In the last week of September, construction teams started lifting into place the steel underpinnings of Singapore’s already leafy latest park, which will float 55 storeys above the city, spanning the three hotel towers of the Marina Bay Sands.

The innovative sky park is just one element in a new type of entertainment area – dubbed the integrated resort concept – aimed at luring high-spending international tourists to the island state and shedding its nanny-state image.