Singapore as a long-term case study for tropical urban ecosystem services

Abstract

Ecosystem services have gained rapid interest for understanding urban-environment interactions. However, while the term “ecosystem services” is relatively novel, their principles have influenced urban planning for decades. This study assesses the wealth of urban ecosystem services research conducted in the tropical city state of Singapore, in particular their historical local use and implicit and explicit incorporation into land use planning, and shows how Singapore is exporting their experiences to other cities around the world. Singapore is an important model for urban ecosystem services research, as the nation has experienced rapid urban development and has a 100 % urban population. Singapore also historically utilized ecosystem services in urban decision making long before the concept was popularized. For example, forests were conserved since 1868 for climatic regulation and for the watershed protection services provided to Singapore’s first reservoirs, and green spaces have been conserved for cultural ecosystem services since the 1920s. Urban ecosystem services were formally incorporated into national planning in the 1960s through the “Garden City” urban planning vision. Singapore is now a leading case study for tropical urban climatology and carbon sequestration, exporting its experiences globally through bilateral agreements and the construction of eco-cities in China, and the creation and promotion of a global City Biodiversity Index to assess urban ecosystem service provision in cities across the globe. Consolidating and understanding case study cities such as Singapore is important if we are to understand how to incorporate multiple ecosystem services into large scale planning frameworks, and provides an important tropical example in a research field dominated by western, temperate case studies.