SINGAPORE, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China's experiences in urban governance and other areas "provide valuable lessons and insights for all cities, including Singapore," Singapore Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat said in a recent written interview with Xinhua, expressing hope that the two countries would further deepen exchanges and cooperation in urban governance.
"Our countries, similar to many other places, face common challenges, including an aging population, the need to balance economic growth with protecting our built and natural heritage, advancing greater sustainability in our built environment, and managing urban congestion and density," Chee said.
Against this backdrop, Chee said, regular exchanges between Singapore and China have become increasingly valuable as both countries explore practical solutions to common urban challenges.
"China has made excellent progress in developing vibrant and livable cities for its people," he said.
Chee highlighted two areas in particular. The first is China's focus on high-quality development, including sustainable urban development.
"In recent years, we have seen great progress in the growth of China's green and low-carbon sectors, for example, in the areas of electric vehicles, resource recycling and photovoltaics," he said, noting that China's recently released outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan also emphasizes high-quality development as a key economic objective, with sustainability and technological innovation featured in the plan.
"China's far-sighted aspiration to bring about a green transformation of the economy and meet its ambitious carbon-reduction targets highlights the compatibility of environmental protection and economic growth," he said.
Another area that impressed him was China's approach to urban rejuvenation.
Chee said cities such as Beijing and Tianjin have made notable progress in preserving and revitalizing historic buildings, industrial sites and natural features, giving them new functions while retaining their heritage.
During a visit to Tianjin, he toured the Italian Style Street, where former European concession buildings have been conserved and transformed into spaces for recreational, retail and cultural uses. At Shougang Park in Beijing, he saw how planners retained many industrial structures in the former steel complex, "sensitively integrating them with new buildings to create a thriving mixed-use complex comprising a hotel, offices, R&D facilities, shops and other uses."
As a rapidly growing city-state, Singapore has also developed its own approaches to urban planning.
Chee said Singapore today faces challenges including strong housing demand, increasingly diverse housing needs and aspirations, competing land uses in a city-state with limited land, and the impacts of climate change on a small, low-lying island.
To address these issues, Singapore adopts a long-term planning approach that looks as far as 50 years ahead, supported by systematic land-use planning and close partnerships with citizens and industry, he said.
Singapore's Ministry of National Development and China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development meet annually to exchange best practices in urban planning and development. "We look forward to many more of these exchanges in the years ahead," he said.
A key example of bilateral cooperation is the China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, Singapore's second government-to-government project with China.
Built on former saline-alkali land and polluted waterways, the eco-city has been transformed over nearly two decades into "a thriving, sustainable city," with residential, industrial and commercial developments powered by clean energy, alongside parks and nature reserves that enhance biodiversity and the living environment, he said.
"Our cooperation with the Tianjin Municipal Government and China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has been a clear demonstration to us of China's commitment to pursuing its sustainable development goals, including with like-minded partners such as Singapore. I look forward to continued progress in our efforts," said Chee.
Looking ahead, Chee said bilateral and multilateral urban cooperation will become increasingly important as cities continue to grow.
Today, about 55 percent of the world's population lives in cities, and the United Nations projects that figure will rise to 68 percent by 2050, he noted.
Chee said the World Cities Summit, held in Singapore every two years, was established to strengthen exchanges among cities around the world.
Chee believes that, in today's geopolitical climate, cooperation between countries can be increasingly complex, but cities "operate in a more pragmatic space."
"We recognize that cities are engines of innovation and implementation and local leadership and city-to-city cooperation can often progress more quickly and effectively, and complement national-level partnerships to achieve global sustainability goals," said the minister. ■