Mr Theodore Chan, President, Singapore Institute of Architects,

Past Presidents of the Singapore Institute of Architects,

Members and guests of SIA,

Good evening.

Introduction

1.     It’s a real pleasure for my wife and I to be here this evening. We first want to thank you for this invitation to join in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA). It would be an understatement to state that over the past five decades, our urban landscape has undergone a metamorphosis We have seen significant advancements in architectural design, practice and education in Singapore. The SIA continues to be, and has always been, a key partner and stakeholder in Singapore’s urban planning efforts, and also an important advocate and champion for the profession as well architectural excellence and education.

2.     We have come a long way. We have built a city in a garden and imbued it with an aesthetic and a character that is distinctive, and distinctively Singaporean, one might say. In facing some of the future challenges, we need to build on that accomplishment, in order to ensure that we can maintain a high quality of living environment for Singaporeans and also meet their rising aspirations. That will be underpinned by innovative ideas and solutions. This is an area I wanted to focus on because in the work that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has been doing, with a range of industries, across different verticals, we understand the domestic constraints we face in terms of land and labour. But our objective has been to surmount those constraints through the adept use of technology to enhance productivity and also to fuel innovation.

Singapore’s Sustainable Development Efforts

3.     We have invested in policies and technologies to address the challenges of a growing urban population. The “urban solutions” space cuts across many sectors, including buildings, and also in terms of the management of waster, energy and water. Our partners in the built environment space play an important complementary role in integrating these solutions into our urban environment. With your support, our urban solutions industry has burgeoned, helping Singapore overcome its self-evident resource constraints, and yielding important economic opportunities in areas such as energy management systems, environmental protection and clean technologies. The Economic Development Board (EDB) has identified these as promising clusters of growth that have spurred the development of local enterprises and created new opportunities for Singaporeans. For example, the estimation by EDB is that by 2015, in the clean technology industry, we expect it to be able to create about 18,000 jobs and to contribute about $3.4 billion to our GDP.

4.     The larger picture is in terms of increasing awareness of climate change, and with it has come the implications for “green growth”, which has emerged as an essential focus of sustainable urban development in recent years. That entails a paradigm shift and the recognition that economic growth and environmental sustainability should, and can, be reconciled, and certainly, they need not be at odds with each other. In Singapore, we have been stepping up our efforts in this regard, notably with the launch of the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB) in 2009. It was a committee chaired by Mr Mah Bow Tan; I served in it. The purpose of the blueprint was to make recommendations to improve our resource efficiency and enhance our urban environment, even as we pursue growth. One external validation of our efforts was the fact that Singapore was ranked first among 22 major Asian cities on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Green City Index of 2011.

5.     Looking ahead, we will continue to harness innovative urban solutions and green growth opportunities. One endeavour that we have embarked on is to make Singapore serve as a “living laboratory” for companies to develop and test-bed new ideas, technologies and designs that can be commercialised, replicated and scaled elsewhere. Our district-level living laboratories include Punggol Eco-Town, Marina Bay and Jurong Lake District. They allow for a broad range of urban solutions to be deployed, including solar photovoltaics, rainwater harvesting and sky terraces. I hope that our architects and developers will take the lead in integrating these and other cutting-edge solutions in their projects.

6.     Beyond our test-bedding efforts, a key emphasis we have placed is on R&D programmes that can underpin the urban solutions industry. For example, a $132 million fund has been set aside, and it has been earmarked for the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to study new areas in industrial wastewater treatment and also to deepen our understanding of the waste-energy-water nexus. The National Research Foundation (NRF) has also launched the $135 million Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge. It was done last November to support basic and applied research aimed at creating new space, and optimising the use of that space.

Singapore as Global Leader in Urban Solutions

7.     These challenges of urbanisation and the solutions we seek are not unique to Singapore. The rate of megacity formation around the world is increasing, with an average of about one megacity of at least 10 million inhabitants expected to emerge each year until 2025. In 2025, about 60% of the world’s megacities will be in Asia. By 2050, Asia’s urban population is projected to increase from 1.9 billion to 3.3 billion, with China and India accounting for about 60% of the increase¹. This presents tremendous opportunities for Singapore and our companies to bring our experience and expertise to bear in creating sustainable urban solutions for the cities of tomorrow that lie beyond our shores.  

8.     In that regard, we will continue to promote thought leadership in sustainable urban solutions and facilitate global discourse and action in this area. Our Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) is the manifestation of that objective. It plays an important role in distilling lessons from Singapore’s experience, deepening our expertise through research, and developing strategic partnerships with other centres of excellence. We also host internationally renowned events that have almost become iconic, such as the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW), World Cities Summit (WCS) and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS). These events bring together opinion-makers and leaders from the government, industry and academia to forge new partnerships. In addition, we offer international governments and companies training, advice and consultancy services that draw on Singapore’s expertise in urban planning and governance, through initiatives such as the URA Professional Development Group, PUB’s WaterHub and CLC’s Temasek Foundation Leaders in Urban Governance Programme.

9.     One of the things we have tried to emphasise in our industry development work is how we can enable our companies, particularly the small and medium enterprises, to broaden their horizons and go beyond our shores in the quest for new opportunities. In this vein, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore has a strong global network of overseas centres in over 35 locations. The aim of these centres is to provide not just the connections and in-market business development support, but also, to be able to nuance and ease the entry of our businesses into these new markets. It also co-funds market assessment and market entry consultancy services to assist Singapore companies in their pursuit of landmark overseas projects. I think you would be aware of some of these projects that have attracted high-level attention, whether it is the International Tech Park in Bangalore, which draws on Ascendas’ expertise in creating seamless plug-and-play business environments, and some of the other flagship projects, such as the Guangzhou Knowledge City, Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-city and Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park. These are not just flagship projects, but they also help to open doors for our companies to collaborate across borders, and implement home-grown urban solutions outside Singapore.

Architects as Drivers of Urban Solutions

10.     I share these various initiatives with you because of the deep conviction that architects are in a unique position to catalyse the transformation of urban environment, more than ever before. As leaders in project conceptualisation, you not only ensure that designs are easy to construct, which is essential, but you also play a critical role in pushing the frontiers of urban sustainability through integrative design. During the pre-project stages, you can galvanise key partners and technology suppliers to explore innovative ways of system integration, which can enhance building performance and yield 20 to 40% in energy savings for Green Mark-compliant buildings. This is significant for building owners because of the operational savings they can realise. But what I want to also emphasise is the fact that this has a broader, national significance. The building sector contributes to about 19% – nearly a fifth – of our overall energy consumption². So any significant moves we make in this sector will have a larger cascading effect on our economy and energy consumption at a national level.

11.     As you embark on these projects, I urge you to encourage developers to pilot new ideas and designs that facilitate energy, water and waste management, green the built environment, and optimise space and even the manpower needed for building operations and maintenance. In doing this, I believe you can inspire the rest of the industry with your vision for the sustainable buildings and cities of tomorrow.

12.     Let me assure you that the Government will remain, as it has always, committed to work in close partnership with architects as a profession and the larger industry, in general, to nurture a strong pipeline of architecture talent, providing platforms and support for innovation, and promoting the Singapore architecture industry internationally.

Conclusion

13.     So I want to conclude by congratulating SIA on 50 years of leadership in the local architecture scene. There are many luminaries here and I think we owe you a great debt of gratitude. The way you have shaped the physical relief in Singapore and the impact it has had on the collective imagination of Singaporeans. SIA has been keenly involved in our capability building efforts, through collaborations with our institutions, such as the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) Academy, and the Singapore University of Technology and Design’s (SUTD’s) Architecture and Sustainable Design Programme. It has also taken the lead in recognising innovation in architecture through awards such as the SIA Architectural Design Awards and the SIA-Getz Architecture Prize for Emergent Architecture in Asia.

14.     Your contributions have enhanced the vibrancy of Singapore’s physical and economic landscape, and instilled in all of us a greater appreciation of the richness of creative architecture. We look forward to at least another 50 more years of innovative, creative and productive enterprise in SIA. Thank you.

1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanisation Prospects: The 2011 Revision, New York, 2011.  

2 In 2011, the building sector consumed 3,141 kilo-tonnes oil-equivalent, or about 19% of overall energy consumption (16,832 ktoe).