- Towards a Food Sovereignty Strategy for Singapore   1090 kb by    Ng, Waikeen | akinwk@nus.edu.sg    Short Outline This paper summarizes the proposals for island-wide multi-disciplinary spatial planning and design strategies that could help Singapore achieve a “total defence” approach towards a measure of food sovereignty during a crisis situation. Abstract The global population is expected to continue growing and become increasingly urbanised. At the same time, farming and fishing yields are declining through increased demand, reduced amounts of arable land, unsustainable agricultural and fishing practices and climate change. Breakthroughs in food production – another “green revolution” – are urgently required, as will be urban agriculture, which will be increasingly important to supplement traditional, rural agriculture. Singapore is in a vulnerable position in the impending food crisis, and the government is seeking to diversify our food sources, even creating food zones overseas. However, the question remains: given Singapore’s small size and already dense urban environment, how can we address the spatial requirements to attain a satisfactory degree of food sovereignty and security, as it is neither realistic nor economically and environmentally viable to attempt to meet Singapore’s entire food needs through in-country cultivation. The more pragmatic and viable solution would be to build flexibility and adaptability in the urban planning and development strategies so that land and space can be quickly deployed (say, within three months) for food production as and when the need arises, that is, during critical or emergency situations. At all other times, when imported food is secure, such land and spaces have “normal”, everyday functions. Over two semesters, the Food Sovereignty studio explored island-wide multi- disciplinary spatial planning and design strategies that will help Singapore achieve a “total defence” approach towards food sovereignty during a crisis situation. The site, naturally, covers the entire territory of Singapore, including the off-shore islands. The studio explored the major aspects and concepts (“strands”) of the challenge, including some basic number crunching to determine the quantitative parameters of the project. Then over the semester, the ideas coalesced around three major “strands”: urban farming, urban fisheries, and productive landscapes. The students identified/developed strategies for each, first at the national level, but also zooming into a new town (Bedok) to examine potential spatial ramifications for efficient deployment during emergency situations. Underlying the proposals is an understanding of the key technical/scientific requirements of each “strand”, sensitivity to the political and social contexts, and the adoption of the ethos of sustainable urbanism. Keywords Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2013: Frontiers of Planning - Evolving and declining models of city planning practice   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper