The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced today the launch of an Ideas Competition titled “Journey of Possibilities” for the Rail Corridor. The Ideas Competition is intended to draw innovative and fresh new ideas from the public in addressing some of the key challenges and issues in planning for the future use of the Rail Corridor.

Since the return of the former railway land to Singapore on 1 July 2011, the Rail Corridor project has garnered widespread public interest. From the feedback we received, it is clear that there are many more people out there who would like to make tangible contributions towards the envisioning of the Rail Corridor’s future. In order to create the window of opportunity for all to participate in this project, the URA is conducting the Ideas Competition from 30 November 2011 to 9 March 2012.

With the ongoing construction happening in Asia, notable figures on the global green building stage are making their way to see in person how adoption of sustainable building practices are playing out on the ground.

At GreenBuild Asia in Hong Kong this May, Malcolm Lai, Director - Head of Construction, Asia Invesco Real Estate stated “There is a correlation between green and financial sucess”. This is why his company invests in greening their projects. This was also why pretty much every other speaker at the event spoke to the cost benefits of green building.

However, project owners expressed their frustration with a lack of expertise and willingness for service providers to take risks in green projects. One such person was Professor Richard Whitfield, Professor of the School of Intelligent Systems and Technology at the University of Saint Joseph in Macau, who is currently building a new campus and faces a lack of expertise in a number of areas. For example, finding energy saving air-conditioner alternatives such as chilled beam ceilings, and people with the expertise to install and maintain them is proving a challenge in Macau.{jcomments off}