Key Partners

The Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) is a state agency for policy research, strategic review and consulting of issues related to the economic and social development on China. In 2016, the Centre for Liveable Cities and DRC jointly published the book entitled “Challenges and Reforms in Urban Governance: Insights from the Development Experience of China and Singapore” in both English and Chinese. The two institutes will continue to collaborate extensively on research and visiting programmes.

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is a macroeconomic management agency with broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy. The Centre for Liveable Cities collaborates with NDRC extensively on research, visiting and training programmes.

The Seoul Institute (SI)’s goal is to establish a medium- to long-term vision for Seoul and propose social policies on welfare, culture, education, and industries and urban management policies on city planning, transportation, safety and the environment. SI’s primary objective is to improve municipal administration through professional research, improve the quality of life in Seoul, and reinforce and sustain the competitiveness of Seoul.

The Centre has obtained many valuable insights from our partnership with SI. Our first joint research publication with SI, Walkable and Bikeable Cities: Lessons from Seoul and Singapore. The publication offers insights into Seoul and Singapore’s unique experiences in the common journey towards more walkable and bikeable cities. During the November of 2017, the Centre and SI launched our second joint research publication on “Planning for Communities: Lessons from Seoul and Singapore”.  Our third joint publication with SI, “Age-friendly cities”, is currently in the works and is due this year.

The NUS School of Design and Environment (SDE) makes it their mission to create and impart knowledge, to foster innovation and enterprise in Architecture, Industrial & Urban Design, Building and Real Estate. The school traces its roots back to 1958, when the Department of Architecture offered a five-year programme in the Singapore Polytechnic. From these humble beginnings, the School has grown into a world-class institution offering programmes in architecture, project and facilities management, real estate and industrial design.

The SDE and the Centre have jointly opened up two design studios. The first design studio was located along Orchard Road from August to November of 2016 and the second design studio was at the Western Industrial Area from August to November 2017. Moreover, the Centre always has our doors open to students from the school through our research fellowships and student internships programmes.

UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. For forty years, UN-Habitat has been working in human settlements throughout the world, focusing on building a brighter future for villages, towns, and cities of all sizes. Because of these four decades of extensive experience, from the highest levels of policy to a range of specific technical issues, UN-Habitat has gained a unique and a universally acknowledged expertise in all things urban.

Together, the Centre and UN-Habitat have jointly developed the International Capability Development Programmes. It was a pilot programme for African nations and was held from 5 to 9 June 2017. This contemporary programme that the Centre is proud to have been a part of was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Danish Architecture Center (DAC) is Denmark’s national centre for the development and dissemination of knowledge about architecture, building and urban development. The DAC’s mission is to promote cooperation across the professional boundaries of the construction and architecture sectors for their forward-looking development.

The DAC and the Centre have both recognised each other’s key role of exchange of ideas, information, and experience in creating better places.  Both organisations have benefited tremendously from the staff exchange programme and training programmes such as the Centre's Leaders in Urban Governance Programme and DAC’s Strategic Urban Governance Masterclass. The two organisations also work towards collaborating in joint research and knowledge sharing platforms.

Urban Land Institute (ULI), is a 501c_³ nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. Founded in 1936, the Institute now has almost 40,000 members worldwide, representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines working in private enterprise and public service. A multidisciplinary real estate forum, ULI facilitates an open exchange of ideas, information, and experience among industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places.

Building on the mission, strengths and expertise of both organisations, the Centre and ULI have collaborated in the areas of research, capability development and knowledge sharing platforms since 2011. Joint publications include Urban Mobility: 10 Cities Leading the Way in Asia-Pacific, Creating Liveable Cities Through Car-Lite Urban Mobility, Creating Healthy Places Through Active Mobility and 10 Principles for Liveable High-Density Cities. More recently, ULI partnered the Centre and URA to explore development strategies for Singapore’s Jurong Lake District through the ULI Advisory Services Program.

The World Bank’s mission is to fight poverty and help people improve their lives and their environment by providing financial resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors. To keep up with the changing needs of World Bank clients and the growing demand for pragmatic development knowledge around the globe, the World Bank Group-Singapore Hub was established in partnership with the Government of Singapore. Singapore being a major financial center and knowledge base economy in Asia allows the partnership to access expertise and resource demanded by clients in the region and beyond.

The partnership has strengthened the research collaborations on selected topics. In the long term. World Bank’s urban and infra development expertise will also be tapped on to make SG a hub for urban development and infra financing. This collaboration will also pave the road for Singapore to explore an improvised bank loan structure in a more integrated manner.