Built on Sand: Singapore and the New State of Risk

sand-denis-delestrac
“Sand is the second most consumed natural resource, after water. The construction-building industry is by far the largest consumer of this finite resource. The traditional building of one average-sized house requires 200 tons of sand; a hospital requires 3,000 tons of sand; each kilometer of highway built requires 30,000 tons of sand… A nuclear plant, a staggering 12 million tons of sand…”Captions and Photograph by “Sand Wars” Award-Winning Filmmaker: Denis Delestrac. ©2013

Excerpts;

The island’s expansion has been a colossal undertaking. It is not merely a matter of coastal reclamation: Singapore is growing vertically as well as horizontally. This means that the nation’s market needs fine river sand—used for beaches and concrete—as well as coarse sea sand to create new ground…

Read Full Article, Harvard Design Magazine, (09-07-2015)

Such Quantities of Sand, The Economist (07-27-2015)

Singapore Extends Its Coastlines With Illegally Dredged Sand, RT News Video (02-09-2011)

Global Witness, Shifting Sands, Singapore
Shifting Sand: how Singapore’s demand for Cambodian sand threatens ecosystems and undermines good governance

Sand Wars, An Investigation Documentary, By Award-Winning Filmmaker Denis Delestrac (2013)

“Sand, Rarer Than One Thinks”: A UNEP Report (GEA-March 2014)
In March 2014 The United Nations released its first Report about sand mining. “Sand Wars” film documentary by Denis Delestrac – first broadcasted on the european Arte Channel, May 28th, 2013, where it became the highest rated documentary for 2013 – expressly inspired the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to publish this 2014-Global Environmental Alert.

The Deadly Global War for Sand, WIRED Magazine (03-26-2015)

Sand Thieves Are Eroding World’s Beaches For Castles Of Cash, by Martine Valo, Le Monde
The pillaging of sand is a growing practice in the world. This is because it represents 80% of the composition of concrete that it is the object of such greed…

Let’s Talk About Sand: Denis Delestrac At TEDxBarcelona
Denis Delestrac feature documentary, “Sand Wars” is an epic eco-thriller that takes the audience around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: we are running out of sand! In this TEDxBarcelona talk, he explains us where sand comes from and where it ends up…

Sand Mining in Singapore: Learn More, Coastal Care

Global Sand Mining: Learn More, Coastal Care

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