AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

‘Sustainable development’ has always received much attention as there is a need for environment and advancement to be well-balanced without compromising one another other. Resilience, however, is gaining much relevance and attention as the world faces increasing changes and disturbances. Given realities and urgencies with climate change and extreme weather events, creation of sustainability plan need to be trumped by a need for resilience plan addressing adaptation, mitigation and disaster preparedness. Many communities and countries have developed sustainability plans – to focus their resources and energies on transiting into more sustainable and resilient communities. However, there is limited evidence showcasing the existence of frameworks in place to optimize sustainability and resilience in the development of communities in the local context. Local researches demonstrating the benefits of resilient communities are unavailable as well. This study focuses on community-level sustainability and resilience development as well as its framework implementation – particularly in the local context. It analyses how the introduction of such a framework will ensure a holistic emphasis and conformance for the community. Quantitative data was collated through a survey questionnaire designed and sent out to different stakeholders of community development in Singapore, and the results were analyzed using statistical instruments. Qualitative information describing the in-depth benefits of the integrated framework was also studied through two local case studies. To tackle the research problem, an integrated framework for sustainable and resilient communities was proposed. Recommendations on how the framework can be best implemented are also made. However, success of this framework is largely dependent on regulatory bodies and its stakeholders.