2023-09-01 18:50:51
Since the early 2000s, when Gianni Pes designated Sardinia, Italy, as the inaugural city of the blue zone, Buettner has set out to find other cities with similar statistics and communities.
A man in his 60s immediately caught Dan Buettner’s eye during his travels in search of another blue zone. Douglas Foo, a self-made millionaire, founded the Sakae Sushi food chain in Singapore in 1997, at the age of 28. Buettner describes Foo as family-oriented, driven, and energetic. He loves to exercise and is involved in his community through volunteer work. The most important thing is that he has fun while he does it.
“He has a laugh that every time he laughs out loud, he sits back, opens his mouth and pours out his soul,” Buettner, founder of Blue Zones LLC, National Geographic Fellow and best-selling author, tells Fortune in a session. interview below. “You can’t help but be happy with him.”
Buettner has traveled the world researching the happiest and healthiest cities for two decades. During her search, she learns lessons from the residents and environment of the five named blue zones, which produce the longest-living communities.
After a nearly 15-year hiatus, Buettner heralds Singapore, Foo’s home, as the latest blue zone to join the ranks. In many ways, Foo embodies the spirit of this newly recognized blue zone, which Buettner details in his new book, The Blue Zones: The Secrets for Living Longer.
“It’s a designed blue zone, rather than one that grew organically like the other five,” says Buettner, pointing to how Singapore became an urban center in recent decades.
“With boundless enthusiasm and irrepressible energy, Foo embodied the Singaporean ideal of success,” Buettner writes in the Singapore introduction to his book.
Buettner recalls Foo telling him, “Singapore has given me so much and I don’t do enough to pay it back.”
Since the early 2000s, when Gianni Pes designated Sardinia, Italy, as the inaugural city of the blue zone, Buettner has set out to find other cities with similar statistics and communities. Since 2009, four more blue zones have joined the ranks: Loma Linda, California; Icaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; and Nicoya, Costa Rica.
Buettner calls Singapore “blue zone 2.0, the next frontier of ageing” in his new book, which highlights much more than the enthusiasm of the residents themselves. Health data, the landscape and political incentives have established the multicultural island of Indian, Malaysian and Chinese influence as a beacon of health and happiness.
Buettner calls Singapore the “blue zone 2.0, the next frontier of ageing”
Buettner first became intrigued by Singapore in 2005, when he wrote a cover story for National Geographic regarding happiness, he tells Fortune. Since then, he’s met with residents and sifted through data, analyzing the island’s health metrics. Life expectancy has increased 20 years since 1960, and the number of centenarians has doubled in the last decade, Buettner writes in his book.
“In addition to having very high life satisfaction, they were producing the longest-lived and healthiest population,” he says.
Unlike the other blue zones, whose longevity metrics are derived from years of history, culture, and tradition, Singapore’s status comes from changes implemented over time.
“It’s a designed blue zone, rather than one that grew organically like the other five,” Buettner says, pointing to how Singapore became an urban center in recent decades. “Clearly they have produced the result we want.”
With policies aimed at keeping intergenerational people engaged, walking and buying healthy food, Singapore stands for healthy longevity.
Modern public transportation, individual car use taxes, and city signage are policies that encourage people to walk and move
On his travels, Buettner observed how Singapore’s walkways shielded residents from the sun, with “intentional green spaces making them aesthetically pleasing.”
Pedestrian-oriented signage covers the city, making it safe to travel on foot. The island also taxes cars and gasoline, which puts money into a robust metro system where people live no more than 400 meters from a station, he adds. Beyond the environmental benefits of public transport, people incorporate physical exercise and connection by walking and using public transport into their routine.
“Pedestrians are favored over motorists when driving through the city,” says Buettner. “They are taking 10,000 or 20,000 steps a day without even thinking regarding it.”
In Singapore, healthy food is subsidized so that people can access it
Buettner was blown away by the food shopping scene in Singapore. Healthy foods were subsidized, incentivizing people to buy nutrient-dense whole foods instead of more processed foods (Buettner has yet to see this initiative widely implemented around the world or in other blue zones).
On a systematic scale, the Singapore government reduced the amount of sugar in sugary drinks and added healthy food labels to items with limited amounts of sugar, fat and sodium.
“People mindlessly consume less sugar,” says Buettner.
Singaporean authorities are aware of the need for social contact to stay healthy
A city plays an important role in establishing people’s sense of community. In a Harris poll conducted on behalf of Fortune earlier this year, being closer to support systems was one of the top reasons people planned to move in the next two years.
“Loneliness is very much a function of the environment,” says Buettner. “If you live on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs, and especially if you don’t like your neighbors, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll bump into someone and have a conversation.”
Singapore’s architecture serves as an antidote to loneliness itself. People live in skyscrapers, reflecting the diversity of the population. Residents can congregate at local food vendors, markets, and outdoor spaces.
“You share tables and you interact with the kiosk user, interacting with the person next to you,” says Buettner. “The chances of you meeting an old friend or making a new one are exponentially higher.”
The Asian country urges exercises and invests in well-equipped hospitals (Getty Images)
Buettner describes a hospital in Singapore as a “Four Seasons Resort.” The hospital’s design reflects a luxury hotel with open-air spaces, restaurants and classes that bring the larger community together, she writes. With the goal of optimizing the health of seniors by preventing chronic disease in their later years, the hospital Buettner visited has a program that sends nurses out into the community. They help with free screenings and connect patients with healthier food if needed.
Officials have also implemented a “National Step Challenge” where residents can redeem points and use them at local restaurants and stores following logging 10,000 steps per day.
From architecture that promotes meeting to a tax cut for those who keep their elderly parents close, Singapore promotes contact between generations
Singaporeans get a tax break if their elderly parents live with or near them, Buettner says. He encourages families to stay close to their children and grandchildren.
“Aging parents are this wonderful source of resilience, of agricultural and culinary wisdom that we just store in nursing homes,” he says. “Here in Singapore, partly due to some clever policy to encourage it, it’s being tapped every day.”
Another project called Kampung Admiralty developed in 2018 aims to connect seniors with nature and people of all generations.
“The fact that we have this population that designed health provides us with a wellspring of lessons that American policymakers should heed if we also want a population that is healthy and free of disease,” says Buettner, who points out how the 70% of Singapore residents trust their government.
The Kampung Admiralty houses an indoor park, performance centers, food courts, apartments, and a medical center; elder care and preschool were designed side by side, Buettner writes.
Buettner has traveled the world researching the happiest and healthiest cities for two decades. During her search, she learns lessons from the residents and environment of the five named blue zones, which produce the longest-living communities.
“[En Estados Unidos] we live in a food environment that is toxic and promotes a sedentary and solitary lifestyle. And that’s not going to change until we start passing policies that make walking easier and healthy food easier than junk food. And we have to stop hitting the dead horse of individual responsibility,” Buettner says.
As Buettner searches for blue zone contenders, he admits he’ll have a hard time finding another “organic blue zone.” Blue Zone 2.0, on the other hand, is up for grabs.
“The big lesson when it comes to connecting socially, moving more thoughtlessly, is for our government to think regarding designing spaces that bring people on foot together,” he says.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com
© 2023 Fortune Media IP Limited
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