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By Liaw Wy-Cin
Singapore is a city-state which epitomises the urban planner's biggest challenges.
From how to provide for growth while keeping the place green, to how to overcome scarcities of land, water and other resources, the Republic has found innovative ways to respond to many of these challenges.
It is therefore fitting that more than 6,000 government officials, scientists, industry experts and businessmen from across the world will be meeting here next week to study how to keep cities sustainable.
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What sustainability means for...
GOVERNANCE
Sustainable development requires long-term planning, fiscal prudence and regular reviews of social and environmental challenges as well as capable and motivated leaders, say mayors and development experts.
Leaders should be open to market forces and ground-up innovation, but they also need the political will to carry out unpopular policies that are beneficial to the environment.
For example, the United States has the largest number of vehicles per capita and 'should be among the first to implement a petrol tax to reduce consumption, but no US politician has the guts to implement this because it would be political suicide', says Professor Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
DESIGN
A combination of good design and engineering ensures that energy-efficient buildings and public transport systems are well used and do not turn into white elephants.
As San Francisco-based architect Joe Brown of landscape and urban design firm Edaw puts it: 'You could be sustainable and be ugly, but there's no point and people would not want to live there.'
BUDGETS AND FUNDING
Green planning and technologies require creative funding solutions, whether in the form of bank loans, partnerships with the private sector or independent trusts and charities that undertake environmental conservation.
For example, the Asian Development Bank does multi-tranche lending for developing countries, which take out a loan in parts over a 10- to 15-year period and do not pay interest on unused portions of the loan.
NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY
Urban planners are learning how to integrate green spaces such as parks and rooftop gardens into concrete jungles.
The protection of nature reserves, lakes, coral reefs and other areas rich in plant and animal life has also become more important than ever.
This is because such natural habitats are the original sustainable ecosystems which 'generate their own energy and food, clear their own waste and don't use up more resources than they need for their own sustainability', says Nature Society president Geh Min.
They are 'a precious resource we can learn from', she adds.
By Clarissa Oon
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They will discuss and try to find ways to make cities more liveable at a time when population growth and economic progress are putting pressure on the world's resources.
To help them figure out how to get there, two inaugural events will be held - the Singapore International Water Week and the World Cities Summit.
Both events are being held for the first time and Singapore is organising both.
Mr Michael Toh, 40, the general manager of the water conference, said one inspiration for the event was Singapore's award-winning water success story.
In 40 years, this nation has raised its number of water sources from two to four.
They are: imported water, water from the country's reservoirs, treated used water and desalinated water. The star in this success story is technology, which is being tapped to treat used and sea water.
Mr Toh said: 'We wanted this event to be a platform to showcase our technologies to the world, to share with other countries how we solved our water problems and to help them solve theirs as well.'
The theme for the water event, organised by national water agency PUB, is Sustainable Water Solutions For Cities.
The cities summit, organised by the Ministry of National Development, the Civil Service College and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, will bear the theme Liveable And Vibrant Cities.
Under the wings of these two big events are more than 20 international high-level meetings and workshops, including a conference with a special focus on East Asia.
The buzz word at these meetings will certainly be 'sustainability', short form for how nations can attain economic prosperity without straining the world's resources.
The global escalation of oil and food prices in the past few months has made the need for the judicious use of scarce resources even more pressing, so this will certainly also come under the spotlight at next week's discussions.
Although most of the event's sessions will involve government officials, businessmen, scientists and industry experts, some activities will be tailored for students and the public.
Policymakers will largely be involved in meetings to discuss the challenges of growing urban populations.
Academics and industry experts will be tied up in a conference on water and used-water treatment technologies; they will also be drawn to a trade show on water-related products and services as well as seven business forums.
Mr Toh said these will serve as a marketplace for 'buyers and sellers to come together to see what water technologies are available'.
The trade show will be open to the public on Thursday, he said.
Environment groups will have their own area of interest in the proceedings.
s Singapore develops and as the Government opens up more nature areas to the public for recreational purposes, the Waterways Watch Society, for example, hopes the protection of reservoirs and rivers will be discussed.
Its chairman, Mr Eugene Heng, 59, said: 'There has to be proper awareness and education for all the users because, unfortunately, people create litter and this may pollute the waterways.'
In the World Cities Summit, one area of urban planning to be discussed will be how to make cities happier and more satisfying places to live in.
Cities summit delegate Rajendra Kumar, 38, the deputy general manager at the reserve bank of India and who is now doing a master's degree at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said he hopes to take some lessons back with him to India, where waves of rural folk are migrating to the cities.
'This puts a lot of strain on housing, the provision of water, sanitation, transport and infrastructure,' he added.
The president of non-profit organisation Eco-Singapore, Mr Wilson Ang, 26, hopes conference delegates will explore setting up funds to develop a regional centre of expertise on sustainable city planning.
'This way, more research and development can go into supporting countries keen on making their cities more sustainable,' he said.
Among the events planned are forums and a concert for the delegates, featuring Tan Dun, the composer of the Oscar-winning score of the Chinese film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The works, Water Concerto and Crouching Tiger Concerto, will be performed at the Esplanade Concert Hall by the Singapore Festival Orchestra.
The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, an international award that honours an individual or organisation for contributions to solving the world's water woes, will also be given out.
Local pop maestro Dick Lee has been roped in as the creative director of the gala prize-giving ceremony.
He also wrote the theme song for the water week, which will debut at the ceremony.
Another highlight: an energetic three-night performance by Dutch theatre troupe The Lunatics at Bedok Reservoir, which started yesterday.
The Marina Bay area will be turned into a field for canoe polo matches and a stage for water ski performances.
At the Science Centre, an exhibition on water and how it shapes ecosystems around the world opened last month and will be on until October.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 21 June 2008.
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