Joint organisers, Temasek Foundation and the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Temasek Foundation Leaders in Urban Governance Programme (TFLUGP) today. Initiated in 2012, TFLUGP was designed to share Singapore’s experience in urban development and create a platform for peer learning and exchange to support cities in translating their ambitions into action.

Temasek Foundation Leaders in Urban Governance Programme

The TFLUGP focuses on developing economically competitive, liveable, and sustainable cities. The programme provides a platform for city leaders in Asia to convene, network, and share knowledge, challenges, and experiences with each other.

This year’s run, held from 21 to 25 November 2022, will be the first in-person session hosted in Singapore since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 30 regional leaders from 10 cities are participating in the programme, which will feature a “marketplace” to connect cities with urban solution providers, resource persons and financial institutions which cities can tap in pursuit of their plans. More information on TFLUGP can be found in the Annex.

Commemorating Ten Years of Urban Solutioning

Since its inception in 2012, a total of 236 city leaders from 65 cities in Asia have participated in TFLUGP. The programme has seen the successful implementation of urban solutions and city plans by several of the alumni teams, to make their respective cities more liveable and sustainable. To mark the 10th anniversary of the programme, a commemorative publication has been produced to showcase 10 success stories shared by the alumni. These stories include Phnom Penh’s Urban Transport Master Plan 2035; the greening and pedestrianisation of Metro Manila’s main highway; and Ho Chi Minh City’s Intelligent Operations Centre for traffic management. Refer to this link to preview the publication - https://go.gov.sg/shapingcities.

A participant of TFLUGP in 2018, Mr Mochamad Nur Arifin, Mayor of Trenggalek Regency, Indonesia, said, “Now, in Trenggalek after we worked on the slum areas, investments are increasing, and we are now focusing on mobility. Every city has their own problem, and problems in one city will affect another, because we are connected in one earth. So, understanding the problem and helping each other to overcome and resolve the problem, that is the way to save the world and to save ourselves”.

Dr. Manaswee Arayasiri, Sanitary Engineer from the Department of Public Works, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, was an alumnus of the TFLUGP run in 2014. He elaborated, “TFLUGP participation helped to open my vision and to learn about how Singapore can turn a Clean, Green and Good living environment vision to successfully applicable policies in reality. The 3P (people-private-public) partnership was the subject that I learnt from best practices of Singapore and I applied this to improve Bangkok’s energy efficiency action plan, and to create many people-private-public participation activities to promote energy efficiency and a low-carbon society network in Bangkok”.

CLC’s Executive Director, Mr Hugh Lim, said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us how important it is for cities to be inter-connected globally, and that urban challenges are not confined within geographical borders. It is now more crucial for cities to come together to brainstorm and share urban solutions and best practices. Platforms like the TFLUGP provide such opportunities. The mutual learning and networking, both with fellow participants and private sector speakers and organisations during the TFLUGP, are invaluable resources and support that cities can tap on as they seek how to grow sustainably. As a knowledge centre for liveable and sustainable cities, distilling and sharing information has always been CLC’s mandate. The TFLUGP is a natural extension of what we already do at CLC, such as through our flagship event the World Cities Summit and Mayors Forum. We are honoured to have been part of such a meaningful programme for the last 10 years, and we look forward to engaging more Asian cities in the future”.

“Urban policymakers and planners often deal with complex systems in their cities. They have been providing solutions that can adapt and evolve in response to changing conditions. In the last decade, the Temasek Foundation Leaders in Urban Governance Programme facilitated constructive exchanges of knowledge, perspectives and insight on how to improve the lives of city dwellers and the living environment in the cities. Going forward, we hope this collaboration will continue to promote greater mutual learning and forge deeper ties between Singapore and other Asian cities, as we advance together as a region,” said Mr Lim Hock Chuan, Head, Programmes, Temasek Foundation.