Eileen Poh Channel NewsAsia 12 Jun 14;
SINGAPORE: In its push to introduce more greenery in the Republic's urban landscape, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Thursday (June 12) unveiled enhancements to its Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High Rises (LUSH) programme.
In a statement, the URA said LUSH 2.0 will cover more geographical parts of Singapore, and include more development types from the original scheme. Come Sept 12 this year, new private buildings and redevelopments will be required to replace the greenery they have displaced in building their projects, it said.
For instance, the landscape replacement policy originally applied only to new developments in areas around Marina Bay, Kallang Riverside and Jurong Gateway.
With the enhancement, the policy will extend to all new developments and redevelopments in:
Marina South
Part of Orchard Planning Area
Two mixed-use parcels along Orchard Boulevard in Paterson Hill
Subzone Woodlands Regional Centre
Punggol Creative Cluster
Tampines Regional Centre
Paya Lebar Central
Commercial and mixed-use developments within 19 Town Centres, including Sembawang, Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Clementi and Bishan
Qualifying developments will need to incorporate green landscaping on at least 40 percent of the land area they occupy.
Commercial and residential developments elsewhere in Singapore will also have to set aside at least 30 per cent of their land area for green spaces.
The URA will extend its Bonus Gross Floor Area (GFA) for Outdoor Refreshment Areas (ORAs) on landscaped rooftops beyond developments that converted their existing roof into a roof garden or green roof. This originally applied only to existing buildings in the Orchard and Downtown Core planning areas. Now, it will extend to new developments and redevelopment proposals, as well as commercial and mixed use developments in parts of the Singapore River.
"This encourages new building owners to incorporate rooftop ORAs and required landscaping as part of their overall designs of the development from the start. In this way, we will be able to realise more of such green rooftop features," said the URA statement.
URA CEO Ng Lang said the enhanced programme is an effort involving many partner agencies, developers and building owners. "Through LUSH 2.0, we hope to bring greenery literally to greater heights in Singapore," he said.
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan had on Thursday lauded the impact LUSH had on the urban landscape, noting that the programme has added more than 40 hectares of green spaces within Singapore's urban environment.
- CNA/kk
URA's urban greening initiative taking root: Khaw
Channel NewsAsia 12 Jun 14;
SINGAPORE: The Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High Rises (LUSH) programme by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is helping spread the "green message" in Singapore, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
In a blogpost on Thursday (June 12), Mr Khaw said the LUSH initiative has supported the development of 40 hectare (ha) of new high-rise and urban greenery, equivalent to the size of 130 primary school fields.
More than one-third of shopping malls, offices and hotels have applied for LUSH incentives in the last two years, while more than half of eligible residential developments have done likewise, the minister revealed.
In fact, in areas such as Marina Bay and Jurong Gateway, URA mandates developers to replace greenery they have displaced with green communal spaces that are "at least equivalent to the land area of the development" - a 100 per cent replacement, he said.
One example of such a development is the Westgate shopping mall at Jurong Gateway, with its "lush vertical greenery, sky terraces and roof gardens", he added.
"We are pleased with what LUSH has accomplished and have decided to do more, through additional incentives and regulations. Our aim is to make Singapore a great garden, and a great home," Mr Khaw said, adding URA will announce details of the incentives and regulations "shortly".
- CNA/kk
Lush spreads its green cover further
Janice Heng and Grace Chua The Straits Times AsiaOne 13 Jun 14;
TO ENCOURAGE skyrise greenery such as roof gardens in private developments, more areas will be subject to regulations and developers given more incentives under an enhanced government scheme.
Since the Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (Lush) programme started in 2009, it has supported the addition of 40ha of new urban greenery - the size of 130 primary school fields - in new developments.
In a blog post yesterday, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said: "We are pleased with what Lush has accomplished and have decided to do more, through additional incentives and regulations."
Under the original programme, all new projects in Marina Bay, Kallang Riverside and Jurong Gateway had to replace greenery lost with landscaped spaces at least equal to the site's land area.
Under the enhanced scheme, dubbed Lush 2.0, the policy will apply to all new projects and redevelopments in Marina South and the Orchard area.
It will also cover the Woodlands Regional Centre, Punggol Creative Cluster, Tampines Regional Centre and Paya Lebar Central, as well as commercial and commercial/residential projects in 19 town centres.
New replacement requirements have also been introduced for other areas. All non-landed residential, commercial, mixed-use and hotel developments must provide a minimum level of pure greenery (varying by land use intensity).
The changes kick in on Sept 12. But bigger sweeteners for developers kicked in yesterday.
If existing buildings in the Orchard and Downtown Core areas convert rooftops into gardens, developers can get bonus gross floor area (GFA) for an outdoor dining area. Lush 2.0 extends this to new developments and redevelopment proposals, as well as commercial and mixed-use developments in parts of the Singapore River area.
Lush 2.0 also has more flexibility for GFA exemptions. Previously, these were granted for planter boxes of up to a metre's width. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will now consider exemptions for wider planter boxes if they are part of an overall design for more greenery.
There was also a limit on GFA exemptions for covered gardens on the ground. URA will consider going beyond it for good designs.
CapitaLand group chief corporate officer Tan Seng Chai noted that skyrise greenery not only brings people closer to nature but also reduces urban heat gain and could thus save energy needed for cooling buildings.
In the last two years, 62 per cent of residential projects approved by the URA and 34 per cent of commercial, hotel or mixed projects took up Lush incentives.
Mr Veera Sekaran, managing director of landscape firm Greenology, said his industry needs professionals who understand aspects of urban greening, such as choosing plant species which can survive in an urban environment.
