Human Footprint

Halfway around the world, architects and urban planners are pushing back and reimagining what city living can be, for us and the rest of nature.

In every city I've ever lived in green spaces felt like an escape.

They were in the city, but not of the city.

Singapore is different.

Here, nature is never more than a few blocks away.

Everywhere you look, buildings are exploding with life.

It feels, like a miracle.

Is it your first time in Singapore?

It is.

Man, this place, it's, I've never seen anything like it.

It's incredible.

If you asked Pearl Chee, she'll tell you it's no miracle.

It's all part of the plan.

We are challenging ourselves, as architects.

Whether we can design better.

We are creating a lot of concrete buildings, its like a concrete jungle.

But we really want to bring the jungle in.

Pearl is the architect who designed the Kampung Admiralty.

The building we're standing in now.

Our design concept, it's a very unique combination.

We, we actually have elderly housing, public housing, We, we actually have elderly housing, public housing.

Okay.

Combined with health care, which is the medical center.

Commercial and some social programs, and a food court.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

So that's why it's not gated.

It's very open.

Anybody can actually come in and use the facilities.

Yeah.

Singapore is the third most densely populated city in the world.

The entire country is an island with only 281 square miles of land.

But five and a half million people live here.

In a city this dense, you wouldn't expect much room for nature.

But it's like they say, where there's a will, there's a way.

And by will, I mean law.

Legislation enables it to happen.

The building took the land.

So we need to do replacement.

The legislation actually requires a building to give 100% landscape.

Oh.

100% of the site footprint has to be replaced into the building.

Like every square inch of like green space that you take up.

You have to put back in.

Put back in, yeah.

Into the building, somehow.

Into, into the building.

A few years after completing the building, Pearl's firm surveyed the animal life in Kampung Admiraltys Gardens.

50 different species had moved in.

The species in this building is higher than the species on the ground park.

Oh, really?

Yeah, which is right nearby, so.

Wait, so theres more species within this construction.

Than in like a natural space of the same amount of greenery.

Yeah, correct.

That's incredible.

Thinking about an entire city built like this.

Basically, you're talking about reforestation and urbanization as sort of one in the same.

Correct.