You may not have noticed this, but Earth is gasping for breath. With our petrol cars, use of plastic, and concerning love for beef, we’re slowly killing the only habitable planet we have.
Thankfully, many countries have stepped up their efforts to combat climate change, and while some measures might seem insignificant, every little bit helps.
80 New HDB Estates To Get Green Makeover From 2020
If you’ve recently purchased a Build-To-Order (BTO) flat, you’ll have one more reason to celebrate because HDBs are going green!
Reader: You mean that the newer HDBs are sentient life forms that will somehow contribute to our fight against climate change?
Well, uh… not really. What I meant was that the Housing Board will be providing more integrated foliage and greenery in many new estates.
Over 80 new housing projects have been chosen for this new ‘green’ look. These include BTO developments like Tampines GreenView, Bedok North Woods, West Plains @ Bukit Batok, Anchorvale Plains, Tampines GreenBloom and Tampines GreenFlora.
According to The New Paper, the new estates will be progressively completed this year.
Provision guidelines
Now, you might think that the Housing Board is just going around planting trees and throwing some leaves around like confetti, but they’ve actually planned it out.
New greenery provision guidelines dictate that all new HDB developments must have a “green plot ratio” of at least 4.5, meaning the total “leaf area” of all the plants has to be 41/2 times the site area.
And some of these new additions will be practical too, as the new developments will also have around 45 to 60 per cent green cover, including tree cover that provides canopy shade to cool the estate and sweaty residents.
Dawson
Everyone knows that the new estates in Dawson are as stylish and posh as the protagonist in the James Bond movies (I can’t remember his name), but it will also be one of the first two estates to be built according to the new guidelines.
Dawson estate, envisioned to be “Housing in a Park”, will have more than 4,300 new trees from over 70 species.
Half of these have already been planted in the four completed housing projects: [email protected], [email protected], Dawson Vista, and Forfar Heights.
Existing mature trees within the estate are also retained during construction.
The Dawson estate, which wil be completed this year, will have a park-like environment with all seven housing projects connected via a series of green spaces and pathways.
Community gardens and farms
If you’re a resident of the Keat Hong estate, you probably know all about this green initiative because six new housing projects have been completed since 2016, offering roof garden spaces with amenities such as fitness corners and playgrounds that can be converted into community gardens and farms.
Residential blocks are also connected to the roof garden and the nearby neighbourhood park through a network of ramps and link bridges.
The HDB said that this green new initiative is part of efforts to create a liveable and sustainable environment for residents.
Let’s hope that this step is just one of many to clean up our environment and save our planet.
