New integrated development in Woodlands to get skyrise greenery

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan wrote on his blog on Saturday that the integrated complex near the Admiralty MRT station, dubbed Kampong, will be part of Singapore's skyrise greening initatives that will "go beyond the commercial sector".

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

In a blogpost entitled, "At the frontier of the Skyrise Greenery Movement," the Minister wrote: 

Cities around the world are greening upwards.

In Milan, an audacious project is sprouting, which aims to create a vertical forest within a residential concrete tower. It is history in the making, due for completion next year.

We, too, are pioneers in the skyrise greenery movement. Our super trees in Gardens by the Bay beautifully adorn our city skyline. There was initial scepticism but Singaporeans have grown to be fond and proud of our super trees. They broke new ground and created something endearing.

Today, we have 61 ha of rooftop gardens in Singapore. This is no mean feat considering that we only actively embarked on greening our roofs in the last 5 years. In comparison, Chicago, which has a longer history of rooftop gardens, has 50 ha.

Our achievements in this field have been beautifully documented in a book by NUS Prof Dr Tan Puay Yok titled "Vertical Garden City, Singapore".

Moving forward, we will continue to contribute to this emerging global effort.

Singapore is getting more buildings with bolder skyrise greenery designs. In addition to the recently completed Park Royal @ Pickering by WOHA, there is the upcoming CapitaGreen building by Toyo Ito.

Our greening initiatives go beyond the commercial sector. The modern Kampong - Integrated Development - next to the Admiralty MRT Station, also by WOHA will soon ground-break and show what can be achieved within HDB estates.

However, while we celebrate our accomplishments, I am sure there is still a lot to learn in this new frontier from outstanding projects from around the world, just like the Milan project. I look forward to seeing more skyrise greenery in our City in a Garden.