SINGAPORE - HDB flat dwellers in many new estates can look forward to more green spaces.

The Housing Board said it is ramping up efforts to provide more integrated foliage and greenery as part of efforts to create a liveable and sustainable environment for residents.

Over 80 new housing projects have been earmarked for this. They include Build-To-Order (BTO) developments like Tampines GreenView, Bedok North Woods, West Plains @ Bukit Batok, Anchorvale Plains, Tampines GreenBloom and Tampines GreenFlora.

The new estates will be progressively completed from this year.

To help curate the type, location and density of the foliage in each development, HDB has introduced new greenery provision guidelines.

All new HDB developments must have a "green plot ratio" of at least 4.5, meaning the total "leaf area" of all the plants has to be 4.5 times the site area.

Calculating leaf area not only takes into account the number of plants, but also weighs factors such as trees' canopy sizes, how leafy they are and how closely they are planted.

New housing developments will also have around 45 to 60 per cent green cover, including tree cover that provides canopy shade to cool estates and their residents.

These enhanced greenery requirements have been piloted in Dawson in Queenstown and Keat Hong in Choa Chu Kang.

Dawson estate, envisioned to be "Housing in a Park", will have more than 4,300 new trees from over 70 species. Half of these have already been planted in the four completed housing projects - SkyTerrace @ Dawson, SkyVille @ Dawson, Dawson Vista and Forfar Heights.

Existing mature trees within the estate are also retained during construction.



Shrubbery and small trees on the roof garden of Skyville @ Dawson. PHOTO: HDB



When completed this year, the Dawson estate will have a park-like environment with all seven housing projects connected in a series of green spaces and pathways.

It will achieve a green plot ratio of more than 4.5 and an average of 50 per cent green cover.

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Mr Nitin Doshi, 55, a resident at SkyTerrace @ Dawson, said it is wonderful how greenery is used to seamlessly connect the flats to the nearby Alexandra Canal Linear Park, resulting in a "vibrant environment" along the park connector.

"The hanging plants on the sky terraces help the buildings feel connected to the ground and simple greenery helps to connect to the outside, which is what successful public housing should look like," said Mr Doshi, who is an urban planner and designer.

He noted that the integrated greenery occasionally attracts a number of wildlife such as otters and hornbills to the estate.



Rain trees at the SkyVille @ Dawson precinct park. PHOTO: HDB



Keat Hong estate, where six new housing projects have been completed since 2016, boasts roof garden spaces with amenities such as fitness corners and playgrounds that can be converted into community gardens and farms.

A network of ramps and link bridges connect residential blocks to the roof garden and the nearby neighbourhood park.

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A military-inspired theme was adopted for the architecture, landscaping and play equipment to reflect its past as a former army camp.

It fulfils the minimum 4.5 green plot ratio and has an average of 55 per cent green cover.

HDB's landscaping efforts have evolved over the years, from simple tree planting and providing shade in the 1960s and 1970s - when the first HDB flats were built - to more sophisticated and integrated landscaping to enhance communal spaces and facilities.