The Housing & Development Board (HDB) will be signing a Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA) with leading European companies Electricite de France (EDF) and Veolia Environnement Recherche et Innovation (VERI) on 14 Jun 2013 during the World Cities Summit (WCS) Mayors Forum held in Bilbao, Spain.
This signing, supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB), marks the beginning of a collaboration to develop a complex system modelling tool that will greatly improve HDB’s current approach towards town planning. Future residents in new towns such as Punggol, Bidadari, Tampines North and Tengah could stand to benefit from this tool’s ability to make effective urban planning decisions that will lead to a better living environment for residents in Singapore.
This computer modelling tool has the ability to simulate various built environments and to recommend an optimal scenario to meet the desired outcome of the living environment. This is particularly useful for town planners because they cannot afford experimentation with actual developments in land scarce Singapore. The tool will reduce the risk of physical trial and error by providing a virtual platform for testing a planned environment before developments are actually implemented.
For example, the computer model can simulate the various new urban solutions introduced to drive energy efficiency, effective waste management, water recycling, rainwater collection, thermal comfort and efficient transportation networks. Planners can then choose the optimal combination of solutions to achieve the desired sustainability targets.
HDB can also test out various housing typologies and determine how best to site the new flats to optimise wind flow, or to minimise heat and glare. The tool can help HDB study the most effective way to place the solar panels on the rooftops, which in turn could influence the way the buildings are orientated and designed.
Besides simulating and modelling ‘hardware’ initiatives, understanding the behaviour of the residents is another important aspect in this research collaboration. The behaviour of residents can have a significant impact on the sustainability performance of the ‘hardware’ initiatives and therefore also needs to be taken into account.
The design of public housing will continue to evolve, with more attention paid to design in order to add character and identity to the towns. New housing typologies will also be introduced to ensure liveable towns even as HDB builds in a high density environment. The complex system modelling tool complements HDB’s design efforts. It is an intelligent tool that will help HDB to derive the best combination of strategies using design, innovative technologies and influencing social behaviour so as to shape a good quality living environment for residents. Overall, it represents a new generation of tools to build smarter cities.
Dr Cheong Koon Hean, Chief Executive Officer of HDB, said: “HDB is pleased to embark on this collaboration with EDF and Veolia to develop this new modelling tool. This is a sophisticated tool that will simulate complex urban scenarios and help HDB planners analyse and determine the best combination of strategies using both design and technological solutions. Ultimately, it will help us create a better living environment that will benefit our residents.”
The WCS Mayors Forum, co-organised by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will be held from 13 to 15 Jun 2013. It will be a platform for over 100 city leaders, international organisations and urban solutions companies to discuss common urban challenges and share best practices in building liveable and sustainable cities.
Source: HDB
No comments:
Post a Comment
No Spam, No Abusive Languages. Thank you for your cooperation!