REFLECTIONS

Change is inevitable. It is impossible to stop changes from happening in the world, just like how it's impossible to stop the earth from moving. Changes can be good or bad, and it's up to us to adapt to these changes, find a solution to it and use the change to our advantage. An example is humans will always give birth to more babies and thus the population will increase. With the population increasing, there is lesser space for everyone and thus the demand of land and other resources increases too.

In the changes, there is always a winner and loser. The loser is the one that cannot adapt to these changes, or the one that is defenceless to these changes. For example, when a developer cuts down trees to clear the land for human purposes, animals and the environment will be the one at lost while us humans will benefit from the development of the land. The animals will lose its habitat and become endangered, the effects of global warming will increase.

Humans are responsible for majority of the changes as we cater things to our needs. Just like how we do things for the sake of convenience and not care about the effects of our actions on other creatures or the environment.

Maximizing Land Use

Since the amount of land on earth on earth is limited everywhere,
land reclamation is not a long-term solution.

Land use planning is important to settle conflicts about how the land should be used, maximizing existing land use.


Urban Land Use:

1) Mixed Land Use-

• Mutiple uses of same plot of land
• Allows a limited area of land to be used for different purposes. [advantage]
• Such as, commercial, industrial, residential and leisure.
  

2) High-density buildings [also known as verticalization]-

• Buildings are close together to cater to more needs. [advantages]
• Allows more residential areas to be built, accommodating to the increase in population.
• Also, it allows for more commercial buildings to be built, expanding economic activities.
• Thus, the density in central business district is naturally high.
  

Agriculture Land Use:
[takes place mainly in the rural areas]

1) Terracing-

• Farming on steps cut into hillsides
• Increases the area of arable land, thus maximizing the existing land use [advantage]
  

2) Soil-less farming

• Farming methods like aeroponics and hydroponics are examples of Soil-less farming
• Do not require as much land and at the same time, the quantity of food preduced is not affected at all. [advantage]

3) Irrigation

• Supplies to areas with seasonal rainfall or deserts
• Can also increase yields in existing farmlands by lengtening the growing seasons[advantage]
• Diverting water from main water bodies to provide water for fields

*Advantages are listed together with the points stated above.

Singapore Context:

High-density buildings

• As Singapore is a small country, competition for land is more intense
• Buildings are built close together to allow more residential flats and to accommodate expanding economic activities.
• The density of buildings especially in the central business district is high.
• Skyscrapers are built close together in Singapore

Land Conservation

The land is regarded as natural heritage.
Owing to the importance of land conservation, land use planning is a prerogative of the government. In some areas, a government agency may impose a conservation restriction on landowner. Legal agreement is established to limit the uses of land for the purpose of land conservation. In this way, valuable land can be reserved for proper developement.

Advantages:

• Minimize loss and damage to surrounding scenic beauty and habitats so that more land can be made available for human uses.
  

Disadvantages:

• When land is needed for other purposes, it might be difficult to clear the land.
  

Singapore context:
Example, the land in Bukit Timah is made into a nature reserve, known as Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Increasing price of land

When many users compete for the same favorable location, the price of land will rise.
Supply and demand determines price of land.

Price Mechanism- Land prices decrease with distance from the city centre. (Highest rentals are
in the city centre)

Opportunity Cost- it is the cost of decision based on the next best alternative

Advantages:

• The highest bidder gets the land, and thus he will not waste it.
  

Disadvantages:

• It is unfair as lower income people would not be able to afford the land but might
  have better dreams and visions for the usage and the land which in turn may benefit the good of all people.

High land price in Kuala Lumpur due to the high demand for land.

Singapore Context:

Land in Singapore is very valuable. Thus, the competition for land is intense. The nearer the land is to the CBD [central business district] is, the higher the price will be.

Cental business district in Singapore

Land Clearance

Land Clearance (deforestation) is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging or burning. Deforestation is done for different purposes: commerial logging, cattle ranching, plantation agriculture or shifting cultivation.

Advantages:

• Provides more land that can be used for different purposes.
  

Disadvantages:

• Greenhouse effects
  - Deforestation contribues to a lot of the world greenhouse gas emmisions.
  Also, deforestation may cause carbon stores held in soil to be released.
  
• Soil erosion
  - After clearing the trees, the soil is exposed and thus is washed away when there is heavy rains.
  
  
  
  
  
• Soil leaching
  - As the nutrients in soil is soluble, when it rains, the nutrients will dissolve and be washed downwards, causing the soil to become loose.
  
• Decrease in evapotranspiration
  Evapotranspiration is a combination of water that evaporates from soil and plant surfaces with tiny water vapour that is released through the stomata. As deforestation decreases evapotranspiration, it also decreases regional rainfall.
  
  
• Destroys the habitats of animals and plants. Causing them to be endangered or extinct. The food chain may also be disrupted.
  
  

Singapore Context:

• However, in Singapore there are hardly any forests and thus it is impossible to use deforestation. The forests in Singapore has been conserved as rainforests, nature reserves or reservoirs.
  

How it affects different parties:

• Plants would die out.
  
• Animals would lose their habitats, causing them to be homeless. At the same time, they would not have food to eat as some of the animals rely on the plants for nutrition.
  
• Plants and animals species might become endangered or even extinct if deforestation continues.
  
• The greenhouse gases that are released will contribute to global warming, which in turn affect the climate.
  

Photo of deforestation

Land Reclamation

It is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds.

Empoldering:

• It is the process of draining waterlogged areas for agriculture or other purposes by building dykes [embankments]
• Land Created: polder

Draining Swamps:

• Provide more land for agriculture

Restoring Derelict land

• Add fertilisers to restore lost nutrients
• Remove waste, treat contaminated soil with chemicals, add water to become lake for recreation [for the land that was damaged due to mining]

Advantages:

• Will definately increase the land area for a certain country
• With more land, more buildings and infrastructure can be built, and also for other reasons.

Disadvantages:

• Not a long-term solution to the problem of land shortage as there is a limit to the amount of land that can be reclaimed.
• Damaging to corals and marine life. Example, the waters might also be polluted from the soil used to reclaim land, causing the fishes to die and blocking out sunlight, depriving the underwater plants of growth.
• Marine habitats are also destroyed, as mentioned earlier; therefore, the marine creatures would be forced to move to another new habitat. Some might not be able to adapt, and thus die out.

Singapore Context

In Singapore, 20% of the original size or 135km square. As of 2003, plans for 99km more are to go ahead, despite the fact that disputes persist with Malaysia over Singapore's extensive land reclamation works.


Also, land reclamation is intense, and reclaimed land is everywhere. It is used to build Marina Bay, which is the location of the Integrated Resorts, financial centres and the Singapore Flyer.

The world-famous Changi Airport is also built on reclaimed land. One of the seaports is also located on reclaimed land. The entire East Coast Park is also situated on Singapore's largest scale reclaimed land. Reclaimed land is also present on neighbouring islands for housing, industry and many other purposes.