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The underground world of Singapore
- ethbro 9y agoCached: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.yp.sg/secret-underground-world-singapore/ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
- autokad 9y agothose are some impressive achievements, let alone for a country as small as Singapore :) cant wait till they start doing more recreational stuff underground, like an escape room
- eru 9y agoIt's funny: over in the comments about a healthcare article they say that Singapore has it easier because it's smaller. And here we admire them for pulling things off despite being small.
- autokad 9y agoI didnt read those comments, but large capital projects one would think is harder, since they collect less overall revenue. For example its hard to imagine singapore sending a person to mars, over say China or US other things, especially people related, are much easier. its very close together, very homogeneous, etc.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- jpatokal 9y agoUhh, Singapore is very far from homogeneous. There are Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, over a million expats from all countries and in all social classes and four official languages to cater to them all.
- jessaustin 9y agoHaha this reminds me of when I lived and worked in Singapore and an Andersen consultant flew in from Kansas to "help us out". His first complaint was that there was nowhere to eat! That was so stupid I couldn't respond, since there is more culinary variety in Singapore than anywhere else I've ever been, but eventually I figured out that he wasn't able to eat anywhere besides a steakhouse, which establishments are common in Kansas. (Of course he could have found one if he had looked hard enough, although fair warning on the unpalatable Australian beef, but instead he got in some sort of sensitivity trouble and flew back home...)
- skissane 9y ago> although fair warning on the unpalatable Australian beef Is Australian beef unpalatable? It all depends on the cut and the grade, of course; but, buying good quality beef here in Australia, comparing it to beef I've tasted in restaurants in the US, it tastes just as good. Maybe the stuff we export to Singapore isn't that good. Or maybe higher prices push people towards the lower quality stuff.
- eru 9y agoReally good beef is expensive in Singapore, and the locals don't have that much of a culture steak. So there's a bunch of bad restaurants for western expats, and some very high end ones.
- rorykoehler 9y agoUS beef is known more for its hormone content than for its quality.
- praneshp 9y ago> His first complaint was that there was nowhere to eat Ha, that's funny. I was in Singapore for 3 months for an internship, and decided to start eating meat to maximize enjoyment at the awesome food courts in Singapore.
- tallanvor 9y ago
- SllX 9y agoBeing small definitely has its pros and cons, but consider that Singapore is a City-State in the same size class as Chicago (by Area, and actually a bit bigger) and the same population class as say Colorado or Norway (5 millionish give or take) and only one tier of government, the National tier. They definitely lack natural resources and their tax base is that of a small country, but they don't have the usual 2-3 tiers of administrative overhead, the government is closer to the authoritarian end and any large capital projects they do undertake are largely going to benefit everyone to some degree simply because of how tight the nation is. Also being a nation that is one city does wonders for focusing on the habitability of that one city, and there's no other cities to compete for tax dollars there.
- mxuribe 9y agoI would have thought Bond-type villains would be the only folks with the guts to even attempt projects like this, let alone actually complete them; really cool! Kudos to Singapore!
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- blt 9y agoI could see Singapore building an air conditioned dome over the whole city. Besides the nonfree press, etc, the relentless heat and humidity is the biggest negative of the city.
- hellofunk 9y agoOnly for visitors. You get to used to the climate pretty quickly if you live there. Many of my neighbors there wouldn't even bother with AC.
- jasonm23 9y agoStill took me 2+ years to acclimatise properly. Now I'm uncomfortable in temperatures lower than 28C (84F)
- ValentineC 9y ago> You get to used to the climate pretty quickly if you live there. Many of my neighbors there wouldn't even bother with AC. I've lived in Singapore (almost) all my life, and the average temperature/humidity feels a lot higher as compared to when I was younger. It's not easy to survive without AC, and most middle-class households here will consider it a necessity.
- hellofunk 9y agoI lived in the Farrer Park neighborhood a few years ago, and most of my neighbors seemed quite content with nice fans in their house, and would often not use their air conditioning. I guess everyone's different. I've got a buddy who grew up in Singapore and when he goes back to visit, the room he stays in has no air conditioning.
- WalterBright 9y agoGuess it's not a secret anymore!
- rb808 9y agoThat is cool. Would be great to have a "Common Service Tunnel" in all cities. Its insane how much roadway gets dug up each year. Of course I doubt they'd all be as clean as the one in the Singapore photo.
- noobermin 9y agoIt's the advantage you get when your city's development occurs after centuries of experience of others, you can improve on the mistakes every other metropolis made. The same is true of sg's transit system, roads, etc.
- revicon 9y agoI was similarly impressed by the gigantic underground systems in Montreal. Many people go for months during the winter time never going above ground, working, shopping and living all inside the interconnected underground shopping malls businesses etc.
- mirimir 9y agoHelsinki too. Because winter and Russians. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610216307834 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610216...
- dmschulman 9y agoWould love to understand some of the underlying design and social factors that go into making these types of concourses a success. We have a similar abet much smaller underground mall in Philadelphia running through3 major transit stops in the downtown area, connecting multiple buildings and plazas, yet the area remains disheveled and relatively unused and even sometimes dangerous.
- magic_beans 9y agoThe social factor might just be the extreme cold. Chicago, much colder than Philadelphia, also has some actively used winter tunnels.
- hellofunk 9y agoI was thinking of my time in Montreal when I read this article. They call Montreal the "underground city" and its design is pretty interesting.
- shalmanese 9y agoCalgary too. There was an entire movie made that centers around a group of workers who make a bet for who can go the longest without ever going outdoors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waydowntown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waydowntown
- tpurves 9y ago
- bartart 9y agoIs it not a problem that Singapore is right on the ocean? Does anyone know if there risk of flooding or anything?
- jpatokal 9y agoNot really. Singapore is on the equator and surrounded by large landmasses (Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo, Java) on all sides, so it's never in the path of cyclones/typhoons and is shielded from tsunamis as well.
- hellofunk 9y agoSingapore is one of the few major populations on earth that is shielded from most natural disasters. It's also not near a fault line, so earthquakes, tropical storms, tsunamis are unlikely to affect it. Major flooding can occur due to rains, however. The city has dealt with it in the past and seems to have that under control. The other major disaster that hits Singapore frequently throughout every year is the "haze" crisis [0], which is actually man-made. It was particularly bad when I was there in 2013. But I mention this only as an aside since we're talking about natural disasters; it wouldn't affect the plans mentioned in this article. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Southeast_Asian_haze#Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Southeast_Asian_haze#Sing...
- jsemrau 9y ago2015 wasn't too good either. Here the view from my office at the time https://imgur.com/zVECQQ3 https://imgur.com/zVECQQ3
- hellofunk 9y agoThat's awful, I'm sorry to see that. The haze problem was one of the main reasons I left Singapore. It's no way to live, no way to raise children. In 2013 I remember there was a street where a lot of birds died mid-flight from suffocation on the smoke, fell to the ground and littered the pavement. It's just sad to see a problem like this, all caused by human activity. It could be stopped but not much is being done to do so.
- IIAOPSW 9y agoAs cool as this is, I think the space savings is a red herring. There's still plenty of undeveloped land in SG, and lots of low rise buildings. A combination of well placed subway stops, transitioning some low-rise apartments to high rise, avoiding excessive road/parking space and generally competent urban planning should be enough to accommodate Singapore's burgeoning population without the need for mole people. Its always cheaper and easier to build up and out than to dig down.
- noobermin 9y agoI'm not sure where you get that idea. There isn't plenty of undeveloped land unless you're talking about jurong or punggol, and it doesn't help if those places take 2 or so hours to commute to downtown from on the MRT. If you're talking about the small patches of parks and the historic heritage sites, I think they have their reasons for keeping those.
- pilsetnieks 9y agoEither way, I'd argue that you need some parks and forests, or your populace will go insane. 20 or so golf courses in such a small and dense island are ridiculous, though.
- hellofunk 9y ago> it doesn't help if those places take 2 or so hours to commute to downtown from on the MRT This is part of the problem; it should never take 2 or more hours to go anywhere in a place as small as Singapore.
- jpatokal 9y agoIt doesn't? It's 53 min from Tuas Link at the extreme western tip of Singapore to Raffles Place by MRT, and you'd be hard pressed to find a place in Singapore where even a connecting bus would add more than 30 min to that.
- outside1234 9y agoThe most valuable space is the blank space on Singapore - the catchment areas are fabulous places to go hike and the island would be a nightmare without them.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- primeblue 9y agoSingapore ranks in the world slave trade, worse than Vietnam. http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/more-9000-people-singapore-are-modern-day-slaves-study http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/more-9000-people-singapor...
- yosito 9y agoTL;DR Underneath Singapore lie 5+ awesome layers of infrastructire. Pedestrian tunnels, utility tunnels, a metro, an armory and oil storage.
- borgdr 9y agoWhile interesting, this lacked the hookers and blow I was looking forward to from the headline.
- swyx 9y agosounds like Singapore then
- wahern 9y agoAnd yet there are also places where Singaporean spotlessness gives way to dirt. Places like Geylang, a red light district well off the tourist map, and Orchard Towers, with its so-called "four floors of whores". -- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/life/sex-in-singapore-the-expats-who-spend-their-evenings-seeking-sle/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/life/sex-in-singapore-the-e... Actually, Geylang is hardly off the tourist map. It's quickly becoming more like the French Quarter in New Orleans--a rapidly gentrifying night spot with enough of the historical seedy element (in this case, many of the famous brothels with the hanging red lanterns that only a few years ago were far more numerous) to keep things authentic. Also a relatively affordable and increasingly popular place to live that's close to downtown. FWIW, I know this because with all the new development it's a popular area for Airbnb rentals. Given it's reputation, I did some research as well as inquire with local family-in-law. As an outsider a very familiar picture emerges of a changing historic neighborhood. But opinions from Singaporeans might be far more mixed.
- swyx 9y agoam Singaporean. its fine.