WCS 2016: World Cities Summit Aligns Focus on Urban and Social Innovations, and Public-Private Partnerships to Build Resilient Cities
The emphasis on technology, community engagement and public-private partnerships signals broader support for integrated urban development, potentially encouraging more resilient and liveable projects.
WCS 2016 attracted more than 21,000 participants and launched City Solutions Singapore, an urban-solutions marketplace featuring over 1,000 companies.
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About 110 mayors and city leaders representing 103 cities from 63 countries and regions from around the world gathered at the World Cities Summit 2016 to discuss changes, challenges and innovations emerging in their cities. These cities included Seoul, Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam. Their interactions at the Summit — a premier platform to develop real-world solutions that address urban sustainability challenges — highlighted the global need to focus on social, technology and governance innovations to build resilient, liveable and sustainable cities of the future.
Held from 10 – 14 July, the fifth edition of the World Cities Summit (WCS), together with Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS), was attended by more than 21,000 visitors and participants including ministers, mayors, government officials, industry leaders and experts, academics, as well as representatives from international organisations. This year, besides established tracks on urban governance and long-term planning and development, WCS also provided a platform for discussions on the softer aspects of a sustainable and liveable city – community and culture – in particular how heritage and culture can be integrated into the urban planning and design of cities.
Integrated Approach to Innovating for Sustainable Development
WCS 2016 also featured a full-day track on innovations for a smart city. As part of this expanded focus on innovation, the inaugural City Solutions Singapore was launched as a seamless global marketplace to drive end-to-end sustainable development and showcase solutions, as well as to provide a platform for new partnerships and business opportunities. The expo had over 1,000 participating companies, from industry leaders to innovative start-ups in urban development, water, waste and cleaning management.
A key highlight of the expo was the “Towards a Smart and Sustainable Singapore” pavilion, showcasing collaborative efforts of more than 16 local government agencies. One of the showcases was the CityScope - a real-time interactive urban planning tool that uses augmented reality and Lego-like bricks to simulate urban environments for test-bedding purposes.
Building Resilient Cities: Beyond Infrastructure
Besides adopting innovation in technology to build greater resilience, cities are also looking to innovate the way in which they engage their people and involve them in co-creating solutions for a better living environment.
The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2016 Laureate, Medellín, Colombia, shared at the Prize Lecture on how leveraging on co-creation and the collective inputs of its citizens have helped tackled its most pressing issues, improved the economy, as well as its citizens’ employability and quality of life. The four cities accorded Special Mentions – Auckland, Sydney, Toronto and Vienna – further demonstrated how open community engagement and social integration have contributed to their successful urban transformations.
Citizen engagement is therefore essential for creating not only liveable and sustainable cities, but also resilient ones. Beyond infrastructure, the softer aspects of a city also impact on the people’s quality of life. Culture is one key aspect. For the first time in 2016, there was a dedicated WCS track exploring how heritage and culture can be integrated into the urban planning and the design of cities.
Collaborations that will spark innovation and create opportunities
The key theme of innovation was further reinforced by the collaborations announced during WCS 2016, such as the Singapore Government’s plans to partner Microsoft to explore next-generation government services using chatbots for selected public services. ENGIE also launched its Singapore Lab to act as a regional hub for energy innovation and technology in Southeast Asia, while Surbana Jurong unveiled the world's first integrated smart city solutions offering.
“We are seeing greater genesis of synergies and collaborative efforts between private companies, international organisations and government agencies at WCS,” said Mr Larry Ng, Managing Director of the World Cities Summit. “The combination of technology, social and governance innovation will form the foundation of the resilient, liveable and sustainable cities needed to address the challenge of rapid urbanisation in Asia and beyond.”
Details on major announcements made and partnerships signed at the Summit are provided in Annex A.
The next World Cities Summit will be held from 8 – 12 July 2018 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore. The World Cities Summit Mayors Forum 2017 will be held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.