City Case Study: Suzhou

Birds-eye view of Suzhou (Z Ruikoto)

Suzhou is a city known for its rich cultural heritage, with meticulously designed classical Chinese gardens, its network of canals and bridges, and tangible remnants of its ancient arts and crafts history. As one of the first movers in the economic reform of China, Suzhou has also become an industry powerhouse, ranking 6th in GDP among Chinese cities and attracting a resident population of over 10 million.

After decades of rapid urban expansion to accommodate population growth and industrial development, Suzhou’s development strategy has matured—pivoting away from a single-minded focus on economic competitiveness and towards the consideration of holistic liveability outcomes.

Emphasising technological innovation in urban planning and management, Suzhou aims to attract talent and foster a vibrant ecosystem for PPPs and enterprise development. This positions the city as a key player in leading innovation and entrepreneurship within China. In addition, new innovations, such as smart city development, clean energy adoption and carbon reduction initiatives, underscore Suzhou’s commitment to staying ahead in the rapidly evolving global economy.

Integrating Technology for Systemic Innovation

In recent years, Suzhou has emerged as a leader in smart city development, seamlessly integrating digital technologies across urban systems. These advancements also improve emergency response, cross-system collaboration and service delivery in areas such as healthcare, education and governance.

Suzhou has had significant advancements in virtual reality technologies (Giu Vicente)

A standout innovation is Suzhou’s digital twin city application, the City Information Model (CIM), which replicates the city in a virtual model for real-time monitoring and analysis. Covering 420 km², the CIM provides detailed 3D models of buildings, roads and water systems to support informed decision-making on rejuvenation of ageing buildings, improvement of traffic congestion and management of flooding.

Digitalisation drives innovation in social governance, enhancing urban operations monitoring by reconstructing key elements like roads, buildings and infrastructure. The CIM visualises underground infrastructure, integrates above-ground and underground components, and locates non-spatial data for refined management. It also supports the development of “15-minute convenient living circles” around individual neighbourhoods, improving quality of life and sustainability of urban operations.

In early 2023, Suzhou announced a plan to become a hub for metaverse development and innovation, aiming to attract more than 200 companies working in the virtual reality technology industry by 2025. Digital technology has enriched cultural tourism experiences and has also created new opportunities for local enterprises and SMEs to offer their products and services through e-commerce on the virtual platform. Through such plans, Suzhou is able to further utilise digitalisation to feed back into existing systems to generate a more than proportionate return on liveability outcomes. This is done by leveraging its integrated urban systems through systemic innovation, and propelling itself to the forefront of urban liveability.

View of the Suzhou Industrial Park (Photo courtesy of 钉钉)

Working with the Market to Foster a Vibrant Bsuiness Ecosystem

A key driver behind Suzhou’s urban development success is its embrace of PPPs to finance and execute projects. By leveraging the expertise and resources of private enterprises, Suzhou has accelerated the pace of infrastructure development and innovation. The Suzhou government has actively promoted PPPs through various initiatives and incentives, encouraging private sector participation in urban development projects. This collaborative approach has enabled Suzhou to tap into private sector innovation and funding while sharing risks and rewards effectively.

The Suzhou Center project, a joint venture between the Suzhou Industrial Park and Singapore-based CapitaLand, showcases the potential for partnership in a large-scale urban development. The Suzhou Center was master-developed by the Suzhou Hengtai Holding Group, which is owned by the Suzhou Industrial Park government. CapitaLand, through its wholly owned shopping business CapitaLand Mall Asia, is the co-owner and co-developer for the shopping mall and two 21-storey office towers.

Comprising commercial, residential and cultural spaces located right next to the historic Jinji Lake and traditional Suzhou City, Suzhou Center has revitalised the city’s waterfront area and become a symbol of Suzhou’s economic prosperity and modernisation.

Paving the Way for Low Carbon Transition Efforts

Suzhou’s urban development efforts are guided by a forward-looking 2035 master plan that emphasises sustainability, resilience and inclusivity. The city aims to continue leveraging digital technologies and fostering PPPs to address emerging challenges such as population growth, limited space, environmental degradation and increasing pressure to meet national carbon transition targets.

Suzhou Industrial Park, the first governmental cooperation project between Singapore and China, continues to pave the way to lead economic development while taking proactive steps towards a low carbon transition. In an interview with People’s Daily, the Deputy Mayor of Suzhou, Mr Zhang Qiao, mentioned that the industrial park had adopted a voluntary carbon trading system, starting with distributed photovoltaic installations of relatively small capacities in late 2022. In 2023, the system included 45 registered users and had certified 17,000 tonnes of emission reductions, with 6,020 tonnes already traded.

Suzhou’s transformation over the years shows a consistent commitment to employing dynamic urban governance approaches and leveraging on collaborative ecosystems. With a clear vision of a smarter and greener future, the city is systematically innovating through digital transformation and adoption of low carbon technologies. It also recognises the power of collaboration to accelerate its development by forging international partnerships and working with the market through strategic PPPs. These approaches have brought Suzhou success today, and will continue to do so in the future.