Buzz
This is an excellent article from Bloomberg discussing a project aiding Singapore in mitigating urban heat, with potential applicability to many other cities worldwide. I've summarized it for you, you can watch the original video here.In urban areas, wherever there are abundant greenery, the environment tends to be cooler (see figure below, left side indicates temperature, right side indicates greenery distribution density). This is because materials like concrete, asphalt, and rooftops absorb more heat from the sun compared to trees and plants. This phenomenon is known as the 'urban heat island' effect and is prevalent in cities worldwide, posing serious health risks to residents, particularly as global temperatures rise. High temperatures claim more lives than floods, tornadoes, or major storms.
That's why the Singaporean government is funding several research projects to ameliorate urban heat, hoping to implement solutions domestically first and then expand cooperation to other nations. This initiative is called 'Cooling Singapore'.In Singapore, being near the equator, temperatures often reach 32 degrees Celsius (quite similar to Vietnam), and the architectural landscape here exacerbates everything. Essentially, Singapore resembles a 'concrete jungle' of buildings. In densely populated areas, temperatures can soar up to 7 degrees Celsius higher than in green spaces.
This system operates through a centralized plant tasked with cooling water, which is then pumped to residential buildings, commercial centers, and even the Marina Bay Sands hotel-casino complex. It can reduce costs by up to 40% compared to air conditioning systems powered by electricity. Additionally, it helps decrease emissions equivalent to removing 10,000 cars from Singapore's streets.This is crucial not just for Singapore but for the entire world, because if current trends persist, by 2050, one-third of global electricity production will be solely devoted to cooling purposes (such as running air conditioners, refrigerators... which, when operational, emit heat, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle).The next solution involves trees. Trees provide shade and contribute to a psychological sense of coolness, as well as lowering temperatures through their metabolic activities. Trees can be planted on the ground, in parks, but they can also be integrated into buildings, on rooftops, around architectural structures...Fortunately, Singapore has been on this path for quite some time, stemming from the initiative of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew since 1967. Today, Singapore stands as one of the greenest urban areas in the world. They have community hubs with tree-filled shopping centers where trees cover far more ground than they did before. They also boast hotels like Park Royal in the Pickering district, enveloped in greenery akin to stepping into a forest. Balconies, poolside areas, everywhere basks in sunlight amidst over 1,500 meters of green walls, carpets of green, water bodies...
The Singaporean government is also planning to plant a million trees and enhance green spaces in the next 10 years. Beyond cooling the city, this is also a way for the government to encourage community connections, outdoor activities, exercise...Yet, that's still not enough, Singapore is heating up at twice the rate of what's been happening over the past 60 years. Hence, the Cooling Singapore project has researched and identified several aspects needed to cool the city, such as:
- The level of window ventilation to allow airflow
- How windows should be shaded to limit heat from the sun
- How buildings should be constructed to provide shade for sidewalks and surrounding areas
- How clean energy should be developed and rooftops utilized for installing solar panels
Additionally, the project team has constructed a virtual model of the city to assess how altering certain factors would impact the heat profile. This virtual model not only includes buildings and their locations but also encompasses data on transportation and infrastructure, ambient temperature, solar radiation, local climate, weather patterns, water bodies, and human mobility patterns... Thanks to this virtual model, researchers can simulate various scenarios, 'virtually construct' new components, and if the results are favorable, they can begin implementing these initiatives in real life.
The aforementioned model isn't just for Singapore; it can be used to simulate any city worldwide, catering to both the need to fend off heat intrusion or retain heat (for colder regions). Once developed as a viable solution, Singapore can 'export' this solution to other countries and generate revenue. They can also bundle the implemented solutions for smart cities.
The crucial aspect is that Singapore has chosen a highly scientific approach to address its issues, and in the future, this city could become greener, offering potentially better living standards than it does today.
