World Cities Summit

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The World Cities Summit is an international conference series on public governance and the sustainable development of cities. ^[1]

The first World Cities Summit, which takes place in Singapore from 23 to 25 June 2008, focuses on the theme of “Liveable and Vibrant Cities”. It will be attended by government ministers, city mayors, senior government officials, officials from international organisations, business leaders and academics from the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

Among the issues examined will be effective governance, urban planning, infrastructural development, environmental sustainability, climate change, quality of life and economic competitiveness. Speakers include Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank; Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme; Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore; Peter Rowe, professor of architecture and urban design at Harvard University; and the mayors of cities such as Melbourne, Yokohama, Bogota and Wellington, among others. There will also be an exhibition to promote business links between the public and private sectors. ^[2]

The summit is organised by Singapore’s Ministry of National Development, the Singapore Civil Service College and the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific are involved as strategic partners.

The summit will be held in conjunction with the East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities, as well as the Singapore International Water Week 2008, a water industry conference and trade show. ^[3]

[edit] The growth of cities and the spotlight on liveability and sustainability

With increasing urbanisation and half the world’s population already living in cities, ^[4] the liveability of urban centres has attracted considerable attention in recent years, especially given the increasing awareness of environmental sustainability issues and resource scarcity. There are now several “World's Most Liveable Cities” type rankings, such as the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economist's World's Most Liveable Cities, which undertake international comparisons based on living conditions and quality of life. The Economist’s “liveability ranking”, for example, looks at more than 130 cities and measures them against five sets of criteria: infrastructure, culture and environment, healthcare, education and stability. ^[5]

Initiatives such as the World Mayor Award seek to highlight what can be done to improve the well-being of cities and communities through good leadership. And the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, also known as the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, saw representatives from the world’s largest cities and businesses gathering in New York in 2007 to discuss the reduction of carbon emissions in urban areas, where three-quarters of global energy consumption occurs. ^[6]

[edit] References

^ “Singapore to host first World Cities Summit”, published 12 Feb 2008, The Straits Times, Singapore, accessed 4 April 2008. [1]
^ The World Cities Summit, accessed 4 April 2008 [2]
^ “World Cities Summit to be held here”, 12 Feb 2008, Business Times, Singapore, accessed 4 April 2008 [3]
^ “Half of world to live in cities by end 2008 – UN”, Reuters, 26 Feb 2008, accessed 4 April 2008
^ “Where the grass is greener”, the Economist, 22 Aug 2007; the Economist Intelligence Unit Global Liveability Rankings, accessed 4 April 2008 [4]
^ “Cities In A Globalizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements 2001” by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, published 2001 (Earthscan)