An $8 million scheme for three years was announced yesterday by the National Parks Board (NParks) to co-fund a rooftop landscaping project around the city.
Also, the landscaping for urban spaces and high-rises (Lush) programme was introduced by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to help achieve the goal of NParks to create 50 hectares sky-rising greenery buildings by 2030.
According to Cheong Koon Hean, chief executive of URA, “Despite Singapore being land scarce, greenery can be pervasive in our urban spaces.” Starting September, NParks will be giving cash incentives to home owners who will install green roofs on buildings in Orchard planning areas as well as in the downtown sites. The said programme will first target the areas surrounded by little greenery and the low- to mid-rise buildings which are highly noticeable.
NParks aims to have in the next three years about nine hectares of green roof building. The cash incentives given will cover half the cost of installation fee, capped at $75 per square metre. According to NParks, typical installation fee for green roof range from $150 to $180 per square metre.
Based on Henry Steed, the president of Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects, Gardens on the ground cost less than the gardens on the roof for every sq m. “But once you have built it, the asset is there and the land usable, whereas a plain roof is not,” he said.
In connection with the scheme of NParks, URA will provide bonus gross floor area (GFA) to owners who install green roofs. The bonus space, which is limited to 200 square metre or half of the roof area (whichever is lower), can be utilised as outdoor refreshment area. The developer will shoulder the differential premium or the development charge (DC); however, URA believes that the bonus GFA plan is adequately attractive.
The recent formula for DC calculation cuts off 70% of the total land value, but “there’s still a 30 per cent gain for developers,” said Cheng Hsing Yao, urban design deputy director of URA.
The bonus GFA plan is another part of the Lush programme of URA that also includes other revised and existing measures to improve urban landscape.
Housing car parks within high decks are also required to install earth berms for plants, at least 60% on every side of the deck wall, and instead of solid-wall fences, this should be surrounded with see-through fences.
In the Downtown Core’s strategic areas, which include the Jurong Gateway, Marina Bay and Kallang Riverside, new development projects must also include ground-level or ‘sky-rise’ greenery landscaping that is equivalent to the size of the site area.
For those who have very small plots, buildings should be tall in order to make the most of the plot ratio, “replacement is typically not too difficult,” said Tai Lee Siang, the former president of Singapore Institute of Architects.
Both the past and present president of Singapore Institute of Architects believe that there is always a way to uphold urban greenery.
Mister Steed envisions that it will eventually be possible for all the roofs to have green features such as water catchment areas, green gardens, and mini-green farms.