A truly great little nation. That's what Singapore has become since its independence in 1965. The population of this 750 km2 at the very tip of Malaysia, which in 2005 had just 3.5 million inhabitants, now has 5.7 million. This brilliant melting pot of South-East Asia has first and foremost established itself economically, and in particular as a first-class financial centre. According to the Z/Yen Group, a London-based think tank that calculates the performance of international financial sectors, Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong in its latest ranking of financial centres.
Generally speaking, whatever the publisher of the rankings, the city has been oscillating for several years. between 3e and the 4e global rank and between 1e and the 2e in Asia. " "Asia's remarkable growth, driven mainly by China and India, has opened up a window of opportunity for financial centres like Singapore and Hong Kong, particularly in the wake of the eurozone crisis. Singapore has been the main beneficiary of this trend because of our transparent legal framework, robust infrastructure and socio-political stability.says Tan Su Shan, Director of Retail Banking and Wealth Management at the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). Our customers continue to create wealth and develop their businesses in the countries of the region. As a result, they are looking for a stable and secure environment in which to preserve their assets.she continues. " Singapore stands out as a financial centre that offers stability and security thanks to its independence. These key advantages inevitably attract investors, whether from the region or much further afield. "
More than settled from an economic and financial point of view, Singapore is in the process of refocusing its concerns. At the moment, the burning question is how to become an efficient, intelligent cityA city that can accommodate up to 6.2 million people, not including the growing number of tourists. " Singapore is positioning itself as a Smart Nation and is embracing everything that is 'intelligent' in the broadest sense of the term. And this applies to all areas: daily life, transport, personal assistance, security, storage, etc." says Arnaud Leretour, ASEAN-Pacific Director at Business France Singapore.
Compared with the slender towers of the neighbouring Central Business District (1), the red-roofed houses and stalls of Boat Quay (2), Singapore's historic port, seem so small! This difference in scale symbolises the continuing expansion of the city-state, which is attracting more and more residents, tourists and business travellers. The Suntec conference centre (4), one of the most high-tech in the world, is also attracting conference-goers.
To underpin this ambition, the Asian metropolis has one key asset at its disposal, namely that it is a centre of excellence in electronics, for example, accounting for 40 % of the world's hard disk production. But this is not its only trump card, as Singapore is also extremely successful in biomedical research and Big Data, with applications in a wide range of fields including banking and finance, tourism and leisure, security and urban planning.
To become the city of tomorrow, Singapore is not only relying on its own strengths, but is also attracting companies and talent from abroad. When it comes to innovative solutions, the technologies developed by French companies are in great demand, from smart energy, biotech and cleantech to intelligent mobility and cyber security. In fact, there are almost 800 French companies operating in Singapore. The most notable contribution in recent months has been that of Dassault Systèmes, which has collaborated with the National Research Foundation to create Virtual Singaporethe technological planning platform that should enable urban development to be managed not only in the city-state but also, and in the longer term, in other major cities around the world.
The underground in everyday life
To achieve this, Dassault Systèmes mapped the city from every angle, right down to its subsoil, to obtain a global 3D vision. If it is to continue to grow, Singapore must find ways of making the most of its particularly cramped and non-extendable territory. Among the solutions, the development of an underground city is envisaged. More and more public spaces, from sports halls to libraries, but also industrial production sites, could open up in the bowels of the city. Storage areas could also be redeveloped. This is already the case with the development of Jurong Rock Caverns, a peninsula near the centre which, thanks to deep drilling, will be able to store up to 150 million m3 of oil on ten or so storeys below sea level. This will free up around sixty hectares of land currently in use.
Nearby Jurong East is becoming a new mixed neighbourhood where people work, of course, but also live and play. This, incidentally, is helping to relieve congestion in the more central districts and even out the differences in population density. It's no coincidence that Jurong East has been chosen as the site for the future high-speed train station that will link the city to the rest of the world. Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in 90 minutes from 2026.
Thanks to the Virtual Singapore tool - which was launched in 2017 at a cost of 73 million Singapore dollars, or more than 46 million euros - new strategies are becoming possible. On this platform, citizens themselves have the opportunity to see what their city will look like tomorrow, and from different angles: services, health, energy, mobility, infrastructure, public and private safety, the environment... Everyone will be able to give their opinion and pool their thoughts on the challenges of the future. Ultimately, this platform could, for example, enable Singaporeans to monitor a sick parent or child remotely.
All the more so as robotics focused on personal assistance in everyday tasks. Before long, robots could also be greeting customers in shops, making suggestions based on their past purchases or taking their orders in restaurants. This high-tech evolution should even create jobs that don't exist today, but that the city-state is already anticipating. " "Singaporeans take a very long-term view - over 30 years.explains Arnaud Leretour. " They plan the future very carefully. "
Alongside Virtual Singapore, a new departmental agency, GovTech, was set up in autumn 2016. In charge of digitising the cityIt works hand in hand with the private sector and gives citizens a voice. For example, users can access Beeline, a mobility platform where users of the various bus routes - which will soon be driverless - can, for example, suggest different routes from those already planned, or ask for detours linked to the existing routes.
to their individual needs.
At the heart of ASEAN
This reflection on the city of the future is all the more important given that Singapore has always established itself as a "city of the future". a key logistics centre because of its geographical position, halfway between China and the Middle East. The world's second-largest container transhipment port after Shanghai, it is also the world's third-largest refining centre. " "Singapore should not be seen as an isolated market, but as a whole in the middle of South-East Asia." says Arnaud Leretour, pointing out that a company based in Singapore can reach Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia - Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta are less than an hour and a half's flight away - as well as other countries such as Australia. 2015 also saw the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Southeast Asia's common market, whose overall production could increase by 7 % per year by 2025, the date of its full implementation. " "Singapore is the ideal regional platform for setting up in ASEAN" says Arnaud Leretour.
The AEC promises to offer free movement of goods, services, investment and skilled labour, as well as freer movement of capital. ASEAN is currently the European Union's third largest trading partner after the United States and China, and is an area with a population of over 620 million. By 2030, an estimated 3.2 billion people in Asia will be part of the middle class, underlining its economic potential.
At the same time, as Asia's sixth-largest tourist destination, the city-state also intends to encourage growth in this sector. As a result, its airport, Changi, is continuing to expand in order to assert its position as one of the world's leading tourist destinations. first-class airport hubSingapore Airlines is regularly cited as one of the best in the world. " "Changi Airport's new Project Jewel to open in 2019" says Carine Lespayandel, Director of the Franco-Singaporean Chamber of Commerce. With its garden-city concept, the Jewel project is set to become one of the city's new landmarks, alongside the Marina Bay Sands. Its design has been entrusted to a consortium that includes Moshe Safdie, the architect behind the famous Marina Bay Sands complex, comprising three towers linked by a roof with a view over the whole of Singapore.
A lush hub
In 2019, a splendid 10-storey glass building will house a hotel, 300 shops and an immense indoor garden where you can dine, entertain and shop... Because the vocation of the Jewel project By linking the three existing terminals, it also aims to make the passenger experience more pleasant and transfers easier. Eventually, the Changi hub hopes to reach 85 million passengers transiting through Singapore, compared with 70 million since the opening of terminal 3 ten years ago.
The airport is not the only major project underway. At the same time, Singapore is criss-crossing its territory with a hyper-efficient infrastructure. " "A project to extend the lines has been designed to ensure that all residential areas in the city are less than 10 minutes' walk from an underground station." continues Carine Lespayandel. Surprisingly, inaugurations often take place ahead of schedule. Singapore, the intelligent city, the almost perfect city, is in every way true to its reputation as the world's good student.
