Lessons on Greening and Climate-resilience from Singapore
Auckland is likely to grow. So how? What do we want, what do we need? What would work?
Auckland is a subtropical city with more rain than London. This comes down fast, causing flash flooding. For a long time floodplains and flowpaths were avoided as building sites, becoming parks and reserves, but over time some have been infilled. Thankfully, some of those houses have been removed again but intensification of land use is still a risk according to flooding engineers. Auckland can also be hot – and the hottest bits are the areas with the most concrete and the fewest trees. Like the city centre and Eden Terrace.
Peter Gluckman’s discussion document about the future of Auckland was controversial but the idea that Auckland become its own regional park struck a chord. I know, from research and as a local board member that people value nature in urban spaces and they want more trees. But with new developments the trees are often the first to go
So, what’s happening? Developers are enabled to plant trees and put in landscaping but in many cases they are not obliged to do so, and it may not be in their financial interests – if it reduces development capacity. Or, in other words, unless you have to plant trees, and you have the option to put in another house, you’ll put in the house.
Fifty years ago, Singapore was in the same boat, vulnerable to flash flooding and at risk of losing much of its biodiversity. Over the last thirty years there have been concerted efforts to manage stormwater, bring nature back into the city and improve climate resilience:
- Regulation – there are minimum landscaping standards on all new developments – not necessarily on the ground.
- Subsidy – the Singaporean government provides significant subsidies to construct green walls and green roofs
- Education – the government supports technical expertise including free design guidelines
- Community participation in gardening and planting ventures
In addition they have invested in the creation of lots of parks, allowed a lush, rather than manicured approach, built over a 1000km of cycleways and pedestrianised where possible. 80% of people are within ten minutes walk of a park.
They have also had a consistency of approach for decades now. While a bipartisan approach is not unknown in NZ (everyone supports the Central Interceptor and CRL, for example), it might be harder to keep different governments from tinkering with the incentives and regulations on greening. However, if they could keep the programme essentially on track, it would be supported by voters. Could the area around Maungawhau station be a good place to start?