The Balcony Uprising — A Story
How COVID lockdown in a Singapore apartment ignited a moment of understanding about the often-overlooked potential of balconies in sustainable urban life.
It was early during the COVID ‘circuit breaker’ in Singapore when I started to get the ‘itch’. That feeling of being hemmed in with no end in sight and slightly vexed at the sensation because the brain knows it can’t be helped. My family and I had been in lockdown for just over two weeks; two weeks of staying indoors except for essential tasks, two weeks of working from home and homeschooling. We were lucky. We had our jobs, and we had our health. Yes, the circuit breaker was inconvenient, but it was also necessary.
Singapore had seen a recent spike in confirmed COVID cases and the small island nation that I’ve called home for the last half-decade is precisely the kind of place an easily transmissible virus such as COVID-19 could run rampant if left unchecked. Singapore ranks 3rd in the world behind Monaco and Macao SAR for population density (World Bank 2020), with 7,952 people per square kilometre. Concerned about community transmission beyond known clusters, the government decided to lock down the populace until June 1st.
Thus, the itch. I wasn’t sleeping particularly well, so I was up early. Pacing the kitchen was soooo last week. Been there, done that. Ho-hum. Coffee in hand, I ventured out onto our balcony for a change of scenery.
Our 5th story balcony is slightly larger than the average, at about 12 square metres. It had been a place to store our bicycles and the gas-fired barbeque and plop a couple of outdoor chairs to sit on and read a book if a moment allowed. We love green and growing things and so had bought ornamental plants that grow well in Singapore’s tropical climate — a pair of potted yellow palms, a bamboo orchid, a Japanese bamboo and a small frangipani to add some colour. As I stood leaning against the railing and staring at the dawn, I cast my eyes over the other towers in our apartment complex, ruminating that everyone in those apartments was in the same boat. We were all locked down, all suffering from the itch.
As the mind is wont to do in the early hours, it started to wander down quiet paths of thought. I found myself contemplating the balconies of my neighbours. Here a bike on a rack, there an outdoor dining setup. A blow-up pool toy. A potted plant, or two. Not a lot of greenery all up. I wondered how much more bearable the current lockdown might be if our balconies were greener.
Huh. Now that was an exciting thought. How much of our balconies are being underutilised or neglected? Moreover, what could they be utilised for if we put a bit of effort in? Hmmm. More questions.
Running some quick math in my head, I was struck by the sense that we city dwellers may be missing a trick or two when it comes to our ‘outdoor bits’. The apartment complex in which I live contains three towers, each with twenty-four floors. The apartments are relatively standardised, so each balcony is roughly the same size as my own. So, 3 towers at 24 units each, with a 12 square metre balcony? That’s 864 square metres of surface area. And what were we all doing with it? Not a great deal by the looks.
The thought that the humble balcony is an under-utilised space continued to stay with me throughout the day, and I resolved to see what I could find on the web about the topic. To my surprise, the answer was not nearly as much as I’d expect. Most coverage on balconies and greening focuses on the aesthetic aspects, which to be sure are worth noting, however what about balconies as spaces for food waste reduction and homegrown produce, or the role balconies could in promoting local biodiversity? Information on these topics was more challenging to uncover. Then and there, I resolved to do something to remedy that gap in our collective knowledge.
That’s why I’ve started the Balcony Uprising — we’re on a mission to promote the importance of balconies in sustainable urban life. Balconies can and should play a crucial role in the health, wealth and vibrancy of our cities. The Balcony Uprising pulls together expert insight, helpful tips, considered perspectives, personal journeys and fresh ideas to turn balconies into vibrant spaces that positively impact individuals, communities and cities.
We look at how balconies can create an impact in areas as diverse as urban biodiversity and ecosystem health, household energy efficiency and emissions reduction, food waste and homegrown produce, cooling cities and more. We invite you to share your stories with us by mentioning our handle @balconyuprising on Twitter or Instagram and adding the hashtags #balconyuprising and #betterbalconies.
Let’s get started, join the Balcony Uprising.
