WCS 2017: Mayors and Leaders of 54 cities declare to create Sustainable Cities through Innovation and Collaboration

May 19, 2017

The World Cities Summit (WCS) Mayors Forum and WCS Young Leaders Symposium 2017 held in Suzhou, China ended on a high note, with mayors and city leaders from 54 cities making a declaration to work towards the shared vision of creating liveable, inclusive, harmonious, resilient, safe and sustainable cities through innovation and collaboration.

The declaration noted that they will do so by practising dynamic urban governance and long-term, integrated master planning as key principles to direct development of cities and implementation of plans; collaborating with stakeholders to curate and leverage on cities’ built heritage and cultural assets to benefit the economy and quality of life in the city; co-developing initiatives between city leaders and the community to improve the resilience of cities’ built, natural and social environment to shocks and stressors; and innovating systemically and adapting flexibly in order to balance economic growth and liveability. (See Annex).

In his closing speech, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance and Chairman of the Forum Lawrence Wong highlighted that there seems to be certain trade-offs arising from urban planning, preservation of culture, and balancing growth with its impact to cities. However, a paradigm change will allow us to see beyond the trade-offs and promote further growth. 

“For example, more planning may well give us the capacity to be more flexible. It may give us the preparedness to have more participatory and consultative processes. So, more planning need not hold back ground-up involvement. In fact, it can facilitate better ground-up involvement,” said Minister Wong. Likewise, a stronger sense of culture and identity could provide the confidence to venture forth and to try out new ideas, he added.

Mr Li Yaping, Acting Mayor of Suzhou city and host of this year’s WCS Mayors Forum, expressed his delight over the Forum providing a platform for participants to learn from one another, and providing a clearer direction for urban development. Mr Li pledged that Suzhou will exercise innovation in the preservation of its heritage and urban planning, in order to leverage on architectural and cultural heritage to strengthen residents’ sense of pride in the city, while continuing in its effort to build a sustainable and liveable urban environment.

The declaration was made in support of the universal Agenda 2030: Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 11: Making cities and human settlements safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable and aligned to the goals outlined in the New Urban Agenda adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) held last year. 

This year’s WCS Mayors Forum in Suzhou was attended by more than 200 participants, including leaders from the business sector and international organisations. The WCS Mayors Forum will reconvene in Singapore as one of the key highlights of the 6th World Cities Summit from 8 to 12 July 2018.