August 2013
CLC Launches Weekly Cities Scanning Bulletin
On 30 July, CLC launched its first weekly e-publication — Cities Scanning — to share knowledge on liveable and
sustainable cities. Cities Scanning keeps readers up-to-date on the best practices, urban trends and interesting
discoveries from cities around the world. It scans literature and news on solutions that practitioners can possibly
apply in their own contexts.
Articles are handpicked by researchers from CLC, summarised and delivered straight to our subscribers. Our first
month of highlighted stories on London’s gentrification blues, the rise of sea levels and the effects on China’s fish
farms, and Seattle’s solutions to water sources.
Click here to read the first 4 issues and forward this new read to your friends.
Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
Viewpoint:
The Case for Public Engagement
Carrie Lam, Chief Secretary for Hong Kong SAR, argues that
successful civic engagement can help build trust in government and
remove citizens’ sense of remoteness distance from policy formulation
— factors that are often the causes of social tension. For this to
happen, governments must be highly committed to engage, and have
the patience and stamina to allow engagement processes to play out.
Read more on page 76 of CLC’s Urban Solutions Issue 3.
Counterpoint:
Limits to Public Engagement
Susan S. Fainstein, Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate
Design School, argues that civic participation — while possessing
having the potential to make policy-making more responsive to citizens’
needs — can undermine inclusivity.
Read more on page 80 of CLC’s Urban Solutions Issue 3.
What’s
Your
Take?
Carrie Lam shared
that Hong Kong is
successful in their
public engagement
as they were
“daring to appoint
independent critics
to task-based
committees”.
Would you
advocate this
approach in your
own work?
Take the Poll
Engaging Communities:
Lessons from Around the World
Citizens around the world are increasingly
vocal about how their cities should be run or
developed. They are also more willing to play
an active role in partnering the public and
private sectors in development projects. So
how are cities tapping this opportunity? CLC
recently embarked on a joint research project
with Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment
Authority and other agencies under the
Ministry of National Development, to learn
from other cities’ experiences in engaging
communities.
Read more on page 56 of CLC’s Urban
Solutions Issue 3.
CLC Lecture Series presents
Tourism and Singapore’s Development
The Centre was proud to present a panel dialogue on
tourism, featuring pioneers and experts from the tourism
scene:
Pamelia Lee, Senior Tourism Consultant
Dr Tan Chin Nam, Senior Corporate Adviser and
former Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Information,
Communications and the Arts
Lim Neo Chian, former Deputy Chairman and Chief
Executive of Singapore Tourism Board
Loh Lik Peng, renowned Hotelier and Restaurateur.
The session was held on 27 August and moderated by Dr Limin Hee, CLC’s Deputy Director. The panel gave their
insights to the transformation of the city’s landscape, shared their thought processes behind making policies and the
principles they stood by while implementing them.
The audience was invited to think about the possibilities of some “big ideas” that Singapore could see in the near
future, such as bringing hotels into the heartlands where tourists can connect with the locals and experience
authentic Singapore living.
Stay tuned for the lecture report, transcripts and video in the next issue of the CLC newsletter.
Conversations with Water Leaders: CLC Exec Director on
Urban Water Planning and City Governance
An interview with CLC’s Executive Director Khoo Teng Chye was featured in the Singapore
International Water Week’s series of interviews with global water industry leaders,
“Conversations with Water Leaders”.
Mr Khoo shared his ideas on leadership, an integrated approach to policy planning, and
CLC’s role in bringing together city leaders and planners around the world to share ideas
on governance pertaining to water planning.
Read more.
To find out the latest news on business developments and market opportunities, visit
www.siww.com.sg.
Upcoming Events
International Green Building Conference 2013
The fifth International Green Building Conference (IGBC) will be held from 9–13 September 2013. The
conference features a line-up of international green building experts, policy-makers, academics and built
environment practitioners, to initiate ideas, collaboration and learning to achieve a shared vision of a greener
planet through the green building movement.
Held at the Marina Bay Sands, IGBC 2013 is the anchor event of the Singapore Green Building Week,
organised by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. As the region’s premier green building event,
IGBC 2013 is expected to attract more than 1,000 participants from over 30 countries — from thought leaders,
real estate developers to urban planners, architects, engineers, builders and other industry professionals — who
are committed to understanding and putting into action real-world, tangible green building solutions. IGBC 2013
will be held alongside the annual Build Eco Expo (BEX) Asia 2013, Southeast Asia’s premier business platform
for the green building and construction industry.
The Centre for Liveable Cities is proud to be one of the supporting organisations for this event. More information
can be found here.
On the occasion of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s 90th birthday, the CLC and Lee Kuan Yew
Centre for Innovative Cities are jointly organising a conference on Mr Lee’s role in the spatial transformation of
Singapore. The conference will look at Mr Lee’s contributions as well as decisions and considerations that have
made Singapore successful in the areas of city planning, housing, greening and water management. Pioneers,
thought-leaders and decision-makers who have contributed to building Singapore’s innovations in these areas
will be sharing their experiences as speakers, respondents and moderators. The conference will end with a
session on the future transformational challenges of Singapore.
Attendance for the event is by invitation only.
Stay tuned for the post-conference report, videos and transcripts of this conference in the next issue of CLC
newsletter.
Eisenhower Fellowships Conference 2013
The world is becoming increasingly urbanised. Many cities are currently at a crossroad in planning for our future,
in the light of a growing population, increasing diversity and complexities, and heightened expectations by the
populace. In a bid to maintain and balance a high standard of living, sustainable environment and economic
prosperity - the 3 pillars towards liveability and sustainability - how should urban living be managed? If one has
a chance to shape the future of urban living, how would we have done it differently? Join us as Singapore hosts
the segment of a photographic exhibition on the evening of 16 October, followed by a full-day conference on 17
October.
Jointly organised with the Centre for Liveable Cities, the conference will explore the theme of ‘The Future of
Urban Living’, which will include sessions covering urban lifestyle, creating smarter cities to increase resilience,
vibrancy and identity of cities and planning towards a sustainable environment.
Speakers include:
Dr Eric Chu Li Lun, Mayor of New Taipei City
John Wolf, President, Eisenhower Fellowships
Peter Ho, Chairman, Urban Redevelopment Authority
Dr Cheong Koon Hean, CEO, Housing and Development Board
Hamdan Abdul Majeed, Director, Khazanah Nasional Bhd
Philip Ng, CEO, Far East Organization
Jordan Schwartz, Lead Economist for Sustainable Development, World Bank
and many more...
Registration is now open.
Visit our website at http://ef-futureofurbanliving.org or contact [email protected] for more
information.
July’s Poll Results
78.2% of respondents agreed with President of Nature Society (Singapore) Dr Shawn Lum that planners shouldn’t
“overreact to public outcries” in response to incidents of falling branches and plant only small trees.
The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize august newsletter is now available. Read more