CLC Newsletter - December issue

December 2011

The Century of the City In this century, more people will move into cities than in all of human history to date. At a CLC Lecture Series talk on 29 November, Professor Paul Romer argued the key to realising the potential gains from this movement is to establish ‘strong but narrow’ city governments that compete with each other to attract residents, workers, employers and investors. Prof Romer contends the only thing that could hold us back from creating such conditions is a failure of imagination. Read more

Forging Partnerships

		CLC aims to be a domestic and international node for knowledge on urban solutions. This poses challenges as well as exciting opportunities for our team of seven partnership staff. The goal is being accomplished through partnerships with a broad spectrum of entities including local agencies, international organisations, industry leaders, academia and city networks. CLC’s mandate and unique position lets it integrate knowledge and expertise across specialist domains, and to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness in integrated urban solutions.

Domestically, CLC works with government agencies to distil Singapore’s urban development knowledge and experiences through documentation in the form of Urban System Studies, including oral history interviews and roundtables with both contemporary and pioneer city leaders. CLC has also set up a Stakeholders Steering Committee comprising 16 government agency partners to align its work with current policy challenges. The Committee also provides feedback and supports CLC’s plans and activities such as the recent ‘Leaders in Urban Governance Programme’ (LUGP) attended by senior directors in the Singapore civil service.

Internationally, CLC shares Singapore’s “high-density, high-liveability” developmental model and facilitates exchanges with mayors, city planners, integrated urban solution providers and experts. Such dialogues take place at the CLC Lecture Series and global platforms such as the forthcoming World Cities Summit (WCS) and WCS Mayors Forum in 2012. A new initiative, CLC’s inaugural international run of the LUGP (LUGPi) is also in the pipeline. Two key CLC partners, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, have welcomed this timely and relevant programme as cities grapple with the challenges of urbanisation.

CLC is increasingly looked upon as the shop front to Singapore’s urban and environment agencies. The Centre receives foreign delegations regularly and in November, hosted delegations from the Timor Leste government, China’s Commerce Investment Promotion Agency and the Confederation of Indian Industries. With the help of URA’s City Gallery, we shared Singapore’s urban development narrative and promised a visual interpretation through the ‘Integrated Urban Solutions’ booth at the 2012 WCS Expo.

Guided by a mission to distil, create and share knowledge on liveable and sustainable cities, CLC’s partnership efforts have yielded fruitful collaborations in research, training and events. In time to come, we expect this to include consulting services as well.

Joanna Lee
Associate Director, Centre for Liveable Cities

Sharing Experiences: Asian Urban Forum

Dr Liu Thai-Ker, Chairman of the CLC Advisory Board, spoke on Singapore’s urban development experience at the high-level closing panel of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Asian Urban Forum in Manila from 15 to 17 November 2011. He also participated in the Cities Development Initiative for Asia’s (CDIA) Incentivizing Asia's Urban Future: CDIA High-level Urban Policy Round-table on 14 November, in his capacity as CDIA Advisory Panel Member and Chairman, CLC Advisory Board.

The Asian Urban Forum explored the range of financing mechanisms for infrastructure investments to promote green, competitive and inclusive cities. It also featured the launch of ADB’s Urban Operations Plan. The Forum was attended by over 300 delegates including Ministers, urban sector government officials, national and urban financing agencies, private sector financiers and equity providers in the region. The CDIA High-level Urban Policy Roundtable served as a precursor to the Asian Urban Forum.

At the Asian Urban Forum, Dr Liu shared Singapore's experience in creating a green and liveable city, including the greening of Singapore and the importance of forward planning with a good master plan. In a separate break-out session at the Forum on ‘Green Cities and Environmental Infrastructure’, CLC gave a presentation on the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, focusing on urban water management as an example. On the sidelines of the Forum, Dr Liu was also invited to discuss Singapore's urban development experience in closed-door sessions with ADB's urban sector specialists.

During this visit, CLC also conducted high-level meetings with ADB's senior management, including ADB President Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, and Vice Presidents Mr Stephen Groff and Mr Bindu N. Lohani. The interactions at various levels and CLC’s participation in the Asian Urban Forum have helped to raise the profile of Singapore's urban expertise to a regional audience and within ADB.

Jean Chia
Manager, Centre for Liveable Cities

Sharing Experiences: Chinese Mayors’ Study Visit Programme

		Singapore’s Ministry of National Development (MND) and CLC hosted a delegation from the Chinese Association of Mayors visiting Singapore from 14 to 18 November 2011. Since 1996, the Chinese Mayors' Study Visit Programme has served as a platform for sharing Singapore's experience in urban planning, management and social development.

This year’s mayoral delegation was led by Mr Du Jiming, the Party Secretary of Hegang, Heilongjiang Province. The Chinese mayors met with representatives from various Singapore agencies and ministries, where they were introduced to the thinking and guiding principles behind certain developments in Singapore. A dialogue was also held with Minister Lim Swee Say of the Prime Minister’s Office, and the delegation attended a Meet-The-People-Session with Member of Parliament, Mr Seng Han Thong.

Feedback from the delegation was positive, with Mr Du observing that Singapore’s model of integrated planning involved foresight and advance planning, strong execution and continuity. In many cities, planning and the execution of plans were often very different; Singapore has shown that this need not be the case.

The delegation felt that cities facing problems such as traffic congestion, water and environmental issues could learn from how Singapore used innovation and good planning to achieve a high-density city without compromising residents’ quality of life. They also noted the importance of strong governance in implementing good policies that were unpopular, for example, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).

The mayors were particularly impressed by the standard of public housing in Singapore and its role in creating a cohesive social network. Another highlight was how Singapore had blended the conservation of its built heritage with urban design in a rapidly developing city.

Mr Du concluded that lessons learnt on this trip would greatly help various parts of China in their ongoing development. Ms Chang Hwee Nee, Deputy Secretary (Planning) at MND, hoped the trip would foster closer relationships and open doors to further collaborations. She invited the Chinese mayors to attend relevant events organised by CLC in 2012, namely the Leaders in Urban Governance Programme (International), the World Cities Summit (WCS) and WCS Mayors Forum.

Cherine Liu
Manager, Centre for Liveable Cities

Upcoming Events

CLC Lecture Series presents Liveable cities: is the quality of life measurable? Speaker: Professor Lily Kong Vice-President (University and Global Relations) Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences National University of Singapore Details: 31 January 2012 \| URA Function Hall \| 3:00pm – 5:00pm (Networking & refreshments from 3.00pm, seated by 3.30pm) Free Admission \| Prior registration required at www.clc.org.sg Prior registration required at www.clc.org.sg

Synopsis:
Can the quality of life – an intangible, qualitative, inchoate experience -- be measured? Using the example of arts and culture in everyday life, Professor Lily Kong will demonstrate the ways in which arts and culture can offer both “people benefits” and “place benefits”, and thus enhance the quality of life. The focus will then turn to how the value of arts and culture can be measured, through a range of indicators (e.g. economic and social) and indices (e.g. Creativity Community Index, Creative Vitality Index, and Cultural Vitality Index). Finally, the audience is introduced to various other indices that attempt to measure specific dimensions of quality of life, such as the Happiness Index, Human Development Index, and Anholt’s Nations Brand Index.