TAN Puay Yok (Dr)
Professor (Tenure Track)
Department of Architecture, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117566.
- TEL:
- 6516 3531
- EMAIL:
- puay.yok.tan@nus.edu.sg
Dr. Tan Puay Yok is Professor and cluster leader of the Landscape Studies group. His academic training was in horticulture science and plant physiology, and his research, teaching, and professional activities now focus on the science, policies, and practices of urban greening and ecology of the built environment. He combines his background in the sciences, experience in urban governance from the public sector, and interactions with practitioners to apply knowledge for urban greening to improve environmental quality and societal well-being. He leads the Urban Ecology Lab@SDE: https://blog.nus.edu.sg/tanlab/).
He served previously as Co-Editor-in-Chief for Landscape and Urban Planning (Elsevier), and is currently Associate Editor for Journal of Urban Ecology (Oxford University Press), Editorial Board Member of npj Urban Sustainability (Nature Partner Journals), and Advisory Board Member of The Gardens Bulletin (Singapore Botanic Gardens). He is active in international collaborations, grant reviews and publishes widely in different forums. He also advises on greening policies, landscape design and planning projects in the region as a means of transferring knowledge from the academia to practice.
With effect from Jun 2026, he is seconded to the National Park Board, Singapore as its Chief Executive Officer. From 2019 to 2026, he was jointly appointed by the National Parks Board, Singapore, as the Group Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens (https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg). The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a leading institute in tropical botany and horticulture and has over its 167-year history, played a key role in the social, economic and environmental history of Singapore and the region. It is one of only three botanic gardens in the world that is currently inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. He was concurrently the Executive Director of National Parks and Gardens Cluster, and Chief Science and Technology Officer for the National Parks Board (https://www.nparks.gov.sg/), the national agency responsible for greenery, ecology and conservation matters in Singapore.
