A Premier Garden City

1 Singapore is a well-known Garden City. This is the result of 40 years of deliberate national planning and effort. It has provided a pleasant and high quality living environment for our people.

2 But we cannot rest on our laurels. We must continue to innovate and remake our Garden City.

Our Vision – A City In A Garden

3 Our vision is to evolve Singapore into a City in a Garden, characterized by a matrix of parks, gardens and green spaces inter-connected to form a green mantle throughout the island. To achieve this goal, we are undertaking a four-prong strategy:

4 First, we will build on and expand our greenery capital through developing our parks, building a park connector network, intensifying streetscape greenery, and better integrating greenery with our waterbodies.

5 Second, we will strengthen the public-people-private sector partnerships in greening efforts.

6 Third, we will showcase our horticultural excellence through developing signature gardens, including waterfront gardens and staging a world-class garden festival.

7 Fourth but not the least, we will work with the industry to upgrade skills and competencies to sustain our City in a Garden.

8 Let me elaborate on some of these key areas.

Signature Gardens

9 We are developing a distinctive collection of "Gardens by the Bay" in the heart of Marina Bay. We will exploit the land-water interface to develop 3 inter-connected waterfront gardens, totaling 94 ha. Each garden will have its own unique character:
- The Garden at Marina South, adjacent to the Integrated Resort, will showcase tropical blooms and foliage colours at their best. We will study the viability of a Conservatory that can house flowering plants from cooler climates.
- The Garden at Marina East will comprise water-theme gardens and be a staging area for water-sports in the Bay.
- The Garden at Marina Centre is to be a waterfront promenade linking the cultural core at the Esplanade Theatres to Kallang Basin.

10 These waterfront Gardens will complement the developments around Marina Bay and offer a new, exciting experience for Singaporeans and visitors.

Beautify Our Waterbodies

11 In designing our regional and neighbourhood parks, NParks also gives due consideration to the development of the interface between land and water.

12 In deciding on the appropriate treatment, NParks will consider the site conditions, intended uses, and surrounding features. For example, the Ecolake at the Botanic Gardens incorporates a natural grass embankment, while mangrove areas line Sungei Tampines. The Boardwalk at Pulau Ubin allows us to get close to nature without spoiling the ambience or damaging the eco-systems.

13 Other efforts to beautify our waterbodies are underway. PUB has initiated an Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters Programme to develop our waterbodies into clean and vibrant attractions. NParks will work with PUB and other relevant agencies to realise the full potential of our waterbodies as quality recreational destinations, and to strengthen our greenery infrastructure.

14 For example, NParks and PUB are working on a preliminary masterplan to revitalize the Kallang riverscape. There are exciting ideas to transform the entire length of the great Kallang River and its canals into beautiful recreational and lifestyle venues that will enhance the quality of life for Singaporeans. The vision is to create a river system with clean and fresh waters, integrated with landscaped banks, where there can be swimming, fishing, boating or other sporting activities in the waters, and other recreational activities along the banks and connected gardens.

Conservation of Biodiversity

15 We are also mindful of the need to conserve our natural heritage and biodiversity. We recognize the importance of doing so, including the potential value that a rich biodiversity can contribute to bioscience research and tourism. The need to conserve our natural heritage is taken into consideration as we plan for the use of our land, coast and the sea in an integrated manner. As part of this process, key coastal and inter-tidal ecosystems at Labrador and Sungei Buloh have been gazetted as Nature Reserves. Sisters’ Islands was identified as a marine nature area. These reflect the Government's commitment to conserve biodiversity.

16 We will continue to keep as many areas in their natural state for as long as possible. But as a small country with limited land and waters, we need to take a pragmatic approach. Nature conservation has to be balanced with other competing needs.

17 NParks and URA also undertake other efforts to conserve our natural heritage and biodiversity:
a. NParks collaborates with NGOs and academic institutions to monitor the biodiversity and health of our ecosystems.
b. NParks maintains a repository of information on Singapore’s natural habitats, both marine and terrestrial.
c. URA works with NParks to assess the environmental impact of development projects near our islands and put in place measures to minimize any adverse impact.

18 Currently, we already have various regulations that protect our biodiversity. The Parks & Trees Act empowers NParks to take actions against biodiversity-related offences in parks and nature reserves. Offences against biodiversity on State lands, including poaching from the seabed within Singapore waters, are regulated under the State Lands Encroachments Act. The Endangered Species Act enforces against poaching of endangered species from our nature areas for export.

Conclusion

19 Our challenge going forward is to transform Singapore into a City in a Garden, known not only for its parks and greenery, but also beautiful streets, inter-connected parks, waterfront gardens, beautiful rivers and canals, and integrated land-water developments. This will make Singapore a truly exciting place to live, work and play in.

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