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World Cities Summit 2022 Brings Together Government Leaders and Industry Experts to Address Global Urban Challenges

28 July 2022

The 8th edition of the biennial World Cities Summit (WCS) returns to an in-person conference format this year, from 31 July to 3 August, at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands. The Summit was held in a largely virtual Summit in 2021, due to travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic; this itself an excellent example of global cities responding to an urban challenge.

2           This year, the Summit will convene government and industry leaders, and leading experts from around the world to address liveable and sustainable city challenges, share integrated urban solutions and forge new partnerships.

Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Emerging Stronger

3            The WCS theme always seeks to address the most pressing urban challenges of the day, including a forward-looking aspect that will help city leaders frame their future plans. This year’s theme – “Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Emerging Stronger” – focuses on how cities need to remain liveable, and sustainable, whilst becoming more resilient, against the challenges posed by prolonged and unpredictable disruptions, such as pandemics and climate change.

4            WCS delegates will engage with the theme through two plenary sessions, and across five focused tracks: Sustainable Financing, Smart Cities, Development and Planning, Urban Resilience and Liveable Future Cities. WCS 2022 also includes other key events such as the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Lecture and Forum, WCS Mayors Forum, WCS Young Leaders Symposium, WCS Smart Cities Workshop, WCS Science of Cities Symposium as well as the WCS Expo, featuring the Singapore Pavilion.

5            The Summit will play host to prominent high-level speakers that include:

  • Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, Singapore;
  • Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration, Singapore;
  • Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and National Development, Singapore;
  • Patricia de Lille, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, South Africa;
  • Viengsavath Siphandone, Minister of Public Works and Transport, Laos
  • Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Under Secretary-General and Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat);
  • Dr Yoo Young-sook, Chairperson of the Climate Change Centre, South Korea
  • Dawood Abdulrahman Al-Hajiri, Director-General of Dubai Municipality, United Arab Emirates
  • Michael Ludwig, Governor and Mayor of Vienna, Austria;
  • Alderman Geordin Hill-Lewis, Executive Mayor, Cape Town;
  • Dato’ Haji Osman, Mayor, Johor Bahru City Council;
  • Hemali Boghawala, Hon. Mayor, Surat, India;
  • Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor of Helsinki, Finland;
  • Mihhail Kõlvart, Mayor of Tallinn, Estonia; and
  • Sally Capp, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Australia

For more details on the line-up of speakers and attendees, please visit www.worldcitiessummit.com.sg/whos-coming

Convening Point for Leaders from Public, Private, International and Academic sectors

6            As a convening point for global mayors, business leaders and knowledge experts to exchange and co-create city solutions, the Summit also enables opportunities for delegates to explore in-person collaborations and networking amongst the industry’s change-makers.

7            For instance, the WCS Smart Cities Workshop, held for the first time in-person this year, seeks to bring together collaborators for urban solutions. It is an exclusive networking event to advance Smart City projects through carefully curated one-on-one consultation clinics, and a platform to exchange Smart City development experiences and best practices across sectors. At the inaugural WCS Science of Cities Symposium, academic researchers and industry leaders will share scientific knowledge, novel research methodologies and insights on current and emerging urban challenges, such as developing high-density and green cities, road network resilience, and a regenerative approach for climate-resilient cities. For tangible results of collaborative efforts, the Singapore Pavilion at the WCS Expo will feature projects and partnerships between Singapore government agencies and industry partners, the community, institutes of higher learning, and civic organisations.

8            Mr Hugh Lim, Executive Director, Centre for Liveable Cities, said, “Cities are an ecosystem, so when systemic disruptions occur, the effect is felt at every level – as we have all personally experienced in the past two years with a global pandemic exacerbated by natural disasters due to climate change. Conversely, it is also this form of integration that drives the enormous potential for cities to become better prepared for dealing with disruptions and collaborating to develop new solutions to common problems. The role of the World Cities Summit is that of a catalyst – we provide a platform for government and industry leaders to gather and share knowledge, facilitate in-depth discussions on critical and forward-thinking topics, and empower collaborative partnerships to effect changes for the betterment of our cities. The return of World Cities Summit 2022 to an in-person format is, thus, a very timely one; as we emerge from the pandemic. We look forward to a robust exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences in responding to these urban crises”.

WCS 2022 partner programmes

9            WCS 2022 is held in conjunction with our key partner, the Asia Infrastructure Forum, where infrastructure players and thought leaders will focus on key issues such as the future state of infrastructure, sustainable financing, technological innovation and collaboration.

10            Finally, WCS 2022 also hosts a range of RoundTables and co-located events by strategic partners and supporting organisations. Some of these include Bloomberg’s Dynamic Cities: A New Way to Measure Progress and Resilient Cities Network’s Accelerating Urban Water Resilience: On the Road to the 2023 UN Water Conference Roundtables; Mastercard’s City Possible Workshop Series, United Nations Development Programme and the Singapore Land Authority’s Geospatial and the Cities of the Future, among others. These sessions will deep-dive into specific urban topics that complement the main programme of the Summit, bringing together policymakers and industry practitioners for vibrant discussions and the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).