Densely populated
by nigel on 06-Jun-2010
These are only approximate figures but they will do.
Singapore is of the order of 700 square kilometres in area. It used to be smaller but the Singaporeans have been doing a bit of filling in (or encroaching as the neighbours see it) over the years. There are about 5 million people on that area at any given time. So the sums say that each person has 140 unique square metres to live in. Or to put it another way if you take the population of Singapore and place them in a grid pattern then each person will be slightly less than 12 metres from the nearest four fellow inhabitants, except of course for those round the edges. Sounds reasonable.
So far so good, everybody has some room to build a little exclusive place and metaphorically swing a cat in it, but...
You need to be able to move from A to B so some of those people will be standing on the roads and roadside infrastructure, or the Metro lines (although new lines are being built under ground), or even the pavements. So, everybody needs to squeeze up a bit to allow for them to move out of the fast lane. The LTA reckons that 16% of the land is used that way. 11 metres apart then?
Then there are the wet bits, drainage ditches for the rains, plus the actual rivers, the odd lake and reservoir. So everybody shuffles a little closer.
Then we want some actual green spaces where the wildlife can be, plus some parks for people to meet on neutral ground, good for moral that. OK so squeeze up a bit more.
Shopping centres, lots of them! Office buildings and factories to make stuff. Lots of port area for all that stuff to come in and go out through. Anybody want to live over the shop? Utility buildings, a police academy, and the armed forces need somewhere to practice. You want to park your car anywhere you go. A zoo, lets have two, and a bird park! Theatres, you need them to bring some culture to civilization and museums. Lastly we need to eat and we need choice, so restaurants, cafes, food courts, everywhere.
Right well then, that's a lot of the space gone, where do you sleep, have some quality family time? If you stack them high then you have some of that 140 square metres to share with your family, And the neighbours are 3 metres away, above and below you.
Singapore is of the order of 700 square kilometres in area. It used to be smaller but the Singaporeans have been doing a bit of filling in (or encroaching as the neighbours see it) over the years. There are about 5 million people on that area at any given time. So the sums say that each person has 140 unique square metres to live in. Or to put it another way if you take the population of Singapore and place them in a grid pattern then each person will be slightly less than 12 metres from the nearest four fellow inhabitants, except of course for those round the edges. Sounds reasonable.
So far so good, everybody has some room to build a little exclusive place and metaphorically swing a cat in it, but...
You need to be able to move from A to B so some of those people will be standing on the roads and roadside infrastructure, or the Metro lines (although new lines are being built under ground), or even the pavements. So, everybody needs to squeeze up a bit to allow for them to move out of the fast lane. The LTA reckons that 16% of the land is used that way. 11 metres apart then?
Then there are the wet bits, drainage ditches for the rains, plus the actual rivers, the odd lake and reservoir. So everybody shuffles a little closer.
Then we want some actual green spaces where the wildlife can be, plus some parks for people to meet on neutral ground, good for moral that. OK so squeeze up a bit more.
Shopping centres, lots of them! Office buildings and factories to make stuff. Lots of port area for all that stuff to come in and go out through. Anybody want to live over the shop? Utility buildings, a police academy, and the armed forces need somewhere to practice. You want to park your car anywhere you go. A zoo, lets have two, and a bird park! Theatres, you need them to bring some culture to civilization and museums. Lastly we need to eat and we need choice, so restaurants, cafes, food courts, everywhere.
Right well then, that's a lot of the space gone, where do you sleep, have some quality family time? If you stack them high then you have some of that 140 square metres to share with your family, And the neighbours are 3 metres away, above and below you.