The Science of Cities Symposium 2023

The Science of Cities Symposium 2023 was held as part of the Urban Solutions and Sustainability Research & Development (USS R&D) Congress 2023, convening international researchers, city, and industry leaders to share their scientific insights and methodologies on tackling urban challenges. The Symposium aims to connect scientific theories to urban practice, and through high quality presentations on the use of science and technologies for cities, spur fruitful discussions and engaging debates among academic researchers, urban practitioners, and industry professionals.

The Centre for Liveable Cities and Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) also signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Congress, witnessed by Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee. The scope of MoU includes capability development and training programmes, knowledge creation and sharing, and networking. Recently, SEC was the co-organiser for the inaugural Urban Science Workshop Series and co-organised the panel on Regenerative Cities at the Science of Cities Symposium 2023.

The Science of Cities Symposium delves into innovative strategies for urban development. It comprised three sessions where a range of Singaporean and international speakers shared their insights and knowledge, followed by engaging panel discussions. The three panels were focused around these themes:

1. Science-Based Approach to Future Scenario Planning
   This panel emphasised the importance of active urban sensing for Sustainable Development Goals, the use of foresight in urban planning, data-driven urban design, contextual analysis of urban networks, and technology-driven solutions in shaping sustainable and resilient cities.

2. Science of Decarbonising Cities
   This panel focused on reducing urban building emissions and advancing sustainability, underlining the importance of science, circularity, utilising digital twins, sufficiency, and public transportation in achieving eco-friendly and equitable urban futures.

3. Regenerative Cities: Building Sustainable Cities for the Future
   This panel explored clear frameworks, renewable energy, nature-positive urbanism, long-term planning, and creative urban intensification as central to sustainable urban development.

As part of the Symposium, speakers are invited to submit their full articles to the International Journal on Smart and Sustainable Cities (IJSSC) for peer-review. The journal is co-published by World Scientific Publishing Company and CLC.

Additionally, 32 research posters were presented at the Science of Cities Symposium this year at the exhibition halls. These posters will be made available for viewing online at the Science of Cities Symposium webpage and presenters will be invited to submit full article to IJSSC.

The inaugural issue of IJSSC featuring past projects at the 2022 Science of Cities Symposium is also available online with free access here.

The full report on the Science of Cities Symposium 2023 will be made available online at https://www.clc.gov.sg/events/science-of-cities-symposium.

Recordings of the sessions at the Science of Cities Symposium 2023 will also be available for viewing at the Centre for Liveable Cities YouTube channel.

Writer’s Bio:

Dr Jude Kurniawan
Senior Assistant Director (Research)
Centre for Liveable Cities

Dr Jude Kurniawan is Senior Assistant Director at the Centre for Liveable Cities, Ministry of National Development, Singapore. His works focus on applying complexity science to urban solutions. Jude holds a Ph.D. Geography and a Masters of Climate Change from the University of Waterloo.