evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Singapore's Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme (SGIS)

Singapore · Singapore · See the Singapore profile · See the Singapore profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 84% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2009, Singapore's National Parks Board has co-funded up to 50% of green roof and living wall installations, paying building owners to provide urban cooling, biodiversity and stormwater-retention services.

up to 50 % of installation cost
Reimbursement rate (2009-present)
200 SGD/m2
Rooftop greenery subsidy cap (2009-present)
500 SGD/m2
Vertical greenery subsidy cap (2009-present)
200+ buildings
Buildings supported since launch (2009-present)
133 hectares
Skyrise greenery area, 2009 baseline (2009)
200 hectares
Skyrise greenery area target by 2030 (target for 2030)
Singapore's Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme (SGIS)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
National Parks Board (NParks)
Period
2009-present
Keywords
urban greening, green roofs, building policy, urban heat mitigation

Context

Singapore's National Parks Board (NParks) introduced the Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme (SGIS) in 2009 to encourage building owners to retrofit existing rooftops and walls with vegetation.

Objectives

The scheme reimburses up to 50% of installation costs, capped at S$200/m2 for rooftop greenery and S$500/m2 for vertical greenery, covering institutional, commercial, industrial, residential common-area and mixed-use buildings, aiming to raise skyrise greenery from a 2009 baseline of 133 hectares toward a 200-hectare target by 2030 under the Singapore Green Plan.

Activities

To qualify, projects must be outdoor, permanent installations covering at least 80% of the proposed area, verified by an NParks site inspection, and maintained for a minimum of five years -- conditions designed to ensure the ecosystem services purchased with public money (urban heat mitigation, stormwater attenuation, habitat provision, air quality) are durable rather than one-off.

Results

More than 200 buildings have been supported since the scheme launched, including edible community gardens and therapeutic rooftop gardens.

Conclusions

Because reimbursement is capped and paid after installation, the scheme favours owners who can pre-finance construction, and NParks' published figures track buildings supported and area covered rather than independently verified biodiversity or stormwater outcomes at each site.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — No total cumulative disbursement figure is stated; based on per-m2 subsidy caps across 200+ buildings over 15+ years, cumulative public cost is estimated conservatively as 'high', noted as inferred, not stated.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Continuously running since 2009 (15+ years), with a target extending to 2030.
Staffing & skills
National Parks Board (NParks) -- scheme administration and site inspection/verification

Conditions for success

  • Minimum 80% area coverage and permanent, outdoor installation requirement filters out token/partial projects
  • Five-year maintenance requirement ensures durability of the subsidised ecosystem services
  • NParks site inspection provides a verification step before/around reimbursement

Common failure modes

  • Reimbursement-after-installation model favours owners who can pre-finance construction, disadvantaging cash-constrained owners
  • Published figures track buildings/area rather than independently verified biodiversity or stormwater outcomes

Where it fits

Governance type
national government agency
Scale
national, building-by-building retrofit incentive
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful