Singapore the City

Singapore, population 5 million, is a remarkable city, modern, well run and clean. Its total area is 280 square miles. (Houston has 630 square miles and a population of 3 million.) Yet traffic flowed easily even at rush hour. The mass transit is well developed with the ultimate goal of having everyone within 10 minutes of an access point. Cars are discouraged with a heavy tax and expensive licenses. Housing is primarily high
rise and government sponsored. The population is diverse (16% Malay, 72% Chinese, 8% Indian, 4 % European. The government housing must contain mixed demographics. Retirement plans are well funded and generous.

It has an interesting economy--mixed with dirigiste (centrally directed) characteristics. Historically, it made its mark by being a free port and now it is the world's largest container port. Today the maritime industry accounts for 7% of the GDP and 170,000 jobs. It is also adding a large new port to handle the larger container ships. Other components of the economy are technology, petroleum products (it refines oil but has no oil), pharmaceuticals, chemicals, medical and optical devices.

Some of the architecturally interesting modern buildings are in the pics.

The city contains a lot of green space. In addition they are planting 10000 trees in 10 years. My superficial view is that this is a city that works well and we could learn a lot from it.

Now I must admit it has a few rules shown on picture below. It also has the strictest immigration policy.Read more