Land as a Scarce Resource

• Land is an important resource - used for various purposes to meet our

needs.

• total amount of land available in every country is limited.

• only 1/3 of the earth’s surface is land and of this, about half is covered by
mountains, deserts, ice and swamps (pp 6)

• = scarcity or shortage of land to be developed for various uses.

• = amount of land that can be developed for various uses is limited.

= Land constraint

Scarcity of land in Singapore requires careful planning to maximize

landuse

Reasons for Land Constraint

• housing

• industries

• agriculture

• towns and cities (urbanisation)

• Recreation

Housing
 • As a result of rapid population growth in the last few decades, more
land is needed for human activities.

• As a population grows, there will be increasing demand for housing.

• Singapore has built high-rise HDB apartments to meet the increasing

demand for housing.

Industries

• To provide jobs for a growing population, the expansion of manufacturing

industries and businesses is essential. Land has to be set aside for the
growth of industries.

Towns and Cities

Rising demand for land

• The development of transport systems is impt for the efficient

movement of people, goods & materials as a country develops.

The integration of transport networks (e.g air, sea and land) is necessary for a
modern economy like Singapore to function well

Integration of transport networks at Ang Mo Kio hub

Eg. MRT -> Bus / Walk / Taxi

Agriculture

• As populations grow, countries have to find more arable land to produce

food for their people. Thus, there will be increasing demand for arable
land.

Arable land is land that is suitable for the growing of crops

Leisure and recreation

Rising demand for land

• With more people, there will be increasing demand for recreational

spaces.

• Land will be needed for a wide range of amenities like golf courses,
swimming pools, parks, gardens and nature reserves.

• For example, in the upcoming Marina Bay development, large areas of

Marina South, Centre and East are set aside for ‘Gardens by the Bay’ and
a golf course, along with the ‘Singapore Flyer’.

Reclaimed land
Limited supply of land

• Land makes up only about 30% of the Earth’s surface.

• However, not all land types are available for use. Some examples are
swamps, marshes, low-lying coastal areas, deserts, land damaged by poor
farming practices and abandoned mines.

An abandoned mine and its man-made hills of mining waste

Little Guilin used to be a granite quarry

Limited supply of land

• Even when there is available land, it may be designated for specific uses,
such as water catchment areas. This leaves limited areas of land for other
purposes such as industry and housing.

• In Singapore, more than half of the total land area is used for military
training areas and water catchment areas.

Rising demand for land results from population growth

 - increasing demand for housing

- growth of industries

- development of transport systems

- increasing demand for arable land

- increasing demand for recreational spaces

Limited supply of land

- not all land are readily available for use

- land may be reserved for certain uses

- Responses to rising demand for land

• The rising demand for limited land results in increased competition

between different groups of people.

• Land scarcity and increased competition compel people to make decisions

on how to best utilise a piece of land.

• The cost of not being able to use the same piece of land for its next best
use is known as opportunity cost. E.g.:

• 1. The opportunity cost of building a hospital is the loss of the land

used to build an MRT station for the residents.

Responses to land constraint

1. Increasing the price of land

• Some parts of the land are more expensive than others:

– near to transportation networks

– near to resources

– near to coastal areas

• Since there are so many competing needs, we should let those who need
it more have the land

• But HOW do we know who needs it more?

• The concept of price mechanism.

Relocation of the population

Resettlement scheme… transmigration. E.g. Indonesia:

(recall map of Indonesia … Sumatra, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, Kalimantan, W

Timor)Population relocated from densely populated Java / Madura islands to
sparsely populated islands).

Conserving land

• ensure that damage is kept to a minimum.

• Setting aside land for nature reserves is a method of conserving land.

• Nature reserves are protected for their natural heritage

Land clearance by deforestation

• a process whereby empty plots of land are created for various landuses.

• Demolish old buildings

• Deforestation to build homes and grow crops (pg 13)

Negative impact:

• Forest fires breaking out

• Rain forests are shrinking at a rate of 100 acres per minute...

Land Reclamation

• creation of dry land from an area covered by water

• process of recovering land that is damaged and abandoned and making it

usable again.

• Landfill, empoldering and reclaiming derelict land are three methods of

reclaiming land.
 Brown areas: Reclaimed land in San Francisco Bay

Land reclamation: Landfill

• draining waterlogged areas such as swamps and marshes and filling them
with material like sand to form dry land

Land reclamation:
Restoring derelict land

• Derelict land refers to land that is badly damaged and cannot be used
effectively.

• Land can be damaged by human activities and natural disasters like forest
fires and severe floods.

Derelict land caused by human activities …

1. Improper farming practices

• when crops are continually grown, harvested and not given enough time
to replace its nutrients.

• Excessive ploughing of land may cause soil erosion

• Animal grazing: Lack of natural vegetation (forest) and hence lack of plant
roots to bind soil particles together

• Accelerated Soil erosion = removal of topsoil which contains the nutrients

to sustain vegetation growth

[human induced desertification]

2. Mining activities

• Extraction and drilling for mineral ores permanently scars and disturbs the
land surface

• Mining produces waste that contains toxic metals which may pollute
groundwater and nearby water bodies.

How derelict land is reclaimed

• add fertilisers to restore the nutrients in the soil.

 • derelict land damaged by mining activities

-> spoil banks have to be levelled and mining pools filled

-> Chemicals can be introduced to treat acidic soil and vegetation planted
to prevent soil erosion.

• mines are expensive to restore

Land reclamation:Empoldering

• Empoldering - method of creating land from the sea through the use of
polders.

• A polder is a piece of land in a low-lying area that has been reclaimed

from a body of water by building dikes and drainage canals.

• commonly carried out in low-lying coastal areas

Land reclamation: Effectiveness of land reclamation

• limits to the amount of land a country can reclaim.

• Limitations of the current technology in landfill method

• cost of reclaiming land from deeper waters

• availability of sand for reclamation

• dispute over national territorial boundaries

• Land Reclamation in Singapore

• Land reclamation works in the past used to be carried out from depths of
5-10m. Today, reclamation works have to venture into deeper waters of
15m or so and this will incur much higher costs.

• It is also not so viable to pursue pushing reclamation further offshore

because there is the competing need to maintain the sealanes and
provide new and larger ports for the bigger ships to anchor in Singapore's
limited sea space.

• Sand issue?  Indonesia and neighbouring countries refusing to sell us

sand
Impact of land reclamation (landfill)

When coastal habitats like mangrove swamps are reclaimed, the marine life and
birds may lose their habitats and die.

Maximizing existing landuse

Maximising urban landuse in landuse planning:

• mixed landuse and

• high density building

e.g. Tokyo built upwards.

Advantages of mixed
Disadvantages of mixed landuse
landuse

convenience of having
homes, jobs, services
Construction and reconstruction -> costly
and facilities in the
same area.

Wide range of
amenities ensures that increase in traffic congestion noise and
the needs of many air pollution
users are met

High density building

• construction of taller buildings

• Such areas are known as high density areas because there are many
people working or living per unit area.

• E.g. hong kong

Advantages of high Disadvantages of high

density building density building

scarce land is freed up

for other landuses crowded environment, traffic
such as conservation congestion and higher noise
and military levels.
installations.

Reduce rate at which

increase in stress levels and
green spaces are
reduction of quality of life.
developed

Maximising agriculture land use

• Terracing is the method of creating flat strips of land by cutting a series

of steps into hill slopes.

• Irrigation is the watering of crops through artificial means.

 • Soil-less farming is the method of growing crops without the use of soil.

Terracing

• hilly areas used to cultivate crops

• commonly used in the Philippines and Indonesia.

• Not a new method.

• thousands of years old.

Advantag
es of Disadvantages of terracing
terracing

inexpensiv
Difficult to construct
e

The bunds
prevent
the soil
from being
washed
away

A lot of effort is needed to maintain the terraces

flat land ->
after they are constructed.
possible for
modern Risk of soil erosion
machinery
to be used,
thus
making
farming
more
efficient

Irrigation

• allows farmers to grow crops in water-scarce areas

• initial costs of modern irrigation systems are high

-> modern irrigation systems are not widely used in many developing
countries.

Advantages of irrigation Disadvantages of irrigation

 May hold stagnant waters ->
grow greater amounts and wider
breeding sites for bacteria,
varieties of crops.
mosquitoes and other pests.

areas that were previously

poor drainage -> waterlogged
unsuitable for cultivation can now
-> damage to crops.
be made arable.

high amounts of dissolved

Computerised irrigation systems ->
reducing the need for human
labour.
mineral salts in river water can
cause damage to crops.
Expensive, especially in
cases where a dam needs to
be built

Soil-less farming

• enables crops to be grown closer together

• Eg. hydroponics and aeroponics.

Advantages of soil-less
Disadvantages of soil-less farming
farming

Plants can be grown closer Costly to invest in high technology

together ->more crops can be equipment and specially prepared
grown at the same time nutrient solutions for plants

sufficient amounts of nutrients

distributed evenly to the crop at
regular intervals
prevent the growth of weeds or
insects.
not practical in countries where
farmers do not receive enough training
to enable them to operate the high
technology equipment

Land Use Planning in Singapore

Background:

• Land use planning authority in Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority

(URA)

– Role of URA:

• Prepare long-term strategic plans (Concept Plans) and

medium term plans (Master Plans) to ensure sufficient land
 for future developments and to support continued economic
growth.

– Land Use Planning Slogan: Make Singapore a place to Live, Work

and Play

Land Use Planning Strategies

1. Land reclamation

2. Soil-less farming

3. Building upwards

4. High density building

5. Mixed land use

Master Plan 2008

1. New Business Hubs – Jurong, Paya Lebar (office, hotels, retail, residential,
waterfront leisure destinations)

2. Living it up – more living options – Marina South, Kallang Bugis (river

residences)

3. Serious about having fun – recreation at Lim Chu Kang, waterbodies, night
life, arts

4. Home endearing homes – rejuvenation of older HDB homes

Resolve land constraint problem

Eg. max retail space in orchard by building an underground orchard mega-mall

linking all shopping centres together