Connecting Global Priorities Biodiversity and Human Health

The wards and corridors of the hospital are
designed to support patients in the healing
process. At ground, the nexus between
biodiversity and well-being is explored
through the richly planted parklands and
the ishun Pond, whose lush environs are
attractive not only to patients and visitors,
but also to residents in the surrounding
neighbourhoods. The promenade along
the edges of the pond and the hospital
gardens connects to the adjacent housing
estate and train station beyond the hospital
grounds, providing seamless access to the
surrounding communities. The gardens
have attractive water features, including a
designed cascading waterfall, adding sound
and movement to the environment.
To extend the concept of integration with
the community, a rooftop farm grows
food crops that are tended by community
volunteers and former patients. The crops
provide a relatively cheap source of organic
food of approximately 208 kg per year for the hospital kitchen, while the harvesting and sale of
produce to the public contributes to the hospital green fund. There are over 50 species of fruit trees,
and 50 vegetables and herbs in this rooftop farm. The volunteers get to socialize, and bringing their
harvest home is both a source of pride and joy, and a therapeutic activity, particularly for the older
volunteers who are mostly retirees.
The planting in and around the hospital emphasizes biodiversity and habitat heterogeneity,
particularly in terms of birds and butteries, and fruit trees. In the pond, 100 species of South-
East Asian tropical sh have been recorded, some of which were thought to have become extinct.
There are reported sightings of 48 species of birds, 44 species of butteries and 21 species of
dragonies and damselies. The “medicinal garden” has over 100 species of medicinal plants used
in traditional medicine. The pond with its owering plants at the edges, and its oating mounds,
attracts butteries, dragonies as well as bird species, which in turn feed on the sh, creating a
microecosystem of its own.
The hospital epitomizes the idea of a healing environment in its numerous design dimensions
and innovations. It exemplies an urban asset that goes beyond incorporating landscapes for their
aesthetic qualities, and also purposefully and meaningfully seeks to bring biodiversity into urban
spaces, all of which contribute to a pervasive sense of well-being that extends to the surrounding
community.
Alexandra Health are acknowledged for their input and support. For further information on the
gardens and landscaping, see Alexandra Health (2010).
204 Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health