from the ground Up

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, April 25 2009

Award will recognise those who contribute to creation of liveable cities

WHAT does it take to become a world- class city? Innovative planning projects, policies and solutions that display foresight and good governance, it seems.
These are the qualities that Singapore is looking for in a new award it is launching: the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize.
Speaking at the annual Asia Society conference in Ho Chi Minh City, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday that the biennial award seeks to recognise individuals and organisations which have made outstanding contributions to the creation of vibrant, liveable and sustainable cities.
“Through this prize, we hope to facilitate the sharing of best practices in urban solutions and spur further innovation in the area of sustainable urban development and city excellence,” said Mr Mah, who also visited the show gallery of The Estella, Keppel Land’s residential development in Ho Chi Minh City, to present it with the BCA Green Mark Gold award.
Nominations for the World City prize will commence in June when the prize is formally launched at the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Awards Ceremony, he added.
He spoke on the challenges that Asian cities face in managing rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.
He outlined three challenges. The first is to ensure the infrastructure within cities can cope with the rapid growth.
“Cities have to ensure that economic growth is not stunted by infrastructure bottlenecks and that growth does not come at the expense of clean air, clean water and a liveable environment,” he said.
The other challenges are to manage the environmental impact of rapid urbanisation, and to manage the social implications of rapid growth.
He cautioned that rapid growth which leads to widening social inequality could “strain the social fabric and undermine the very basis for growth”.
As a small island state with limited land and no natural resources, Singapore faced these challenges early in its development, and was guided by three ‘Es’.
That is, economic growth, environmental quality, and social equity. Singapore takes a long-term and integrated planning approach, he said.
This allows the nation to put in place the infrastructure to support businesses based here and also to “plan in advance the housing and social infrastructure needed to support the needs and aspirations of our population over time”.
Mr Mah also said emerging cities in Asia can demonstrate to the world that rapid economic growth can be sustained while preserving good environmental quality and social harmony.
He told the conference: “By working together now, both in developing our own cities, as well as in innovating new solutions for the region, we can jointly build a new network of sustainable global cities in Asia that are economically vibrant, environmentally sustainable, and also socially equitable and harmonious.”