There is not a single aspect of the human experience that has not been touched by technology. Everything from industry, to construction and transportation, to how we work has been fundamentally reshaped by the technologies which emerged in the second half of the 20th century. In this section, we discuss the ease of conducting Audit Compliance checks using digitally empowered devices during site inspections, and how this virtual information can benefit users in the value chain.
Mobile phones and tablets have become indispensable in our daily lives where we previously only communicate through text messages. We now have our entire social networks living in the cloud with constantly changing status and content – from news, emails, to online retailing, and messaging applications that define ourselves.
The proliferation of mobile applications can be defined under two broad categories. It allows users to either consume or to create content. These applications can be standalone or reside on a service platform for users to do both where content can be shared to a wider audience.
Rise of Mobile Application
The beginning of the new millennium saw a rapid surge of mobile content and applications. Mobile@HDB – a mobile application developed by Housing Development Board, cleverly captures information pertaining to the resale flat prices, market rental rates, and car park information. All this is done at fingertip convenience.
Closer to heart, “OneService” is a Smart Nation initiative by the Ministry of National Development – providing a convenient channel for reporting municipal issues within Singapore. Public users may submit feedback such as cleanliness of their housing estate, and report defects & maintenance issues of the common areas they live in – all these will be efficiently attended to.
Mobile applications like these not only enhance user experience, but also increases operational productivity by capitalising on user generated feedback – to drive efficiency in addressing complaints, and thus responsiveness in attending to them.
Various applications for the construction industry have been developed, and they are mostly geared towards developers, contractors and consultants. These are enterprise grade applications that provide users anything – from document management, to whole project management suite that spans the entire spectrum of a construction life cycle.
AUDIANCE– An Adaptive Audit Compliance Application
While there are various applications built for large scale projects, there are a few that focus on the user and how they would like to use them.
Here is where AUDIANCE, an Audit Compliance (how the name was coined) application developed by Surbana Jurong, is designed to provide; it allows users to create their own forms in a standardised work flow format to monitor and analyse data captured.
AUDIANCE capitalizes the use of any tablet (iOS or Android) as a data acquisition device to capture and record audit details and synchronises the information back to the cloud.
Users can access the information captured and act upon them either through the tablet or a web interface to manage the audits made.
While AUDIANCE is suited for the construction industry, it can easily be adapted to any other industry, based on how a user defines the data that needs to be captured.
How AUDIANCE Works
Inspections are essentially audit compliance checks, and AUDIANCE simplifies the process by providing a platform to customise audit inspections based on the user’s requirements. Imagine how life-changing it is to have the ability to create customised forms on a tablet, as opposed to manually writing on hard copies, printing, and distributing them to various other parties for follow-up and closure. A lot of man-hours is saved from this single exercise.
There is a gamut of administrative tools available in AUDIANCE to facilitate the management of all users.
It allows auditors to upload drawings as a reference plan to pinpoint (indicated by coloured pins, as seen in Diagram 1) an audit location. And each audit location can be further described with photos, comments and even status updates to indicate “non-conformance” or NC;
It allows the uploading of multiple layout plans, and the overlay of details for each inspection point;
Audit details can also be assigned to respective users, auditors or auditees – for the purpose of addressing audit comments and access details of each NC indicated, and take corrective action to close the NC observed.
Diagram 1: Coloured pins to indicate “non-conformance (NC)” of an identified site/location.
Depending on the level of data captured, AUDIANCE can be used in the following manner:
Monitor performance of audit closure. All parties involved in the project – from architects, to building contractors, site supervisors and business owners can have seamless access to the status of NC closures after rectification works are done (please refer to diagram 2).
Assess quality of work across all levels of the value chain. Dashboards allow developers, contractors and consultants to determine the number of NC generated from each contractor. Data can be drilled further for a granular assessment of performance and quality of work.
View live status of open, in-progress and closed audits. Changes and amendments can be made on or off-line and when there is internet connection, info-synching is available to everyone in the project.
Provide analytics on any performance indicators. The backend web interface allows customised analytics to be performed based on pre-defined performance indicators.
Diagram 2: AUDIANCE’s interface displaying details on requirements, and NC’s status closure after rectifications works are done.
Adaptation – Therein Lies Its Beauty
AUDIANCE works wonderfully as a quick deployment application – helping architects, engineers, building contractors and owners to view, monitor rectification works, and update progress on floor plans, based on real time capture. Once synced to the cloud, instantaneous changes are made on multiple devices with the latest updated information.
The beauty of AUDIANCE lies in its adaptability for users to define their own audit details in their respective work areas. Potential usage can include hand-over inspections, ISO audits, safety audits, conventions & exhibition contractors, etc, and is not limited to the construction industry.
With digitisation, AUDIANCE not only helps save the environment and increases productivity, it also tangibly improves the quality of work through analytics of the data captured.
The Future of AUDIANCE
Many captains of technology are predicting that in ten years’ time, half the jobs known today will be replaced with the advancements in automation. Without a doubt, the ever-advancing march of technologies like robots, digital services, self-help kiosk and AI will continue to reshape the world economy.
Likewise, applications will have to evolve and reshape itself to suit the current needs. There are plans for AUDIANCE to widen and deepen its capabilities without sacrificing the simplicity in using them. Further enhancements will also come from user generated feedback which will be incorporated in future versions.
An application such as AUDIANCE may not be an industry’s first but the flexibility and adaptability of the application places it in a unique proposition amongst similar applications. It is said that the only known constant is change, and so there is an impending need to embrace these technology changes, in order for organisations to function in a more robust and forward thinking manner.
This article is co-created by Surbana Jurong Academy.
Olympic host cities in the past have struggled, and some have failed, to establish a meaningful function for the infrastructure after the Games. The concept of legacy planning for global mega-events & venues, and even other build environments, is of paramount importance – to ensure sustainability and economic growth for the host cities, and beyond. All eyes on the upcoming 2020 Olympics where Tokyo stands host to, we discuss the pitfalls of previous host cities’ post-games infrastructural planning, and the shining example of London’s 2012.
Notable Olympic host cities’ failures were Moscow, Beijing to an extent, and probably the most prominent, Athens. Large investments were injected to create showpieces for the duration of the Games, but ended up as eyesores thereafter. The infrastructure fell into total disrepair and became derelict. This stemmed from a lack of vision for the long-term functioning of space and its components. The vision was short-sighted and ad hoc at best, and meant only for the successful hosting of the Games.
The Athens Games has come to represent this failure. Twenty-one of the 22 venues were abandoned after the Games concluded, lying as derelicts overrun with rubbish and weeds. The tales of empty, forlorn and rundown infrastructure are well documented. These abandoned venues represent the desire to showcase grandeur with no consideration for a post-Games use. The result is these massive structures lying idle and bleeding the economy.
Planning for longevity of these Olympic structures and their use should be paramount for such infrastructure (owing to its size and scale of investments), this should also be imbued into the design and planning of other built-infrastructure. Multiplicity of use or flexibility for conversion from one type of use to the other helps to extend the life-time of buildings, re-invigorate their neighbourhood locale and in return, massive savings to both the economy and the environment. Such examples of re-purposing existing infrastructure are being increasingly pursued in land-constrained and immensely-dense Hong Kong. A remarkable example is:
Chai Wan Factory Estate
The Chai Wan Factory (built in 1959), was converted into a public rental housing called Wah Ha Estate in 2015. This redevelopment project now houses about 200 families. Such retro-fitting not only involves revision to the spatial layout, but also installing required infrastructure to meet the latest health and safety regulations (especially those pertaining to fire safety and sanitation). The building is also graded by the AAB (Antiquities Advisory Board) as Grade 2 Historic Building.
Chai Wan Factory Estate re-furbished as a public housing estate. Source: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache
2012, London – Planning a Successful ‘Legacy’ Phase
With the fear of post-Games deterioration looming, London began with caution from the onset in 2005. Their solution lay in identifying, delineating and planning for the Games Mode, as well as Legacy Mode. The legacy planning intended infrastructure to provide use and function for a separate set of users after the Games. The challenge was to allow a smooth transition from the former to the latter, and to plan and build to cater to the needs of each mode without surplus in either. The dichotomy of planning every infrastructure in two modes was established. This translated to a concept of segregating the way the infrastructure is built for what would be needed for the present, vis-à-vis that for the future. Features that would remain and be used beyond the Games were to be built as permanent structures, while other surplus structures catering only to the Games would be of temporary nature and be removed, thus avoiding waste and redundancy.
The Olympic Games are often a catalyst to inspire the city to transform. London used the Olympics to regenerate a wasteland (the heavily industrialised area of Stratford, East London) into what is now called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The 2.5-square kilometre site housed most of the venues, residences and plazas. After the Games, the spaces now comprise two zones:
the north zone has parklands, a Velopark, a business district, training centres for hockey and tennis, and a low-rise development;
the south zone has the Aquatic Centre (reorganised for schools, the community, and elite athletes, with a reduced capacity), the Olympic Stadium with a reduced capacity (to bring the lucrative Premier League football to the park), high rise housing, and a 55-acre landscaping project by James Corner.
To realise the Legacy Mode, the built structures were purpose-built for transformation. This enabled the structures to either be scaled down or disassembled completely, allowing them to be stored for reuse later. The London Games ventured to build facilities with energy-efficient, sustainable, and recyclable designs, to reduce the energy and water demands, and keep the Games clean and green.
2012, London – Implementing the ‘Legacy’ Phase
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) began working right after the Games to bring life and fervour back to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The intended transformations of the venues, scaling down or disassembling, took time. “The sight of cranes and construction works across the site was necessary to reach the Legacy Mode”, said Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of the LLDC. It is important to phase different transformational activities so that the site does not lose the interest and vibrancy of the Games. Keeping the site void of activities other than construction for too long would make it an economic black hole.
In April 2014, LLDC reopened the parklands in the north zone and James Corner’s urban park in the south to entice people to return. The Aquatic Centre has been scaled down after the removal of its wings. It now functions as a swimming centre for the community at large. However, not everything went to plan. The greatest challenges have been economic ones relating to ownership and conflicts of interests. These have resulted in unintended design changes, construction cost overruns, and delays.
The prominent example of this has been the Olympic Stadium. The Legacy master plan intended its capacity to be reduced from 80,000 to 25,000, keeping it as an athletics stadium, which was needed in the city. However, for economic sustenance, ownership had to be leased. After six years of tussle, a Premier League football club—West Ham United—has been given a 99-year lease. But this comes with several changes to the Legacy plan for the stadium—it is no longer an athletic facility, but a prime Premier League stadium. The capacity was increased to 54,000. The stadium will have a new roof; the entire pitch was rebuilt with the requirements of a football ground; and a 1,000-capacity car park added. Despite these challenges, the Legacy Plan is scheduled to be completed by 2030. The people of the neighbouring boroughs acknowledge that the investments in the park have enhanced one of the most neglected and derelict parts of London. The space and the venues continue to garner the enthusiasm of visitors. More than the physical infrastructure, longevity has been about the community.
The illustrations below show some of the stages that helped to transform the London Stadium to a purpose-built Football stadium:
Illustration A: Necessary retrofitting to the structureIllustration B: Extending the Roof over the seating standsIllustration C: Adding stands and pavillionsIllustration C: Adding stands and pavillions
The London Olympic stadium during the 2012 Games versus The Olympic stadium now refurbished as a Football Stadium. Source: https://www.epse.org/london-olympic-stadium Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk
2016, Rio – So, What Went Wrong?
The London Games have successfully demonstrated a different paradigm with structures that could be transformed, scaled down, disassembled, and stored, looking past the two-to-three-week extravaganza to what is needed for the community and the city for years to come.
The Rio Olympics in Brazil in 2016 had incorporated several of these ideas to develop their infrastructure in their particular context. One example was the Handball Arena – named the Future Arena (Portuguese: Arena do Futuro), which was designed to be disassembled after the Games and reassembled as four schools serving the community. As of August 2017, these plans have however been abandoned by Rio’s mayor Marcelo Crivella. They had also planned for the Games Mode distinctly from the Legacy Mode, and phased out the entire development with an intermediate phase of seven years to transition from the Games to the Legacy Mode. Mis-management of the projects’ planning and implementation led to major budget over-runs. The consequent economic strains led to ad hoc fixes which defeated the ideas for the Legacy phase. The iconic Maracana stadium could no longer be operated due to budget deficits, and it was looted and vandalized; while the ambitious waste-treatment facilities never materialised and Rio continues to languish as it did before the Games.
Rio Olympic Venues a year later. (Photo credits: Reuters/David Gray) Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/2912748/rio-olympics-venues-abandoned/
2020, Tokyo – Planning for Another Legacy after 1964
The planning for the Tokyo Games also began in the right earnest from the very onset, while the Games was at bidding stage. Unlike the usual approach, Tokyo decided that they will retrofit existing structures throughout the city, including the same stadium built for the 1964 Games – an idea which has been supported and advocated by the International Olympic Council. The 1964 Games had succeeded in achieving for Tokyo what most cities like Athens and Rio aspired to achieve by hosting these prestigious Games. It marked Japan’s complete re-entry into the post-war world and bolstered the country’s incredible reconstruction effort. To repeat the success, Tokyo will re-use three venues from those Games, thus reinforcing the concept of Olympic Legacy:–
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, known for its eye-catching suspension roof design, was the venue for swimming and basketball in 1964, and will host handball in 2020;
Table tennis will be held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which was home to water polo and gymnastics in 1964;
Judo will return to Nippon Budokan.
Tokyo also plans to revitalize its waterfront by siting the Olympic village there. However, Tokyo is still grappling with time and cost as work surges ahead to open the Games in 2020. In the context of hosting events of this scale, and with a magnitude of cost and high-density urban projects, it makes sense that scalability and temporality are addressed in the early part of planning. At the same time, sound political will and temperament is required to realize the plans, without which they risk falling apart as seen in Athens and Rio.
Here, it is not about the permanency of static physical elements that ensures a structure’s longevity. Urban planners will also need to consider the flexibility of structural conversion in our design and built environment – and success lies in anticipating the versatility of change.
It is also about putting into place ideas that create lasting value for the community.
This article is co-created by Surbana Jurong Academy.
Every parent understands the challenges and rewards of teaching children. But can similar skills be employed in the business and office environment to help attract and retain the best staff?
What are the secrets of successful companies? Why do staff so often stay with companies and in roles, despite a lack of perceived benefits or financial rewards? In most cases, the answer lies with the boss.
Anecdotal and actual evidence so often suggests that job satisfaction and loyalty to a business is more likely to be governed by the quality of the relationship with your manager, than about the money that you earn. It is a factor that many successful global businesses now appreciate.
These firms understand that while it is critical to first recruit the best possible talent, retaining and developing these people requires more effort. My own experience suggests that the use of staff coaching techniques based largely on the parenting skills honed by humans over thousands of years are a key success factor in modern businesses.
What makes a good parent coach?
A good parent coach takes time. They address their child at eye level as they speak, listen and question actions and motivations. They talk to the child to help them to understand the reasons for a certain behaviour. They listen to help to ensure that the child understands and owns the route to improvement. They ask effective questions to ensure that the child will avoid repeating the same mistake in future.
Albeit with slightly different psychological language and maturity in a parent-child environment, these are precisely the coaching skills and actions used by successful leaders in businesses.
For example, careful use of the word “why” is important when addressing and teaching children as it has been shown to invoke a strong emotional response, prompting the brain to prepare for something bad that is about to happen. The result is that the body tenses in response, limiting our ability to behave in an open, creative way.
As parents, we typically understand this reaction, and so control the way we act with and speak to children. By choosing words carefully, the adult can create a more effective coaching environment that encourages open, innovative reactions from the child.
So instead of using “why”, parents tend to craft questions differently. For instance, instead of asking the child “why are you always making this mistake?”, they would rephrase the question as “how can daddy help you understand this better?”. In the business world, a frequent latecomer might be reformed by asking “how can I help you to be punctual?” rather than blasting them with “why are you always late?”.
Substituting words that can instil fear and apprehension, with words that are “fun” and “encouraging” is a key part of parent coaching, as is the use of a positive attitude when highlighting the child’s mistakes. Celebrating both successes and failures create a safe learning environment for the child.
Similarly, a good business leader or line manager knows how to use coaching business language to create a safe environment in the office for learning and creating value in a team.
The art of recognition and edification
Good parents communicate love and support for their children in different manners and gestures, as set out and discussed by author Gary Chapman in his book “The 5 love languages”.
through words of affirmation as parents tell their children that they love them;
through gifting and buying the child presents;
through quality time and being present for the child;
through acts of services and doing something such as sending your child to school;
through physical touch such as a hug, a pat or simply holding hands.
Although the business setting and relationships are clearly very different from that within the family unit, the five love languages are also present in effective teams. While used appropriately, respectfully and depending heavily on situation and gender, they can be interpreted by a team leader as:
Words of Affirmation: “Hey bro, great job in winning the contract!”
Gifting: “Hey guys, I’ve bought tea for everyone – keep up the good work!”
Quality Time: “Hi John, can you spare 20 minutes for a brief chat?
Acts of Services: “Guys, I can help deliver the tender document once it’s done.”
Physical Touch: a light pat on the shoulder to show encouragement.
The learning and working environment
Creating the right learning style and physical environment is crucial in helping a person to learn, as factors that apply as much in the home and school for children, as it does in the workplace.
The old school mantra insists that the child sits still and study continuously for two hours without any disturbance, distraction or external motivation. I used to adopt this coaching style as a parent and noticed that my daughters became fidgety very quickly, undermining their ability to learn.
I soon realised that this was the wrong approach. Like me, they are both kinesthetic and visual learners, so I started to change the way they study. I made them stand up or sit for a few minutes with frequent breaks to ensure that there is no monotony in the lesson plans; placed M&M’S and chocolate candy in front of them as a motivating reward and glasses of water to keep them hydrated.
I also introduced props to demonstrate how scientific principles work as this played to their desire for visual learning, and needed to see something in action in order to comprehend and understand better.
Underpinning these new learning styles was a stimulating environment which creates a sense of fun for the child. An organic chaos of furniture, music and even colour of the room, also helps to promote curiosity and playfulness, and the right fragrance and plants can assist.
Similar techniques can be brought into play in the business environment, to create a working environment that enables staff to effectively communicate and enjoy performing at their optimum level for the maximum amount of time.
Body language
Lastly, the importance of understanding body language cannot be underestimated as a coach – when addressing and teaching children, and when attempting to get the best out of adult teams in an office environment.
For instance, when parents address a child, it is best to sit side by side and at the same level to get the message across. It is a similar situation when addressing a trainee or employee in the business environment, where finding the most effective location to communicate can reap great reward.
Parents also understand the impact that simple adjustments to tone of voice and body language can make when communicating with children. Adopting this approach in business can boost performance and clarity when presenting projects or addressing issues within different business teams.
Conclusion
In the design, engineering and management sector, a firm’s competitive advantage rests squarely with the quality, capability and managing understanding of their staff. Creating the culture and learning environment to maintain and advance these skills is critical to sustaining this advantage.
I strongly believe that the development of coaching skills for leaders will be the weapon that makes an organisation strong amidst crisis or successes. In the business environment, we have much to learn from the best parenting skills and techniques seen all around us every day.
Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.
Technology is accelerating the pace of change and disrupting every aspect of modern life. Engineers of the future will face a critical challenge to lead, shape, plan and integrate the built environment solutions that allow society to live safe and rewarding lives. Aaron Foong explains why.
I vividly recall my school days when mechanical pencils were a novelty. Today, not only are there many more different writing tools to choose from but even the humble piece of paper has morphed into the modern electronic tablet.
Society’s choice of communication has evolved to embrace the digital world. In the same way, businesses are moving fast and changing to embrace the on-going digital disruption. Across society we see that digital is the new normal, disruption is real and technology has become the key enabler.
Engineers working in built environment sector have also seen emerging digital technologies promote tremendous change, impacting all aspects of work from design to procurement to construction and asset management. New applications and tools are emerging, driven by digitalisation of information and technological innovation.
New tools to solve new problems
The explosion in knowledge sharing has had a profound impact on our lives. At the click of a mouse or swipe of a touchscreen, we can now access the information we need and find answers to virtually any questions we ask.
In the old-world view, technology was an outcome of engineering. Today, we are riding the reverse wave, with technology now very much a tool assisting our engineering processes. It enhances our creative process and helps to maximise all relevant resources as we solve problems. Where technology was once an operational requirement, it is now the clear strategic differentiator. In the built environment, applications like Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) are increasing our visibility and communication clarity.
The economy in which we work is influenced by the global marketplace for engineering services; we see a growing demand for interdisciplinary and system-based approaches and an increasingly diverse talent pool.
But critically, the steady integration of technology into our infrastructure and lives also demands that engineers develop safe mechanisms and appropriate strategies to protect the public from the risks that this disruption brings.
Understanding the problems; communicating new solution
Predicting the future with precision is not possible. However, scenario-based strategic planning can help us understand these risks and future possibilities. It can assist our thinking about the future of engineering. Within the realms of our intellectual capacity, we must be continuously challenged to anticipate future needs, find resilient propositions and build on ideas that are cost effective. And at critical junctures, it will require paradigm shift in our thinking to challenge the establishment.
This will require team players with effective communication skills and an understanding of the complex issues of a global market and the social context in which we operate. They must be able to articulate the value proposition of engineering and infrastructure investment to both a technical and public audiences.
Ideas need to be practical and pragmatic, and engineers must remain open, flexible, receptive to change and respectful. And with technology increasingly providing engineers with a common pool of tools, the future differentiators will be the quality of articulation and rigour of the thought – put into finding and delivering cost effective, resilient and practical engineering designs.
In tandem with society – delivering experience and integrity
Regardless of technology, it will be experience and innovation, plus the ability to cross- fertilise ideas, that will enable the engineering community to add value through its services.
Such innovation is likely be through application of approaches from different sectors. The context of a great design is no longer viewed from the angle of aesthetics, but more often, from holistic qualities. These might include fitness for purpose, safe design, energy efficiency, flexibility of future reuse or the way that infrastructure compliments its surroundings over the long term.
Integrity must continue to underpin the core principles of our engineering work. We must be constantly reminded of the relentless duty that we owe to the public at large and to be honest in our day-to-day delivery of work. While we engage in ever bolder design solutions that push at the boundaries of engineering possibility, we must always be guided by first principles of safety.
This approach will preserve the quality of our work in this complex environment. In our day-to-day operations, we are habitually guided by the essential scrutiny that cautions us on the probability of error against the possibility of success. This helps to cultivate an honest, down to earth approach, coupled with the ability to graciously admit what we could have done better.
Even more so when we increase our carbon footprint on Mother Earth, we must work hard to ensure that sustainability becomes an important driver. Incorporating life-cycle thinking in all engineering design will become the norm; solutions today will need to be taken into account and adapt to the inevitable improvements, and innovation brought about by future technologies.
Some believe that the emerging digitally enabled era will eventually eliminate the profession of Engineers. I disagree that this will be the case.
We have seen, for example, how IKEA has changed the furniture industry, raising questions on whether the same will happen on a larger scale across the built environment; will the digitally print and flat package be the eventual outcome of our built environment? It doesn’t sound too remote and the future possibilities of technology are endless.
And if that is the case, it is even more vital that the engineer’s brain remains focused on solving society’s fundamental problems, fully integrating core knowledge and skills from across the various disciplines.
The opportunities, for the future of engineering – and challenges – are likely to be even greater. As the economic competitiveness, military strength and standard of living of a nation are closely linked to its engineering ability, we will continue to play a pivotal role in this collaborative effort, solving societal problems long into the future.
However, engineers will have to embrace a major leadership role in this technological society. This will see us shape, plan, generate and integrate new and possibly revolutionary solutions and ideas to meet growing challenges in our society.
We are all participants in a dynamically changing and evolving interconnected world, guided by the hands of social, cultural, political, and economic forces. So, as we continue to design endless exciting future possibilities, we must remember to reflect upon the fundamentals of professionalism.
As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Astute advice indeed as the global race of change continues to accelerate. This is no moment for engineers to rest.
Ecotourism should be about the experience rather than mere sightseeing. Its focus ought to be on the preservation and wellness of the indigenous ecosystem, including the local communities. At its best, ecotourism can rejuvenate the ecology and induce development for the communities; at worst, it can degrade the environment and people that depend on it. Which way it falls depends on how a balance is struck.
How much is developed to make it a viable tourist destination vis-à-vis how much is left pristine
The 180-kilometre long Mekong Discovery Trail in Cambodia was launched in 2007. It is a network of journeys through the most natural and least populated areas along the river, allowing travellers to get close to some of Cambodia’s least-seen areas by bike, boat or foot. The trail enables visitors to pace themselves and penetrate deep into the heartland, letting them experience native communities and undisturbed nature.
Mekong Delta Floating Market, Cambodia
This project was implemented in four phases to build on the unexplored potential of the river valley in northeast Cambodia. The first couple of phases identified the prospective circuit and its capacity to attract tourists when developed. The third phase brought in the investment to develop the circuit and promote the trail. The final phase was solely about involving the local communities by setting up micro-businesses required to provide only the most basic facilities along the trail—food, accommodation and guide. Thus, with limited intrusive development, the project was able to affect the lives of six communities living here, 80 percent of whom resided below the poverty line.
Travellers live amongst these communities in their dwellings according to their lifestyles; they explore beaches, orchards, rice fields, ancient Buddhist temples, etc. They get close to endangered species like river dolphins, plus other native fauna and flora. This concept of a rough-it-out eco-trail permits a limit to be set on infrastructural development associated with tourism that might otherwise have compromised the very thing that people come to see.
The El Nido Marine Reserve Park in Palawan, Philippines, is another example of cautious penetration. This pristine island archipelago, rich in extensive beaches, coral reefs and hidden lagoons, has been carefully developed to bring in tourists. Resorts are built away from ecological areas, allowing visitors to stay comfortably without disturbing these habitats. The park illustrates a government’s policy that critically juxtaposes commercial interests—investment into local infrastructure—against the need to preserve the native natural heritage. It mandates that commercial developments be married to investments for the community and environment, thereby protecting the fragile ecosystems. Such balance entails macro-level planning and micro-level deliverance.
El Nido Marine Park Reserve, Philippines
Attract thousands or limit access to a few to preserve
During the peak season of trekking in Nepal, there may be as many as four visitors for every one local Sherpa resident. Consequent increase in activities for construction, trekking, food and beverage have inflicted serious damages to the local ecosystem. Swathes of rhododendron forests have disappeared in the area around the Annapurna Circuit to provide for the trekkers’ needs. The receding tree line bears testimony to the fact that locals have excessively harvested wood—needed to support tourism—from lower ridges, rendering them barren and denuding populations of native fauna and flora. Certain areas in these circuits have seen tree lines recede by up to 8 kilometres in a period of 15 years.
Heavy loads carried by a local porter in NepalLitter near lodge on the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal (Photo credits to: www.paulprescott.com)
This is accompanied by a deluge of plastic and other garbage cast into the scenic Himalayan landscape—earning it the epithet of “highest dump on earth”. The absence of policy and controls has meant that the tourists who embark on treks ultimately cause degradation to the ecosystem, which they had hoped to experience. Efforts in recent years have been to regulate visitors and manage resources.
Traditional institutions prevalent amongst the local Sherpa like the forest guardian system have been revitalised to manage and improve the environmental conditions with government support. Parallel initiatives have been made by the government and several organisations to promote offbeat trails, which offer a more serene wilderness experience to the trekkers. It also helps relieve the pressure on the overtly popular trails like the Annapurna Circuit. Strict regulations and control of facilities, like those in the European Alps, are necessary to preserve the ecosystem and yet remain popular without severely restricting visitors.
The marine parks of Malaysia are also much sought-after and promoted as ecotourism destinations. A study by the School of Housing, Building & Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, suggests that although Penang’s carrying capacity has been exceeded, there has not been any effort to limit the number of visitors. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has made similar assessments. Resort building continues unabated and their operations cause freshwater intrusion and sedimentation, threatening the survival of corals. Chemical run-off from human settlements and farms are competing with coral growth and accelerating coral bleaching. The situation is fast approaching a critical threshold.
Benefits the community and the place can derive vis-à-vis the income it can generate
Several regions use tourism to act as a springboard of opportunities for locals, who derive income and other benefits that ameliorate their lifestyles and pace the economy. To proliferate community-based tourism (CBT), governments offer training to rural/ethnic communities, which enable them to work as tour guides, operate homestays, etc. CBT has enabled ethnic and ecotourism to proliferate in many regions, especially in Southeast Asia. The ethnic people have become powerless commodities in the tourism market. Such a situation has been termed as cultural commoditisation.
Sapa, North Vietnam, is one such picturesque destination nestled amongst the mountains that attracts thousands of foreign and domestic tourists each year. From 1997 to 2007, the tourist footfall increased tenfold to 300,000. More than 90 percent of the tourists are attracted to its remote mountainous rural areas to experience life amongst the nine ethnic communities residing here. These tribes have traditionally relied on agriculture and forestry to eke out a living. The remoteness of the region insulated and preserved their culture, making them a unique draw for these tourists.
The main benefit from this growing tourism industry has been monetary income. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, income from tourism in 2007 was 22 times higher than in 1990, amounting to more than US$3 billion per year and accounting for 4 percent of GDP. However, in Sapa, all CBT-based businesses and activities remain confined to its town area, while 80 percent of the ethnic population resides in the remote rural areas outside the town. Besides putting on display their ‘ethnic household’, their only participation in the tourism industry has been restricted to selling traditional handicraft products. Yet, income from these tourist sales is much higher than in the past from agriculture or forestry and the work is less strenuous.
A survey conducted amongst the Yao tribe in Ta Phin village showed that almost 100 percent of the households have shifted to tourism-based occupation, with 80 percent of them selling handicrafts. It also showed that at least 46 percent of them earned at least US$140 annually, allowing them to significantly ‘improve’ their lifestyle. Such income potential has caused many locals to travel every day from their villages with souvenirs on their back to work as street vendors in the town. The majority of them are women and children. CBT here becomes income-centric; its benefits are largely superficial.
Tourism interests feign only a superficial sense of development wherein the locals desire a real change to their lives akin the urban lifestyle
Sapa highlights the problems of income biased tourism, which can result in deep changes to existing socio-economic patterns. This shift, it could be said, has resulted in degradation of the traditional agriculture-based societies. Nearly 100 percent of some villages in Sapa district have shifted their economic base to tourism-based activities. Both poverty and ease of earning from tourism has forced this shift. In Ta Phin, more than 20 percent of the households of the Dao and H’mong tribes have their women and female children working as street vendors in Sapa town.
These tribal vendors started by selling local handcrafted products and costumes, but increasing tourist numbers and demand have caused many of these items to be mass-produced, even imported. Increased tourism has also forced changes in farming structure to meet food demand; while demand for timber and non-timber forest products has caused severe depletion of local environment and forests. Worse still, ethnic groups are often put on show by tour operators to simulate village festivals whenever there is demand from tourists, not because of an actual tradition. Thus, the ethnic people have become powerless commodities in the tourism market. Such a situation has been termed as cultural commoditisation. Local products, customs, rituals and ethnic arts become touristic services for touristic consumption.
This proliferation of ethnic vendors and commoditisation of ethnic cultures is causing Sapa to lose the very essence for which tourists flock there. This situation in Sapa has been aptly portrayed by one travel website, which states that to see communities become so completely dependent on tourists suggests that the soul of the place seems to be lost.
Ecotourism is only necessary for far-flung pristine nature areas
Urban ecotourism was termed controversial at the 2nd World Ecotourism Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2010. It represents inherent contradictions of urban and nature-based tourism activities, yet it has been gaining momentum. With 50 percent of the world population residing in urban areas, urban conservation and Greening projects represent a great opportunity.
Singapore, with its city-in-a-garden concept and burgeoning park-connector network, has woven eco-destinations into its urban fabric—bringing nature close to the people. Looking beyond its nature reserves, it has created novel projects such as the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park project—a biodiversity hub in the heart of the public housing estates—and Gardens by the Bay. Similar urban programmes have been implemented in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Venezuela and South Africa.
Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Singapore
The challenges facing ecotourism are in reality also applicable to tourism in general. It should strive towards an authentic experience and meet high standards of social and environmental impact.
Prof Raphael De Kadt, Head of the Undergraduate Studies Department at St. Augustine College of South Africa, suggests that “policymakers concerned with tourism development should strive to make the conventional more sustainable”. All tourism needs to be more than a panorama; it should instead be about real engagement with nature.
This article was first published in FuturArc magazine and has been republished with permission.
Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.
Twenty years ago, Singapore set out a daring ambition: to build on its position as South East Asia’s premier global tradingcenter and establish itself as a worldleading knowledge hub. Throughout this journey, Surbana Jurong’s expertise has helped to guide the project from vision towards reality.
Singapore has always been a nation with ambition. Never more so in the 1990s, a new plan emerged to transform this small island nation from an independent, world leading trading center, into a global, knowledge-based economy.
The ambition required a new type of infrastructure. A purpose-built environment to attract the new breed of fast-growing information and intelligence-based industries and research and development companies – to create a world leading destination to which global talent and entrepreneurs naturally gravitated and turned their visions to reality.
The one-north development zone is the result of this ambition. It builds on the cluster strategy originally proposed in the late 1990’s by the Singapore’s National Science and Technology Board, now renamed A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology and Research). The name one-north itself is intended to reflect the scale of ambition. Originally called simply the Buona Vista Science Park, it was rebranded as one- north to reflect Singapore’s location 1 degree north of the Equator, and designed to avoid the vision of one-north being defined by its locality or the word Science.
It was a collaborative initiative involving various statutory boards and government agencies which formed a steering committee to guide direction and chart the roadmap for implementation. The committee comprised members from the Ministry of National Development (URA, HDB), Ministry of Law (Singapore Land Office), Ministry of Trade and Industry (EDB, JTC Corp) and Ministry of Transport (LTA). JTC Corporation took the leading role of developing and implementing the project.
The mission was clear: To gather and encourage communities of likeminded businesses, focus investment and create technology hubs dedicated to research and development. The master plan was envisioned as a mixed-use development incorporating different Work-Live-Play-Learn elements.
Long term partnership and collaboration
World renowned architect, the late Zaha Hadid, was commissioned in 2001 to produce the master plan and created a framework and concept for the development. However, throughout this 17-year project evolution, Surbana Jurong has been at the heart of work to create the physical manifestation of Hadid’s grand master plan. It was gradually realized through tangible buildings and infrastructure, with every stage reshaping the built environment to meet the needs of the community.
Each project in the development has presented unique challenges. As such the projects clearly highlighted many critical elements of the firm’s philosophy and approach to planning, design and construction.
Community is key. One unique feature for one-north is the requirement for all developers to invest in public artwork worth a minimum of 0.5% the construction cost of the project. The result is an art accessible and culturally rich area to which businesses and the community is drawn, underlining the mixed-use characteristics envisaged by the master plan and the organic growth of one-north.
Throughout this time, the work has evolved to reflect the various phases of developments in the diverse land use clusters and its industrial “epicenters”: from the initial Phase Z.ro start-up catalyst incubators, to the Biopolis biomedical research centers, Fusionopolis info-communications technology, and data center.
Vision for the future – Phase Z.ro
Building out this bold masterplan required JTC as the developer and Surbana Jurong its appointed consultant to lead a clear vision to kick start construction of the vast one-north development site. This began with the Phase Z.ro (pronounced Zee-Ro) development which effectively started the project, acting as a catalyst for development and an incubator for start-up technology companies.
This rapidly erected start-up cluster, located adjacent to the Ministry of Education headquarters, was constructed in 2001 from reused shipping containers and originally designed for just three years of temporary use.
The goal was to create a rapid, new and exciting buzz around the site; to draw in technology companies and so promote the one-north sector as next big moment in Singapore’s development. The project comprised 60 steel shipping containers stacked two units high, with common circulation spaces and shared amenities weaved between – designed and delivered at fast-pace to mirror the constantly changing and growing ethos of start-up technology and IT companies.
Tenants were provided with high speed broadband connectivity, shared meeting rooms with teleconferencing facilities, security and maintenance services. The development also doubled as JTC’s on site office as the next phases of one-north were rolled out.
Slightly later than intended, the offices were dismantled in 2008 with the containers and other components recycled for new uses. However, this interim and temporary use of the site had, in effect, set out the vision for the project as the breeding ground for new high tech businesses and talent.
Design with community and collaboration in mind – the Biopolis Cluster
Phase Z.ro reflected the vision for the one-north project – encapsulating the evolving nature of the knowledge industry, where start-up units dream of growing into larger companies, to become tenants of buildings and then eventually to own buildings as their businesses expand. Ideally, this rapid growth process would take place within one-north, with its growth matching the businesses around it.
As an enticing beginning, it set the pace for projects that followed. It also optimized the use of the land while the eventual permanent land parcels and infrastructure within the master plan were concurrently planned and rolled out.
The design of the Biopolis Cluster by Surbana Jurong was the start of this permanent plan; conceived as a biomedical research-and-development hub, and creating a cluster of professionals intended to encourage collaboration between major biotechnology companies and public research institutions.
Seven buildings, ranging from eight to 13 storeys, were completed by 2003 and are interconnected by skybridges and an extensive pedestrian network through its vast landscape and greenery.
The resulting design is a unique biomedical community. Its location adjacent to the Science Parks, the National University of Singapore, the National University Hospital, the Singapore Polytechnic and the Ministry of Education buildings, maximises the capability and resources across various disciplines and encourages greater collaboration.
The Matrix Building and its landscaped plaza form the “epicentre” of the entire Biopolis complex and with its cafes, shops, restaurants, child care centre, fitness club and a specialty bookshop, is designed to encourage community interaction. Six other buildings in the complex – Chromos, Helios, Centros, Genome, Proteos and Nanos – form an “outer ring” to the epicentre and shared facilities such as the library, laboratories, meeting rooms, and auditoriums, are again, designed to encourage collaboration.
Embracing a commercial approach to the public realm – Biopolis Phases 2 and 3
It was always clear to the team at Surbana Jurong that Biopolis Phase 1, being the first phase development at one-north, would be a critical catalyst for investment in future developments. It would set the design standard for all subsequent developments and so become the main shop window for attracting the all-important future private investment.
This clear understanding of the commercial realities of property development meant that the Biopolis Phases 2 and 3, completed in 2008 and 2011 respectively, saw private sector developers roll in with confidence to support this government initiative.
Phase 2 was developed by Ascendas-Singbridge[1], while Phase 3 was by Crescendas Bionics[2]; both investments were direct testimony to the Biopolis 1 success and the appreciation that high, consistent design standards were key to one-north’s long term commercial attraction.
Technical and architectural excellence – Fusionopolis
The heart of this private sector attraction to one-north has also been a commitment by Surbana Jurong and other development partners to delivering technical and architectural excellence. The world class masterplan has, in reality, been consistently built out with world class infrastructure design and construction.
Fusionopolis Phase 1, completed in 2008, is one such example. The 1.2-hectare development is the first project implemented in one-north’s Central Exchange district and creates a cluster for the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and Media industry sectors.
Quality is at the heart of the Surbana Jurong design for the project, construction of which kicked off in February 2002. At its core are two unique composite steel and concrete structure towers – which at 22 and 24 storeys are the clear landmark buildings for the otherwise low rise one-north development – a retail podium, a flexible-seating theatre pod and six basement levels.
The design is for a truly vertical city, featuring a high density and integrated mixed-use layout comprising offices, retail, food and beverage outlets, health club with a roof-top swimming pool, serviced apartments and a digital arts theatre. Direct integration with the one-north MRT station ensures that the building is accessible as a destination in the one-north zone.
A cluster of curved sloping roofs creates a dramatic silhouette in the predominantly mid to low rise suburban landscape to underline the quality of design. Meanwhile, the technically intricate curtain wall façade and distinctive theatre pod – supported by a single “tree column” structure over a geometrically complex skylight – demonstrate the complex delivery – unique, yet simple and exciting.
Next steps for one-north and Surbana Jurong
Over the last two decades, the one-north project has enabled Surbana Jurong and its previous business incarnations to showcase unique built environment design talent and problem-solving skills. It has been a rich journey, allowing teams to gain great insights into the needs of life sciences, biomedical research and R&D professionals and then find the most appropriate infrastructure solutions.
We have learnt the value of a focused approach to meet the project requirements. And we have had to understand and design for flexibility and future proofing to meet JTC’s objective of catering to a wide range of tenants and users with specific needs.
It has been important work, helping to create not only a new development zone but also a major step for Singapore as it moves to become a world leading hub for the knowledge industry; ensuring that the projects have the capability to support as wide a range of business operations and so creating a major destination for technology entrepreneurs and scientific research.
The relevance of this is far-reaching, especially in the wake of one-north’s success in the eyes of the world. It is a thriving area, where an established scientific business community and start-ups companies mix effortlessly with universities and government institutions.
Yet the project is far from complete. Our journey continues as the one-north masterplan moves forward to its next investment.
The design of Biopolis reflects the site’s existing ground contours. While the masterplan dictates its high density, high plot ratio and tight fragmented plots, the buildings are sympathetic to the site in that the existing terrains and trees are retained.
The building configuration and envelopes of Biopolis Phase 1 channel air into the spaces between, thereby generating a natural cooling airflow. Innovative systems such as the District Cooling System were also implemented, removing the need for air-conditioning cooling towers to be built into each building. This reduces the dissipation of heat from individual buildings and to preserve the roofscape.
The fragmented clustering effect also meant that smaller buildings retained distinct identity yet were integrated as a cohesive whole. The outdoor spaces between the buildings provide contrasting open public areas alongside more private and intimate streets and green pockets. As such, its compactness breaks away from the traditional street setbacks and provides shade to public open spaces, encouraging outdoor interaction and so boosting community interaction.
Design ingenuity was critical to fit the research laboratory requirements within the irregular building forms, dictated by the site configuration, while maximizing the building efficiency.
Similarly, designers worked hard to maintain the unique feel to each building while creating an identify of the overall Biomedical complex. A priority was to protect the privacy of each research institute while promoting a vibrant and stimulating hub for sharing of ideas and meeting of minds.
Biopolis also showcases modern technologies and government initiatives such as a Pneumatic Refuse Conveyance System for refuse disposal, a system designed with the community in mind. Energy conscious approaches, such as integrating photovoltaic cells within building façades, an Intelligent Building Automated System to actively reduce energy use.
Case Study 2: Fusionopolis
Conceived as an iconic structure for one-north, the Fusionopolis building possesses a distinctly recognizable and memorable external form. The architectural expression of the structure is achieved through the elegant and efficient use of structural steel in combination with reinforced concrete core walls.
Horizontal mega-trusses cantilever from the central core walls with each truss supporting approximately seven floors above. This also enables the floors to be elevated from the ground, thus affording expansive and structure-free spaces and creating a seamless ground plane between the building and its surroundings.
Sky Bridges strategically connect towers to offer visitors an exhilarating experience, while architectural lighting effects enhance the building at night. The skylight above the concourse draws vision upwards to the underside of the egg-shaped theatre pod and to the two towers rising above.
Shared amenities serve not only the users of the building but also the surrounding community, in particular the podium retail area which creates a buzz of activity. The deliberate interweaving of pedestrian routes through the development, a direct link to the MRT station, and the interconnecting voids and spaces at the podium and via the elevated SkyBridges, add to the connected feeling and so foster collaboration and cross-disciplinary cooperation.
Fusionopolis also boasts 13 public sky gardens, each landscaped with distinctive themes. These high-rise gardens provide visual relief, cooling opportunities and social interaction spaces while contributing to Singapore’s overall urban greening initiatives.
[1] Ascendas-Singbridge Group is Asia’s leading sustainable urban and business space solutions provider with Assets under Management exceeding S$20 billion.
[2] Crescendas is a multi-industry group with business interests in properties, hotels, building materials, logistics and distribution services, innovative and technological products, green energy and environmental friendly products.
Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.
Digital technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Machine Learning and Mixed Reality are set to disrupt the global construction sector over the next few years, raising productivity, boosting efficiency and providing better outcomes for clients. Businesses like Surbana Jurong (SJ) recognize that to succeed, industry must go beyond just introducing new technologies, and focus on changing traditional practices.
The global construction sector stands at the brink of exciting change; ripe for major digital disruption and with the opportunity to embrace new technologies that will transform productivity levels, modernize project delivery and bring the industry into the 21st Century.
Yet for many, this journey into unchartered territories will herald an era of uncertainty. To borrow a phrase from Charles Dickens’ classic The Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
While the opportunity in terms of greater efficiency, customer service, safety and value for money is compelling, the challenge is monumental for an industry which has remained largely unchanged in the past 2,000 years.
Technology holds the key
In its latest report, Reinventing construction: A route to higher productivity, the McKinsey Global Institute highlights digitization as a key to unlocking a $1.6 trillion opportunity in the sector alone. Construction, it points out, continues to evolve at a “glacial pace”.
And as McKinsey’s December 2015 digitization index shows, when compared to all other industry sectors across the US, construction is rooted at or very near to the bottom when it comes to embracing the opportunities of digital technology. (see Exhibit 1 below).
Exhibit 1
While there is clear evidence that this slow start is holding back the sector, it does present a significant opportunity to disrupt from the status quo: for construction to move away from its traditional paper-based and labor-intensive practices, and benefit from the falling cost of technology, higher quality information and enhanced collaboration through better information sharing and visualization.
Business as usual is not enough
Regardless of the opportunities that can flow from new digitized working practices, navigating change on this scale requires fundamental review of the way companies operate and significant adjustment to the way staff think and work.
Success means putting in place strategies and resources to understand and master not only the technology required for change but also the cultural challenges that will be met along the way. A case in point has been the introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to the sector. Despite significant benefits to productivity, companies have dragged their feet in implementing them, forcing governments to now make the use of BIM mandatory for submissions.
A different mindset and an open culture is clearly needed to break away from the norm. Fundamentally, it is not about the technology itself, but rather how we change businesses operations to embrace the benefits that technology brings, and how we collaborate with one another as a result.
People connect the dots
SJ embarked on its own digital journey about a year ago. It has been an interesting journey not least because the organization has grown three-fold – by headcount and by revenue – and many more times in terms of business complexity.
Recognizing that people are at the core of our business, we chose a more people-centric approach to our digital transformation journey rather than adopting a pure technology-centric play. The idea was to engage the business units and bring them along, help them understand and experience the value of digital, thereby helping the organization to gain traction on its transformation. This was done through repeated engagement sessions, idea generation workshops and probing business units to share their clients’ and their biggest pain-points.
We also avoided creating an isolated team to develop new digital tools for the business on its own. Instead the innovation team works across the organization – creating a mindset that is essential to sustaining the digital journey and motivating people to embrace new ideas and come forward with more.
As we look back on this journey so far, three program design choices have made a clear difference to the success of our transformation:
Journeys, not solutions
As we established our digital plan together, we initially found ourselves focused on the technology – discussing what to implement, which tools were cutting edge, and how to apply them.
However, what really helped was to reverse this thinking, and start our transformation by looking at the journey of our customers. The goal was to understand the problems that needed to be solved so that our clients could have a more intuitive and engaging, yet more efficient approach to understand proposed designs and provide their inputs, and in the process significantly better experiences and outcomes.
We applied this approach to good effect, for example, when we introduced a Hololens design collaboration solution. Rather than simply using a new – admittedly ‘cool’ – devices just to view digital building models, we also sought to raise the quality of our design exchanges with our clients.
Once we understood the challenges, we could redesign our processes. Today, instead of using physical models and paper-based floorplans to explain designs at face to face meetings, which were time-consuming and tedious to follow up, we now conduct design walk-throughs in virtual environments, allowing colleagues and clients to join these design sessions from multiple locations around the world.
Thus, we did not just develop point solutions looking for problems, but came up with holistic ways to solve problems in which digital technologies and optimized processes offered our clients a better value proposition.
The technology brings our virtual design center capability to a new level and gives us the edge against our competitors. But it is also key to delivering a better client experience, at lower cost, and is completely aligned to our designers’ processes.
The outcome was a higher quality impact that was more easily embraced and “absorbed” by our business units and so was also more valued by clients.
Returns, not budget
Going digital can be costly, and we have found that traditional budget management methods fail to properly capture the value of the investment. This is particularly evident when we compare the risk/return profile of our innovation investment-driven business model to the current, traditional construction approach.
Yet, quantifying the return on investment in digital initiatives is a critical step and, while challenging, is crucial to understanding how to commercialize and capture the value of innovation before investment decisions are made.
For example, while scoping the use of digital tools to automate compliance checks for urban planning, the initial focus was on how to boost the productivity of our planning staff. Although technology allowed days of checking to be completed in minutes, it was soon clear that the payback period for recovering our investment in building this tool was still much longer than desired.
However, by widening the brief and using the tools to cross-sell checking services to clients we found a new revenue stream, and a new service model – a service with significantly higher revenue streams that eventually provided a reasonable return on the investment.
This additional value would almost certainly have been overlooked had the team focused only on getting the budget to build the tools.
Business units and innovation teams are now compelled to own their investment plans and think deeper about how to extract value from the innovation that flows.
Partner, don’t do it alone
When we launched our digital journey, partnership was a key pillar of our strategy. Rather than “re-invent the wheel” by investing in R&D which others had done, we wanted to partner with these organizations, their technologies and solutions, and only invest to build where it made sense.
Our new Building Information Modeling for Facilities Management (BIM:FM) digitized facilities management platform demonstrates this partnership strategy in action.
Digitizing the traditionally manpower intensive FM business has created a new sustainable business model for the future using powerful new digital technology to transform the way buildings are monitored and maintained.
But rather than build a system from scratch, our innovation team sought out and identified partners who could accelerate our development program. As a result, we estimate that our “time-to-market” has been brought forward by at least a year.
Being able to “jump start” programs and tap into the strengths of other organizations, helps to make our solutions better, but also gets them to market faster, to serve our clients better. Our innovation teams and business units are free to focus more effort on understanding clients’ needs and finding the right solutions.
Conclusion
Digital technology is already disrupting the entire global construction industry’s business model, and, as the old saying goes “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu”.
That means a business as usual approach, with a focus on technology alone, is insufficient. We must go beyond the traditional solutions to problems to consider journeys and outcomes; we must go beyond budgets to consider returns on investment.
We must reject silos and embrace collaboration to stay ahead, or risk being left behind in what will be the most exciting change ever witnessed in our sector.
Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.
Dam safety matters. Dam monitoring plays an essential role in evaluating the structural safety conditions of dams and mitigates against dam breaches. To monitor effectively, we need to utilise innovative technologies and processes like 3D scanners, to identify surface displacements, especially when analysing safety in the long term.
The history before scanners
Up till recent years, the determinations of structural safety conditions were made by measuring discrete targets or surface marks at large intervals, by conventional surveying techniques. This methodology provides only a discrete sample instead of a sophisticated mathematical model of the ground surface or dam structure. Fortunately the development of 3D scanners over the past 10 years has achieved a new level of accuracy and density of survey data. Whilst 3D scanning does not replace conventional survey methods for monitoring, it creates a far more precise global definition of structures such as dams, buildings, bridges and the like. New scanning techniques mean new data can be captured 50 fold compared to the older days where they were picked up point by point.
Scanners are not new, just underutilised
This is not new technology, in fact it has been available for around 10 years, but its full capacity hasn’t yet been realised by the architectural, engineering, construction and surveying professions. Just like how smart phones of 2007 look and function very differently than those of today.
Advances in technology have overcome previous doubts over accuracy, range and capacity to handle large datasets. The good news is that enhancements in these areas have made these highly intelligent and informative systems cost effective in today’s competitive market.
What makes 3D scanners so special?
3D scanners represent the latest in progressive dam engineering. They are a model-based (point cloud) process that provides insight to help you plan, design, construct and manage buildings and infrastructure. The advantage is that point clouds provide a high level of detail which reduces calculated guesswork and means you can make better design decisions. Accuracy is substantially improved from the design to the construction phase. 3D scanners improve efficiency and meet expectations for service quality. This streamlined planning and design delivers higher-quality projects. The capacity of the scanner enables the complete separation of the ‘data gathering’ function and the ‘data interpretation’ tasks. The process of collecting and interpreting the data on a regular basis is now seamless, with proven and accurate results.
How does it compare?
Although other survey and CAD based software can be used to measure dimensions of a structure, but 3D analysis software allows us to compare surveys undertaken at different times and can easily recognise areas of deformation by the use of deviation colour maps. This leads to the early identification and treatment of cracks, slides, the need for concrete repair, or the ability to address erosion and seepage. 3D scanners support safety management as the speed of issues detection is accelerated and situations can be rectified earlier.
How is SMEC using 3D scanners?
We provide our clients with access to this state of the art spatial data solution. The capacity of our 3D scanner and associated software allows for viewing of objects overlaid with rectified imagery (collected simultaneously with the scan). The resulting image is geometrically correct and of sufficient definition to assist in the examination of point cloud data and surface models.
Without a doubt, 3D scanners offer a greater level of data collection to reduce maintenance and insurance costs for our clients, and provide a higher standard of data collection, monitoring, condition assessment and emergency planning.
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Having a place to call home is fundamental to the success of modern society. Yet a lack of affordable urban housing is a global problem affecting low-income populations in both developed and developing nations. Can Singapore’s model lead efforts to meet this growing global challenge?
When Singapore gained its independence in 1965, the nation faced a housing crisis of epic proportions. Many people were living in unhygienic slums and squatters’ camps, and new immigrants were adding to the strain. Yet in just 5 years, this situation had been turned around with 35% of the population successfully housed in decent affordable accommodation.
Fast forward and today 82% of Singapore’s 5.6 million residents can live, work, learn, and play in modern, self-contained towns; modern affordable developments, integrating residential, retail, commercial, and public areas within walking distance of each other and to public transportation.
Globally, it is a rare achievement. While Singapore has succeeded over the last 60 years, other cities across the developed and developing world have continued to struggle when it comes to providing decent housing for their populations.
New York City, for example, the city with the most billionaires in the world, is experiencing a chronic shortage of affordable housing due to limited access to land, unaffordability, a speculative real estate market. It is a similar story in Hong Kong and across the cities of Europe, Australia, and South-East Asia; all are failing to provide affordable accommodation for their population.
UN‑Habitat, whose mission is to promote sustainable settlements and adequate shelter, defines substandard housing as dwellings that do not meet any of five basic criteria: durability of structure, sufficient living space, access to safe water, access to sanitation, and security against eviction. Depending on location and context, the cost of a home, it says, should not consume more than 30 to 50 percent of disposable household income.
Providing this decent affordable housing for growing and increasingly urbanising populations is a huge challenge that faces governments around the world. More than half the global population already lives in cities, and the figure will be two-thirds by 2050. By 2025 it thought that at least 1.6 billion people will need affordable housing.
So, does Singapore provide a model that can be globally copied? Certainly, its experience over the last half century provides many lessons.
Singapore’s affordable housing model
The driver for Singapore’s programme was the realisation that, in one of the densest cities in the world, provision of affordable housing was critical to the sustainable economic success of the nation. It is a message that is now increasingly being understood in other major cities around the globe.
The model was simple. Singapore’s Housing Development Board was set up in 1960 as the sole independent government agency in charge of planning and executing the housing program. It quickly earned a good reputation for creating self-sustaining, high-rise town-planning designs, complete with social and commercial amenities and efficient public transport. It continues to be highly regarded for its innovative planning and design.
An important goal of the HDB was to push home ownership and, in 1964, the Home Ownership for the People Scheme was introduced to give citizens a greater stake in the country. For the program to succeed, land had to be acquired, homes had to be built at a reasonable cost, and people needed to be able to own them.
To solve the first problem—particularly acute in a land-scarce city-state like Singapore – the 1967 Land Acquisition Act empowered government to acquire private land at market prices.
The scheme was given a boost in 1968 when residents were permitted to use the Central Provident Fund (CPF) – a compulsory pension saving plan for every working Singaporean – as capital against which to borrow money to buy their homes. This helped tether Singaporeans to the dream of a more equitable future and was core to creating national pride and identity.
As a result, throughout the decades that followed, public and private investment has seen construction of vast new high density public housing communities, optimising scarce land resources and providing a total living environment with self-contained educational, social and community facilities.
Renewal programmes have followed, ensuring that the housing stock is well maintained, with social, commercial, transit, and recreational facilities readily available. So well, in fact, that, in 2010, Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) won the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for “providing one of Asia ‘s and the world’s greenest, cleanest, and most socially conscious housing programs.”
Defining decent affordable housing
There are many definitions of affordable housing. At its simplest, the term refers to housing units that anyone, with a household income below the median, can afford to rent or buy. Usually public sector driven, the affordable housing programme stimulates and usually acts to moderate the private housing market.
For example, the City of Vienna built a huge system of housing after World War I and provides 400 million euros annually to maintain it. The city owns nearly 25% of the housing stock and is actively involved in another 20%. The result is that, with so much of the city’s total housing stock is city-owned or subsidized, private landlords are forced to compete with social housing for the same tenants, and cannot afford to inflate rents.
To be classed as decent accommodation, dwellings should conform to a series of minimal standards – floor-area per person, basic amenities, adequate heating, plumbing, and electrical systems. Critically, it should also be free from damage or structural defects such as broken windows, leaks, or cracks, that could be harmful to the health of residents.
Ideally, centers of employment must be within reasonable commuting distance – usually a maximum of one hour away. School and health facilities also must be within short distance, which will vary according to location.
By fulfilling this basic human need for shelter, affordable housing contributes to the wellbeing of both parents and children. Studies show that children in stable housing do better in school and are less likely to experience disruption in their education due to unwanted moves.
Overall such decent accommodation and a stable home life reduces stress, toxins, infectious disease, and leads to improvement in both physical and mental health. Families’ tight budgets are freed up to spend on health care and food, with studies demonstrating how children whose parents receive housing assistance benefit from better nutrition.
Toa Payoh neighbourhood Park, Singapore
Affordable housing as the driver for global economy
Affordable housing is critical to the success of families, communities and is increasingly vital to the sustainability of local, regional, and national economies. Public investment to create and foster this community, bringing together residential, commercial, and social amenities, is critical to sustaining modern urban life and can also help to stimulate economic growth.
Helping to attract and retain employees to the community creates a selling point and competitive advantage for employers and enables the workforce to live close to their jobs. Shorter commutes allow workers to spend more time with their families, boosting productivity while the community benefits from reduction in traffic congestion, air pollution, and expenditures on roads.
Surbana Jurong has been at the heart of Singapore’s affordable housing programme since it was formed in 2003 by corporatizing the building and development arm of HDB. Together with HDB, it has helped implement 26 successful townships occupying some 25% of Singapore’s land. The developments are high rise urban living green, clean and organised, modern and integrated into the transport system.
It is a model that the firm’s experienced team of planners, project & development managers, architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors have exported beyond Singapore. A comprehensive one-stop housing solution has enabled both private developers and public housing authorities to create large scale housing projects in China, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Brunei.
In each case, these states have recognised that replicating this healthy mix of housing options, from market-rate and affordable rental housing, single-family homes, duplexes, and developments for seniors, ensures opportunities for all individuals to improve their economic situation and contribute to their communities.
Unlocking the global affordable housing opportunity
Clearly the issues and drivers surrounding the provision of affordable housing around the world are diverse. It is not always straightforward or even possible to transplant the Singapore model in many parts of the world. However, there are many common core issues on which to focus when seeking solutions.
Land Supply: Finding land in an appropriate location is the most critical step in developing successful affordable housing schemes. Indeed, if the decision about land is wrong, affordable housing projects cannot succeed, no matter how well construction, operations, and financing are managed. Land cost is often the single biggest factor in the economics of affordable housing development – it is not uncommon for land costs to exceed 40 percent of total property prices, and in some large cities, in highly land scarce urban areas, land can be as much as 80 percent of property cost. Where land is available at a lower price—on the far fringes of the city—housing projects may fail due to lack of infrastructure or excessive commute times.
Financing: Financing routes have a significant impact on the affordability of housing – both for home buyers and for developers. While access to finance for low-income households can be improved in advanced economies, it is a challenge in developing economies where financial systems are not as well developed and many low-income citizens are “unbanked” and work informally. As part of housing-finance policy, housing rentals should be considered as part of the housing solution.
Planning and design: Sustainable urban planning and design, with a combination of residential, commercial, educational, and civic space, is critical to fostering a sense of physical and social community. Getting it right provides connectivity and context that works with the community’s natural beauty, along with easy access to transportation and social infrastructure; minimizing the use of cars, maximising the sense security and privacy.
Construction: Most countries have been slow to improve construction productivity due to the lack of technical resources and low labour costs. However, ideas such as value engineering and efficient procurement, as well as adoption of industrial approaches such as use of prefabricated components. Together with modern construction management techniques, this can bring huge potential savings in cost, time and significantly improve the quality. Such ideas make the economics of affordable housing more attractive and encourage developers as well as builders to think beyond housing for mid- and high-income consumers.
Maintenance: Beyond construction of housing, good maintenance is required to avoid dilapidation and help preserve housing stock. Good maintenance starts during planning and design to incorporate material with good life-cycle value to designs which allows easy maintenance. Subsequently, resources need to be dedicated for maintenance. Legislation to provide for resource in the form of contributions to maintenance expense and to enforce maintenance work has been successfully implemented in Singapore. For example, HDB flats look presentable is that cyclic repainting works has been legislated. To maintain and extend the value of property, older developments and units should be periodically upgraded. Hence maintenance need to be incorporated into the overall housing strategy
Policy and management: Affordable housing programs will not succeed without clear governance and implementation for both the short and long terms. Furthermore, human capital is an important factor in housing management. The right legal, technological, research, and statistical expertise must be in place within the different departments and branches of the housing agency, with efficient and transparent policies that institutional support can implement, monitor, and assess.
Developing modern delivery models
While the Singapore housing model relies largely on public sector support, several other development models are available and utilised around the world:
Punggol Bayview, Singapore
Consumer-led delivery: Consumers arrange to construct their own homes, requiring individuals with little knowledge to navigate an opaque and fragmented construction industry. Yet this is a common way in which families obtain housing in many places. Government can improve the odds of success for consumers by providing benchmarking information and technical assistance – letting households know how much materials and labor should cost and providing advice on how to write and enforce contracts and manage timetables.
Incentivised private development: Private developers receive financial and non-financial incentives to build affordable housing, which is sold to consumers, purchased by the government for allocation to citizens, or operated as rental property. The government determines what incentives are appropriate and which land qualifies for such incentives. It also ensures that developers fulfil their commitments.
Public-private partnerships: The public sector is an active partner with the private developer, rather than a passive, regulatory actor. Private developers may be given public land to be developed. The finished units are sold directly to homeowners by the private developer or are allocated to buyers or renters by the government. The structure of the partnership is set up to allocate the risks along the affordable housing value chain to the most natural owner.
The future of affordable housing
Public housing in Singapore has entered a new phase of its evolution, with housing options are being developed to cater to different segments of society, lifestyle preferences and budgets. For example, studio apartments have been developed specifically to cater for an ageing population.
At the same time, it is now understood that designs must be sustainable to ensure that homes are fit to meet the needs of the future. The Treelodge@Punggol, HDB’s 1st eco-precinct, Punggol Waterfront Housing and Dawson projects are landmark developments that combine stylish designs with environmentally-friendly features.
Increasingly we are also seeing existing affordable housing estates being refurbished and regenerated to accommodate changing community needs as they strive to meet Singapore’s vision to become a nation of home owners. As is seen increasingly around the world, modern design and construction technology will be at the heart of Singapore’s future built environment; the use of Virtual Design Construction (VDC) for planning and design, Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) for construction, and smart sensor technologies to boost operational efficiencies of estates.
Precast façade Installation
Conclusion
The affordable housing model developed by Singapore is admired by many. However, it would be hard to simply replicate the ideas behind this success in all parts of the world.
For example, sizable public land in Singapore has been dedicated for public housing, which limits the income that the Singapore government can earn from land sales. By contrast, in Hong Kong, the government earns much revenue from land sales as a form of taxation making it very difficult to adopt Singapore’s model.
That said, many aspects of Singapore’s model, such as providing a total quality living environment, integrated towns, emphasis on sustainability, use of optimal construction technologies for quality and productivity can be replicated and adapted to the local social, economic, and environmental circumstances elsewhere around the world.
The key is to be pragmatic on what can be adopted. This would depend on what which can reasonably be controlled and what resources are available. That means first understanding the circumstances of the market, working out solutions and then decide on how to implement these solutions.
Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.
How built environment design and engineering will solve the global feeding problem
The Food Production Challenge
With the global population rising rapidly and expected to reach 9.7bn by 2050, governments around the world are increasingly asking the simple but critical question: how will we feed ourselves in future? The radical Food Tower vertical urban farming model could provide an answer.
Food, it seems, is all around us. In our homes; on our televisions; in our shops; on our streets. Yet, surprising though it may seem given this apparent proliferation, the question of how we continue to feed ourselves in future is set to become one of the biggest challenges facing the developed and developing world.
The combined impact of population growth, climate change and urbanisation, which in 30 years’ time could see some 70% of the global population living in cities, means that we are running out of available space and resources to grow crops in traditional ways.
In short, we need to come up with new ways to farm; new ways to manage food production and delivery; new ways to reduce pressure on resources and sustain our environment and lifestyles.
The food production challenge is already seen in cities such as Singapore. With almost no arable land, Singapore is heavily dependent on food imports and faces a potential food security problem. While past investment has enabled water self-sufficiency to be achieved, the need for a sustainable locally-grown supply of food is now becoming more important. The built environment designers must now adopt a radically different approach to city planning to include food production within their thinking.
The Food Tower
Enter the radical Food Tower vertical urban farming concept as an innovative solution to these challenges.
While Singapore may not have vast land area, it is blessed with an abundance of sunshine and rainfall. The Food Tower concept attempts to maximise this natural potential, and by stacking vegetable growing areas in an open, sunlight flooded high rise towers, sunlight can be captured boosting growing yields across the 1 hectare site to some 400 times that of traditional farming.
The Food tower concept takes a major step forward in large scale urban farming by using Aquaponics; vegetables are grown on towers using the water and nutrients from a system of tanks in which Red Talipa fish are reared. The vegetable towers are located on “wings” on higher floors that spiralling upwards to maximise sunlight exposure; the fish farms are located at the lower floors where there is more shade.
The Food Tower also features a closed loop energy system, with onsite photovoltaics generating power, rainwater harvesting to collect water and wetland reed beds to purify and recycle waste water on site. The wetlands act as part of a garden for the larger community.
It is estimated that a 100 storey food tower on a 1 hectare of land can provide sufficient meat and vegetables for just over 11,000 people per year.
Policy Support for the Food Tower
While the technology and design for high-rise farming in cities has been slowly maturing, there are a number of other factors which need to be addressed early so that Singapore can stay ahead of the curve and be ready to capitalise on the technology when it becomes viable.
This starts with the physical planning and zoning of suitable sites for urban farms, in particular, to ensure that the immediate setback of buildings around the site enables sunlight to reach the crops. Government agencies must be armed with well researched and clear policies, to ensure that this need is well understood and taken into account, and the tenure offered to the farmer or farming community for the land use must take into consideration the efforts put in to develop the farm.
Clearly, despite the predictability of the weather in Singapore, the availability of sunlight varies around and throughout the Tower. This must be matched to different types of crops to maximise yield. Land use zoning could designate that certain heights be developed as farms while lower floors are used for other commercial and retail use.
Yield per square meter would also need to be mandated to encourage developers to adopt best technology to maximise the efficiency of land use. For example, natural sunlight could be supplemented by artificial LED growing lights, powered by stored photovoltaic energy from panels on the structure – possibly creating 24 hour a day growing conditions in the tower and so maximising growing efficiency.
Creating a sustainable solution also means working with the community. Commercial farming revenue from towers could be supplemented by sharing the poorer growing space with other community and residential facilities. These might include an environmental research centre, restaurant and a school plus other facilities such as Community Parks and wetlands to boost interaction with the local community.
A new way of farming will need us to create a new breed of farmer; an urban-agriculturist. It is a role that currently does not exist, requiring knowledge of technology and the specific techniques needed to adapt modern intensive farming practice to a high-rise urban environment.
The farm workforce would also need a multitude of new skills to run the urban farm; understanding the internal drainage, water and electrical needs of a modern building, the external environment such as solar effects, winds flows plus the impact of dust and city pollutants on crops.
In the factory environment of a Food Tower, they would need to be thoroughly grounded in managing work flow and production process while also understanding and managing resource use and recycling of water, waste and energy so as to maximise productivity and output.
Conclusion
It is clear we must look globally at more sustainable ways of living. This means including food production in future planning policies as we define and design the increasingly urban, increasingly congested cities of the future.
Although the idea sets out to rethink mass food production, it also demonstrates that consumers can be supplied with fresher and safer food with a lower overall carbon footprint. The project has already shown that it has a viable commercial business model but it is also a model that can rejuvenate urban sites, engage the community in various levels and create local jobs.
However, the development of such projects will require major commitment and intervention by governments to cover the substantial start-up cost and to create the necessary governance to allow such high-density food production in urban areas.
Perspectives, developed by SJ Academy, is our platform to explore new ways of tackling some of today’s most complex challenges. We draw on ideas and opinions from our staff associates and experts across different businesses. Click here to read more about Technology & Innovation, Infrastructure & Connectivity, and Design Leadership.
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