Introduction

Hi! I am Felicia Yeow Hui Yi from Class 204, index number 22. This is the Geography blog that I have created and I hope that by the end of reading this, you would be able to understand more about Land Supply. Thank You!

P.S: Please click on all the links and videos provided as they are extremely important. If you do not take a look at them, you might get a little confused as to what I am saying as I tend to link the links to the points I am saying. In some cases, you might have to do certain steps before you can get to the correct article/video/pictures. Please read and follow the instructions on the post carefully as they give you the step-by-step method. By the way, after this post, you have to go all the way back to the oldest (and first) post to start.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

Reflection

Change is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Take 20 years ago, for instance, in the 1990s. Were there things such as portable laptops, mp3s, iPads, iPhones and other forms of technology that we are able to enjoy and take advantage of today? Of course not! And these aren't the only things that can change, there are technology and medical advances, political situations, countries all around the globe, or, as this is our topic, environmental change.

As countries' economy and population grows, they become more competitive and require more resources as well. For example, fuel, electricity, water, food and land. While obtaining these valuable resources, however, they are actually also polluting the environment and stripping it of its resources.

There is no win-win or lose-lose situations when change is involved. There is only a win-lose situation, in which we, mankind, are the 'winners' and the environment are the 'losers'. Or is that so? Perhaps, when the environment 'loses', we are losing the battle at the same time too. Why do I say this? When we harm the environment, we are actually indirectly harming ourselves in the long run. Although we might not be the ones who will suffer the consequences, but by dooming the future, we are condemning the future generation to a similiar fate.

All humans are responsible for the change. Even by doing NOTHING, we are also responsible for it, as we are doing nothing about it but just standing back waiting for this time-bomb to explode. The question is: when the bomb explodes, can we run away from it?

Pictures of Green Lungs in Singapore

Okay, I'll start introducing them to you from the top. The first is an open-air field; the second, third and fourth are Upper Peirce Reservoir Park; the fifth and sixth are Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve; the seventh and eighth are Lower Peirce Reservoir Park; and lastly, the ninth and tenth are Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Conserving Land

By applying these measures to solve land constraint, we are also polluting the environment at the same time. There have been countless cases of pollution all around the world and they have brought numerous problems along with them. Even when not leaving Singapore, this little red dot on the map, we can still see evidences of pollution. For example, when Indonesia has an outbreak of forest fires, Singapore would become hazy and foggy. We can smell smoke in the air as well. Also, when pollution happens, we are also contributing to global warming, which would result in a rise in sea level due to melting ice-caps as well as a slight increase in temperature. Now, you may think, 'Aiyah, Singapore so hot already, hot little bit never mind one lah!' (My apologies for the use of Singlish, I was trying to illustrate how Singaporeans would usually phrase it). However, essentially, the point I am trying to prove is still the same. Although Singapore has a tropical climate and most people would usually brush the extra temperature off, what if the temperature increases every year? For example, if in 2008, the average temperature is 27.5 degree Celsius, 2009, 28.2 degree Celsius, 2010, 28.7 degree Celsius, and so on and so forth... If the temperature increases every year, no matter how subtle, we can go from 26 degree Celsius to maybe even 30 degree Celsius in the future!

Click on the link below to read the article 'Singapore sees record high temperatures in 2008':

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/248713,singapore-sees-record-high-temperatures-in-2008.html

Here are some ways we can help to save the Earth:

• Careful use of land resources to minimise damage to the environment.
• Creating nature reserves and national parks so as to keep these are for future generations.
• Limiting forests clearing to prevent global warming.
• Declaring certain land as green lungs in housing areas to create breathing space and a less crowded environment.

I will be talking about the 2nd and 4th point and elaborating on them. Besides having green lungs in housing areas such as open-air fields and community parks, there are also others which can be classified as green lungs - our nature reserves and parks! To name a few commonly-heard ones, there is Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Lower and Upper Peirce Reservoir Park, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, coastal parks, nature parks and botanic gardens. (I will be posting pictures of them in the next post, look out for them!)

Interesting (and shocking) fact: Scientists calculated and predicted that if the Earth's average temperature increases by another 6 degrees, all the ice-caps would have already melted and submerged the entire Earth (like in 2012, the movie, only infinitely worse since it is happening for real).

Here is a link to a video, called 'Global Warming 101'. Click on the link below, scroll down and look to the left hand side, click on the 'Global Warming' link that is under the heading 'Environment Videos', scroll down and click on the video titled 'Global Warming 101' to watch it (Sorry for any inconvenience caused while getting to the video):

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/

Wake Up Call

Falling asleep? Well, wake up! (I actually wanted to put an animated picture here to scare you awake, but that didn't seem like a nice thing to do. So, I put in a short mini cartoon link here instead. I think it's really cute and funny) Click on the link below to see what happens when you fall asleep in class:

http://www.glitter-graphics.com/graphics/436586

Maximising existing landuse in urban area

This means making the best use of existing urban land supply by building upwards and mixed land use. Well, it isn't exactly increasing land supply in Singapore, but rather a way (as mentioned before) to maximise land use. Since Singapore has a limited amount of space, we can't exactly have everyone living in one/two-storey house. Thus, the government decided, if we can't build outwards, why not build upwards? They came up with something called HDB (Housing Development Board). Now in Singapore, these are a common sight, and they provide housing for many Singaporeans. They can even go up to 25 storeys high!

Advantages:

• Multi-storey buildings provide extra space for housing, offices and recreation.
• People can enjoy the convenience of having a variety of activities in the same area with close proximity to one another.
• Scarce land is freed up for other purposes such as military and reservoirs, which would benefit the country in the long run.

Disadvantages:

• Having a large number of people in an area may result in traffic congestion, crowded environment and high noise level.

Land Reclamation

Another way to increase land supply is by land reclamation. As mentioned before, land is sorely needed in Singapore as it is a small country with a limited amount of space. Thus, the creation of new land is for the need of human activities.

What is land reclamation?, you may ask. Well, land reclamation means to treat an area to gain back land that was damaged or land that was covered by water. Here are the different stages and procedures needed for land reclamation:

• Stage 1 - Build wall to enclose area to be reclaimed.
• Stage 2 - Drain away sea water.
• Stage 3 - Enclosed area is filled with sand, soil, rocks or treated waste.
• Stage 4 - Filled area is stabilised by planting deep-rooted trees.

This is a good method as Singapore is surrounded by sea water and there is plenty of space to expand. However, this does not mean that it does not bring about its own disadvantages. For one thing, although there is plenty of space for Singapore to expand, there is still a limited amount of land that each country can reclaim. Land reclamation is also an extremely tedious and expensive process as buying and importing sand from overseas costs a lot of money.

Here is an article I found interesting, it is titled 'Singapore finds it hard to expand without sand' by Koh Gui Qing. Click on the link below to read it:

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=30328

Here are more detailed explanations as to what land reclamation really is. Land reclamation involves modifying wastelands or waterways to convert them into usable land, usually for the purpose of development. Reclaimed land can be quite expensive, since it is located close to the water in areas which are appealing to many settlers. People may be willing to pay a high price for reclaimed land, especially if they used to live and do business by the shoreline and the land reclamation has pushed their property inland. In some regions of the world, land reclamation happened so long ago that people are unaware that they are living and doing business on land which was created by artificial means.

Reasons for Land Reclamation

Large-scale reclamation has been undertaken in different parts of Singapore since the 1960s. This is necessary because of

• the small size of the country (total area being about 581.5 square kilometres prior to 1960).
• the rising demand for more land as population increases

More land has been made available for

• building more homes in private and public housing estates and recreational facilities for the growing population.
• expanding commercial and industrial activities and transport needs, the latest of which includes roads, expressways, the Mass Rapid Transit System, the port and airport facilities.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C006891/reclaimland.jpg

By 1990, the total land area of Singapore was 633 square kilometres. This was an increase of 51.5 square kilometres, which made up 8.9% of the total land area. With continuing land reclamation, land area in Singapore will increase by about another 100 square kilometres by the year 2030. There are, however, constraints as to how much more land the country can reclaim.Two limiting factors have to be considered.

• Land reclamation works in the past used to be carried out from depths of 5-10m. Today, reclamation works have to venture into deeper waters of around 15m and this will incur much higher costs.
• It is not so viable to pursue pushing reclamation further offshore because there is a competing need to maintain the sealanes and provide new and larger ports for the bigger ships to anchor in Singapore's limited sea space.

Here is an article I found interesting, titled 'Singapore says no need to consult Malaysia on land reclamation'. Click on the link below and read the article on that page:

http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020405af.htm

P.S: Here is an interesting fact about land reclamation in Singapore. Do you know that in the early years, the fill materials taken from the hills in Bedok, Siglap, Tampines and Jurong were used for filling the reclamation areas, which is why Singapore is virtually flat now. After they ran out of these local resources, the reclamation contractors started to import sand from the neighbouring countries.

Deforestation

One of the measures to solve land constraint is by a method called deforestation. Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging and burning. It is a good method as empty land is created and can be developed for many uses, such as meeting the demands for more land. However, deforestation brings along with it many disadvantages. Here are some of them: Click on the link below and click on the content header which says 'Environmental Problems'. Read it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation

The term deforestation is also used to describe the process of removing the trees in forests/woodlands, and converting the land to other use.

Since ancient times, Man has been adapting the environment to meet the growing needs of civilizations. From the cutting down of the first trees for fire, to the clearing of woodlands for settlers to build their homesteads, trees have long been at the mercy of Man. In many parts of the world, huge areas of woodlands and forests have been cleared over the centuries to provide wood for essential purposes such as fuel, ships, buildings, as well as to free the land for other uses.

Over recent years, however, we have become more aware of the wider issues of deforestation and the harm that it causes our planet. Just because this is something that we have been doing for centuries does not mean that it is right, or that we have the right to continue. We now know that 80% of the world's ancient forests have been destroyed.

A landmark study shows that Singapore has lost about half of our animal species over the last 200 years. Our nature reserves, which make up only 0.25% of Singapore's land area, are home to more than half of our native animals. The prospects for Singapore's surviving animals look bleak: 77% of the species are under threat, and most of them reside in our nature reserves.

Here are two articles I found interesting on the dwindling wildlife in Singapore and Southeast Asia, a problem largely due to deforestation and other acts of rapid, large-scale habitat destruction for agriculture and urban development. The first article is by Chang Ai-Lien, Science Correspondent, from Straits Times, issue July 24, 2003, 'Singapore has lost half its animal species: study' The second is from AFP, a Paris newspaper, 'Last chance to see - scientists'. Click on the link below and read both the articles (scroll down until you see the small header of the first article. Read it and go on to the second article, the one below the first).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wildsingapore/message/7

I have added a video on deforestation below. Enjoy:)

Getting Started - Land Supply

Singapore is the smallest country in Asia and one of the smallest in the world. Despite this, it is a successful city-state as it has diverse cultures and religions, is harmonious, clean, safe, vibrant, high-tech, and is a conducive place to live in. However, even though it is a prosperous country, there are still inherent restraints for its development. Below, we shall observe what they are and what can be done to solve this dilemma. The problem of land supply is not only seen in Singapore but in other countries as well.

Q1: Why is there land shortage/land constraint/land scarcity?

There are actually 2 answers to this question. The first is that there is a limited supply of land. You see, only 30% of the earth's surface is land and even then, not all of it is habitable. Some parts have extremely harsh climates or are unable to suit the necessities of humans, thus making them impossible to live on.

Singapore's population is about 4 million, but with the small amount of land that we have, the population density is about 6000 people per square kilometer. That is a relatively small area for so many people to live on!

The second answer is that there is a rising demand of land. With every year, the world's population increases and so does the standard of living, thus causing a greater demand for land for food production, housing, industries (population growth results in growing industries and businesses), transport and recreation. Sometimes, these demands might not be met as there are spatial constraints. All these are true for Singapore as well. _________________________________________________________
Now that we have a better understanding on the subject, the questions are, what are the measures to solve land constraint? Are these measures effective? We are now about to explore these questions. (However, we are only going to observe the different ways the Singapore government uses to increase land in Singapore.)

Rustle the Leaf

Hey, to make this blog more interesting and less monotonous, I have attached a link to Rustle the Leaf, a website with environmental comic strips. Just click on the link below and follow the instructions. Enjoy!

P.S: If the link isn't working, than go to the website below and click on the box that says 'Rustle the Leaf Comics Archive'

http://www.rustletheleaf.com/#