Issue 9: Innovation

Innovation is the Solution

Innovation is something close to my heart.

In this special issue of Urban Solutions for the World Cities Summit 2016, we explore systemic innovations around the world that are changing the way cities are governed and managed.

Singapore’s Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong shares how his government is charting new ways to co-create solutions with citizens. CLC’s Gene Tan and Wan Wee Pin elaborate on one such way—an imaginative exhibition of Whole-of-Government plans that also encouraged citizens to get involved in shaping their future.

How do you implement good ideas despite resource constraints? Gabe Klein, former Transport Commissioner of D.C. and Chicago, reveals some manoeuvres from his start-up experience.

Can we rethink governance? Mayor Park Won-soon shows us how citizens take the lead in setting successful policies and outcomes for Seoul’s One Less Nuclear Power Plant initiative. A case study of the North East Lincolnshire Council’s innovative outsourcing strategy shows that citizens can be the biggest winners when public-private partnerships align incentives to benefit the public.

We shine the spotlight on trendsetting urban planners and architects. The cutting-edge digital planning tools developed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore integrate advanced mapping technologies with data analytics to better plan for the provision of amenities. Henk Ovink shares his insights from organising Rebuild by Design, while architectural firm WOHA takes us through their exciting strategies and solutions for the future mega cities of the world.

What drives innovation? Mayor Olaf Scholz says Hamburg’s secret is to embrace diversity among his people. Physical infrastructure can be drivers too—case studies on the JTC LaunchPad and Brooklyn Navy Yard show how providing affordable industrial space in high-cost global cities, through creative revival of disused spaces, can promote key economic activities.

We also look at how other cities are innovating. In Roundtable, the Governor of Jakarta and Mayors of Auckland and Taipei discuss what their cities have done in the areas of public engagement, governance, smart city initiatives and transportation; and we zoom in on Medellín, the 2016 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate for being an inspirational model of transformative urban innovation. Outside of the public sector, three World Cities Summit Young Leaders from Cape Town, Jerusalem and Singapore reveal how they are fighting to improve their cities in different ways.

I believe innovation is the solution to our most pressing challenges, and part of being innovative is to keep an open mind and learn from others. This is why we organise the World Cities Summit—to exchange notes and forge new partnerships. Let us continue to collaborate, innovate, and create urban solutions that will change the future of our cities, and our world.

Khoo Teng Chye
Executive Director
Centre for Liveable Cities