Reader Response Draft 3 - Developing Sustainable Infrastructure in New cities
In the article “Developing Sustainable
Infrastructure in New cities’, Cho (2014) claims that infrastructure in cities
needs to continuously upgrade despite having many ‘urban challenges.’ These obstacles are faced in new
cities such as King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). A group of students along
with the author formed a research group in Saudi Arabia to assess the
challenges and to see what companies are doing to overcome them. Cho and
her team of researchers utilizes the Envision Rating System to gauge whether
companies are following and maintaining the stringent sustainability standards.
Companies that meets these standards are eligible for the Infrastructure 360
Degree Award which is considered as one of the most prestigious award in the
infrastructure industry. The author also states that a well-planned project
will strengthen the community as many working and social environments revolve heavily
around infrastructures.
I agree with the author that having a
well-planned infrastructure improves the convenience of people’s daily
activities because infrastructures are in some ways connected with one another.
Such infrastructures include public transportations and schools as most
Singapore youths are taking public transport to schools daily. Transportation
infrastructure helps the working adults too, as many are turning to public
transportation due to the high cost in car prices. In a small country such as Singapore,
transport infrastructure is especially important due to the high density in
population. Sufficient trains, buses and other means of public transport are
imperative in catering for the huge influx of commuters during peak hours.
With an average of 2.9 million commuters daily
and an increasing population, it is important that the transportation
infrastructure keep improving and upgrading to cater to the high demand. On 7
July 2015, Singapore’s railway system, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), suffered a
massive breakdown during evening peak hour where more than 250,000 passengers
were affected for at least 3.5 hours. After weeks of investigation, the MRT
engineers and Land Transport Authority (LTA) claimed that the breakdown was
attributed to poor maintenance of electrical cable. With proper planning and
scheduling of maintenance dates, these breakdowns could have been avoided.
The author also mentioned that having a good
highway infrastructure could achieve ‘tangible social benefit’. I agree with the
author as Singapore has a high car density. In order to overcome this, LTA has
widened a couple of expressways to ease the congestion during peak hours. An
example would be the widening of the busiest expressway, the Pan-Island
Expressway (PIE) that started in 2011 and ended in 2013. I feel that this is a
good initiative made by LTA as many motorists will not be caught in peak hour jams
and be able to make it to work on time. There are many other expressways
namely, the Central Expressway (CTE) and Punggol Highway that have widened to
improve traffic conditions.
While I agree with the author that the Envision
Rating System is a good way to rate projects, I feel that it was designed for a
broad range of infrastructure types. The Envision Rating System does not focus
on a specific type of project and could possibly be too complicated for small
projects. Both the Greenroads and INVEST
rating systems are an alternative to overcome such limitations. The Greenroad
rating system is focused on the development of projects and how well they are executed.
The INVEST rating system focuses on planning,
design and construction of specific projects. I
feel that more than one rating system has to be used in order to achieve a more
holistic approach in rating infrastructure projects.
In conclusion, I agree with many points that
Cho has mentioned regarding how infrastructure can have social benefits. In a
city with a fast growing population, it is important that the building and
upgrading of infrastructure keep up at the same pace. Therefore, the government
plays an important role in developing the country’s infrastructure so that the
country can continue to be a financial hub.
Gregory L. Tan
- Last edited
18/10/2015
References:
Institute
for Sustainable Infrastructure. Retrieved from
https://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/rating/index.cfm
Kyle Malinda (29 Jul 2015). Cause
of massive NSEWL train disruption in July identified.
Sean
Vargas (2013). Sustainability Rating Systems: Broad based or narrowly focused?
Retrieved from http://cenews.com/article/9438/sustainability-rating-systems-broad-based-or-narrowly-focused
Widening of PIE between Clementi
Avenue 6 and Adam Road. Retrieved from
Wikipedia on Mass Rapid Transit.
Retrieved from
