We have often been told that roads take up 12 percent of Singapore’s land space, close to the 14 percent used up by housing. But how does the Republic’s provision of road infrastructure compare with other cities?
Singapore has 4.8 kilometres of roads per square kilometre of space. London has about 9km, New York 13km and Tokyo 18.5km. Hong Kong has 2km of roads per sq km. And Singapore has 0.6 metre of road per resident. As of 1980, the average for high-income cities was 4.1 metres per resident. We have 242 motor vehicles (excluding motorbikes) per kilometre of road, compared with 163 per km for high-income cities in 1980.
Makes me wonder if 12 percent is too little to devote for road infrastructure, or for that matter, if 14 percent is too little for housing. One thing is for sure: We have among the costliest cars and homes in the world. Perhaps it is time to re-examine the usage of the other 74 percent of land space in Singapore.
