I love nature and I love sharing pictures and videos that have nature as its main theme. And I hope, through this and in my small way, people will appreciate nature more – and love our mother Earth a lot more than we are doing right now.
Today, 55% of the world’s population live in urban areas, and could rise to 68% by 2050, says the UN
Living in concrete jungles city dwellers lose touch with nature. Thankfully my home country, Singapore, is a “city in a garden”. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the World Economic Forum found Singapore to be top of the tree for green spaces. Almost 30% of Singapore’s urban areas are covered with greenery. Sydney and Vancouver are joint second with 25.9% with Sacramento third at 23.6%. Of the 17 cities covered, Paris is lowest with 8.8%. The researchers used Google Street View and computer vision techniques to measure trees and vegetation in cities around the world to form the Green View Index (GVI) - the percentage of canopy cover for a particular location.
As a citizen of Singapore and a nature lover I applaud the authorities’ efforts to make the city ever so green. There are 300 parks and 4 nature reserves. And 3 million trees – 1 for every 2 residents. Singapore is small - just 721 square km or 278 square miles in size – and dense - accommodates almost 6 million people. Greenery that is lost on the ground from construction is replaced by greenery in the air in the form of vertical gardens or green walls and high rise terraces or rooftop gardens.
People are happiest when connected to nature, experts say. And I believe in this. I visit the neighbourhood and reservoir parks often – to do energy sapping runs or cycling to keep the body fit or to do leisurely walks to relax the mind. Or to just admire the trees and flowers and the birds and butterflies and the sun rising or setting over pools of water. Parks are escape zones from the hustle and bustle of city life. I also visit other green spaces that are also tourist spots - like the Botanic Gardens, Gardens by the Bay and National Orchid Garden. I can’t imagine living in a city without having nature close at hand.
And there’s a bonus. Because people like to eat at tranquil locations and natural surroundings you can find some of the best food at or around urban green spaces.
