More HDB multi-storey car parks to house rooftop gardens

By Bryant Chan, The Straits Times, 28 Feb 2013

MORE than 100 multi-storey carparks with rooftop gardens are under construction, the Housing Board announced yesterday.

The new facilities will allow residents to plant their own flowers and vegetables, and give them access to foot reflexology paths and study corners.

Around another 100 of them have already been built, creating roughly 20ha of skyrise foliage across the island.

Meanwhile, the HDB also intends to plant 9ha of rooftop greenery in existing multi-storey carparks and housing blocks over the next few years.

Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan praised the latest project.

Writing on his Housing Matters blog, he said similar schemes in Dover Crescent and Jurong East had encouraged a sense of community among residents.

Community gardening is one of a number of innovations introduced over the past 50 years as part of a campaign by the Ministry of National Development.

Another is the Prefabricated Extensive Greening system, which enables rooftop plants to thrive without irrigation for long periods.

The HDB Building Research Institute is also looking into two “vertical greening” systems, which allow shrubs to be installed on the sides of walls.

Called Verti.Gro and Verti.Green, they are undergoing trials in Sembawang and Woodlands.

Last year, the Government spent $230,200 installing rooftop foliage on multi-storey carparks and low-rise HDB blocks.

Singapore has more than 50ha of rooftop greenery in housing estates, schools and shopping centres, putting it among the world’s leading cities in this area.