Why Singapore Is The Latest Blue Zone & What We Can Learn From It

In the early 2000s, Dan Buettner set out to reverse engineer longevity by visiting the places in the world where people seemed to live the longest. In the years since, all eyes have been on the five "blue zones" he analyzed—Okinawa Prefecture, Japan; Nuoro Province, Sardinia, Italy; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California.

Singapore is unlike any other blue zone. It doesn't have the traditional practices of Icaria, the united faith of Loma Linda, the geographical isolation of Sardinia, or the sprawling natural abundance of the Nicoya Peninsula. Instead, Singapore is a melting pot of different cultures that was only established in 1965. It's also the most urbanized of all the blue zones, with 5.8 million residents squeezed into a land area about one-fourth the size of Rhode Island.

And yet, as Buettner notes in his new book, since its founding, Singapore's average life expectancy has skyrocketed almost 20 years. "Singaporeans have about 10 more healthy years of life expectancy and far lower rates of chronic disease than we have in the U.S.," Buettner explains on a call to mindbodygreen. The number of centenarians on the island has more than doubled in the past decade (from 700 to 1,500), and Singaporeans' health care system consistently ranks as one of the best in the world.

So, how did such a young nation manage to bake longevity into its DNA from the beginning?

For starters, the Singaporean government has set a slew of policies that incentivize healthy eating—from taxing sugary beverages and alcohol to providing some discounts on more nutritious items like whole grains. Not to mention, it has set strict bans on guns and drugs like opioids—two leading causes of death in the Western world.

While Singapore's heavy government intervention won't be universally translatable, there are a few other components of its strategy that other countries can learn from. For example, the island has nationwide health care and a robust workplace wellness program that offers regular screenings to monitor employees for high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Buettner also touches on Singapore's National Steps Challenge, which invites residents to track their daily exercise on an app in return for e-vouchers they can redeem at select restaurants and stores. There are also some unique incentives for multigenerational housing, which can combat loneliness and promote mental and physical health1 among older (and younger) family members.

The streets of Singapore are designed for people—not just cars—with plenty of sidewalks and covered walkways. Communities are also designed so that essential services like grocery stores and coffee shops (yes, coffee is part of the longevity diet here!) are within walking distance of home. This type of condensed city design has been shown to improve the metabolic health of its residents2.

Another unique element of Singapore's urban design is that it's not all that urban. An abundance of nature reserves, public gardens, and parks means that 90% of the population lives within a 10-minute walk of green space. Spending time surrounded by greenery is known to combat loneliness3, dementia4, and cardiovascular disease5—three of the main threats to elders around the world.

Even one of Singapore's main hospitals, Khoo Teck Puat, utilizes nature as a source of healing. When mindbodygreen spoke with one of the project's architects, Jerry Ong Chin-Po, back in 2019, he shared how biophilic (nature-inspired) design helps deinstitutionalize the space: fragrant native plants cover the medicinal smell, bird sounds in a central courtyard mask the whir of machines, and a rooftop garden provides patients with fresh, healthy food. These features have made the hospital a place for community members to gather, and up to 15% of visitors who come to the hospital do so for social and recreational reasons, according to one survey.

"When we first opened in 2010, it came out in the papers that the hospital was a hot spot for students to study for exams," Chin-Po explained. "It demonstrated that the environment we created was conducive not just to patients and caregivers but the community at large… You don't feel like you need to go there only when you have a problem."