By Nikki De Guzman:
More than 250 city leaders and representatives from urban planning companies from around the world participated in this year’s World Cities Summit (WCS) Mayors Forum held in Bilbao, Spain.
Co-organised by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), this is the first time the event was held outside Singapore. Themed “Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Common Challenges, Shared Solutions”, the three-day conference gathered 56 city leaders from all regions to discuss common urban challenges and share best practices to build sustainable and liveable cities.
This year’s host, the City of Bilbao, was recipient of the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2010.
Khoo Teng Chye, Executive Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities, noted: “We are happy to be hosting the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum in another country, which shows that the forum is gaining traction internationally and is garnering interest from city leaders from regions further afield. Based on feedback, we have also extended the duration of the Forum from one day to three days.”
Meanwhile, Bilbao Mayor Iñaki Azkuna, said: “In Bilbao, we believe that our urban transformation is an example to share, particularly with other cities immersed in similar processes. The path towards the new Bilbao continues to evolve and is facing new challenges where, apart from the urban issue, the emphasis is on sustainability, efficiency and ensuring our city is a benchmark in innovation, technology, energy and knowledge.”
A Business Summit for urban solution providers and companies was introduced at the event, as well as the WCS Young Leaders Meeting for outstanding young leader nominees with established track records in urban development and governance fields.
The WCS Mayors Forum will return to Singapore in June next year.
Nikki De Guzman, Junior Reporter at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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