Garden city

It's hard to believe that just 50 years ago Singapore was poor, dirty, crime-infested and crowded when it gained independence from Malaysia. Hard to imagine - because now it's green, organized, prosperous, beautiful, and safe.  

Lee Kwan Yew was its visionary prime minister for 31 years, and shaped Singapore (city & nation only about half the size of NYC) into the success it is today (read a short history here).

"The goal of the master plan is to maintain a ratio of at least one acre of green space for each acre of developed land. Strong progress toward this goal is reflected in the myriad of parks and parkways, walkways and bike paths, and large tracts of land still forested despite the rapid development of the city."

When we visited in 2006, there were lush greens and flowers hanging from every highway overpass. They have plans for yet more gardens  .  .  "a city in a garden."