Report of the Working Group Meeting on the Environment
Singapore
20 April 2009
Towards a Livable and Sustainable Urban Environment:
Eco-cities in East Asia
I.

Preamble1.

Global warming and climate change issues require governments, public andprivate organizations, and individuals to take a fresh perspective at how economic
and social activities can best be organized particularly for those living in crowded
urban areas. The traditional emphasis has been on the single-minded pursuit ofhigher economic growth with scant regard for environmental protection and social
harmony. This orientation has to be adjusted as global warming and climatechange are already affecting nature and the way we live, work and play.

2.

Cities, the world over, continue to grow and expand because of their attractive
amenities and the abundant economic and social opportunities they offer. Per
capita income gaps between urban and rural communities have increasingly
widened since 1960s, causing outmigration of people year after year from ruralareas. By 2007, half of the world’s population was already living in cities. At thesame time, as hubs of prosperity, cities also have to grapple with a host ofproblems such as over-crowding, traffic congestion, noise, pollution, slums andillegal settlers, water shortages, high energy usage as well as social crimes.
Increasingly, such pattern of urban living is no longer considered sustainable.

3.

One important way where humans can reduce greenhouse gas emission andthereby protect the environment is to promote low carbon eco-cities that use lessresource and reduces waste output. To be sustainable, an eco-city project shouldbe able to generate economic growth; protect the environment; and, meet social
needs such as building a sense of community and be socially vibrant. These three
aspects have been commonly referred to as the “three harmonies”, namely,economic harmony, environmental harmony and social harmony, or in current UN
terminology, three dimensions of sustainability, economic, environmental andsocial.

4.

How to plan and build our cities more sustainably should be given greater
emphasis in transnational cooperation among the ASEAN plus Three (APT)
countries. The notion of “eco-city” proposes an innovative yet pragmatic
approach to designing, building and managing cities in a way that the destructive
impact of human urban activity upon nature and the environment will be1significantly reduced. With cities rapidly encroaching onto surrounding lands,
environmentally-conscious urban planning and development in accordance withlocal features and cultural traditions will have tremendous positive impact upon
the natural environment around us.
5.

In fact, as part of the global action against environmental degradation and climatechange, ASEAN and their regional partners have set environmental protection,energy conservation and addressing climate change as among the most important
topics on their agenda. At the 13th ASEAN Summit in November 2007, the ten
member states adopted the ASEAN Declaration on Environmental Sustainability
in Singapore with commitments made in the three main areas of environmental
protection and management, responding to climate change and conservation ofnatural resources. At the same venue, ASEAN, together with its six regional
partners at the Third East Asia Summit (EAS), passed the landmark Singapore
Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment that reaffirmed“the need to take an effective approach to the interrelated challenges of climatechange, energy security and other environmental and health issues, in the contextof sustainable development”. The inaugural East Asia Summit (EAS)
Environment Ministers Meeting in Hanoi in October 2008 adopted the theme ofachieving environmentally sustainable cities in East Asia.

6.

The NEAT Working Group (WG) on the Environment last year focused on global
warming and climate change issues and how the APT countries could nationallyand collectively deal with them. It pointed to the urgent need for improvingenergy efficiency, installing renewable energies, forest conservation andreforestation, 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle of wasted resources) and changing
our energy- and waste-intensive lifestyles. Building on this foundation, the NEATWG on the Environment this year is making specific policy recommendations
related to the development of eco-cities as part of global efforts to fight climatechange and meet other environmental challenges. In addition to the JapanSingapore Joint Coordinators’ meeting on 28th March 2009, the WG on theEnvironment met in Singapore on 20th April 2009 to deliberate on this topic andsubsequently endorsed this report.

II.

Fundamental Concept of Eco-Cities

7.

The concept of “Eco-city” originates from the fundamental objective ofsustainability and the application of ecological principles to urban planning,
design and management. “Sustainability” and in turn “sustainable development”
can mean different things to different people, making it challenging to provide asingle definition.

8.

This report adopts the original and most widely used definition of sustainable
development as contained in the 1987 Brundtland Report commissioned by theUnited Nations General Assembly. The report defines sustainable development as“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the2

ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. More importantly, thereport identifies three main components of sustainable development, namely,environmental protection, economic growth, and meeting social and culturalneeds.
9.

As an important model of sustainable development, an eco-city must be
economically, environmentally and socially sustainable (see diagram below). First,
the eco-city must be able to contribute to economic growth including attracting
investments and generating employment. Second, the eco-city must be able toprotect or, if possible, enhance the environment. Third, the eco-city must be able
to meet social considerations such as reducing poverty or improving the safety
and lives of ordinary people. In this way, there will be ground-level support for
the eco-city, an essential ingredient if it is to last.
Eco-city for Sustainable Development

Environmental
Needs
E.g. Lower ecologicalfootprint
Clean water & air
Unsustainable
Combination

Unsustainable

Combination

Eco-city for
Sustainable
Development

Economic Needs
Economic growth10.

Unsustainable
Combination

Social &Cultural Needs
Social harmony& Cultural vibrancy

There is no single blueprint of sustainability as the political, socio-economic
conditions and capabilities differ widely among societies and countries. Individual
countries have to strike a balance among the three components. An eco-city
would not be sustainable if any of the component parts is neglected. For instance,
merely focusing on economic growth and environmental protection would not be
viable if the cost involved is too high and the population is against it. Also,
merely concentrating on achieving environmental protection and social andcultural needs without generating economic wealth and gainful employment will
be unrealistic. Furthermore, merely emphasizing economic growth and social andcultural needs while neglecting the environment will be disastrous in the long run.

3In pursuit of eco-cities, the three dimensions of harmony or sustainability must be
met simultaneously.
11.

Taken together, a project that has a balanced mix of the economic, environmental
and social and cultural needs will be in a good position to reduce the ecologicalfootprint while improving the quality of life for current and future generations.

III

Priority Programs of Eco-Cities

12.

An eco-city requires a systematic and integrated approach to sustainability.
Priority programs may include:•Green technologies. Green technologies can be applied in a number of ways
such as in the effective and efficient recycling of refuse, sewerage andwastewater; providing clean and renewable energy like solar and wind power,
and even converting waste materials into power; and, in applying to buildings,
both public and private, to ensure efficient and safe energy usage.

•Environmentally sustainable transportation. In addition to shifting awayfrom gasoline-powered automobile engines to those fueled with electricity andfuel cells in urban transport, priority is given to environmentally friendly
commuting and non-motorized transportation. This can be achieved byproviding a good public transport network, cycling paths and walkways forpedestrians. The goal is to reduce the demand for fossil-fueled cars or to doaway with them altogether.

•Rational use of space. A typical eco-city is compact in its layout. The city is
usually divided into many centers or sub-centers where residents in each canhave easy access to various facilities such as educational institutions,commercial areas, workplaces, medical care and recreational areas.

•Green-belts and parks. An eco-city should be a “garden city” with as many
green parks located as possible in the city centres and residential zones andsurrounded by green-belts and woodlands, with the preservation of local
species and harmonious co-existence between humans and other creatures. All
schools, public and commercial buildings could install green roof gardens.
Residents should take full responsibility to ensure that their daily activities are
in harmony with nature. This will raise the overall quality of life for residents.

•Protecting water resources. The eco-city should conserve and recycle water
resources, and interfere minimally with the intrinsic patterns of the water
cycle in the ecological system. Urban aquifers should be protected fromoveruse or pollution, while the soil’s permeability should be safeguarded toensure the absorption of groundwater from time to time. City streets could
have side walks paved with water-absorbing bricks made of processed urban
wastes.

4•Cultural and heritage conservation. For an eco-city to retain its vibrancy
and character, it may be worthwhile and necessary to engage in selective
conservation of existing historical buildings and sites. The retention andadaptive re-use or retro-fitting of these historical structures and sites will
provide a valuable link to the area’s rich heritage as well as provide animportant source of income generation for urban communities struggling for
fiscal balance.

IVChallenges and Problems of Promoting Eco-Cities

13.

The notion of a sustainable low-carbon city that offers a positive possible way outof the current model of high energy consumption and high wastage is certainly an
attractive proposition. Yet the path to get there is wrought with numerous
challenges and problems.

14.

There is often a gap between the conceptualization of an eco-city on the one handand its actual implementation and outcome on the other hand. The
conceptualization of an eco-city involves initial steps such as developing a vision,
conducting feasibility studies, and drawing up designs and plans. What is often
more challenging, however, is to translate what is on paper or in the plans intopractice. In some instances, the euphoria surrounding the promoting of an eco-city
begins on a high-note but then the momentum peters out when difficulties areencountered on the ground. In other instances, the eco-city that is being built fails
to live up to its touted environmentally friendly or energy saving qualities.

15.

The following are some of the key challenges and problems encountered inchampioning the green agenda with specific reference to the development of ecocities:•Green agenda not commonly shared among various stakeholders•

Lack of effective supervision and enforcement mechanisms•

Insufficient detailed local plan making and performance indicators•

Failure to meet local economic and social priorities•

Inadequate civil society and private sector participation throughout theentire process of eco-city planning, designing and building•

Lack of political support and sufficient funding5

V

Policy Recommendations

16.

As an important model of sustainable development, an eco-city must be
economically, environmentally and socially sustainable (see diagram below). First,
the eco-city must be able to contribute to economic growth including attracting
investments and generating employment. Second, the eco-city must be able toprotect or, if possible, enhance the environment. Third, the eco-city must be able
to meet social considerations such as reducing poverty or improving the safety
and lives of ordinary people. In this way, there will be ground-level support for
the eco-city, an essential ingredient if it is to last.
Eco-city for Sustainable Development

Environmental
Needs
E.g. Lower ecologicalfootprint
Clean water & airUnsustainable

Unsustainable
Combination

Combination

Eco-city for
Sustainable
Development

Economic Needs
Economic growth17.

Unsustainable
Combination

Social &Cultural Needs
Social harmony& Cultural vibrancy

Below are some key recommendations to APT governments on building eco-cities:
Recommendation 1: Promote the development of eco-cities in particular to tackle
global warming and climate change.
Recommendation 2: Incorporate climate change mitigation and adaptation
measures into eco-city development.
Recommendation 3: Generate greater awareness of the rationale and long-term
benefits of promoting eco-cities among the people, private sector and publicsector (or what is commonly known as the 3 Ps).

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Recommendation 4: Build up human resource and institutional capabilities onenvironmental protection and eco-cities.
Recommendation 5: Facilitate the sharing of information, experience, expertiseand technology related to eco-cities such as green building, environmentallysustainable transportation, water management, biodiversity conservation, urban
greenery, sanitation and waste management based on the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse andRecycle).
Recommendation 6: Target eco-city capacity building as a priority area for theASEAN plus Three Cooperation Fund.
Recommendation 7: Promote and encourage private sector participation in thedevelopment of eco-cities.
Recommendation 8: Encourage member states to draw up action plans for thedevelopment of eco-cities.
Recommendation 9: Extend the existing ASEAN Initiative on EnvironmentallySustainable Cities to include other cities in the region.
.....

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