Economist Impact 4th annual Sustainability Week Asia 2025

CLC’s Director of Research, Dr Limin Hee delivered a case study presentation at the Economist Impact 4^th annual Sustainability Week Asia. The presentation highlighted how measuring the cross-domain benefits of sustainable mobility can help influence travel behaviour.

As Asia confronts unprecedented challenges – from climate change and geopolitical tensions to technological transformation and extreme weather conditions – the region’s influence is critical to determine the outcome of our global climate battle. The Economist Impact’s 4^th annual Sustainability Week Asia 2025 held in Bangkok from 25 – 26 March was dedicated to accelerating efforts to balance humanity’s ambitious development goals with environmental sustainability. The event saw the attendance of over 1000 attendees, including 900 senior leaders and 120 speakers.

Dr Limin Hee spoke at a session titled "Case studies. Innovation Asia: getting customers to pay the 'green premium'". She presented the desired liveability outcomes and urban systems of CLC's recently refreshed Liveability Framework (LF), demonstrating how it provides a holistic lens to examine mobility. Recognising that land transport is a major contributor to cities' carbon emissions and the growing need to build liveable and sustainable cities, she advocated for the transition towards sustainable mobility. Building upon the LF, she explained how sustainable mobility initiatives such as active mobility and road repurposing offer cross-domain benefits, including greater social cohesion, vibrant centres, and climate resilience.

Dr Hee proposed adopting a multi-criteria analysis framework to quantify and track these holistic outcomes, measuring key social and environmental indicators (e.g., placemaking and vibrancy of spaces, accessibility to green and blue spaces and urban heat island effect) alongside mobility parameters. This data-driven approach can provide a comprehensive view of overall policy impact, while periodic reviews and public updates can reinforce trust and transparency. She emphasised that communicating these long-term benefits through the framework can effectively influence travel behaviour and support the transition towards sustainable mobility.

The presentation was well-received, with attendees engaging with Dr Hee after her presentation to exchange ideas. Dr Hee welcomed the participants to continue their discussions on sustainable and liveable cities at the upcoming World Cities Summit 2026 in Singapore.

Courtesy Call with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

As part of this trip, Dr Hee paid a courtesy call to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), meeting with Assoc. Prof. Tavida Kamolvej, Deputy Governor of Bangkok. The meeting was also attended by Mr Witoon Apisitpuvakul, Director-General of the Strategy and Evaluation Department, and other relevant officials.

Deputy Governor Tavida and Dr Hee engaged in a lively exchange on factors contributing to the liveability of a city and its corresponding measurement indicators. The Deputy Governor shared that Bangkok is developing the 9 Guiding Principles, 9 Good framework to help measure and track the city’s progress towards building a liveable city. In the same vein, CLC shared the LF and its guiding principles, leading to a fruitful discussion on trade-offs cities face in their pursuit of achieving the liveability outcomes.

CLC looks forward to more knowledge exchange sessions and collaboration opportunities with the BMA.

By Teo Zhiyi, Manager, Research