Greening the Urban Habitat

This book is a good reference book for city planners, architects and civil engineers involved in the conceptualisation, design and building of urban habitations, who aspire to increase the liveability of their cities. It introduces the Singapore Green Plot Ratio (GnPR) as an Urban Planning Metric to promote the widespread and intensive use of greenery for new and existing buildings in towns and cities like Singapore — a former third world city that has transformed into one of the world's most liveable metropolises.

Increasing urban greenery has been observed to enhance the quality of our built environment, and in turn, the quality of life of its inhabitants. The book shows readers how to do so using the GnPR, which it presents as an important urban complement of the leaf area ratio (LAI) concept, through an in-depth discussion of three key aspects of the GnPR. It proposes optimal levels of GnPR for various land-use types and how these levels are benchmarked against current levels of greenery provision; stipulates the greenery quantum which encourages the concentration of some plants, especially native trees and certain local species; and advocates the development of ecological or natural landscapes over manicured gardens. The book also discusses the impact of various levels of GnPR provision with the inevitable capital and maintenance costs of greening built environments, and how they affect the application of the GnPR guidelines.
Contents: PrefaceAcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorIntroductionUrban Greenery in SingaporeUrban Greenery Provision and GnPRLandscape Design Guidelines for Using GnPR in SingaporeStatistical Analysis and the Optimisation of the GnPR Urban Planning MetricConclusionIndex
Readership: City planners, architects and civil engineers involved in the conceptualisation, design and building of urban habitations, who aspire to increase the liveability of their cities. Green Plot Ratio;GnPR;Leaf Area Ratio;LAI;Greenery Provision;Building Control Authority;BCA Green Mark Allocation;Greening;Green Cities00