Singapore’s livability deteriorates drastically

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Singapore’s livability deteriorates drastically


October 19th, 2013 | Author: Editorial




According to the latest rankings done by the Institute for
Urban Strategies at The Mori Memorial Foundation [Link], Singapore’s livability has
deteriorated drastically from 26th position in 2012 to 34th position in
2013.

The Institute for Urban Strategies, a Tokyo-based think tank, produces the
yearly Global Power City Index which ranks 40 major cities globally. It
evaluates and ranks the “Comprehensive Power” of the cities. The 40 major cities
in the world are selected and evaluated based on 70 indicators of city function
in 6 main factors representing city strength such as:

• Economy
• Research and Development
• Cultural Interaction
• Livability
• Environment
• Accessibility

The research is carried out with the involvement of academics such as Sir
Perter Hall, a global authority in city planning, as well as Dr Richard Bender,
Dr Saskia Sassen, and other renowned international scholars. Peer review by
third parties are carried out as well to maintain the fairness of the
ranking.

Even though Singapore has maintained its overall 5th position in the Global
Power City Index from 2012 to 2013, the livability factor has dropped 8
positions from 26th to 34th this year, close to the bottom of the
rankings.

Singapore’s
Ranking



20122013Economy66R & D88Cultural Interaction54Livability2634Environment158Accessibi lity98Overall55


Overall, London came in first for the second year in a
row, followed by New York, Paris, Tokyo and Singapore.

Heizo Takenaka, chairman of the Institute for Urban Strategies at The Mori
Memorial Foundation, said, “Singapore is consolidating their power at the base
of education. Singapore is the education hub in the Asia Pacific, I think, that
is one factor.”

“You have a very smart government actually, and they have a very positive
mind towards reform,” Mr Takenaka added.

Actually, the PAP government only seriously considered reform after the 2011
general elections when it received the lowest percentage of votes ever.

Dr Cheong Koon Hean, CEO of HDB, said: “We’ve always had public consultation
for all our plans but I think now it’s even more. You need to talk even more,
and you need to give it time because they (the people) need to understand the
plan and need to think about it.”


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