighbourhoods and cities. Focus on the good of density instead of spending political capital reassuring residents that more homes won't change their area. Because those neighbourhoods will change. They have to. But at the same time, it's easy to make the case that cities can't be great without allowing enough density. Museums and art galleries need to draw from a deep pool of people to find enough patrons, and generous donors. Schools need engaged families and bustling classrooms. Local retailers need potential shoppers within walking distance, as this space has argued before. And successful restaurants need to attract both customers and quality employees. CMHC gives up on comparing housing affordability to 2004 levels Which brings us to the second point. Without more homes, where are restaurant and other service staff going to live? What about huge numbers of other low-level workers who make cities function? And don't forget the artists and musicians who keep urban life interesting. Consider also the middle-income people already being priced out of cities. A recent report from the Toronto-area think tank Civic Action found that essential workers in health care, education and the trades were struggling to afford homes. If none of this sways existing homeowners, remind them of their own offspring. Surely, they want them living closely enough to visit easily? Housing more people in the same area is also, frankly, cheaper. Less road and sewer is required for each home. Transit and garbage collection are more efficiently provided. The cost of library services is spread among more people. In sum, greater density allows more of the vibrancy and amenities that urban dwellers want – with less of the taxes and long commutes they don't. In the case of housing, there's a strong case to made that less expensive homes will bring tangible and noticeable benefits even for those who won't live in them. The Toronto city politicians who supported increased density failed to make that case aggressively enough – a warning sign for other city councils. This space does not need to be convinced by pro-housing arguments. But not everyone agrees that cities must change. If advocates can't make that case, politicians with different priorities will carry the day, as Toronto just found out.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Singapore to build 80,000 new homes across 10 sites under URA Draft Master Plan 2025
SINGAPORE, June 27 — At least 80,000 new public and private homes are set to be built across more than 10 areas in Singapore over the next 10 to 15 years, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Draft Master Plan 2025. The blueprint outlines developments in both city-centre and suburban locations to boost housing supply and bring residents closer to workplaces and public transport links, according to a report published in The Straits Times today. Up to 5,000 private homes are planned for Newton, while Paterson, near Orchard Road, could see 1,000 new units; both neighbourhoods will be transformed into mixed-use urban centres with integrated transport, retail, and recreational features. 'In Newton, a new Village Square will rise next to the MRT station and food centre, while Monk's Hill Road will become a park and a green corridor will link to Emerald Hill,' said URA. Paterson's makeover will include a new integrated development above Orchard MRT station, incorporating the former Institute of Education site. In the one-north precinct, the Dover-Medway area may house 6,000 public and private units in its first phase, while Mediapolis could add 5,000 private homes; both are intended to accommodate workers in the tech and biomedical sectors nearby. URA said Dover-Medway's redevelopment would consider existing leases and operations, with advance notice provided to affected parties; the Dover campus of the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) will not be impacted. Kranji's former racecourse will be turned into a housing estate with around 14,000 new homes, located near the Kranji Nature Corridor and other green and blue spaces. Sembawang Shipyard and Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) are also being studied for future housing; the shipyard site, due to close in 2028, could be redeveloped into a waterfront district, while PLAB's relocation from 2030 will free up 800ha for a new eastern town. The new PLAB town will be linked to areas like Defu via green and blue networks, and heritage features such as old runway sections will be preserved and repurposed. Additional central sites identified earlier, such as Pearl's Hill, Marina South, Bukit Timah Turf City, Mount Pleasant, and the former Keppel Golf Course, are also in the pipeline for housing developments.
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Singapore to build 80,000 new homes across 10 sites under URA Draft Master Plan 2025
SINGAPORE, June 27 — At least 80,000 new public and private homes are set to be built across more than 10 areas in Singapore over the next 10 to 15 years, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Draft Master Plan 2025. The blueprint outlines developments in both city-centre and suburban locations to boost housing supply and bring residents closer to workplaces and public transport links, according to a report published in The Straits Times today. Up to 5,000 private homes are planned for Newton, while Paterson, near Orchard Road, could see 1,000 new units; both neighbourhoods will be transformed into mixed-use urban centres with integrated transport, retail, and recreational features. 'In Newton, a new Village Square will rise next to the MRT station and food centre, while Monk's Hill Road will become a park and a green corridor will link to Emerald Hill,' said URA. Paterson's makeover will include a new integrated development above Orchard MRT station, incorporating the former Institute of Education site. In the one-north precinct, the Dover-Medway area may house 6,000 public and private units in its first phase, while Mediapolis could add 5,000 private homes; both are intended to accommodate workers in the tech and biomedical sectors nearby. URA said Dover-Medway's redevelopment would consider existing leases and operations, with advance notice provided to affected parties; the Dover campus of the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) will not be impacted. Kranji's former racecourse will be turned into a housing estate with around 14,000 new homes, located near the Kranji Nature Corridor and other green and blue spaces. Sembawang Shipyard and Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) are also being studied for future housing; the shipyard site, due to close in 2028, could be redeveloped into a waterfront district, while PLAB's relocation from 2030 will free up 800ha for a new eastern town. The new PLAB town will be linked to areas like Defu via green and blue networks, and heritage features such as old runway sections will be preserved and repurposed. Additional central sites identified earlier, such as Pearl's Hill, Marina South, Bukit Timah Turf City, Mount Pleasant, and the former Keppel Golf Course, are also in the pipeline for housing developments.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Squeezed by Crowds, the Roads of Central Park Are Being Reimagined
When Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux presented their design for New York City's Central Park — then called Greensward — in 1858, they designated spaces by speed. The park's traverses could handle crosstown carriages. Bridle paths were for foot traffic. And the drives would be treated as a promenade for all, split first between pedestrians, soon bicycles, and, later, cars. 'There should be separation of ways, as in parks and parkways, for efficiency and amenity of movement,' Olmsted wrote, 'and to avoid collision or the apprehension of collision, between different kinds of traffic.'
