There is no more free space in the city: Singapore moves underground

The shortage of urban space is particularly acute in countries with rapidly growing populations. But if ordinary megacities, increasing in size, capture the adjacent parts of yesterday’s province, then Singapore, the city-state whose territory is strictly limited, simply has nowhere to expand physically. The construction of artificial islands allows you to cope with some difficulties, but, alas, this does not solve the main problem - the city has a catastrophic lack of free space. In such difficult conditions, there is nothing for the settlements to do but gradually sink into the ground.

Large-scale underground construction in megacities, including not only metro lines, but structures of various purposes, is quite widespread throughout the world. Where the geological conditions of the region allow, cities are increasingly using the underground space, and leading architects seek to win the right to implement another project underground. This is not only interesting, but also very prestigious, because such objects often become the highlight of the city. Basically, various shopping and entertainment centers, highways, parking lots, and less often office premises are hidden under city squares and parks. So, for example, in Helsinki underground there are not only shopping centers, but also sports grounds, and several cultural and entertainment centers and shopping centers are located at once near Seoul.

Singapore has at its disposal only islands, the total area of which today is 724 square meters. km The population of the city-state already exceeds 5.8 million people, and it continues to increase. The rapid growth of the economy and a high standard of living, compared with its neighbors, attract migrants from many countries of Southeast Asia. For this reason, and also because of the stable positive natural population growth, experts predict that by 2030 there will be 7 million Singaporeans. In this regard, the problem of placing new residential quarters, park areas and social facilities is becoming increasingly acute.

In Singapore, there is no such thing as a province or a suburb; here all strategically important objects, including military ones, are located in the city. In order to make way for residential neighborhoods and office centers, highways, strategic fuel reserves, military depots and other auxiliary facilities were sent underground, which did not need to occupy precious meters on the surface. Interestingly, Singapore has the world's largest air conditioning system, which provides a comfortable microclimate on campus premises. As you may have guessed, it is also underground.

In addition to the above, underground in Singapore are the central highway and several shopping and entertainment centers. Specialists in urban planning suggest that in the future the tendency to move objects underground will continue, because the developing city simply has no other choice.