BETTER CITIES Your monthly update from the Centre for Liveable Cities Issue 67 July 2016

World Cities Summit 2016 The World Cities Summit 2016, co-organised by the Centre for Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, attracted about 110 mayors and city leaders representing 103 cities from 63 countries and regions around the world to engage on issues of urban . Held from 10-14 July, the fifth edition of the World Cities Summit, together with International Water Week (SIWW) and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS), was attended by more than 21,000 visitors and participants including ministers, government officials, industry leaders and experts, academics, as well as representatives from international organisations.

Themed ‘Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Innovative Cities of Opportunity’, this year’s Summit expanded its focus on how cities can leverage innovations to build smart cities. A key highlight of the expo was the ‘Towards a Smart and Sustainable Singapore’ pavilion, which showcased innovations from more than 16 Singapore government agencies designed to help serve citizens better.

WCS 2016 also explored the strategy of co-creation and how cities can better engage their citizens to build more resilient cities beyond infrastructure alone. For the first time at WCS, the impact of softer aspects of a city like culture and heritage on urban planning and design was discussed at a dedicated track.

The next World Cities Summit will be held from 8-12 July 2018 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore.

Click here for the WCS 2016 press release.

Enabling Technologies: A Prototype for Urban Planning By Zhou Yimin

CLC is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on an interactive urban planning tool that creates realistic simulations of planning decisions and allows planners to understand the implications for their city. The tool also facilitates public engagement and education on urban issues. Tentatively named the tangible interactive model for urban simulation, the model computes parameters such as land use, population density, traffic volume and pedestrian walkability.

CLC and MIT exhibited the prototype at the recent World Cities Summit, using Lego bricks to represent different amenities and infrastructure in the Jurong Gateway area. Users added and moved Lego pieces to observe how their decisions would affect pedestrian walkability.

CLC is exploring different applications for this technology, including the assessment of land use distribution, land parcellation and improvements to the transport network.

Are car-free cities possible? The True Measure of Cities “The [EcoMobility World Festival] “Data is becoming really idea is [that] one neighbourhood powerful at … allowing things goes car-free for the whole month.” that always existed in cities … – Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, to be coordinated much more Creative Director of Urban Idea effectively.” – Professor Luis Bettencourt, Professor of Complex Systems, Santa Fe institute A Chance of A Lifetime: Lee Kuan Yew and the Physical Transformation of Singapore Published by CLC and the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC), this book is based on a conference held in 2013 to mark the 90th birthday of Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. The book focuses on Mr Lee’s clear vision and pivotal role in shaping the urban landscape of Singapore over the last half-century through the commentaries of policy-makers and leading officials. The book was launched by Singapore Prime Minister at the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet on 11 July 2016, and is available online and at major bookstores.

Rikuzentakata: Rebuilding with Resilience By Lim Wei Da and Dr Joanne Khew The City of Rikuzentakata was one of the areas in hardest hit by the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, losing about 8% of its population and 80% of its residential areas. The city has since made major strides in recovery through a comprehensive eight-year plan that takes into account the development of both the infrastructural and social resilience of the city.

To facilitate recovery efforts, an innovative method of utilising a three-kilometre conveyor belt system was adopted. The aptly named ‘Bridge of Hope’ transported 40,000 tons of soil and gravel per day from the surrounding hills into the disabled, the elderly, locals and foreigners – can feel the city, exponentially accelerating reconstruction efforts. happy and comfortable ... We emphasise social inclusion “Rebuilding a safer and more inclusive Rikuzentakata has a lot in our planning process to hear what people want.” been one main principle behind the recovery plan ... We have successfully elevated our coastal land by 10 metres through Partnerships at both the local and international levels have utilising appropriate high technology, [such as] the mega been essential to the rebuilding of the city. At the local level, conveyor belt … which helped to shorten reclamation time the city welcomed the Shanti Volunteer Association, a Japan- by about seven years,” shares Mr Futoshi Toba, Mayor of based NGO that is providing mobile library services and Rikuzentakata City. New zoning plans are in place to ensure has actively promoted community-building activities such as that residential and commercial buildings are built on higher recovery rice planting. On the international front, city officials ground along the mountainside, while the installation of solar jointly opened a Multi-Purpose Community Hall with the panels along coastal lands diversifies its energy sources. Singapore Red Cross and the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Completed in March 2015, the community hall functions as both a community space and disaster relief centre.

Mayor Toba spoke on the topic of ‘Building Resilient Cities “... through utilising appropriate high- and Communities’ at the World Cities Summit 2016. technology, [such as] the mega conveyor belt… which helped to shorten reclamation time by about seven years...”

Another key component of Rikuzentakata’s recovery effort is in the area of social resilience. Recovery plans were made accessible to citizens and open to public feedback on the city’s webpage. Citizens participated in an interactive workshop on the construction of the Takata Matsubara (Miracle Pine) Memorial Park. The city also promotes guided educational tours conducted by survivors of the March 2011 tsunami. Mayor Toba emphasises the importance of social resilience and the role of the people of Rikuzentakata in rebuilding the city: “Rikuzentakata should be a happy and socially inclusive city where people from all walks of life – including CLC’s latest Urban Solutions Issue #9 focuses on the theme of innovation. In this issue, city leaders share about the innovations shaping their cities.

Co-Creating the Future City Singapore National Development Minister Lawrence Wong has been tasked with charting the city-state’s infrastructure and environment development. In this interview, he tells Jessica Cheam how the government seeks innovative ways to co-create the future with citizens. Read more

The Business of Change Gabe Klein was one of the key people behind car-sharing club Zipcar’s success in the U.S. before he became the Transport Commissioner of Washington D.C. Roundtable with Mayors and Chicago. In this interview, the CLC Visiting Fellow tells Urban How can cities innovate to improve lives and tackle Solutions that the government modern-day challenges and complexities? Jakarta has to operate more like the Governor Basuki T. Purnama, Auckland Mayor Len private sector when implementing Brown and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je share their schemes and get public buy-in. cities’ efforts in public engagement, governance, transportation and building smart cities. Read more Read more CLC-ULI Creating Liveable Cities through Car-lite Urban Mobility The latest joint research project by CLC and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) makes 10 key recommendations on how transport and urban practitioners can move towards a sustainable and New car-lite mobility ecosystem. The preliminary research recommendations were presented on the sidelines of the World Cities Summit 2016.

Publications Together with the presentation, a panel of esteemed city and industry leaders shared their experiences and perspectives as well as practical ideas to assist cities in making the transition towards a car-lite future. The panel comprised Mr Morten Kabell, Mayor for Environment and Technical Affairs, Copenhagen; Dr Carsten Brosda, State Secretary for Culture, Media and Digital Affairs of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg; Mr Kim Soo-hyun President of Institute; Mr Gabe Klein, former transportation chief of Chicago and Washington; and Mr Konrad Otto- Zimmermann, Creative Director of the Urban Idea.

Echoing a recommendation by the study to “drive change through data-driven research and pilots”, Morten Kabell encouraged leaders to use cities as “urban labs” to “try out new ideas and URBAN SYSTEMS STUDIES solutions”. Drawing upon Seoul’s experience, Dr Kim Soo-Hyun reiterated the importance of Port and the City: developing public transport as the backbone of a car-lite mobility ecosystem as well as the need to align the car-lite vision among all key stakeholders. For Dr Carsten Brosda, the key to a car-lite Balancing Growth future lies in providing a wide range of sustainable travel options. and Liveability The e-report of CLC-ULI’s research is available for download here

Learn more about the collaborative research process behind the CLC-ULI study here.

“…the Next Generation Port will also include CLC-DRC green and community Challenges and Reforms in Urban Governance: spaces and facilities to Insights from the developmental experience educate visitors on our port heritage and growth of and Singapore opportunities.” The English edition of this book was launched at the World – Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Cities Summit 2016. This book co-authored by CLC and China’s Executive of the Maritime Development Research Center offers city leaders, policy makers and Port Authority of and experts fresh insights into China’s and Singapore’s respective Singapore journeys in urban development. Click here for the book.

Many cities grew up with ports that brought commerce and created thriving centres. URBAN SYSTEMS STUDIES URBAN SYSTEMS STUDIES Today, these ports are Urban Redevelopment: from Cleaning a Nation: Cultivating increasingly moving out of Urban Squalor to Global City a Healthy Living Environment sight.

At a forum attended by 150 maritime professionals and students, the cities of Singapore, Antwerp and Yokohama were presented as innovative examples of redeveloping port cities. The forum was held in conjunction with the launch of CLC’s latest Urban Systems Study titled Port Rapid redevelopment transformed The residents of Singapore have enjoyed and the City: Balancing Singapore’s Central Area from an the benefits of a clean and green city Growth and Liveability. overcrowded, slum-filled and heavily for the last few decades, thanks to polluted urban centre in the 1960s into the foresight of the city’s leaders, who Click here for the forum’s a global financial centre today. This aimed to create a healthy environment report. Port and the City: book explores how, despite its lack of to improve the . This book Balancing Growth and land and natural resources, Singapore charts Singapore’s journey in tackling Liveability charts the achieved social, economic and public cleanliness and traces the evolution of the port of environmental goals through planned evolution of people-centric solutions to Singapore from 1819. Click land use and urban redevelopment. encourage civic-mindedness among here for the book. Click here for the book. citizens. Click here for the book.