The Urban Wilds 69
diving. For a more rustic getaway, head out towards Pulau Ubin or the Kranji
Countryside—fondly dubbed “the last remaining slice of rural life”
(YourSingapore.com 2013b)Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift point out that the concept of shopping malls as the
battleships of capitalism that can bludgeon consumers into unconsciousness fails
to acknowledge that consumers may be not so much be bludgeoned as “enchanted”
(Amin and Thrift 2002, p. 40) into a heightened awareness or affective response.
It is not only the battleships of capitalism and the “happening”, “lively”, and
“funky” events that enchant but, in Singapore, an environment of lush tropical
vegetation, even in the commercial and shopping districts, helps to provide this
enchantment. This dazzling green sensorium has generated what Thrift terms
“affective senses of space, literally, territories of feeling” (Thrift 2010, p. 292),
produced through various uses of eco-aesthetics designed to engage and captivate
for the purposes of stimulating consumption. While tourists and locals can “chill
out” along nature trails, in botanical gardens and rainforests, and on beaches and
jungle canopy walks, they are rarely far from a food or shopping outlet.
A spectacular and ambitious project to reinforce the image of Singapore as an
eco-culture and create enhanced territories of feeling is the Gardens by the Bay
project. The three gardens at Marina South, Marina East, and Marina Central—
located on 101 hectares of reclaimed land at the mouth of the Singapore River—
form a linked series of magnificent parks complete with two lakes that provide
homes for waterbirds and aquatic and wetland plant species, several climate-
controlled conservatories housing thousands of exotic and regional plant species,
and themed gardens. In addition to a number of event venues, at least 11 food outlets
and various gift shops on the site, there is an ongoing program of eco-culture related
buzz-generating events, including sound-and-light spectaculars, photography
exhibitions, eco-explorer adventures for primary school children, and high school
programs. All “eco-experiences”, or, as the Ministry for National Development calls
it, “plant-based edutainment” (Ministry of National Development n.d., p. 35). The
YourSingapore website acknowledges the importance of affect when the gardens
are promoted as “an awe-inspiring green space for Singapore” (YourSingapore.com
2013a). The Gardens by the Bay are adjacent to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and
a few minutes’ walk from a shopping mall incorporating both high-end restaurants
and shops and the more affordable global and local chains, known as The Shoppes
at Marina Bay Sands. New territories of feeling in Singapore have been created by
the “renaturalization” of urban space that has the capacity to create an affective eco-
culture that can help form an alliance between nature and consumption.
Sensational nation
Singapore has constructed itself as a space of nature, of consumption, of leisure,
culture, the arts, and business, with a pervasive sense of buzz in the air. This has
been facilitated by the promotion of sensory delight as a one of the predominant
modes of representation and place-making. Affects, defined as those forces that