Singapore Part I
Singapore. Most folks in the US have no idea where the country is. To them, it’s some mystery Asian country that was featured a couple times in Pirates of the Caribbean, where it was ruled more by bandits and outlaws than anything else. But, the truth of the matter is, Singapore is a small but powerful island-city nation. It touts one of the largest per capita GDP rates of any nation in Asia, and packs its almost 4.5 million residents in less than 800 square kilometers, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
Because the country’s small land size, the government had to get creative, to be able to maintain a healthy real estate market and keep all of its citizens in decent and affordable housing. The solution was high rise apartment buildings, in which the apartments, or “flats” as they are called, could be purchased. Most “blocks,” the name buildings themselves are called due to their distinct building numbering, are more than 9 or 10 stories high. Some of the new buildings look to be at least 20.
The beauty of this is that there are plenty of homes for sale at most any moment allowing the free market to set the prices. And the government regularly pulls down old apartment buildings, and replacing them with new, which means there is not usually a problem with one section of town being wildly out of class with another.
In this picture, you can see the apartment buildings ranging in their various sizes. Also, if you look closely at the building closest in the picture, you can see a number, 116. This is the “Block” number. Every building is a “Block” and is numbered as such. Another tidbit, due to the land size, industry and housing can many times share very close quarters, and this picture shows a small industrial area made up of the little red buildings sandwiched between apartment blocks.
I hope to show some other little things about Singapore in the next few days, so stay tuned!
Andy
