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Author Tay Kheng
Soon |
2000 WE MAKE THE CITY THEN THE CITY MAKES US. A DULL CITY
MAKES DULL PEOPLE. A LIVELY CITY MAKES LIVELY PEOPLE. HOW SHALL WE REMAKE OUR
CITY? The challenge of our times is how to thrive in the
globalised economy. We need to get creative in everything we do: work smart,
live smart, learn smart and play smart. For this, we need to make a lively
city; one, which inspires us, and can stretch our initiative and creative
capabilities. Starting with housing; we need to exercise our own
initiative. We must now plan and build our own living environments on land
and space provided to us at HDB prices in the existing new towns and in the
city-centre. The prospect of planning for another 1.5million people is the
opportunity we now have. In the city-centre, the State can build an
infrastructure of landscaped high-rise building frames. We can plan and fill
in these with our own homes and communities in the sky. Savings from the
transport infrastructure can go towards the cost of these structures. Once we
are successful in the shared enterprise of building our own multi-cultural
communities we will have brought out a new spirit of community trust. Our
children are thus safe to exercise their creative social personalities, bond
with the elderly and develop love and care for nature and the shared spaces
we create. The new community spirit will allow our old folks to be
actively involved through activities such as, planting vegetables, growing
flowers, recycling waste, making compost, helping to run educational projects
with the children, taking care of animals, running hobby clubs, providing
support and counseling, transferring their experience and wisdom and thus
become active and valued members of the community. We can plan nearby schools and kindergartens as part of
the communities we create. Parents living and working nearby can be involved
with teachers in shaping the learning environment for our children,
engendering in them real confidence through personal competence in doing and
learning. Thus they will have courage, conscience and creativity in all that
they do. Care-Centres for our elderly and infirm will be built-in, as with
schools and work places. Living, caring, working, learning and playing
becomes integrated with family, community and school life. With large numbers of people living in the city centre,
the city-centre itself will become a crucible of ideas, talent and thus
attract smart money and enterprise. The city-centre will therefore become a
live-in-work-in 24-hour city. It will automatically be a place of excitement
and action. A great place to do business, learn, make poetry, foster
friendships, entertain, test ideas, and make deals. With 1,000,000 people
living in the city-centre, it will be a lively place indeed! Because the building of more new towns will abate, a
landscape of greater variety and contrast will naturally come about. Thus, a
truly cosmopolitan city-centre will arise but be balanced against the
stability and solid values of the new towns. We need and will have both. No more new towns mean that we will have more truly
natural areas - wild areas. Places for contemplation, adventure and extreme
physical challenge. The growth of our personalities will need the challenge
of both the city-centre and the natural heritage areas, measures of our
ability to involve, empathize and to care. |
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