Reader Response Final

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). Cho, the name of the author, moved to Saudi Arabia to assess the challenges and to see what companies are doing to overcome them. Cho utilized the Envision Rating System to gauge whether companies are following and maintaining the stringent sustainability standards. Companies that meet these standards are eligible for the Infrastructure 360 Degree Award, which is considered as one of the most prestigious awards 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 infrastructure. 

I agree with the author that well-planned infrastructures are in some ways connected to one another and have many social benefits because the people living in Singapore utilizes many different forms of infrastructure in their daily walks of life. Examples of such infrastructure includes public transportations and schools as most Singaporean youths are taking public transport to schools daily. Public transport 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, public 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 public transport 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 a ‘tangible social benefit’. In order to have a good highway infrastructure, 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 been widened to improve traffic conditions. With the widening of expressways, social benefits can be achieved as motorists will be able to both drive safely and be punctual for work.

Besides the transport infrastructure, a well-planned housing infrastructure is another key infrastructure that will achieve social benefits as well. Some of the social benefits include, having a flat to live in and cheap flat pricing. Singapore is a country with a growing population and it is important that the Housing Development Board (HDB) meets the growing demand. A poorly planned housing infrastructure could mean that new citizens will be unable to purchase a flat and could lead to higher rental fees and over subscription of a new Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise conducted by HDB. The recent Bidadari estate BTO exercise was launched on 17 November 2015 and was oversubscribed by more than 15 times for its five-room flat. This left HDB no other choice but to raise the price of the Bidadari estate BTO which left some buyers feeling cheated. It is important for the housing infrastructure to be well-planned so that citizens will be able to have a roof over their head and achieve social benefits.

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.

References

Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system. (n.d). Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. Retrieved from https://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/rating/index.cfm

Malinda, K. (2015). Cause of massive NSEWL train disruption in July identified. Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/cause-of-massive-nsewl/2014794.html

LTA completes widening of Pan-Island Expressway between Clementi Avenue 6 and Adam Road (2014). Upsized PIE ready to serve. Retrieved from http://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=563d24d2-ce28-484c-a961-00a3dd633b2c

Lim, P. (2015). Demand for Bidadari BTO flats continues to rise. Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/demand-for-bidadari-bto/2286918.html

Vargas, S. (2013). Sustainability Rating Systems: Broad based or narrowly focused? Retrieved from http://cenews.com/article/9438/sustainability-rating-systems-broad-based-or-narrowly-focused