SINGAPORE : THE AGROPOLIS [TOWARDS AN ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE]

Abstract

‘… it was iron and corn, which first civilised men, and ruined humanity’ Discourse on Inequality, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

The thesis explores the possibility of increasing land for food production by reducing the land for sustainable human inhabitations through re-planning of settlements pattern as a response to the issue of food insecurity in the future. It begins with the re-planning of Singapore as a critique on the inefficiency of the decentralized settlements. The research examines the qualities and quantities that make up Singapore’s ‘metabolism’ – how it provides assured energy and food, while creating a sense of well-being for its residents.

UK chief scientist John Beddington has forecasted a "perfect storm" of food, water and energy shortages in 2030. According to his extrapolation, the global food demand will increase by 50%. This projected scenario is adopted in this thesis to investigate the notion of self-sufficiency in terms of food. There is an urgency to rethink the issue of food security and it demands a solution in order to avoid the apocalypse.

To achieve the intention of crafting more opportunity for food production, the disperse population distribution is make centralized into a string of intensified township along the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system which also functions as the food line transportation. Furthermore, this thesis envisions the death of road infrastructure and the emergence of abandoned premises outside the town which will eventually become spaces for food production. This radical paradigm shift is a critique on the planning methodology of an industrialized city where human is the only subject matter. The re-imagination of the city is through biophilic approach where food production forms part of the natural ecosystem.