Transcript of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Speech at the Opening of the World Cities Summit/ Singapore International Water Week/ CleanEnviro Summit Singapore, 1 June 2014, Marina Bay Sands

“Shaping our Cities, Water and Environment
for a Liveable and Sustainable Future”

Mr Vete Sakaio
Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu

Ministers, Mayors, distinguished friends from around the world.

Welcome back to Singapore!

We are opening three events today – the Singapore International Water Week, the World Cities Summit and the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. The three events have one common theme – how to develop liveable and sustainable cities, and build beautiful and endearing homes.

Growth of Cities

Year by year, cities have grown in importance in countries around the world. Urbanisation is proceeding at an unprecedented scale. In the two years since our last summit here, more than 100 million people have moved into cities from the countryside and that is equal to 20 Singapores.

By the middle of the century, we think about 70 per cent of the global population will live in cities[1]. So the cities are driving economic growth and creating new hubs for talent and innovation. They are also pioneering solutions to the world’s problems like climate change, public health or green technology. At the same time, new challenges have emerged; climate change is causing unpredictable consequences - extreme weather like the first snowfall in Cairo in a hundred years, or flooding in London.

So we must continue to improve our cities and to give our people a high quality environment to live, work and play

Building Our Best Home in Singapore

We are doing our best to develop Singapore as a liveable and sustainable city. Trying to manage the consumption of scarce resources, like water, energy, and pricing them properly so people have the incentive to save and not waste these resources. Trying to take the long-view: planning over generations, implementing programmes over several electoral terms and rallying Singaporeans to forgo some immediate gains for future dividends.

A prime example is Marina Bay, where this conference is being held. Once upon a time, it was the mouth of a dirty river, dotted with pollutive industries and slums. Now it is a jewel in our cityscape, a place all of us are very proud of.

Our efforts have gained Singa­pore recognition internationally - rankings, different measures have gone up. But really truly, improving Singapore is a journey without end. Our people’s expectations are rising. Other cities continue to move ahead and they are developing innovative solutions and setting new standards for us. So we are learning from the experience and innovations of other cities to improve Singapore and to improve our peoples’ lives.

First, by making Singapore a better home, to make our housing more affordable and to make our transport more reliable and comprehensive. To integrate our green spaces and blue waters into our urban surroundings. To strengthen our social capital – integrating Singaporeans with people newly arrived to our shores, preserving ethnic harmony among different races and religions, creating more arts and cultural spaces, building a compassionate society. And to do this we are studying other cities carefully, for example London and their way of doing public transport, Copenhagen which integrates “pocket parks” into their downtown or Bilbao which has had great success building their arts and cultural spaces.

Secondly, we are harnessing technology to become a Smarter Nation. We are wiring up our island to deliver ubiquitous connectivity and to enhance our business environment – there is no place where you can hide from your emails and Facebook. We are using data better to improve sustainability, for example to manage our power consumption more tightly. We are piloting green technologies like using solar panels and solar banks. We are learning from other cities’ experiences in this aspect too, for example Rio de Janeiro which is working with IBM to become a Smart City or Manhattan which has a central hotline and dashboard for municipal services.

Thirdly, we are strengthening ownership by our people – by engaging citizens and residents on our shared future. Technology can facilitate this engagement – crowdsourcing, location-based services all have great potential. There are many examples of how Singaporeans are working together to build a more liveable and sustainable Singapore. For example, preserving nature in Pulau Ubin, one of our bigger offshore islands, through the Ubin Project. And we are designating or aiming to inscribe the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We are also reviewing the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint so that we have a comprehensive plan and a roadmap for some years ahead.

Learning From Others

This year’s Lee Kuan Yew prize winners are good examples of successful cities in action. Suzhou is the World City Prize winner. Its success began with a partnership with Singa­pore in the Suzhou Industrial Park and based on the success of the Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou developed a thriving economy while protecting its cultural landmarks like their Pingjiang Historic District. So, congratulations to Suzhou Mayor Mr Zhou Naixiang and his team! 在这里，我们再一次欢迎苏州市长周乃翔先生还有各位苏州市的代表。恭喜周市长赢得了今年的李光耀世界城市奖。

Another prize winner is the Orange County Water District which won the Water Prize this year. Groundwater recharge and water reuse schemes which Orange County pioneered are being adapted throughout the world, including in Singapore when we embarked on our own NEWater programme.

Singapore is happy to make a modest contribution to this discourse and this exchange of ideas. The Centre for Liveable Cities launched a book today – “Liveable and Sustainable Cities: A Framework” – which offers principles to guide urban transformation. The New World Cities Summit Young Leaders Programme and the Singapore International Water Week Hydro-Gen Programme will bring talented young leaders together to improve urban liveability and resource sustainability. I support the Mayors Forum’s call for a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal in Cities.

Conclusion

I wish you all a fruitful discussion and an enjoyable stay in Singapore. And may I wish you all the best too in making our world a more sustainable and liveable place for humanity.

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[1] WHO statistics