City in Nature Research Programme

As one of the five pillars under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, the “City in Nature” vision aims to further restore and integrate nature into Singapore’s urban fabric, so as to strengthen our distinctiveness as a highly liveable city, while mitigating the impacts of urbanisation and adapting to climate change. This ongoing transformation into a “City in Nature” seeks to conserve and extend Singapore’s natural capital island-wide, through the following four key strategies: 1) expanding our nature park network; 2) intensifying nature in gardens and parks; 3) restoring nature into the urban landscape, and; 4) strengthening ecological connectivity between green spaces.

To provide a scientific foundation to support these transformative efforts, the City in Nature research vertical (CoT V5), under the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme (CoT), will build upon existing R&D efforts in urban ecology and greenery to strengthen our ecological, climate and social resilience.

As addressing the complex challenges involved in transforming Singapore into a City in Nature will require perspectives from a wide range of disciplines, research efforts under CoT V5 will seek to harness scientific expertise, technical capabilities, and practitioner experience that reside across various local research institutes, agencies, and companies, as coordinated by NParks.

Broadly, CoT V5 aims to enhance:

• Climate resilience by improving ecosystem capacity to adapt and respond to disturbances brought about by climate change (e.g., increased urban heat island effects, inland flooding due to extreme rainfall events) using nature-based solutions.
• Ecological resilience by adopting an evidence-based approach to plan, design and monitor biodiversity conservation outcomes more effectively.
• Social resilience by gaining a better understanding of how dimensions and detailing of landscape elements affect mental and physical health (e.g., psychological response, cognitive performance), which allows more effective planning and design of public spaces towards enhanced health outcomes and social cohesion.

R&D efforts under Vertical 5 – City in Nature will be centered around key focus areas such as:

• Safe, productive, and multi-functional urban greenery – Develop solutions to improve urban greenery operations and management, and its integration with the built environment.
• Biodiversity monitoring to improve adaptive management of urban biodiversity – Develop tools and techniques to improve the efficiency of biodiversity monitoring, so as to enhance the conservation and management of native flora and fauna.
• Managing human-nature relationships – Improve our understanding of human-nature relationships, so as to inform policies and solutions that further enhance the physical and mental well-being benefits of urban nature.
• Nature-based solutions for inland climate change and adaptation – Investigate climate-related ecosystem services and biodiversity to inform the planning and design of blue-green infrastructure and multi-functional landscapes, as nature-based solutions to strengthen resilience against climate change.

• Host Institution: NTU
• Duration: 3 Years (2024 – 2027)
• R&D Theme: Nature-based solutions for inland climate change adaptation
• Project Synopsis: This project seeks to assess the return of nutrients – specifically, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium – from leaves fallen from trees across natural and managed green spaces in Singapore. It will develop a protocol for long-term monitoring of nutrient dynamics and collect the evidence for the evaluation and refinement of urban greening and forest restoration strategies for enhanced nutrient control and carbon sequestration.

• Host Institution: NTU
• Duration: 5 Years (2024 – 2029)
• R&D Theme: Safe, productive, and multi-functional urban greenery
• Project Synopsis: Many trees in Singapore are planted in constrained spaces. This project investigates the load and deformation responses of trees subjected to such urban planting conditions through field testing and numerical modelling. By identifying the threshold criteria for non-destructive testing, it aims to develop and prototype reliable testing protocols and equipment to assess tree structural conditions and their resistance to uprooting. Additionally, the project seeks to develop a non-destructive system to generate 3D models of tree root architecture across various urban settings.

• Host Institution: Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR)
• Duration: 3 Years (2024 – 2027)
• R&D Theme: Safe, productive, and multi-functional urban greenery
• Project Synopsis: The objective of this project is to identify soil microbes and ectomycorrhiza that enhance the health and growth of Dipterocarp, as well as to determine the biotic and abiotic factors influencing their abundance and prevalence in soil. The project will also develop guidelines for priming soil with the identified microbial and ectomycorrhizal communities and evaluate the impact of such primed soils on Dipterocarp health and growth in forested and urban areas. These efforts aim to support conservation efforts and promote the successful establishment of Dipterocarp in urban settings.

• Host Institution: NUS
• Duration: 3 Years (2024 – 2027)
• R&D Theme: Managing human-nature relationships
• Project Synopsis: This research aims to identify landscape attributes which have positive effects on well-being through the use of body network sensors. It will lead to the development of guidelines for the design of neighbourhood landscape that promotes better well-being.

• Host Institution: NUS
• Duration: 2.5 Years (2025 – 2028)
• R&D Theme: Safe, productive, and multi-functional urban greenery
• Project Synopsis: Urban noise is a significant environmental issue affecting human health and well-being. This project aims to provide valuable insights into 3D noise mapping technique, as well as to understand the physical and psychological effects of greenery on noise reduction and perception. By identifying key landscape and planning features that affect noise annoyance, the project will develop predictive models and guidelines to optimise urban greenery for effective noise management.