Singapore is pleased to host the 38^th International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress. I would like to welcome the delegates, some of whom have travelled halfway across the globe for this meeting.

Nature has provided us many beautiful landscapes. As we modernise and urbanise, many of these beautiful places have given way to a concrete and metallic jungle. Fortunately, the talent and imagination of landscape architects have softened the harshness of the built environment. They have made urban living a more pleasant experience.

Visitors to Singapore are often pleasantly surprised to discover our urban greenery. But our Garden City did not happen overnight or by chance. It was painstakingly and lovingly nurtured.

Singapore was urbanising and industrialising at a very fast rate in the 1960s. Our environment suffered as a result. There were relatively few trees in the city. Parks were few and ill equipped. But we recognised the importance of a quality and liveable environment, and the need to balance urbanisation and nature. We decided to transform Singapore into a Garden City, where nature’s beauty blends with urban creativity. The idea was to develop a tropical garden city filled with colour, lush greenery and parks, even as the country progressed.

We started by planting many trees to provide shade and greenery. From tree planting, we moved to adding colour and variety to break the green monotony. We planted colourful flowering trees and shrubs along our expressways and roads. We developed a network of parks and green spaces to give our people a place to relax and enjoy the colours and beauty of nature.

Today, greenery is seen and felt in Singapore at almost every turn and corner, from the city to the residential heartlands. This transformation of Singapore would not have been possible without government vision and the contributions of landscape architects, horticulture experts, as well as the many others who help to plant and maintain the greenery.

The policy to green Singapore remains. Setting aside sufficient land for greenery and green spaces is a key policy consideration in Singapore’s Concept Plan. The Concept Plan is a strategic blueprint for the physical development of Singapore. We review it every 10 years to take into account the changing needs of our city-state.

As we become more urbanised and densely populated, we put even more emphasis on greenery. In the Concept Plan 2001, we have set aside land to maintain our current standards of park and greenery. For example, we will ensure that every resident will have the benefit of a park within easy reach of his or her home. We believe that urbanisation and nature, even if it is man-made, should go together.

However, as you know, Singapore is a city-state of just 650 square kilometres with a four million population. The challenge for us is to find new and innovative ways to make use of our limited space to enhance our Garden City ambience.

One strategy is to put our limited parkland and nature areas to more creative use. For instance, we could give our parks and nature areas distinctive identities. This will give our residents a wider variety of parks and nature areas to visit for leisure and recreation. We can also periodically update the attractions there to give repeat visitors fresh experiences.

A second strategy is to use the narrow strips of land along drainage reserves to link up our parks and connect them to residential and urban areas. Besides putting otherwise sterile land to good use, the park connectors enhance accessibility to our parks and provide additional space for recreational activities such as jogging and cycling. With appropriate landscaping and tree planting, we can turn our park connectors into nature corridors. The National Parks Board or NParks has built some 33 kilometres of park connectors, and will be expanding the network to cover the whole island.

We can also develop scenic routes, with picnic spots, nature stops and lookout points, around the lush Central Water Catchment area and along our coastline. This will increase the sense of greenery and tranquillity as we drive or cycle around the island.

A third strategy to enhance our Garden City ambience is to go "vertical". Greening need not be confined to the ground level. Highrise greenery, in its many forms such as roof deck gardens, sky terraces, landscaped balconies and planter boxes, is another innovative way of increasing our greenery. Such efforts can also improve the aesthetics of our buildings and protect them from excessive sunlight. Highrise greenery can already be seen in Singapore. For instance, some hotels have gardens at the roof deck of their podium blocks. But more can be done to encourage wider adoption of highrise greenery.

We will first need to generate awareness of the benefits of highrise greenery, so that building owners and designers would incorporate such greenery in their building designs. Next, to encourage them, the Government does not subject landscaped communal spaces like roof top pavilions, sky terraces and planter boxes to development intensity control or development charges. The Government will also allow balconies to be built over and above the permitted maximum development intensity to give building occupants the opportunity to create their personal garden in the sky. To demonstrate the Government’s commitment to highrise greenery, the public sector will take the lead in implementing sky deck greenery in our public housing estates and public buildings.

The global trend is for greater environmental awareness in city planning and development. Landscape architects will play an increasingly bigger role in integrating greenery with the built environment. For this, they will need to work closely with different parties like building owners, developers, designers and estate managers. I am therefore pleased to note that on this occasion, NParks will be giving out the Garden City Awards for the first time to recognise such combined efforts for the best landscaped highrise developments in Singapore. In addition, the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects will present its Professional Design Awards to landscape architects who promote good landscape design practices. I congratulate all award winners.

The policy to green Singapore formulated some 40 years ago will become even more important as Singapore grows and develops. We will need the concerted efforts of the public and private sectors as well as the community to advance Singapore’s Garden City. This public and private partnership will be showcased at the Singapore Pavilion at the 4^th Skyrise Gardens Exhibition. The exhibition will offer visitors a glimpse of the past, present and future of our Garden City.

With its theme of "Asian Places in the New Millennium", the 38^th IFLA World Congress, together with the Landscape 2001 Exhibition, will explore innovative ideas for landscape research, planning and design. It is an ideal platform for participants to exchange experiences and forge networks.

It is therefore with great pleasure that I now officially open the Congress and Exhibition.

I wish all participants an enjoyable and fruitful stay in Singapore.

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