World Cities Summit 2010

Themed “Liveable and Sustainable Cities for the Future”, the 2nd World Cities Summit (WCS) was held in Singapore from 28 June to 1 July 2010. Delegates discussed experiences and challenges faced during the 2009 global financial crisis, and how best to manage the growth of cities in a way that can meet the aspirations of the people and yet is sustainable to the shared environment.

The Summit was co-located with the Singapore International Water Week and the World Urban Transport Leaders Summit to reap synergistic benefits. The WCS Expo—held in an area four times larger than in 2008— showcased the latest model cities and innovative urban solutions that enhance economic value while addressing environmental challenges.

Complementing the plenary and dialogue sessions were a series of six expert panel sessions offering deep dives into Planning for a World-Class City, Maintaining a Competitive Economy, Shaping the Liveable Environment, Working Towards Environmentally Sustainable Cities, Balancing Resource Conflicts and Competing Demands, and Enhancing Biodiversity.

View Highlights of WCS 2010

MAYORS FORUM

More than 50 governors, mayors and experts attending the WCS Mayors Forum 2010 deliberated on the challenges of enabling progress and ensuring quality living in high-density cities at a time when the proportion of the world’s population living in cities is set to reach 75% in the next 30 to 40 years from the current 50%.

The Forum noted that it is imperative that urban planners, transport planners and local populations work hand in hand to lead change in the right direction, underpinned by three core conditions: leadership, courage and dialogue. Key takeaways:

Leadership: Commanding the vision to drive change even through challenging times, as demonstrated by the Saudi Arabian city of Al Madinah Al Munawarah’s Observatory System to collect data to track its Millennium Development goals; Lagos’s success in improving the city’s image through infrastructure renewal and development; citizen-centric information management by Tangshan, China, to capitalise on its strengths and quicken its pace towards becoming a scientific city.
Courage: It takes the form of pursuing eco-friendly and liveable communities in partnership with an active corporate and civil citizenry even if results take time to manifest.
Dialogue: Keep promoting Communities of Best Practices among cities. Global platforms like the WCS Mayors Forum could provide opportunities for the development of a peer-to-peer learning network.

LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZE
LAUREATE CITY: BILBAO

The inaugural Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize was conferred on Bilbao City Hall in recognition of its integrated and holistic approach towards urban transformation. Bilbao City Hall has been instrumental in regenerating and transforming the Spanish city from an obsolete and dilapidated industrial city into a knowledge-based economy.

The success of Bilbao is largely attributed to its integrated and holistic approach to achieve economic, social and physical transformations. Its emphasis on environmental clean-up, use of culture, internationalisation and design, major improvements to its infrastructure, as well as the restoration of its historic areas over some 25 years have successfully rejuvenated the city. More significantly, the city was able to connect investment in infrastructure with social integration. The river, which was once a physical and social barrier, is now a hub for social and cultural integration and a centre for innovation and creativity.

EXPERT PANEL SESSIONS

Session 1: Planning for a World-Class City

Session 2: Maintaining a Competitive Economy

Session 3: Shaping a Liveable Environment

Session 4: Working Towards Environmentally Sustainable Cities

Session 5: Balancing Resource Conflicts and Competing Demands

Session 6: Enhancing Cities’ Biodiversity

World Cities Summit 2010

View Highlights of WCS 2010

MAYORS FORUM

Leadership: Commanding the vision to drive change even through challenging times, as demonstrated by the Saudi Arabian city of Al Madinah Al Munawarah’s Observatory System to collect data to track its Millennium Development goals; Lagos’s success in improving the city’s image through infrastructure renewal and development; citizen-centric information management by Tangshan, China, to capitalise on its strengths and quicken its pace towards becoming a scientific city.
Courage: It takes the form of pursuing eco-friendly and liveable communities in partnership with an active corporate and civil citizenry even if results take time to manifest.
Dialogue: Keep promoting Communities of Best Practices among cities. Global platforms like the WCS Mayors Forum could provide opportunities for the development of a peer-to-peer learning network.

LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZE
LAUREATE CITY: BILBAO

World Cities Summit 2010

MAYORS FORUM

LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZELAUREATE CITY: BILBAO

EXPERT PANEL SESSIONS

Session 1: Planning for a World-Class City

Session 2: Maintaining a Competitive Economy

Session 3: Shaping a Liveable Environment

Session 4: Working Towards Environmentally Sustainable Cities

Session 5: Balancing Resource Conflicts and Competing Demands

Session 6: Enhancing Cities’ Biodiversity

World Cities Summit 2010

MAYORS FORUM

LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZELAUREATE CITY: BILBAO

EXPERT PANEL SESSIONS

Session 1: Planning for a World-Class City

Session 2: Maintaining a Competitive Economy

Session 3: Shaping a Liveable Environment

Session 4: Working Towards Environmentally Sustainable Cities

Session 5: Balancing Resource Conflicts and Competing Demands

Session 6: Enhancing Cities’ Biodiversity

LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZE
LAUREATE CITY: BILBAO

LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZE
LAUREATE CITY: BILBAO