The streets of Singapore are designed for folks—not simply automobiles—with loads of sidewalks and lined walkways. Communities are additionally designed in order that important providers like grocery shops and low outlets (sure, espresso is a part of the longevity weight-reduction plan right here!) are inside strolling distance of dwelling. One of these condensed metropolis design has been proven to enhance the metabolic well being of its residents2.
One other distinctive aspect of Singapore’s city design is that it isn’t all that city. An abundance of nature reserves, public gardens, and parks implies that 90% of the inhabitants lives inside a 10-minute stroll of inexperienced area. Spending time surrounded by greenery is understood to fight loneliness3, dementia4, and heart problems5—three of the principle threats to elders all over the world.
Even one in all Singapore’s major hospitals, Khoo Teck Puat, makes use of nature as a supply of therapeutic. When mindbodygreen spoke with one of many challenge’s architects, Jerry Ong Chin-Po, again in 2019, he shared how biophilic (nature-inspired) design helps de-institutionalize the area: aromatic native crops cowl the medicinal odor, fowl sounds in a central courtyard masks the whir of machines, and a rooftop backyard supplies sufferers with recent, wholesome meals. These options have made the hospital a spot for group members to assemble, and as much as 15% of tourists who come to the hospital achieve this for social and leisure causes, based on one survey.
“Once we first opened in 2010, it got here out within the papers that the hospital was a sizzling spot for college students to review for exams,” Chin-Po defined. “It demonstrated that the atmosphere we created was conducive not simply to sufferers and caregivers however the group at giant… You do not really feel like that you must go there solely when you could have an issue.”
This challenge epitomizes Singapore’s strategy to longevity and preventative care: By creating alternatives for motion, social interplay, and brushes with nature, Singapore affords a blueprint for anti-aging metropolis design.