Where Singapore's Future Homes Could Be Built
As Singapore looks for creative new ways to overcome its land constraints and build more homes, offices and play areas, unconventional solutions are already becoming reality in other land-scarce cities and countries.
Japan’s Shimizu Corporation is developing the Green Float, a city on the sea for up to 50,000 people, while developers in London like Michael Shaw of Pent Developments are proposing to build apartments over canals.
Farrells-designed Embankment Place, a million square feet of office space above London's Charing Cross station, and a project to build parks and connectors over a major expressway in Hamburg, Germany, are examples of how space above transport infrastructure can be transformed into buildable areas.
Even the tops of existing low-rise buildings can become prime real estate, with developer Apex Airspace in London expecting to build about 100 homes this year by adding a storey above suitable buildings.