Fong Hok Shing Anson, Jelicia Lim Xin Yu, Spencer Kwan Junhui, Vaarsha Nair
Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari
With the rapid increase in Singapore’s urban density, greenery on walls and roofs is incentivized by the Building Construction Authority for the following reasons – it provides aesthetic relief, creates usable green spaces, and reduces Urban Heat Island effect by cooling ambient temperature (URA, 2017). New projects on the NUS campus incorporate such greenery to promote a sustainable campus. Our project assessed and raised awareness about the use of integrated greenery by NUS students who live on campus, with a focus on University Town residences. Our research identified three factors that impact greenery use by students; 1) awareness of location, 2) perception of these spaces, and 3) design preferences for these spaces.
The project adopted a three step strategy for primary data collection. The first was conducting field trips to measure current use – including observation and user interviews. Preliminary results indicated that green spaces, with the exception of Utown Green, primarily function as transit zones. The second step was to interview staff from the Office of Facilities Management (OFM) to understand operational costs and challenges of maintaining green areas. Our final step was to conduct a workshop with the target users in UTown.
The results from our workshop indicate that students are not aware about the location of these spaces, and that they would be willing to use the spaces if improvements were made such as the installation of lights or better landscaping. Our project concludes with specific recommendations to OFM to enhance greenery use in Utown.
Keywords: Built Environment , campus greenery, landscape,