Inspiration SingaporeAll five municipal councils begin initiative to help ease housing problems by focusing on ‘highrise’ living

When one thinks of vernacular architecture the image of highrise buildings and modern new towns rarely comes to mind.But in Singapore these elements are becoming a new vernacular. There, modernist highrise housing and new towns have become a new vernacular due to the ubiquity of the highrise and new town way of life; a shared value system and culture within the new towns shaped by and reflected in the architecture and planning of the new towns; the importance of relationships between spaces in the new towns; the ability of the architecture and planning of new towns to adapt to changes with society; and the acceptance, legitimacy, and identification of the highrise way of life.Now, an initiative has begun to introduce this Singaporean concept to help ease the housing problems in the Kingdom.With increasing population and land scarcity, the Ministry of Housing and Works has been making allout efforts to meet the growing demand, particularly in case of the needy and the poor to provide them a chance to live a comfortable life.Now the five municipal councils have joined forces to do their bit to help the ministry cope with the demand.A delegation of the councils has returned from a visit to Singapore where they discussed the housing facilities provided by the Singapore municipal council.As part of cooperation, the five councils will soon draft a camera crew to Singapore to make a documentary on the lifestyle there.The 21-member delegation to Singapore last December was led by Central Municipal Council chairman Ibrahim Hussain.The general secretary of the delegation and council secretary, Jassim Redha, disclosed to Bahrain Tribune the plans. “Our immediate step will be to seek the support of the authorities for the documentary. The councils will also take up the housing issue with the authorities concerned, especially the Supreme Council for Housing and Development to adopt the project.According to Redha, the visit mainly aimed to share Singapore’s experience expertise in the municipal field, especially in highrise buildings. “We met representatives of the Housing and Development Board which is the apex body dealing with public housing facilities.“It was a new experience for us to see how Singapore has solved its housing problems in the last 40 years. The board has provided about one million apartments, covering 85 per cent of the population.“Singapore has no cues for houses in that the board receives about 10,000 applications every year and builds as many housing units which include walk-in flats on ownership basis. Also, the country has a huge market for second- hand flats (borse),” he said.“The five councils plan to discuss the transfer of this know-how in highrise living, especially because we are in the designing stage of townships such as the Northern Town, the Manama Bay and Central City. We also want to benefit from Singapore expertise to develop landscapes, expand green belts by setting up new parks and garden networks,” Redha said.“We held talks with officials of the national park authority which has been expanding greenery in Singapore and changing the country into a big garden.”The delegation also met waste management control experts. “We will prepare a report and compare the system in both countries.”“The delegates also visited the Urban Redevelopment Authority which is in-charge of the urban designing and reshaping Singapore. “They have been working on a 10-year master plans since 2001. We also visited officials of Surbana, the biggest construction company in Singapore, which is known for its expertise in infrastructure development and town planning,” he said.