Introducing Montreal’s RÉSO!

Anyone who has been to Montreal would know that winter there is bitter and long. The cold latches on to you once you enter the open space and it can be a terrible thing for the Canadians who still have to go to work and meet up with people. Wouldn’t it nice to hibernate like bears in well-insulated burrows underground? Well, Montreal actually has a second ‘world’ located underneath their buildings and roads. An extensive underground city, RÉSO, is made up of 32 km of tunnels, covering about 12 km² in downtown Montreal. It links together more than 30 office towers (Barker, 1986), hotels, commercial shops, cinemas, universities and train stations.

It is a brilliant idea, an architectural masterpiece that Singapore can take insights from. The underground city in Montreal started out as a metro system, much like the MRT system we already have. Then they added offices, recreational facilities and shopping malls, all easily accessed with pedestrian tunnels.

Barker (1986) encouraged the idea of underground cities by stating the many benefits they bring, including “the increase in property values and land utilization, separation of pedestrian and automobile traffic, reduction of surface congestion and improved atmosphere for pedestrians”. All these are especially applicable to Singapore. By keeping pedestrians below ground and limiting pedestrian-vehicle contact, the occurrences of accidents would be reduced. There would be significant economic advantages with less traffic congestion and more efficient transport network that connects employees to their offices directly without the need for resurfacing. Also, the fear of haze would no longer be an issue if Singaporeans can hide underground.

Of course, there are many concerns with regards to digging underground and moving all our homes and offices down. Research is still in the pipeline and much investigation needs to be done to assess if Singapore is suitable to build an underground city.

According to Barker (1986), “each urban area has its own circumstances that can influence the application of the Toronto idea:

• Urban density
• Local geology
• Building configuration
• Development policies
• Environment standards”

As of now, it remains hopeful that underground living can alleviate our land woes and even provide a better living environment for us.

References and Literature Cited:

Barker, M. B., 1986. Toronto’s Underground Pedestrian System. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 1 (2): pp 145-151

Khaw, B.W., 2013, Exploring Exciting Possibilities Underground. 3 September 2013. URL: http://mndsingapore.wordpress.com/. (accessed 15 August 2014)

High housing prices? Move underground!

With a population of 5.4 million and land area of only 7.16 sq km, Singapore is already facing a tight squeeze. One can easily relate to the exasperation felt by your everyday Singaporean, whether it is crowed public transport, congested roads, or housing prices as high as the buildings go. 

To fight the problem of limited land, our government has chosen to build higher and higher, smaller and smaller, coming up with shoebox apartments that are like sardine cans for people. 

Even that is not enough. As we anticipate a 1.5 million population increase by 2030, we would need more land space. Years of development has culminated in a city dominated by skyscrapers and reclaimed land. Going higher has its limitations. There are height restrictions around air bases and we simply cannot keep building higher indefinitely. Already reclaimed land contributes to one-fifth of the total land in Singapore. It is clear we have a pressing need to source for alternatives.

Well, if we can't go up and across, why not go down?

Underground cities have been around for centuries. The Derinkuyu underground city in Turkey for instance is a multi-storey subterranean city that used to house as many as 20000 residents. The ancient people have cleverly crafted bathhouses and private rooms ventilated by a system of shafts. It is now a tourist attraction and some parts of it are used to store agricultural produce.

Going back to the present, many countries are exploring underground living, with Montreal’s RESO being the most successful example. Perhaps Singapore can consider moving downwards. In Singapore, we have already had a small slide of the pie of underground facilities. Nearly 80 km of MRT lines run below ground, people can do their shopping at underground malls like CityLink Mall and about 12 km of our expressways are underground. But, to shift all our houses, offices and recreational amenities permanently below the surface may be hard to swallow. Imagine taking the elevator to the basement, ten storeys below ground to go to work or school, then hop on to an MRT to travel to an underground swimming pool for your daily dose of exercise, finally, return to your home (still underground), only going up the surface for an occasional exposure to the sun.

However, land scarcity is an urgent problem and we are left with few options.

So should Singapore go under?

This blog shall explore the pros and cons of underground cities, especially how it affects our natural environment.

References:

• Singstat
• Khaw BW 2013, Exploring Exciting Possibilities Underground. http://mndsingapore.wordpress.com/. Accessed 15 August 2014.
• Starr S 2014, theguardian, How the Ancient Underground City of Cappadocia Became a Fruit Warehouse. http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/may/30/ancient-underground-city-cappadocia-fruit-produce-warehouse. Accessed 20 August 2014.