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How Heritage Districts Can Make Cities More Liveable

Raising a New Capital CityCreating Liveable Industrial Districts

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Collaborating and Innovating Better Cities TogetherLiveable and sustainable cities will be created when city leaders innovate systemically and collaborate with partners to generate the best solutions to address local challenges – this was the declaration and commitment made by Mayors and city leaders of 54 cities at the closing of the 8th World Cities Summit Mayors Forum, held from 17-19 May 2017 in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China.

Although trade-offs arising from urban planning, preservation of culture and balancing growth may seem apparent, a simple paradigm change would help cities “see beyond the trade-offs and promote further growth”, shared Lawrence Wong, Forum Chairman and Singapore’s Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance. “For example, more planning may well give us the capacity to be more flexible. It may give us the preparedness to have more participatory and consultative processes,” said Minister Wong.

Also held in conjunction with the Forum was the 4th WCS Young Leaders Symposium, where close to 50 Young Leaders gathered to discuss issues and launch initiatives relating to heritage and culture in cities.

Find out about the key highlights of the Forum and read the 8th WCS Mayors Forum Declaration in full. Visit our Facebook page for interesting infographics too.

iss 77 | May 2017

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Master planning

More Ambitious Public Spaces

Raising A New Capital City

Cities often neglect public space; this is seen in congested downtowns and desolate suburbs. Does it matter? In this issue, Urban Solutions explores the value of public space in our interviews, research and case studies. Public space takes many forms, performs many roles and can even transform cities. When deployed with intelligence, care and courage, public spaces can make cities more liveable, sustainable, prosperous and inclusive. This issue aims to equip and inspire readers to chart a more ambitious and transformative agenda for public spaces in cities.

Read Urban Solutions #11 on ‘Public Spaces’ online via our website, or through the link on our Facebook page.

On 15 May 2017 the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India took a significant step towards realising its vision of building a world-class new capital city: Amaravati. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu offered the master development rights of Amaravati’s 6.84 sq km start-up area to the Singapore consortium of Ascendas-Singbridge and Sembcorp Development and also laid the foundation stone for the new city.

A second Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore and Andhra Pradesh was also signed, following the earlier fulfilled MOU of 2014, and will deepen cooperation in economic development and

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Awarded the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2014, Suzhou is located at the centre of the Yangtze Delta and south of Jiangsu province. The city of more than 10 million citizens is known for its many scenic water bodies and often praised for its beautiful gardens and efforts in preserving its ancient cultural heritage. At the same time, Suzhou continues to advance with innovative technologies and strategies that promote rural and urban integration, talent cultivation and sustainable development.

We revisit this 2014 article from the CLC Archive in which former Mayor Zhou Naixiang explains the transformation of Suzhou over the years.

City Focus: Suzhou

Japan’s Unconventional Approach to Elderly Dementia

In Tokyo, one can find an unconventional daycare service for elderly persons with dementia. At DAYS BLG (short for “Barriers Life Gathering”), residents make their own decisions about how they would like to spend their day — including engaging in paid work. This has led to collaboration with the likes of Honda and, more importantly, a new conversation about ageing-in-place and dementia. This was one of many illuminating case examples for participants of the 11th Executive Development & Growth Exchange (EDGE) Programme in their overseas study trip.

Read how residents are benefitting from the DAYS BLG programme.

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A Historic Heart: How Heritage Districts Can Make Cities More Liveable

In Singapore, low-rise historic districts sit beside their contemporary neighbours to create a unique cityscape that reflects the country’s modern history and rich cultural heritage. Much of this was the result of concerted efforts by local planners and tourism officials, at the urging of the public and heritage groups. Beyond conserving physical buildings and streets, however, ground-up programmes and sound local planning that encourage organic and inclusive participation of local communities are instrumental to the success of conserved historic districts.

CLC Fellow Michael Koh and researcher Katyana Melic explain how Singapore ensures that conserved historic districts stay vibrant and attractive.

sharing of institutional expertise in fields such as urban governance, security and education.

The Centre for Liveable Cities supports the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Singapore, the project’s lead agency by providing expert advice and capability development on urban planning, development and governance through its Executive Director Khoo Teng Chye, as well as CLC’s Fellows and Panel of Experts.

Read the announcement on our Facebook page and the full press announcement from the Minister of Trade & Industry.

David Tan“You must design with place-making in mind. There must be spaces that are exciting for people to come together, exchange ideas and hopefully innovate.”

David Tan shares JTC’s latest urban innovations to create highly liveable industrial districts.

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Loh Ah Tuan, Liak Teng Lit and Isabella Loh

“We have done reasonably well… but we’re not perfect. There are still higher standards to achieve … [in] moving towards environmental sustainability.” — Loh Ah TuanPanellists at the CLC Lecture on Environmental Sustainability — The Singapore Journey share their views on Singapore’s environmental scorecard and how this could be improved.

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Kwek Sian Choo and Dionne Hoh“Bala’s Table… is not an exact science. But it has served several government agencies, and the real estate industry in Singapore, for decades. There is value in consistency and stability in the calculation of leasehold values.”Kwek Sian Choo and Dionne Hoh demonstrate how the value of the remaining lease on a leasehold property is derived through the Leasehold Table and explain why it uses a discount rate of 3.5%.

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