Singapore gets top marks in UN World’s Cities Report

 

The United Nations (UN) gave Singapore top marks in its latest report on the state of the world’s cities, and has said it is keen to deepen its collaboration with Singapore as a knowledge hub.

The UN also called on cities to take on pro-growth policies that support the poor and strengthen infrastructure. It said all these can make a difference when it comes to sustainable living.

The UN said people’s consumption and lifestyle patterns, and not urbanization, are to blame for climate change. To solve the problem, cities need to use less fossil fuel, maximise recycling and have a well-planned transport network.

Singapore, which set up an inter-ministerial committee on sustainable development in February, has been highlighted for its low per capita car ownership.

With its greening policy, Singapore has also been singled out as a country that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits. Another achievement is that Singapore is the only country with no slums.

Director of Monitoring and Research at UN-HABITAT, Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, said: “Obviously, (the) government has taken pro-active steps over a long period of time because it has to be sustained.

“One of the problems you find in most countries is they actually start well, but you need constant investment, sustained effort (and) visionary leadership to sustain those kinds of actions.”

The latest UN report by UN-HABITAT, the agency working to boost the liveability of cities, studied 245 cities. The report is a lead-up to the UN World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China in November.

It noted another worrying concern of rising sea levels, and Southeast Asia in particular is at the highest risk due to its low elevation.

Singapore has said in parliament in September that it has taken measures in terms of building requirements on reclaimed land and drainage infrastructure. A two-year study to understand the specific implications of climate change, including rising sea levels, is also expected to be ready in 2009.

Director of Centre for Liveable Cities, Andrew Tan, said: “Moving forward, I would say that having achieved the level of environmental quality we have in Singapore, there is still a need for us to maintain these efforts.

“It’s necessary for Singaporeans to be proud of what they have achieved, but at the same time, to know that sustained efforts is required.”

The UN has lauded the 43-year-old city state as a model city. However, experts cautioned that as all cities progress, they will no longer be measured just by their level of economic, social and environmental progress.

Cities like Singapore will also have to look at its inclusiveness and its quality of life. Related to this, the report said cultural assets too should be protected to nurture the soul of the city.

Channel NewsAsia – 24 Oct 2008

Singapore slips on Monocle ranking

 

SINGAPORE now ranks 22nd on Monocle magazine’s World’s Top 25 Most Liveable Cities list, down from 17th position a year ago.

Monocle is a global affairs, business, culture and design magazine set up by Tyler Brule, formerly editor of influential lifestyle magazine Wallpaper*.

While Singapore scores high in some aspects of liveability, including the efficiency of Changi Airport, Mr Brule said that its 2008 ranking suffered from ‘tolerance issues’.

In Singapore to speak at ArchiFest 08, he said that there are three main ingredients to a liveable city: ‘density, diversity and design’.

While Mr Brule did not elaborate on the ‘tolerance issues’, he said that communities need to be able to ‘breathe’ and ‘you have to take the good with the bad’.

Monocle’s ranking goes beyond the usual metrics that only look at factors such as housing costs and the availability of schools.

It also looks at softer issues such as the possibility of getting a good glass of wine at one o’clock in the morning; the quality of new architecture; the ease of setting up a business and even the number of cinema screens per city.

For instance, Monocle found that 5,000 businesses start up in Copenhagen every year while Paris has 376 cinema screens.

Global transport connections; communications; innovative environmental initiatives; a low crime rate; attractive architecture and strong public services help cities advance up the list.

Poor urban planning, crime, disconnected transport links and a lack of urban village life all count against.

Mr Brule also said that liveable cities have to ‘evolve’. As such, 2008 saw a shake-up in the rankings, with Copenhagen usurping the top spot, pushing Munich one place down.

Tokyo also moved up one spot to take third place.

More significantly, there were six new entrants – Berlin, Fukuoka, Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Lisbon and Portland – to the Top 25 list. Auckland, previously in 16th position, was among those that were pushed out altogether.

Mr Brule challenged some notions of liveability. For instance, he noted that while environmental initiatives which remove cars from the streets can do wonders to curb toxic emissions, it can also kill whole neighbourhoods by depriving shopowners of passing trade and leaving districts feeling lifeless and menacing.

He said that governments worldwide are realising that it is no longer enough to be just a financial centre, and that it is also important to be a design capital.

Design does not need to be a big-ticket item either. It just needs to instil ‘a sense of wonder’, Mr Brule said.

Highlighting a small public toilet designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Tadao Ando in Omotesando Hills, Japan that moved him, Mr Brule added: ‘You don’t need a ferris wheel. You just need a great place to pee.’

Business Times – 14 Oct 2008

S’pore is 4th cheapest place to raise expat kids

 

40% of foreigners polled say it is cheaper here than in their countries

A GLOBAL survey has found Singapore to be among the countries where it is cheapest for expatriates to raise their children.

Singapore emerged fourth cheapest, after Spain, India and China, in a survey by HSBC Bank International of 870 expatriate parents across 14 places. In the poll, the cost of raising a child included – but was not restricted to – the cost of education.

Almost four in 10 of those in Singapore who were polled said it was cheaper raising junior here than in their home countries.

Another 25 per cent said the cost was ‘about the same’.

At the other end of the spectrum, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong are the most expensive places to raise children.

The survey also asked these expatriate parents to rate the countries they are living in, in areas such as the amount of time their children spend studying and being outdoors, and whether they think their children will remain in their adopted country upon growing up.

Using these criteria, Singapore came out tops in Asia and fifth on the list of 14 places for expatriates to raise children. It lost out to Spain, France, Germany and Canada in the ranking of the 14 places. Within Asia, India was second but eighth on the list of 14; China was third in Asia and ninth on the list.

Australian publisher Katrina Bingham-Hall, 43, who arrived in Singapore five years ago, is bringing up five children aged between four and 14.

With the older four attending government schools here, she spends less than $1,000 a year on their school fees, and is all praise for how little the ‘brilliant’ education system here costs.

Back home, it would cost her about $700 a year to put just one child through public school.

She added: ‘Singapore’s education system is streets ahead of Australia’s. The teachers here are far more dedicated and the education standards are far better.’

As for American Tracy Waychoff, 46, she chose Singapore when her husband was offered a choice of postings here and in Brazil, China and Mexico.

The mother of two teenagers said: ‘I know my children will be safe in Singapore and drugs are not a concern.’

Straits Times – 11 Oct 2008

One World International: 4th foreign school opens

SINGAPORE’S latest international school One World International was officially open on Thursday.

The school conducts early childhood and primary classes, has a capacity of 450 pupils and will take in secondary level pupils by next year. — ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

The school, at Upper Changi Road East, conducts early childhood and primary classes. It has a capacity of 450 pupils and will take in secondary level pupils by next year.

It is the 44th foreign-system school to open here.

Three pupils have enrolled in the school since it opened its doors in early Sept. Another 16 will start classes by end of the year.

Principal Noel Hurley said response from prospective parents has been positive and he is confident of filling up 100 to 150 places by early next year.

The school gets six to seven enquiries every day, he added.

Started by Mumbai-based businessman Nishant Garodia, the school is housed on the premises of the former Siglap-Changi Community Centre.

Mr Nishant said converting the centre into the school instead of building from scratch allowed construction to be completed in just 12 weeks. About $2 million was spent to retrofit the campus to provide facilities such as 16 air-conditioned classrooms, a multi-purpose hall and a library.

Six-year-old pupil Tara Eshwar, who arrived from New Zealand three weeks ago, said, ‘I like the school very much. We get to sing songs and play games. I am happy that I will be making many new friends.’

The school was declared open by Economic Development Board International Director Liang Ting Wee on Thursday.

Straits Times – 2 Oct 2008