Cities 'could be toxic for families'

Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 1 Jul 10;

CITIES can become toxic environments for families and more needs to be done to encourage multi-generational living, said experts at the World Cities Summit yesterday.

Mr Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in the United States, said families did not want to live in cities and this is demonstrated in Singapore as it has one of the world's lowest fertility rates.

'High density living is no longer attractive to families. People from south China come to Singapore and transform their lives, but as they succeed the city is no longer a place for them to raise a family.'

Mr Kotkin recounted that at a meeting with the Singapore government agency responsible for promoting marriage, he was told people in Singapore were so busy, stressed and competitive that they were not having children.

'Something in the way we build cities and society is making it toxic for families and this will be an issue when, in 10 to 30 years' time, we will have cities made up of those aged 60 to 80... and cities will lose their dynamism,' he said.

However, Dr Liu Thai Ker, director of RSP Architects Planners and Engineers and chairman of the Centre for Liveable Cities Advisory Board, said the low birth rate here was not just down to the physical environment. He said stress is a major factor, citing a survey which found Singaporeans to be one of the hardest working people in the world.

Dr Liu said that in planning housing in Singapore, efforts were made to foster a sense of community between families. He gave the example of making corridors shorter with only six to eight flats so families could get to know one another.

In closing the session, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said Singapore could act as a living laboratory for companies wishing to test-bed innovative solutions for dense urban living.

High-density living does not have to be toxic for dating and socialising
Joanne Chan Channel NewsAsia 1 Jul 10;

SINGAPORE : National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has stressed that high-density living does not have to be toxic for dating and socialising.

A panel discussion at the World Cities Summit on Wednesday evening raised the concern that city life may be detrimental to starting families.

Mr Mah noted that for places such as Singapore, urban living is a necessity and it is the job of policymakers to improve the cities.

The rural-to-urban migration continues at an unprecedented rate and by 2050, seven in 10 people in the world will live in cities.

While some cities have the luxury of space to create suburbs that are more conducive for families, others, such as Singapore, can't afford to do so.

Mr Mah noted that its up to policymakers to ensure that cities grow in a sustainable and liveable manner for its residents.

He said: "People are coming into the cities to look for jobs, to look for a better life, to look for hope and how can we deny them this? So our job is to try to improve the cities, rather than for us to try to shift this trend."

He added that in Singapore, where over 80 per cent of the population live in public housing, planning goes into ensuring that facilities such as schools and places of worship are provided.

Mr Mah was speaking at the closing plenary session of the World Cities Summit.

This view that cities can do more for families was shared by Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle.

He said: "The prevailing culture of my city is not a family-friendly one at 3am. But as city leaders, we have got a task to activate our cities so that it becomes attractive for all sorts of people, including families.

"So we actually give our festivals - whether it is the comedy festival, or the arts festival, or the music festival - extra money so that they can put on family-friendly, alcohol-free activities late into the evening."

To encourage the sharing of best practices and learning among cities, the World Cities Summit Mayors' Forum will be developed into a global network.

This learning network will also help to identify solutions that can help build sustainable and liveable cities and foster harmonious and sustainable communities.

The first gathering of the forum in Singapore saw over 40 mayors and governors participating.

The Centre for Liveable Cities will work with the World Bank, UN-HABITAT and Asian Development Bank on this new network. - CNA/ms

Out-of-box solutions needed to address sustainability, liveability
Hetty Musfirah Channel NewsAsia 30 Jun 10;

SINGAPORE : Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu has said there is a need to find out-of-the-box solutions to resolve the challenges in addressing sustainability and liveability for Singapore.

She was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Ministerial Dialogue at the World Cities Summit on Wednesday.

The dialogue on "Leading the Change: Building Liveable and Vibrant Cities" brought together mayors and ministers from various cities.

Ms Fu said she was inspired by some of the innovative solutions that were shared during the dialogue.

She added: "We have to find creative and innovative solutions to also address issues such as sustainability and liveability for Singaporeans. It is important for us to communicate that vision to our people clearly so that they are on board, and that they can be together with us, joining us in the next journey."

Ms Fu also gave her views about Singapore coming in third out of 64 cities, behind Geneva and Zurich, in the Global Liveable Cities Index.

She said: "It does not mean that we have arrived. It does not mean that we are completely satisfied with where we are. So we have to continue to look at new ways.

"As we develop Singapore in the next phase, we are going to get more urbanised, more dense. Then this issue about liveability is really going to be more critical.

"It's for us to decide what Singapore should be and we have to make our own definition as to what is liveable and what's a vibrant city. There's no fixed model.

"It does not mean that we have to be number one on every rating, but we have to know what we want for Singapore and that ultimately our objective is to create a home for Singaporeans."

- CNA/al

Mayors keen to share ideas on urban planning
S'pore think-tank to help develop learning network for city leaders
Emilyn Yap Business Times 1 Jul 10;

MAYORS around the world can look forward to sharing ideas on urban planning more frequently through a new learning network soon.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said this yesterday evening in his speech at the closing plenary session for the World Cities Summit (WCS).

The biennial event saw more than 1,000 officials and industry leaders discuss urbanisation issues in the last few days.

'There is strong support from city leaders for such conversations, such dialogues to continue at smaller gatherings. And I support this,' said Mr Mah.

'I suggest we establish a learning network for cities after WCS 2010, leading up to the next WCS 2012.'

Mr Mah first mooted the idea of a learning network on Tuesday, saying that it can bring together policymakers and practitioners to share best practices in sustainable development in the years when there is no summit.

Discussion on the new platform took place early yesterday among more than 40 mayors and governors attending the inaugural WCS Mayors' Forum, which was organised by local think-tank Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC).

Forum participants supported the creation of the learning network. CLC will partner the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme to develop it.

The network will allow mayors to share lessons in creating liveable spaces and develop practical and scalable solutions. It will also identify more areas for collaboration among cities.

Japan's Yokohama city mayor Fumiko Hayashi sees value in this network. Problems such as climate change are global in nature and it is important to 'overcome national borders and coordinate regional approaches' to deal with them, she said.

At the Mayors' Forum, heads of cities also got a chance to share their views on governance, and ways to balance high growth with environmental sustainability.

Reflecting on the forum, the mayor of Phoenix city in the US, Philip Gordon, said: 'This is a rare chance to exchange ideas with leaders from all over the world and to make business contacts that can further the city of Phoenix's economic development efforts.'

The Mayors' Forum will run every year, and there will be other opportunities for urban planners to interact. For instance, CLC will open its executive training programme to city leaders and officials from abroad next year.

High-density cities can also be highly liveable with good urban planning, said Mr Mah, who sought to dispel the notion that cities discouraged family formation.

'In cities like Singapore and in many cities in Asia, high-density living is a necessity,' he said. But 'it is possible for all of us, big or small, to be able to design and plan our urban environment in such a way that it is possible to give our people a good life.'

In Singapore, the government seeks to build communities and comfortable homes for people, he said, adding that there are often other sociological factors keeping people from having families.