5 ideas every city should steal from Singapore

By Meera Senthilingam, for CNN

Singapore's condensed, hot and heavily populated landscape is challenging for urban living but the city-state continues to have a high liveability factor due to well-planned and population-focused urban design.
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Singapore's condensed, hot and heavily populated landscape is challenging for urban living but the city-state continues to have a high liveability factor due to well-planned and population-focused urban design.
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One key aspect of Singapore's infrastructure is the decentralization of commercial hubs, which has reduced congestion and commuting time to improving liveability and ensure combined working and leisure spaces within the restricted land space. Pictured, the Mass Rapid Transit, considered to be among the best public transport systems in the world.
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One key aspect of Singapore's infrastructure is the decentralization of commercial hubs, which has reduced congestion and commuting time to improving liveability and ensure combined working and leisure spaces within the restricted land space. Pictured, the Mass Rapid Transit, considered to be among the best public transport systems in the world.
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To overcome challenges with land availability, developers have moved away from skyrises and moved towards going underground -- deep underground. Pictured, the first of the Jurong rock caverns that opened this year and will be used to for oil storage, enabling 60 hectares of land to be cleared at ground level.
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To overcome challenges with land availability, developers have moved away from skyrises and moved towards going underground -- deep underground. Pictured, the first of the Jurong rock caverns that opened this year and will be used to for oil storage, enabling 60 hectares of land to be cleared at ground level.
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Singapore has set a precedent for water sourcing through its <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/23/living/newater-singapore/">NEWater plants</a> where sewage water is filtered to standards usable as drinking water. Pictured, the membranes through which water is processed at the NEWater plant to remove solids, microorganisms and other contaminants.
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Singapore has set a precedent for water sourcing through its NEWater plants where sewage water is filtered to standards usable as drinking water. Pictured, the membranes through which water is processed at the NEWater plant to remove solids, microorganisms and other contaminants.
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Singapore has slowly been increasing its land mass using marine sand to extend its territory. Today, the city's extensive waste is incinerated and the resulting ash is used within a boundary of marine sand to extend Singapore's land mass. <br />Pictured, sand being sprayed into the sea during land reclamation.
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Singapore has slowly been increasing its land mass using marine sand to extend its territory. Today, the city's extensive waste is incinerated and the resulting ash is used within a boundary of marine sand to extend Singapore's land mass.
Pictured, sand being sprayed into the sea during land reclamation.