Singapore, Biophilic City

This is a very interesting documentary from 2012 about the way various projects in Singapore are integrating nature and the city environment, and the effect that is having on the city. The film is introduced by Prof. Peter Newman, who is the Director of the Cusp Institute, and is in Singapore as a visiting lecturer at the National University of Singapore.

We see five of the projects that have been introduced, forming a wide range of innovative implementations across the city, including walkways connecting greenlands, a business complex that has been greened on its high-rise walls, a hospital that provides a green environment to recover in, a school that is bringing nature to its children, and greening a waterway, which runs alongside a hig-hrise settlement.

They are initiated by private and public sectors, professionals and DIYers, foreigners and locals, and gives a broad appreciation of the initiatives that are being successfully undertaken in a city where land is scarce and pricey.

The idea of Biophilic Cities comes from a book of the same name by Prof. Tem Beatley, who also features shortly in the film itself. There are interviews with other people involved in the movement, and it really gives an idea of what can be done when the guidance is coming from the right places.