Novo Jardim Botânico em Singapura: Gardens by the Bay

Enquanto a Câmara Municipal de Lisboa produz um Plano de Pormenor que na verdade mais não é que um plano de urbanização para a construção de cerca de 30 mil m2 de edifícios em plena zona de protecção do Jardim Botânico, a cidade-estado de Singapura decidiu construir um segundo Jardim Botânico em pleno centro da cidade. Este novo espaço verde terá 54 hectares (o nosso Jardim Botânico tem 4,5 hectares) incluirá um notável complexo de estufas monumentais destinadas à exibição de plantas de clima mediterrânico (lá estarão as nossas oliveiras, alfarrobeiras, cerejeiras, etc.). Se houvesse visão de futuro em Lisboa, o Parque Mayer, propriedade municipal, seria naturalmente destinado à expansão do Jardim Botânico da capital. E o mesmo destino deveria ser dado a muitos dos logradouros abandonados na zona de preotecção do Jardim Botânico. Aliás, esta ideia já está pensada e estudada desde a década de 60 do séc. XX - até saiu um Decreto-lei com a planta da futura expansão do jardim para o Parque Mayer.

http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg/

The total size of Gardens by the Bay is 101 hectares or 177 football fields. Bay South is 54 hectares, Bay East is 32 hectares and the Bay Central is 15 hectares.

In January 2006, an international master plan design competition for the Gardens was launched. Some 70 teams comprising 170 firms, from over 24 countries, including 35 from Singapore, participated in the competition.

An 11-member Jury comprising local and international experts shortlisted eight teams and two winners were announced in September 2006; namely Grant Associates for Bay South and Gustafson Porter for Bay East, both from the UK. Bay Central will be developed later. A public exhibition of the master plan concepts and models of the winning teams was held from 6 - 23

September 2006. Some 10,000 people visited the exhibition and over 700 gave feedback directly via feedback forms, face-to-face interviews, online feedback and focus groups surveys.
An overwhelming majority (85%) of those surveyed liked the features in the master plans and over 97% said they would visit the gardens.

The site for the Gardens (Bay South and Bay East) was hoarded up in June 2007. The first phase of the Gardens is expected to complete by end 2011.

The 54-hectare (approximately 72 soccer fields) garden in Marina South will be a colourful and vibrant heart of our Garden City featuring floral displays and tropical blooms and foliage. Its recreational amenities include an outdoor concert and events arena, and a flower fairground that will be home to the Singapore Garden Festival. The unique feature of this garden will be a cool conservatory complex which will allow visitors to enjoy flowers from around the world in a cool environment.

Key Features

Conservatory Complex

Two conservatories (a cool dry and a cool moist) covering more than 2 hectares (about 3 soccer fields) will showcase Mediterranean, Tropical Montane and temperate annual plants and flowering species. They will also provide a flexible flower themed venue for events and exhibitions.

Heritage Gardens:

This is a collection of gardens that reflects the history and culture of Singapore's 3 main ethnic groups, as well as the city-state's colonial heritage.

- The Malay Garden tells the story of life in a traditional "kampong" (village).
- The Indian Garden's layout echoes a traditional illustrated flower motif.
- The Chinese Garden reflects the role of gardens in Chinese culture as places of inspiration for writers, poets and artists, through seclusion and tranquility.
- The Colonial Garden tells the story of plants as "Engines of Empire" - lucrative crops, spices and plants that formed important trade routes between the East and the West.

The World of Plants:

The second collection of gardens are based on the theme "plants and planet" and showcase the biodiversity of plant life on our planet.

Foto: Estufas em fase final de construção (Setembro de 2011)