Singapore redefines a city with an abundance of green spaces

It is a challenging task to find room for green spaces. This is especially true for the world's most densely populated ones. Singapore is one such city and in downtown Singapore, when anyone wants a new park to stroll, he might have to turn toward the sky. The CapitaSpring tower is an example of what humans can create to ensure a mix of modern living amidst an abundance of greenery. Its soaring glass and aluminum facade apparently bursts open to reveal plants and trees growing hundreds of feet above ground. From the street level, anyone can queue up to enter an elevator that leads to this so-called "Green Oasis." The spiral garden path winds past exercise equipment, benches and tables on its journey through four stories of tropical flora. The 919 feet high, CapitaSpring is now one of Singapore’s tallest skyscrapers. 'Biophilic' skyscraper bursting with 80,000 plants opens in Singapore. The 51-story building houses over 80,000 trees and plants across 90,000 square feet of landscaped area, which also includes a shady covered plaza at its base.

On the top floor of the building, visitors can stroll through a massive 4,500-square-foot rooftop farm. It supplies fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers to three on-site restaurants. Incidentally, an urban farmer who tends to the garden estimated that it generates nearly 220 pounds of produce on a monthly basis. Most of the plant species found here are indigenous to Singapore and thus adapted to the year-round heat and humidity. This is a commendable achievement. Moreover, the placement of greenery follows a certain pattern. It "mimics the plant hierarchy of tropical rainforests." Those that require the least direct light lying beneath a "canopy" of taller trees. The tower can be considered a vision of a future where city and countryside can coexist with culture and nature. The government of Singapore has long promoted itself as a "garden city." This is a term applied to the country by its founding father and former prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. That was in the 1960s. Subsequently, planners have embarked on citywide tree-planting programs and landscaping projects in its vast public housing complexes.

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Egypt wants a new capital with a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland

#egypt #cairo #alsisi #disneyland #themepark Yes, the authorities in Egypt are planning to have a new capital east of the present capital of Cairo – the new capital would be able to house up to five million, would have a theme park that would be four times bigger than Disneyland and the 73,000-acre city would be completed in another five to seven years’ time at a cost of $45bn. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 14 March 2015.
It would be a new administrative and business capital as revealed by the Housing minister Mustafa Kamel Madbuli but, details of how the work would be funded has not been elaborated.
The objective is that the population of Cairo at present is around 18 million and this is expected to double in the next 40 years, hence the need for expansion.
The proposed city would boast of large green spaces, an international airport, a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland in California, 90 square kilometres of solar farms, and an electric train that will provide a link with Cairo. This new capital would house the parliament, presidential palaces, government ministries and foreign embassies.
Incidentally, the plan for the new city had first been announced last summer and some details have now been revealed. President Abdel Fattah al Sisi is hopeful that the plan would give a boost to kick-start Egypt's troubled economy.

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