May 2014

Turning Singapore into a Cycling and Walking CityIn March 2014, the CLC and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Singapore conducted a collaborative research study with renowned Danish architect and urban designer Jan Gehl. The aim was to formulate principles for improving walkability and bikeablity in Singapore, a high-density city in the tropics, and to complement the National Cycling Plan by generating recommendations to promote cycling in the city. The research is funded by an ULI Innovation Grant, as part of the Building Healthy Places Initiative. Read more

A video featuring the CLC-ULI research workshops was screened at the ULI Asia Pacific Summit in Hong Kong earlier this month. Click to watch the video. CLC Director (Research) Dr Limin Hee also co-moderated a track on urban mobility at this

Summit. Learn more about the Summit here.

Findings of the CLC-ULI ‘active mobility’ research project will be presented at the World Cities summit 2014 next week, as well as the 2014 ULI Fall Meeting. A joint CLC-ULI publication, Creating Healthy Places through Active Mobility, with recommendations for the Singapore context will be released later this year. This research is funded by an ULI Innovation Grant, as part of the Building Healthy Places Initiative.

In Conversation with Jan Gehl“We shall not make the cities to make the cars happy, but we shall find a good balance, so that the necessary traffic can happen without congestion and without too much pollution. But also that people can walk around as much as possible, and that they can bicycle as much as possible.” — Professor Jan Gehl in his short chat with the CLC at the CLC-ULI workshop.

Click here to read more of Jan Gehl’s experiences in urban planning and how his interest in a people-centric approach began.

Creativity in Tourism AttractionsThe CLC invited Bernard Harrison, former CEO of Wildlife Reserves Singapore to share his insights from almost 30 years spent setting up and managing Singapore’s first animal attractions, and his thoughts on how creativity is the missing ingredient in various tourism products here. Read more

Click the video for the full clip.

Cities sCanning is taking a breakThe CLC is revamping our Cities sCanning publication series and will be back in July after the World Cities Summit.What do you hope to see in this new series?

Share your thoughts here.

There may not be many “fully original” creative ideas from Singapore, but how we make incremental improvements to solutions is creative in its own right.

— Mr Lim Buey Shyan, Senior Vice President (Project Services / Township Development), Sembcorp Development Ltd

Improvements to Solutions is a form of Creativity

Perspectives In his lecture, Mr Harrison said Singapore is very “well managed” but its people are less able to create solutions. We asked lecture audience members: “Do you think it’s true and what are some ways to address this limitation?” This is what some of them said:

Most Singaporeans do have some difficulties thinking “out of the box”, and seem more at ease following a tried-and-tested route, which could be due to our education system. However, with the maturing of a young nation [and] with the government supporting the arts and culture, we would hopefully be able to make some inroads in this area in time to come.

— Ms Sharon Cheong, Manager, Corporate Communications, National Heritage Board

Education influences Creativity

The Singapore government has been very creative in urban planning and design — the creation of the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay; the transformation of Ang Mo Kio-Bishan Park, My Waterway Punggol and the policy formulation of providing affordable public housing for all (including singles).Well-planned and designed towns have also won many international awards.

— Ms Maria Boey, President, Institute of Parks and Recreation, Singapore (2010-2014)

Creativity in Policy Making

Lessons From Hong KongSingapore and Hong Kong (HK) are similar in many ways. Both are highly urbanised and dense, and are at a relatively stable stage of development. What are the key differences between the cities and how can Singapore learn from HK’s best practices? Twenty-nine participants from CLC’s Executive Development and Growth Exchange (EDGE)* Programme studied these questions and shared three key takeaways as part of the overseas study-trip component in the 3-week EDGE programme with the Centre.

Hongkongers come first: Through discussions with various government departments in HK, the consistent message was the strong interest the HK government has for its citizens. In particular, HK has a small foreign workforce as the priority is on providing employment opportunities for locals. Foreign workforce is concentrated to specific sectors that consistently face local manpower shortage, and this policy went through a very thorough consultation involving the government, unions and employers. These sectors are deemed the 3D industries (“dangerous, dirty and demanding”), such as construction and elderly care sectors.

Public consultation: The HK Government takes public consultations very seriously, and has put in place systems and structures to ensure that the peoples’ voices are heard. While it may slow down the decision-making process, this sincere effort has allowed the government to engage the people more effectively as Hongkongers are happy to share their views with the government via media channels and support groups.

Strength of civil society: A legacy of the British, the civil society is empowered such that they play an active

Climate Proof Rotterdam

As a low-lying delta city with Europe’s largest international port, Rotterdam is making efforts to create a more attractive city through its Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The strategy involves building a robust infrastructural system and working together with new partners and stakeholders in both public and private sectors to fulfil targets and goals for Rotterdam to become a resilient city.

Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Executive Director of CLC, was invited to speak on water management at the iUrban Conference 2014, an international conference looking at the topic of sustainable urban competitiveness. The team from CLC met Ms Chantal Oudkerk, Advisor for City of Rotterdam’s Climate Proofing, to understand more of the initiatives implemented as part of this Strategy. Find out more of Rotterdam’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy here.

Hear more stories from Rotterdam this June as Her Excellency Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister of Infrastructure and Environment, Netherlands visit Singapore to speak at the World Cities summit 2014.

Quezon City’s Realising Plans

Vierhavenstrip – an inner dike protection which is also a public outdoor multi-functional area.

Quezon City has recently implemented four major projects targeting the biggest problems of the city: sustainable housing for the poor; transformation

of the city’s enormous waste problem into an energy resource; transitioning of City Hall into a green building; and the development of an entertainment boulevard that will be a new exciting tourism district in Quezon City.

These projects were developed following the participation of Quezon City’s executives and legislators at the Temasek Foundation Leaders in Urban Governance Programme (TF-LUGP) in 2013. Initiated by Mayor Herbert Bautista, Quezon City’s participation in TF-LUGP has given them insights from Singapore’s urban transformation experiences to make plans into reality. Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Executive Director of CLC, was recently in Quezon City to meet its officials and to understand the progress of the mentioned projects. Certificates were also conferred to the participating City’s leaders and officials during the trip. Read more on the ceremony here. Find out about the close partnership between CLC and Quezon City from Mr Khoo’s interview here.

His Excellency Herbert M. Bautista, Mayor of Quezon City, Philippines will share more on Quezon City’s transformation this June at the World Cities summit mayors Forum 2014.

Acting Vice Mayor Anthony Peter Crisologo (left) and Mr Khoo Teng Chye (right) present TF-LUGP certificate to a Quezon City official.

role in the development of HK. For example, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) provides housing for lower income groups while the private sector meets the needs of the affluent; a not-for-profit organisation like the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) complements the work of the HKHA by providing housing options for the “sandwiched” class.

*EDGE programme is conducted twice a year for promising officers from the Infrastructure & Environment (I&E) Sector in Singapore slated for the Public Sector Leadership Programme. As part of the first run of the 2014 programme, participants went on a study trip to Tianjin Eco-city and Hong Kong to understand and learn about their experience in urban development.

Join us at World Cities summit 2014Singapore is once again taking the lead in encouraging government and industry to come together to share and co-create solutions with an integrated approach to urban sustainability. The 4th edition of the biennial World Cities summit will be held from 1 to 4 June 2014 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, in conjunction with the Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. Organised by the CLC and Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, the theme for World Cities summit 2014, “Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Common Challenges, Shared Solutions” will look at the state of urban challenges and identify principles of shared solutions applicable to cities, ranging from development, socio-economic and political contexts. Highlights from the Summit include the lee Kuan yeW World City Prize, the World Cities summit mayors Forum, Plenaries, in-FoCus Forums, Thematic Tracks, Site Visits, Networking events and co-located events.

Participants can look forward to new additions at World Cities summit 2014, including:- WCS Young LeaderS Symposium — a new initiative that involves more than 70 specially selected Young Leaders from diverse urban sectors internationally who are committed to catalyse change in their cities and help shape urban development agendas. - Safe & Liveable Cities, a new thematic track that will focus on the latest game-changing technologies that improve coordination and management of safety, security and urban challenges. - Latin America In-FoCuS Forum, featuring a new region of interest making its debut with the theme “Reducing Inequality, Advancing Competitiveness: Cities with Future in Latin America”, on the topics of mobility, public space and urban renewal, and affordable housing.

There is plenty to look forward to at World Cities summit 2014 this June. To date, more than 130 mayors and city representatives and more than 100 eminent speakers from the public and private sectors have confirmed their participation at WCS2014. Click here to see who they are.

Register to participate as a delegate at World Cities summit 2014 today!

Interview with Lu HouCLC interviewed Mr Lu Hou, President of the America- China City Alliance as part of the CLC Lecture Series in March 2014. In this video, he shares his thoughts on the challenges faced in many rapidly urbanising Chinese cities today, highlighting certain social changes that have taken place in the last decade.

Click the video for the full clip.

73.7% of respondents felt that a reduction in parking spaces would deter them from driving which is supported by Prof Jan Gehl’s message for traffic engineers and planners to reduce parking provision to reduce car usage.

April’s Poll Results

The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize May newsletter is now available.

Read more

The World Cities Summit May newsletter is now available.

Read more

Viewpoint– The Consequences of InequalityProfessor Susan S. Fainstein outlines the impact of worsening income inequality in cities and how it is impeding social mobility. She argues that wealth does not necessarily trickle down. Professor Fainstein, who has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) as well as at Columbia and Rutgers universities, is an expert on planning theory, urban redevelopment and comparative public policy. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard GSD, a visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and a Visiting Fellow at the CLC.

Read the urban solutions interview here.

Promoting Happiness: Service- oriented Government in Chinese Cities

Studies suggest that the happiest communities are not necessarily the richest, but rather they are the ones most satisfied with health and environmental conditions, low corruption and high social trust. As part of the Lien Public Service Index Project, residents in 28 cities were asked to rate their satisfaction in a 2013 survey. This essay explains the motivations, organisation and content of the project, and its finding that happiness levels are highly correlated to residents’ assessment of their city government’s performance in public service delivery and management.

Read the urban solutions Essay here.

Hawker Centres: Levelling the Playing Field with Food

Hawker centres are a defining part of Singapore life. First built by the government to improve public hygiene in the 1970s, hawker centres have since become important social spaces that offer a wide selection of affordable food for all. A major policy shift in 2011 led to the restarting of the government’s Hawker Centre Building programme after a 26-year hiatus and the removal of reserve rents. As a result, hawker stall rents have dropped, giving aspiring entrepreneurs an equal stab as success.

Read the urban solutions Case Study here.