Home | World Cities Summit Mayors Forum

WHAT ATTENDEE SAYS

WCS is definitely very useful to network with many high-level city representatives and learn about each city's experiences and initiatives. Such forums and conferences are very beneficial in exchanging excellent solutions to problems faced in city planning.
His Excellency Dr. Ali Yousif Abdulnabi Al-Shukri, Minister of Planning, Iraq

Therefore, what we can learn from Singapore is its very relevant industrialization experiences.The lessons of how Singapore was able to upgrade and transform itself from a manufacturing industry to a knowledge industry, including biotechnology and medical services, which can be exported to the whole world
Dr. Feng Lun, Chairman of the Board, Vantone Holdings Co. Ltd and Chairman, World Future Foundation

The World Cities Summit held is an extremely important event because it brings many cities which are in need of solutions for city planning and advices on urban development, to learn from cities with very rich experiences.
His Excellency Edson Aparecido, Secretary, Metropolitan Development for the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Many people around the world are beginning to be aware that in facing the challenges of urbanization...and Singapore is increasingly developing the reputation of having the best planned city in the whole world and that's partly because we can control factors...as we have the freedom to do so... We have succeeded in creating a remarkable urban environment that is the envy of cities around the world and that's why more and more mayors are coming to the World Cities Summit
Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Having a forum where people come together from the different sectors that is seen to be independent and integrated is a very positive contribution to actually dealing with issues...Singapore is seen as a model for integrated city development and it has become an urban powerhouse...Because Singapore has developed in a compact and liveableway...there is much that Singapore can teach others of your own experience...Singapore is a place to draw together experience from around the world and sharing experience to the rest of the world.
Jeremy Bentham, Vice President, Global Business Environment, Shell

I attended the Mayors Forum and learned a lot from other mayors and city managers who talked about how their cities developed and challenges they faced, as they share experiences. That's excellent forlearningand I hope we can benefit from it by applying what we have learnt,forthe future.
Dr. Liu Bao Chun, Director General of Foreign Affairs Office, Guangzhou Municipal Government, China

I thought that all cities considered for the Lee Kuan Yew City Prize gave excellent presentations of themselves...they conveyed the flavour and quality that caused us to nominate them...we wanted a big audience of mayors in particular to carry away that message..
Prof. Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration, University College London

I think it's a great opportunity for all of us to come to a place like Singapore to experience all these issues. It helps us change our thinking patterns and the way of doing things, to work in different political atmospheres and learn about different cultures as we have the opportunity of getting to know future leaders from other countries....Actually the best place to hold a summit like this is Singapore as Singaporeans have proved to the world that nothing is impossible.
His Worship Dhanasiri Amarathunga, Mayor of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council, Sri Lanka

...For cities like Vancouver and Singapore to come together and exchange good ideas is very important.We often manage cities almost like a bubble where you have all your focus on your city, we don't get many opportunities to reach out and connect with other mayors, other leaders and cities that are doing different things maybe better solutions that we can apply. So WCS is a very good place to exchange ideas and be inspired by other cities too.
His Worship Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver, Canada

As a small country, we have totry to be relevant and useful to our neighbours and to the world, and being a thought leader in an important emerging field is being relevant and useful.One of the historic shifts in the world is urbanisation...we are living in an increasingly urban world. The challenge to the world is how we can make our cities liveable, safe and sustainable...and by hosting the biannual WCS,Singapore is trying to make a contribution.
Prof. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

As WCS becomes a market place of ideas...it is important that while we achieve certain successes, we must also be very humble and see how others do it, for they may have better ideas...From time to time we come across new ideas which we could also adopt...WCS becomes a place we can learn and show off Singapore, we have become a hub of all kinds of urban services ...in the process all of us are enriched.
George Yeo, Vice Chairman, Kerry Group Ltd

Coming to WCS is very interesting because there's a lot in common between the different cities, such as the challenges of transportation, the balance between demand management and building new infrastructure, and hearing from different mayors talking about the need to manage these factors has been very encouraging...
Her Worship Celia Wade-Brown, Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand

We found WCS an important forum as it allowed us to network, exchange and share common challenges and solutions; this is an opportunity for decision policymakers to discuss and share their common experiences to find common solutions.
Dr. Beng Khemro, Deputy Secretary General, General Department of Land Management and Urban Planning, Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, Cambodia

...the quality of discussions in the thematic sessions, particularly the parallel breakouts... combined the big picture very satisfactorily with concrete cases because in planning cities... it's the concrete outcomes that count...
Prof. Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration, University College London