Singapore to facilitate network of East Asian cities to tackle challenges

Hasnita Majid, Channel NewsAsia 25 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: A network linking cities in East Asia will be set up to tackle challenges such as climate change, and Singapore will facilitate the activities of the network, according to National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

Mr Mah said: "Although we come from different cities, we face common challenges of how we can grow our city but at the same time make it liveable. So that is something that we all agreed upon. There is a sense of crisis and there is a strong political will to do something with all the different cities."

He added that the Centre for Liveable Cities, which has just been set up in Singapore, can be a platform to sustain the activities for the network.

During the roundtable discussion on the second day of the East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities, participants learned about how some challenges faced by cities like Melbourne and Jakarta have been tackled.

The Governor of Jakarta, Dr Ing Fauzi Bowo, for instance, said that the key challenge for the Indonesian capital is change - not only in bureaucracy but also in the people's mindset.

"Poor people used to throw (away) trash because they think this is not their responsibility. We are now engaging their mind, and we try to encourage them, and we try to convince them that there is an economic value in their waste," he said.

Following the summit, a report highlighting the key points of the conference as well as the possible areas of cooperation will be drawn up. The report will then be submitted to the East Asia Leaders Summit at their next meeting in December. - CNA/ac

East Asia leaders resolve to keep liveable cities dialogue alive
New policy institute can be a platform to facilitate sharing of experiences: Mah
Lee U-Wen, Today Online 25 Jun 08;

THE first-ever East Asia Summit conference on liveable cities might have ended yesterday, but the journey for all 16 countries in the bloc is only just beginning.

Singapore, which hosted the two-day event, will set up an informal network of like-minded cities to create more opportunities to meet and share knowledge on energy security, climate change and sustainable development, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.

This after the participants - which included ministers, mayors and governors - made a renewed call for stronger political will for their countries to develop cities in a sustainable manner.

The countries that will be part of this new network include those from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), together with Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Mr Mah, who was also the conference's chairman, said at a plenary session yesterday afternoon: 'There is a sense of urgency or, as one speaker put it, a sense of crisis at the moment. Although we all come from different cities, we face common challenges on how we can grow our city but at the same time make it liveable.'

Ensuring the discussions and ideas arising from the conference are kept alive will be one of the first tasks of the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), a new policy institute set up by the National Development and Environment and Water Resources ministries.

'We have decided that we should not let this dialogue end here. We can continue our talks through e-mail, joint projects, studies, research, host visits. And in this respect, the CLC can be one of the platforms to facilitate this sharing of experiences,' said Mr Mah.

Among the many East Asian policymakers who shared their city's plans at the plenary session was Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo, who called for bureaucratic change in the Indonesian capital's provincial government.

'There also has to be a mindset change among our citizens. A shift in thinking will result in better cooperation and synergy among stakeholders. The more prosperous the community, the better educated they will be - which itself will bring a better understanding of the importance of sustainable development,' he said.

For Melbourne mayor John So, the greatest challenge facing the Australian city at present is how to reduce emissions created by buildings. He shared how energy use in residential and commercial buildings accounts for 95 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the municipality.

While recognising that cities are different in structure, culture, economics, geography and climate, Mr Mah said that it was time to find the most viable solution for each city.

'Singapore can be a showcase of many different experiences - not just the positive ones; cities can also learn from our negative experiences and the mistakes that we have made. Through this informal network, all of us will be the better for it,' he said.

All the new ideas and suggestions arising from these events will be compiled and submitted to the East Asian leaders at their next summit in Bangkok this December.

Regional hub to train urban planners
Water experts and city planners from around the world unveiled three new initiatives and ideas at the Singapore International Water Week and World Cities Summit yesterday
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 26 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE could soon add one more hub to its already impressive list - as a regional centre to train urban planners, designers and architects.

The idea was raised yesterday by the World Bank, which is in talks with the Government about setting up such a facility, believed to be the first in Asia.

Siting such a hub here is no accident. The country is seen as an example of Asia's forward-looking attitude to urbanisation and such a centre would 'draw on and share Singapore's phenomenal knowledge and experience', said Mr James Adams, the bank's vice-president for the East Asia and Pacific region.

Mr Adams' comments on the last day of the World Cities Summit came a day after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a new Centre for Liveable Cities.

This centre will bring together the expertise Singapore has built up in government, industry and academia on sustainable urban development.

Industry experts told The Straits Times the recent moves are timely, given that 54 per cent - 2.6 billion - of Asia's population is expected to live in cities by 2030.

'The need for good urban planners has never been greater and we need to train them up quickly,' said principal architect John Ting of Singapore's AIM & Associates.

'Without well-trained urban planners, cities will face big problems in the face of overwhelming demand on resources,' said Mr Ting, who is also a former president of the Singapore Institute of Architects.

Talks on the World Bank's proposed centre here are in the preliminary stage and details will be released later, possibly at year-end, when World Bank president Robert Zoellick is scheduled to visit.

In his speech, Mr Adams noted that the 'old thinking' that urbanisation was a 'bad thing' has given way to the idea that it is an important driver of economic growth.

'No country has grown to high income without vibrant cities,' he said. This should be achieved, as Singapore has done, through a combination of innovative policies, investments in education and infrastructure, and a big push to attract foreign capital and talent.

Informal network of 16 countries formed to share ideas and expertise
Shefali Rekhi, Straits Times 26 Jun 08;

SIXTEEN countries have formed an informal network to share ideas and expertise to promote environmentally sustainable development, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan disclosed yesterday.

Members of this new group will interact regularly to discuss issues, host visits and undertake projects, Mr Mah said, after chairing a session of the inaugural East Asia Summit (EAS) Conference on Liveable Cities.

More than 30 mayors and governors participated in the meeting that was held together with the World Cities Summit at the Suntec convention centre.

Mr Mah said, although the officials came from different cities, there was a sense that they face common challenges. There is also a sense of urgency and strong political will for change. It would be useful to share these experiences and not let this dialogue end here.

Cities in Asean and its six dialogue partners - China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand - will be members of the new network. This informal alliance will connect with other networks, Mr Mah told the media.

The EAS conference was proposed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the EAS in Singapore last year. A report on yesterday's proceedings will be submitted to its next meeting in Bangkok later this year.

Yesterday's discussion saw the officials exchanging views on how best to promote development which was both economically and environmentally sound.

Melbourne Lord Mayor John So told the conference that Australia's second largest city has set a target of 'zero net emissions' by 2020.

To achieve this, the city council is increasingly buying 'green power' produced from renewable sources for its buildings. Energy-efficiency rating systems have been embedded into planning and building regulations, he said.

A Malaysian official suggested a star-based rating system, similar to the one for hotels, be introduced for cities. This would encourage city councils to do more for sustainable development.

Noting that this was an interesting idea, Mr Mah said the new Centre for Liveable Cities, which was unveiled by PM Lee on Tuesday, would be a 'useful platform' to further these discussions.