NUS Cities Lecture Series 16
The Urban Lab: Innovating for Density and Scarcity
The growth of the urban population in cities is an inexorable trend that will perpetuate for many decades to come. Even for countries with no shortage of land, cities are confronted with challenges to the quality of their living environment. For Singapore, the challenges are exacerbated multi-fold given that it is an island city state that is highly land and resource constrained. However, Singapore has often been cited as a beacon of urban innovation, effectively transforming its limitations to opportunities. As an urban laboratory, Singapore has pioneered many unique urban solutions in land use and urban design, green infrastructure and public housing. The lecture will piece together the multi-faceted efforts and distil the thinking behind many of the urban transformations that have shaped our lived experience in Singapore.
The talk will focus on how we have been addressing two of the most difficult issues that confront us - an increasingly dense environment and the scarcity of fundamental resources such as land, water and energy. The lecture provides useful insights for all who live and work in Singapore and are interested to contribute to making ours an even more liveable, sustainable and vibrant city.
Prof. Cheong Koon Hean
Prof. Cheong Koon Hean is Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (SUTD) and concurrently the Centre for Liveable Cities Advisory Panel (MND). She was formerly the CEO of the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Housing and Development Board and contributed to the urban transformation of Singapore and introduced a new generation of smart and sustainable public housing towns.
Prof. Cheong serves on several local and international advisory panels and boards of public and private sector organisations. She has been conferred several awards, notably the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding public service, the Urban Land Institute Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development and the CTBUH Lynn S Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also currently Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Finland.
Date: 2nd July 2024, Tuesday
Location: NUS SDE3 LT421
Time: 6:30 p.m. SGT - 8:30 p.m. SGT
NUS Cities Lecture Series investigates ideas, policies and projects developed by urban experts, which aspire to create sustainable, resilient, and liveable cities.