Megacity Singapore named Asia's greenest city

Singapore topped the Asian Green City Index as it stood out in particular for its ambitious environmental targets and its efficient approach to achieving them.

According to Siemens, Singapore is Asia’s greenest metropolis. This is the conclusion of the Asian Green City Index – a study commissioned by Siemens and performed by the independent Economist Intelligence Unit. For the study, which was carried out over the past few months, the EIU analyzed the aims and achievements of 22 major Asian cities with respect to environmental and climate protection.

“The country’s many policies, incentive programs and public awareness campaigns have worked well in improving its urban environment. What is even more commendable about Singapore is that the government is constantly partnering with the private sector to find new and innovative ways to boost the sustainability of the island-nation,” commented Lothar Herrmann, CEO of Siemens Pte Ltd, Singapore.

In other Asian cities as well, environmental awareness and climate protection guidelines are playing an increasingly important role.

“The Asian Green City Index supports cities in their efforts to expand their infrastructures on a sustainable basis. We want to enable Asia’s up-and-coming urban centers to achieve healthy growth rates coupled with a high quality of life,” said Barbara Kux, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer.

The Asian Green City Index examines the environmental performance of 22 major Asian cities in eight categories: energy and CO2, land use and buildings, transport, waste, water, sanitation, air quality and environmental governance. The EIU developed the methodology in cooperation with leading urban experts around the world, including representatives of the OECD, the World Bank and Asia’s regional network of local authorities, CITYNET. “The study of Asian cities shows one thing very clearly: higher income does not necessarily mean higher resource consumption. While resource consumption increases substantially up to an annual gross domestic product of about €15,000 per capita, it drops again when income rises beyond this,” said Jan Friederich, research head of the EIU study. Why? In the prosperous Asian cities, environmental awareness is greater and infrastructures are more efficient. These cities are actively cutting their consumption of natural resources and are thus developing more sustainably. “In addition, cities that performed well in the Index are characterized by their ability to successfully implement environmental projects and consistently enforce regulations,” explained Friederich.

Also among the study’s particularly gratifying results were the following:

- Environmental awareness is growing, and the majority of the Asian cities have already introduced comprehensive environmental guidelines.

- Average annual CO2 emissions per capita are 4.6 tons in the Asian cities, and below the corresponding figure for Europe (5.2 tons per capita and year).

- The 22 Asian cities produce an average of 375 kilograms of waste per capita and year, less than in Latin America (465 kilograms) and Europe (511 kilograms).

- Singapore gets full marks in the Index for having an energy reduction strategy, for making efforts to consume energy more efficiently, for having a climate change action plan and for signing up to international environmental covenants.

- Singapore ranks above average for its robust policies that serve to contain urban sprawl and to protect green spaces from the negative side effects of development.

- The country also ranks above average for its extensive public transport network, at 0.21 km per square kilometer, which is above the 22-city average of 0.17 km per square kilometer.

- It is the only city well above average in the waste category. The city generates lower than Index average waste per person, and the authorities collect and dispose all of it.

- Also performing well above average in the water category, Singapore has the second lowest leakage rate in the Index, and has some of the best policies in the Index for water conservation and quality.

“Siemens has had the privilege of partnering with Singapore in creating a greener and more sustainable environment– from building more energy-efficient and cleaner power plants, to producing NEWater, to providing an integrated automation system for the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System,” said Lothar Herrmann. “And we are continuing this successful partnership to help Singapore achieve both economic growth and a good living environment for a long time to come.”

According to the study, the biggest challenges facing Asia’s cities are in the following areas:

- Air pollution levels are relatively high in all the cities studied, regardless of income. The average values for all the cities substantially exceed WHO standards.

- Asia’s metropolises have much catching up to do in the area of renewable energies, which on average account for 11 percent of the total electricity generated in the 22 cities. By comparison, the average in Latin America is 64 percent – due to the high proportion of hydroelectric power plants there.