Metropolis 40th Anniversary Congress & Immersive Futures at the Global Cities Foresight Workshop, Seoul

CLC participated in the Metropolis, World Association of the Major Metropolises 40^th Anniversary World Congress, in Seoul, from 29 September to 1 October. CLC also joined Metropolis as an Associate Member this year.

Executive Director Hugh Lim spoke at the Megacities Dialogue on the theme of “Inclusive Cities”, sharing Singapore’s perspectives on the importance of access to affordable housing, greenery and sustainable transport, as well as Singapore’s preparations for an ageing population.

As part of the Metropolis 40th Anniversary Congress in Seoul, CLC also participated in the Global Cities Foresight Workshop, from 29 – 30 September. It was curated by Metropolis’ foresight team and supported by the United Nations Development Programme.

Credit: Metropolis

The workshop was attended by about 25 participants from around the globe, including cities like Johannesburg, New York City, Los Angeles, Jakarta, Barcelona, Seoul, Guangzhou, Bogota, Toronto and Sao Paolo. Dr Hee was the sole representative from Singapore.

Credit: Limin Hee

This was not the typical foresight workshop, but one the organisers described as “immersive futures” – with the intention of suspending the present and challenging our assumptions. More details may be found at these websites “Seoul Futures Summit 2040: Shaping the Future of Cities”  www.metropolis2040.org and https://www.undp.org/future-development.

Credit: Limin Hee

Immersive futures refer to four parallel timelines for urban futures which were fleshed out for participants. The workshop used artefacts from the future that make abstract ideas tangible, with participants choosing cards which describe the possible origin, use and significance of these artefacts.

Credit: Limin Hee

Each participant was also assigned a future persona – for instance, Dr Hee was assigned to be a futures archaeologist, with the title “Director, Centre for Urban Futures”. The organisers assimilated the workshop icebreakers into the “immersive futures” theme – participants were assigned bingo cards to familiarise themselves with other personas in the room. As the participants had already been given scenarios for 4  different paradigms in 2040, they worked on the kind of ability they had in 2025 to attain the “best” version of the future they had been assigned to, rather than creating scenarios or narratives.  

Credit: Limin Hee

There were several devices used to generate discussion, including a panel presentation and a use of the world café method to discuss various tools and strategies to achieve desired futures (e.g. community engagement, 3P partnerships, investment in infrastructure, etc).

The workshop concluded with each participant writing a letter to 2040 and depositing it in a time capsule, that will be opened by Metropolis in 2040.

Contributed by: Dr Limin Hee, Director, Research