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Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Covered Walkways in Singapore Protect You From The Rain - Part of Plans For A Smart City

Covered walkways in Singapore protect you from the rain - land the sun. The idea is not entirely new. You can see quadrangles for walking along sheltering from the sun and rain in the university buildings of Oxford and Cambridge, as well as monasteries throughout Europe.

British ex-pat Raffles planned the new city of Singapore around the port and built the five-foot ways which still exist in Little India. But the latest project in Singapore is building sheltered walkways all over the island (to reduce the preference for jumping in a car at the first sight of rain. The walkways link the railway stations and schools and housing estates.

You can see from my photo how the walkway connects the bus stop with the housing estate behind. The housing estate includes a temple and the Leng Kee Community Centre.

This is something which could be copied worldwide, especially rainy places such as London, England. I drive through harrow in the car, or take the bus, and look with horror at the narrow pavements and sheer walls. Nothing pedestrian friendly.

Singapore's widely advertised plans for the Smart City of the future makes pedestrian friendly suburbs and satellite cities a priority, with greenery and covered walkways.
Singapore walkway seen from Clementi MRT railway station.
Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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