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The Civil Service College (CSC) is proud to be an organiser of the World Cities Summit, together with the Ministry of National Development and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Response to the inaugural run was very encouraging. More than 700 local and foreign participants attended the event.
This year’s Summit was co-located with the Singapore International Water Week and the East Asia Summit Conference on Liveable Cities.
The 3 events provided useful opportunities for Ministers and mayors, government officials, experts, urban practitioners, and leaders of international organisations from around the world to exchange ideas on sustainable urban development. Some of the speakers included Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Mr Haruhiko Kuroda (President, Asian Development Bank), Mr James W Adams (Vice President, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank), well-known mayors and many others, who spoke on a range of issues such as urban planning and conservation, land transport, green spaces, well-being and happiness.
The Summit stimulated much discussion on the challenges in ensuring sustainable development of cities. Participants acknowledged the need for a collective and concerted effort to tackle the multiple challenges arising from rapid urbanisation, and the importance of good public governance in negotiating these challenges. In his closing remarks, Minister (National Development) Mah Bow Tan expressed hope that the Summit would evolve into a global network where cities could continue come together to share their experiences.
“The task of organising the Summit was bigger and more challenging than we had expected. But we pulled it off, and the results exceeded our expectations. This would not have been possible without the commitment of our various departments, especially CGL, CSCI and CD. Individual CSC officers chipped in as members of the core team or as Liaison Officers, and played an important role in ensuring the success of the event. We also enjoyed support from PSD, our parent Ministry, as well as many other public sector agencies. It is not just a whole-of-college effort, but a whole-of-government undertaking."
- Chan Heng Kee, Dean and CEO of CSC
“It was a rare opportunity to team up with officers from different organisations to manage the VIPs during the Summit. Even though most of us only met briefly and barely knew each other prior to the Summit, there was no lack of helping hands, verbal advices and sharing of resources during difficult moments. It was this show of camaraderie that enabled us to provide a delightful experience for our principals during their stay in Singapore."
- Garvin Chow, Liaison Officer (CSC)
In conjunction with the World Cities Summit, CSC has published a special issue of Ethos which features the thoughts and perspectives of experts who have been involved in the development of cities. For more information on this issue, please refer to our website at www.cscollege.gov.sg/ethos.
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