Thanks for the replies, guys. I appreciate the insight and will have more questions once back home next week.
Meanwhile, few notes and comments from Singapore, after spending now three days exploring it. I have to say that it has lived up to its reputation and my expectations, everything being so clean and feeling so safe. I feel perfectly fine to be carrying my expensive DSLR even after dark with normal street smarts and oh boy, is there a lot to take photos of! Everything in the streetscape is so well-planned and thought out that it is incredible. I also knew what to expect from Gardens by the Bay, but it still blew my mind - especially the Cloud Forest dome. Just WOW and I ended up visiting both day and night (they give free re-entry stamps) for the different setting.
Main sights aside, it is pretty incredible to be in a city that is also a nation, where one can take
subway anywhere in the country. The system is very well connected, however I am surprised by how much walking one still has to do. They could use a lot more horizontal escalators on stations and I have only seen few so far.
One of the best sights I visited was the free city planning museum. Now, that was an interesting visit and you wouldn't think one can fill
three floors with interesting things! One can tell that Singaporeans like to think long-term and I was surprised to learn that both Marina Bay and Changi expansion were reclaimed from sea already in the 80s! The former has been sitting empty for decades and there are dozens of empty lots, although skyscrapers keep going up.
Related to skyscrapers, I hope they could ditch their height restrictions as they have a risk of having a tabletop skyline in the future. It was very clearly visible in the city planning museum models. By the way, we should definitely have such a museum in Vancouver to boast about our successful city planning principles, like vancouverism.
Singapore could also take some note from Vancouver about adding more housing in Downtown, as the area gets pretty quiet after hours excluding the touristy shoreline area. It seems that more residential towers are going up in the future, which should also help with MRT overcrowding, which doesn't seem too bad but is likely going to get worse with all the development in the suburbs.
Another interesting bit to learn was that Singapore is planning and is actually already in the process of relocating its vital cargo terminals into the Tuas Super Harbour, which will open huge areas of new and central waterfront for development. I am sure one can fit one million people into those areas, which will definitely require extra investments in expanding the MRT. Singapore seems to be building a new crosstown line in anticipation of this and few other developments, which shows them thinking forward.
One thing I have been surprised by is that I haven't seen a single electric car during my three days walking all around the city. One would think Singapore being so ideal for electric cars, they would be common, but apparently not. Another thing I do like, and the city planning museum confirmed is, that Singaporeans do not hate cars and they building for ALL modes of transportation. Most roads seem tolled but they don't view car as the anti-christ like back home. Something for us to learn about, as you need all models of transportation in a city.
I also like how Singapore's streets are wide with 4-5 lanes in one direction, making the traffic move fast and not be crowded. Vancouver should also give up trying to have two-way streets everywhere and turn more streets one-way to have more lanes for better traffic flow. Now our streets are trying to do EVERYTHING at the same time; being two-way, allowing street parking, having bike lanes on arterial roads and not having left-turn bays, and we are unsuccessful in all of those things working out very well.
I can definitely see why Singapore is considered a highly livable city and is a top-tourist destination, but I have to say that even with all the awe-inspiring sights and spectacular architecture, the city is a bit... dull. Everything is so predictable and work so well, and while that is all great for those living here, I don't find it the most exciting place to visit. I am sure to return at some point, but something got me a lot more excited about Kuala Lumpur and it wasn't just the supertalls...
Anyways, those are some of my thoughts after few days here, so just scratching the surface. Few more days to go before flying back to ah, so much cooler Vancouver. I wouldn't be able to stand this hot and humid weather year-round and will be so happy to be back a climate more suitable for my Scandinavian self. And hey, ski season is almost here, which is something you cannot do in Singapore.
Prev
.
Linear Mode
