Thirty governors and mayors from 28 cities in 18 countries met in Singapore on Monday in the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum.
They are from various cities in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Mexico, Iran and Austria and are gathering here to discuss urban solutions to build liveable cities.
At the second annual forum here, they agreed integrated long-term master planning was necessary for developing liveable and sustainable cities.
The mayors also saw the exchange of programmes and strategies from various cities to overcome future challenges, including a lack of technical capacity among many municipalities, poor rule of law, and a culture of non-enforcement of rules.
Themed “building Economically Competitive, High Density and Highly Liveable Cities”, the forum was opened by Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan.
Also present were leaders and experts from international organisations, including the World Bank, UN-HABITAT, the Asian Development Bank, and the Inter-America Development Bank.
Mr Khoo Teng Chye, executive director of the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), the Forum organiser, said: “Managing cities is a highly complex endeavour, and this forum brings together mayors from diverse cities to visit Singapore and share their challenges and best practices.
“Despite their diverse backgrounds, there is a lot of agreement on good principles, such as long-term integrated planning.
“There was a palpable sense that the mayors were connected by a common mission to better the lives of their people.”
The forum is part of the Singapore International Water Week.
