Green Economy Journal Issue 59

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The City-State/
Infrastructure
Nexus
SINGAPORE AS A CASE STUDY
Singapore is generally considered to be the last remaining functional city-state in the world,
with full sovereignty, international borders, its own currency, a robust military and substantial
international influence in its own right. 1
BY LLEWELLYN VAN WYK, B. ARCH; MSC (APPLIED), URBAN ANALYST
The Republic of Singapore, as it is officially known, is an island country and
city-state in Southeast Asia, bordering Malaysia to the north. The World Bank
(2021) states Singapore’s population as 5.45-million people who live and
work within 733.2 square kilometres making Singapore the third most densely
populated country in the world after Monaco and ahead of Hong Kong. 2, 3 Despite
this density there are numerous green and recreational spaces as a direct result
of urban planning interventions. As such, Singapore is one of the greenest cities
in the world, with parks and gardens occupying 47% of all land, compared to the
14% of New York and the 29% of Rio de Janeiro. 4
Llewellyn van Wyk.
The Economist, 2015.
Figure 1. Map of Singapore.
The country’s territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite
islands and islets, and one outlying islet; the combined area of these
has increased by 25% since the country’s independence as a result of
extensive land reclamation projects.
It is a major aviation, financial and maritime shipping hub serving
some of the busiest sea and air trade routes. Changi Airport is an
aviation centre for Southeast Asia and hosts a network of over
100 airlines connecting Singapore to some 300 cities in about
70 countries and territories worldwide. It has been rated one of
the best international airports by international travel magazines,
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
including being rated as the world’s best airport for the first time
in 2006 by Skytrax, and again in 2023. 5
Singapore Changi Airport also had the second- and third-busiest
international air routes in the world; the Jakarta-Singapore airport
pair had 4.8-million passengers carried in 2018, while the Singapore-
Kuala Lumpur airport pair had 4.5-million passengers carried in 2018,
both trailing only behind Hong Kong-Taipei (6.5-million).
The Port of Singapore, managed by operators PSA International
and Jurong Port, was the world’s second-busiest port in 2019 in
terms of shipping tonnage handled, at 2.85-billion gross tons (GT),
and in terms of containerised traffic, at 37.2-million twenty-foot
equivalent units (TEUs). 6 It is also the world’s second busiest, behind
Shanghai, in terms of cargo tonnage with 626-million tons handled.
In addition, the port is the world’s busiest for transshipment traffic
and the biggest ship refuelling centre. 7
With its growth based on international trade and economic
globalisation, Singapore has integrated itself with the world
economy through free trade with minimal-to-no trade barriers or
tariffs, export-oriented industrialisation, and the large accumulation
of received foreign direct investments, foreign-exchange reserves
and assets held by sovereign wealth funds.
As a highly-developed country, it has the third-highest GDP per
capita (PPP) in the world. Identified as a tax haven, Singapore is the
only country in Asia with an AAA sovereign credit rating from all
major rating agencies.
More importantly, Singapore ranks highly in key social indicators:
education, healthcare, quality of life, personal safety, infrastructure
and housing, with a home-ownership rate of 88%. Singaporeans
enjoy one of the longest life expectancies, fastest Internet connection
speeds, lowest infant mortality rates and lowest levels of corruption
in the world. 8
Due to its limited land area
certain infrastructure services
are particularly challenging.
Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore.
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